Christmas with the Sheriff Read online

  “Jules?” he repeated, saying her name in that way that made her wish…things she hadn’t in many years. Her days of marriage and kids were over, the scars left behind too deep to ever make her want to risk it all again.

  “Yep. Totally fine,” she said, shooting him what she hoped was a casual smile and then sidestepped him and stood at the threshold of the master bedroom.

  “This is nice,” he said, standing beside her, his arm brushing against hers. Even though they both still had their jackets on, she felt the touch sear through her. She kept her eyes trained on the features of the room.

  “It’s beautiful. Vaulted ceilings again. That’s so gorgeous, and I love that the view is the back of the house so you can wake up and see the mountains every day,” she said, trying to act like a real estate professional as she crossed the room. She was also trying not to think of him in bed. Waking up, by himself or with someone else…which of course was none of her business.

  “Would you change anything in here?”

  She spun around slowly taking in the room fully. “If you wanted to add a bit of luxury, maybe add a fireplace. Gas.”

  He made a face. “Wood burning.”

  “Not practical. Besides, if it were…I mean, if you had a…” Stop and shut up or speak as if what you’re saying is no big deal. She’d try to shut up and see if it worked. She picked at imaginary lint on the front of her coat. She really needed to get out more and learn how to be around hot men so she didn’t make a fool of herself.

  “What’s that?” Clearly, by the way he was looking at her, not finishing her thoughts was not an option.

  She tapped her finger against her chin and looked at the spot on the wall, behind his shoulder, hoping it would look like she was staring at him directly. “I was saying that if um, there were a woman in here, maybe she wouldn’t want to be bothered starting a fire and it would just be easier to flick a switch.”

  He didn’t say anything for a second and she had to look, and then swallowed hard. There was that expression on his face that made her wonder…of course he’d never had feelings for her. “What would you want?”

  Her mouth dropped open slightly and she felt a heat swim up through her clothes. She adjusted the wool scarf around her neck, fighting the urge to rip it off because it suddenly felt as though it were choking her. She was an idiot. Her mouth was parched and she felt as though she were standing in the middle of the desert, dehydrated and overheated.

  “I mean, since you’re a woman.”

  Oh, see? No feelings for her. She was overreacting. He was just being a practical guy. She cleared her throat after she attempted speaking and ended up squawking. “I’d want gas. Besides, you already have a wood burning fireplace in the other room. I’d get a realistic one for sure. You can still get a rustic wood mantle. I’d get an open fire pit, definitely don’t cover it up with glass or anything like that.”

  He gave a slow nod. “I’ll consider it, but I don’t like it,” he said with a small half-grin.

  “Well, someone else might thank me,” she said, looking at the mountains in the distance instead of him. She was an idiot. She didn’t want to think about some random woman thanking her for the romantic night she spent in Chase’s new house, with his new gas fireplace—

  “There’s no one, Jules.”

  She didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to think of him as alone or lonely, but she didn’t want to think of him with anyone else. Then again, what did that mean since she wasn’t planning on staying here? She never wanted a family again. Chase was a family man. So, basically it was a lose-lose situation.

  “We should go see the other two bedrooms,” she said, pointing to the hallway. Time to get out of here and focus, meditate or something. She needed to stop thinking of him in any other way than a friend. Chase had been Michael’s best friend and as much as she hated to even think about it, he might have known about Michael’s…extracurricular activities. She also couldn’t contemplate being a mother again, and Maggie needed a mother, a whole one, not this damaged, guarded version of a mother that she’d be able to offer. She had created a new life for herself, away from Shadow Creek, and she was fully intending on returning to it after the holidays.

  The rest of the house tour seemed much less eventful after that, and almost as if a distance came between them. She was fine with that, because she needed to get her feelings under control. She hadn’t expected any of this. They stood at the entry, Chase’s hand on the doorknob. “I want to do this. I want this house for me and Maggie, and I want to be in here by Christmas. I want this Christmas to really be ours.”

  She took a deep breath, her heart squeezing as his love for his little girl was obvious in every word, every effort he made. “Okay. Then let’s get the papers signed and I’ll present the offer to Marlene this afternoon. Why don’t we set this offer on the kitchen counter, talk numbers, and get some signatures?” she said, pulling out her portfolio with listing papers. “You and Maggie deserve this place. I’ll call you tonight as soon as I have word. I won’t give them a long time to decide.”

  “I’m in good hands,” he said, his voice holding something delicious in it. She fumbled with the papers and they slid out onto the counter. She gathered them into a stack and straightened them out on the counter a few times, trying to regain her composure. She kept focused on the task at hand, remembering the reasons she’d just listed to herself why letting Chase close would be a mistake.

  “Thanks. Are you still intent on keeping this a secret from Maggie?”

  He nodded. “Yup. As soon as you tell me this place is ours, I’ll drive her over here.”

  She smiled as she put the papers in order. “I think she’s going to flip.”

  “I hope so.”

  “I’m sure…okay, here we go. Looks like I’m going to be presenting two offers to Marlene this afternoon.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  She nodded, pointing at the spots he needed to sign. “Yup. Gwen and Lily want the old apothecary.”

  He didn’t look up as he scrawled his name across the appropriate line. His hands were tanned, large, and his signature was bold and confident…and why was she even noticing this kind of thing? How many men had she given real estate offers to sign? “Good for them. You think you can get it for them?”

  She took the signed copy and handed him another one. “Again, another case of Marlene pretending it’s a high demand listing. No one has been through there in months. I’ll see what I can get her to agree to. Anything will help them with the start-up expenses.”

  “I’m happy for Lily.”

  “Because of Jack you mean?”

  He gave a short nod.

  “Me too.” She looked down at the stack of papers in her hand. “We both ran.”

  His hand covered hers and she tried not to jump at his warm touch. She stared down at his hand on hers. The feel of him sent a swirl of energy through her body. “You did what you had to do, babe.”

  Her eyes flew to his, her voice caught somewhere deep inside, and in a spot saved for dreams and desires she didn’t dare think about during the day, but he was making it impossible to remember that long list of reasons she couldn’t be with him. Babe. He’d never called her that, and yet it sounded perfectly natural coming from his mouth. She pulled her hand from his. “Thanks, but it’s still up there with my biggest regrets.”

  His gaze was intense, his blue eyes focused on hers in a way that made her think he could know her better than anyone. “We all have regrets. Impossible to get through life without them. Can’t go back and change that, but going forward you can prevent yourself from doing them again.”

  “So you’re the county psychologist as well as sheriff?” She tried to lighten the mood and was rewarded by his deep, rich laughter.

  He leaned against the counter, his face close to hers. Blue eyes, the color she always associated with the clear blue Montana sky, held hers so she couldn’t look away. “Only for you. I hate talking to people.” />
  This time she laughed. “That’s not true.”

  He shrugged. “People tell you things you wished you never heard.”

  “Really? Like what?”

  “Dustin Delaney’s wife is cheating on him with Lorraine from the food market.”

  Her smile faltered at the mention of cheating. His smile fell a few seconds later. Did he know? Chase had been her rock, the good guy who’d been there for her. Though he’d technically been Michael’s best friend, after the accident they’d become close. The thought that he knew the truth about Michael gutted her.

  She tore her gaze from his and began filling in some of the blanks on the top of the offer page. “Okay then. Let’s do this.” She was going to do everything she could to get this place for Chase and Maggie, and she was not going to wonder about if he knew what his best friend had been up to, because that might be the last thing she could deal with right now.

  Chapter Five

  Julia smiled across the table at Gwen and Lily. They were seated in a booth at the Mountainside Inn, waiting for their drinks to be served. The Inn was a landmark in town, owned by the third generation Delaney family.

  The main part of the Inn was a traditional log style home, but on a grand scale. There were outlying cabins scattered on the vast acreage, most of them with a view of the mountains. The main building had an impressive two story lobby and a dining room that spanned the length of the back of the Inn. Leather booths, wide-planked floors, and oversized hanging lanterns added a moody feel to the rustic dining room. Red poinsettias lined the bottom of the massive windows and an oversized pine wreath hung over the mantel of the floor to ceiling stone fireplace. White candles flickered in rustic lanterns throughout the room. It was Julia’s favorite restaurant in Shadow Creek.

  The week had passed by quickly and she’d been kept busy negotiating real estate deals with Marlene Mayberry. She was thrilled that the deal with Chase’s house was so close to being finalized and now the deal for the chocolate shop was also finalized. She had been a go-getter in the city, pouring herself into her work. Being busy with work kept her from thinking about everything she’d lost, everyone back here in Shadow Creek. It had left her exhausted, unfulfilled, and empty, but that’s all she’d wanted. She didn’t take vacations or spend her money on luxury. She had put it all in the bank, never really caring about the numbers. She made large donations to her favorite charities, but didn’t have anything else to spend her money on. Back here for two weeks, she already felt more fulfilled. She was helping people she loved move forward with their lives. She had also spent quite a bit of time with Chase. Sure, she had spent time with him in the past, but this was different…

  “So this is really going to happen, isn’t it?” Lily said, taking a sip of her red wine after their waiter had left with their dinner order.

  “Yes! Let’s toast to you both,” Julia said, holding up her glass and smiling at her friends.

  “And to you, best agent and sister-in-law ever who negotiated for free rent for three months for us against Marlene and won,” Gwen said.

  “You are so welcome,” she said, taking a sip of her wine. “Okay, now that we’re finally getting together and catching up, I want you to tell me what’s going on in your lives. Tell me something good,” she said. She had kept in touch with both of them, but she knew things were different now that she was back home. She wanted to use this time to get to know them again. She’d missed them more than she’d realized. Denial could convince a person of a lot of things.

  “I would, except there’s nothing. Absolutely nothing going on in my life,” Lily said with a sigh.

  Gwen reached for the wine and topped up her glass. “Yup. Nothing.”

  Julia leaned forward. She wasn’t buying that for a second. “Come on, there has to be something.”

  Gwen gave her a pointed look and placed her wine glass back on the polished tabletop. “Well, neither of us have been seen around town with the hottest sheriff in the state.”

  Julia choked on her wine and they both laughed. “Chase and I are…friends.”

  Gwen rolled her eyes. “Right.”

  She crossed her arms and tried not to look suspicious. “Seriously.”

  “Why don’t you spare us the agony of having to drag out the truth,” Lily said, topping up her own glass.

  Julia twirled the stem of her wine glass and focused her eyes on the roaring fire and thought of Chase. Well, she always thought of him, in so many different ways than she had before, but what was she supposed to say? She had a crush? Was she sixteen years old? “Okay, so the truth is I don’t know what the truth is. I don’t know…”

  “Let me try and sum it up for you.” Gwen took a deep, dramatic breath before continuing. “Both of you are attracted to each other and you’re scared, and you think you’re not going to stay in Shadow Creek so you don’t want to start something.”

  Omigod. How did Gwen know all this? Julia blinked, trying to look as though she was contemplating what Gwen had just said.

  “And stop pretending you don’t already know this!”

  Julia covered her face, her elbows on the table, and shook her head. “Fine,” she said, her voice coming out muffled. “You’re exactly right.”

  “I knew it!” Lily said.

  Julia raised her index finger. “But I don’t know what he thinks.”

  “I can tell you what he thinks,” Gwen said.

  Julia made a sweeping gesture with her hand. “Please do.”

  Gwen gave a nod. “Chase wants you.”

  Don’t blush. Don’t smile.

  “Your smile and blush totally gave it away,” Lily said, leaning forward.

  “Hey, I hope you know everyone wants to see you happy. No one wants you to spend the rest of your life alone, sweetie. You’re too young for that. And we all love Chase. He’s like my third brother, just as irritating as my other two,” Gwen said with a smile and gave her hand a squeeze.

  Julia sunk down in the booth and groaned. “I know. Thank you. It’s not…I don’t know…I haven’t dated anyone.”

  Lily leaned forward. “In five years? There was no one in the city? I mean, not that I’m judging, it’s not like my personal life has been stellar, or even remotely hopeful.”

  Julia shook her head. “Nope. There were men, but none I was interested in.”

  “Ah, yes. So you mean there were no men like our rugged but tenderhearted and sensitive Sheriff Donovan,” Gwen said, trying hard not to laugh.

  “Are you the leader of his personal fan club? You’re about as subtle as Marlene’s makeup.”

  “Did I hear my name?”

  Julia could have sworn they all gasped as they looked over at Marlene who was staring down at them, hands on her red, sequined-wrapped hips. Clearly, the woman hadn’t heard her comment because she was grinning at them, her lips the same color as her glittering dress.

  “Oh, Marlene, what a pleasant surprise.” She didn’t dare look over at either Gwen or Lily, but she did hear wine being choked on.

  “Well, I do like to be unpredictable. It keeps my opponents guessing!” She reached inside her purse and pulled out a stack of papers. “I do think this is what I call fate. Now I don’t have to go home and fax this signed offer to you. Tell the sheriff he drives a hard bargain,” she said, slapping down the real estate offer.

  Julia placed her hands on the stack of paper and slid it over and placed it on her lap. First off, she could practically feel the heat of Lily and Gwen’s stares. Chase had sworn her to secrecy and now thanks to Marlene she was going to have to tell them about the house. But she was thrilled that this meant he was going to get the home. “So this is it? Your clients accepted?”

  Marlene pursed her lips. “Yes, they did. It was wonderful doing business with you, dear. Just make sure we get the sheriff’s signature on that ASAP before they change their mind.”

  Julia nodded, still avoiding eye contact with her friends. “I’ll get that for you tonight.”

&nbs
p; Marlene nodded. “Excellent. Well, I must run. I have a business dinner. It’s quite the demanding life being married to the most successful mayor in Shadow Creek history as well as being a real estate mogul. Being a power couple is so demanding!”

  This time it was Lily who choked on her wine. Marlene didn’t seem to notice.

  “You’re an inspiration to us all,” Gwen said, lifting her glass in Marlene’s direction.

  Marlene’s chest swelled. “Thank you, dear. We women have to stick together in business,” she said with a fist pump on the table that sent the water in their glasses overflowing slightly.

  “Ta-ta for now,” she said, before twirling in a dizzying array of sparkles and perfume.

  As soon as she was out of earshot they burst into uncontrollable laughter. After a few minutes, all attention was turned back to Julia. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

  “Wow, I didn’t think power couples actually referred to themselves as power couples, in public anyway,” Julia said, hoping she would distract them by keeping the conversation on Marlene.

  “All right. Spill it. Chase. Negotiations. You.”

  Julia rolled her eyes and tried to make it like there was so nothing going on. “She’s exaggerating.”

  “Now,” Lily said.

  Lucky for her, their shared appetizers arrived and she sat quietly avoiding their intense stares as a platter of stuffed mushroom caps, spinach and artichoke dip and tortillas, and baked brie was placed in front of them.

  “This looks so good,” she said, busying herself with loading her plate.

  Gwen grabbed her plate, laughing. “No food until all details are dished.”

  Julia sighed. The cat was out of the bag. She knew Chase wouldn’t mind her saying anything, especially since the deal had gone through. “Okay, but you have to keep it quiet. He wants this to be a surprise for Maggie. Also? Hand me back that plate. I need that dip.”