Chapter 11

SETH

“For fuck’s sake,” Seth cursed as his phone rang again, displaying the same number on his screen.

He tossed his hat on the hook on the partition dividing his desk from Felicity’s and slumped into his chair. He ignored her worried blue eyes peering at him.

She grumbled something, pushed back from her desk, and stomped off to some unknown destination.

Seth knew she was concerned about him.

Specifically, she was concerned about the calls he wasn’t answering and the fact that he was moody because he hadn’t been able to spend more time with Indie for the last week.

They had been working extra shifts due to some of their colleagues being sick and crime increasing during the Thanksgiving period.

And his new promotion had his shift overlapping with another as he supervised teams on both shifts.

He reached for his phone and dialed Indie’s number, but as it started ringing, the sheriff appeared at the door to his office.

“Marshall!”

With a deep sigh, Seth disconnected and got to his feet just as Felicity tossed a mint-flavored chocolate bar on his desk.

He smiled at her in appreciation and then glanced down at the candy and then back at the sheriff, who was waiting for him.

“For sanity’s sake! Bring it with you!” Denver Burnsley grumbled with a hard shake of his head.

He had known Seth as a young Marine and knew about his weakness for chocolate when he was stressed.

Nothing had changed in the fifteen years since Seth had been under Burnsley’s command.

Felicity shook her head as Seth smiled as he grabbed the chocolate from his desk and took his first bite before he reached the sheriff’s office.

“Something botherin’ you, son?” Burnsley asked as soon as Seth was settled in a chair. Seth looked up at his boss’ concerned look, but then paid focused on straightening the chocolate wrapper.

He knew the older man would read the lie in his eyes.

“Nope. Just trying to get things organized within the teams, sir.”

“How long have we known each other, Seth?”

“A long time,” Seth said softly. Burnsley was the father he never had, a man he loved and respected like no other, and he’d found him to be a good teacher and mentor.

Burnsley was also the officer in charge of Seth’s unit in Afghanistan and was there for him on the worst day of his life.

He was the one who saved Seth from the worst possible fate, and the memory of that day hung heavily between them.

Denver placed his hands on his desk as he looked directly at Seth. “I’m only going to say this to you once. You are one of the best guys I know.

“You’re good at your job, whether it’s as a sniper a hundred feet away, or needing to de-escalate a domestic situation as a deputy.

“You’re a great uncle and a loyal friend, but you’re a fucking bad liar.”

Seth choked on the bite of chocolate he had just taken.

Denver Burnsley was not a man who expressed his emotions freely, and there had only been one instance when Seth had seen the grumpy man cry.

He had a lump in his throat that was so big that all he could do was let the chocolate he’d eaten melt in his mouth. He never would have been able to swallow it.

“What makes you think I’m lying about something?” His voice dropped to a gravelly whisper as he attempted to challenge his boss.

Denver laughed loudly. He shook his head as he looked at Seth and laughed again.

“Sethford Marshall, I broke you during your military training. I know practically every inch of your soul.” He leaned over his vast desk as he stared at Seth.

“And I wouldn’t have been sheriff of this county for almost ten years if I didn’t know when someone was lying to me.”

Seth narrowed his eyes. Burnsley wasn’t a big man. He was five-foot-nine with broad shoulders and a slight paunch.

His dark brown glower, on the other hand, made you believe that he was fifteen feet tall, and Seth was very glad he was sitting down as his knees were shaking.

“What are the phone calls about?”

“Phone calls?” Burnsley’s eyes narrowed more. Seth took a deep breath. “I can’t talk about them, Denver. Not yet.”

“You know they won’t stop.” Burnsley sank into his chair and linked his fingers.

Seth shook his head sadly. “Eventually everything comes to an end, boss.”

“Some things only end because we don’t do anything to keep them going, Seth. I know that over the last few years, the only thing you’ve made any commitment to was your job.

“But sometimes it’s necessary to make something else your anchor, Seth. I know you lost yours, but you need to find a new one or you will lose yourself again.”

Seth licked his lips as he listened to Denver, immediately feeling a warmth sweeping through his body as he thought of Indie and how safe she made him feel.

“Seth.” He looked up as Denver softly spoke his name. “Fifteen years ago, you were a good Marine I didn’t want to lose. Now you’re a good friend I can’t afford to lose.”

Seth nodded, his throat tight with the emotions that clogged it. “I’ll try, Den.”

“Good. Now get out.”

“Yes, sir,” Seth said as he took another bite of chocolate.

INDIE

Her only day off, and she was sitting in a traffic jam on the highway. How in the world had Grace talked her into ~this ~misadventure?

Indie took a sip of her coffee and settled back against her seat as she waited for the line to move. It always started with a damn phone call.

~***~

~“Indie, I need your help…” ~

~Grace’s voice had been softer, not the usual bossy tone that was so characteristic of her friend. ~

~“What’s wrong? What do you need help with?” Indie had been awake instantly, the dial on her luminous mushroom-shaped bedside clock telling her it was just past five. ~

~“I need to find my grandmother an herb, but I can’t leave her alone because she’s threatening to drive again.” ~

~“Okay…,” Indie said slowly, lying back on her pillows. “I’ll go to the market as soon as they open—” ~

~“Olathe doesn’t have ginkgo biloba~ ~at any of my grandmother’s contacts. A friend of hers has some in Pittsburg—” ~

~“~Pittsburg?!~” Indie sat up abruptly. ~

~“And no one else has it.” ~

~“Okay. I’ll do that for you. Can I sleep another hour?” ~

~“She’ll be visiting family in China and her flight leaves at noon.” ~

~Indie’s mind screamed in protest even as she swung her legs out of the bed. “I’m on my way.” ~

***

And here she was, stuck on US-69, blowing hot air onto her fingers as they froze on the steering wheel because of the open window.

Indie was thankful that her nose had acclimatized to the smell in her car, but she wasn’t sure how long the odor of well-ripened cheese or whatever it was would stay in her baby.

She had made the normally two-hour journey in three hours on roads slick with the early snowfall, reaching Pittsburg in time to see Linda before she’d had to leave for the airport.

While she was in Pittsburg, Indie decided to stop at one of her suppliers who stocked the rare gems that she worked with.

After lunch she headed back to the highway to go nowhere…very slowly.

With a sigh, she sipped more coffee, the lukewarm liquid warming her fingertips.

The cottonwood leaf on the disposable cup was the same color as Seth’s eyes when he looked at her so intensely.

She closed her eyes and thought back to the evening of their date. He had been such a gentleman. And the man could dance!

With the chemistry sparking high between them, Indie would have thought that their dinner would be something quick and their evening ~much~ longer.

But Seth had been so patient, touching her on her hand or arm when they were at the table, and then using the dance movements to touch her everywhere that was acceptable in public…

His hands on her waist, his chest against her…~hers~…his leg between hers…

Their bodies were so close she had been able to feel his heat seep into her skin, warming her to her bones and effectively melting them to the consistency of Jell-O on the Fourth of July.

She could still smell his cologne as he pulled her closer, his lips setting tiny fires as he kissed his way up her jaw, whispering things in her ear that made her shiver from the inside out.

The memory was so tangible she could still feel the tip of his tongue on the edge of her earlobe—

She gasped when she felt a scrape of teeth against her ear. A warm tongue swirled along the tender spot, sending a shiver down her spine.

“Next time, close your window if you plan on taking a nap on the highway.”

Seth’s gravelly whisper raced along her nerve endings to pulse in a particular spot in her body that would remind her that this man made her see stars.

He captured her lips when she turned her head to look at him, and her eyes closed again when she tasted the mint on his lips.

She reached through the window and cupped his jaw to draw him closer, but he pulled back before they could deepen the kiss.

Her eyes fluttered open reluctantly to see his nose wrinkled up and his eyebrows furrowed.

“What the hell is that smell?” he demanded.

She giggled as she pointed at the brown bag on the seat beside her. “The reason for the open window.”

“Again…~what the hell~?”

She wiped the frown from his forehead and kissed the spot.

“It’s nuts from the ginkgo biloba tree that Faith uses for her anxiety. Grace couldn’t find any in Olathe, so she asked me to get some from a friend of her grandmother’s.”

“Ah,” he said softly. “Couldn’t you put it on the roof or in your trunk or a nuclear-protective suitcase or something?”

“Don’t be snooty. It’s for Faith.”

He wrinkled his nose some more. “You can use my truck until the smell airs out of yours.”

“So generous.” She smiled as she kissed his nose. “What are you doing out here, anyway?”

“There was an accident on 179th Street, which resulted in a couple of vehicles sliding into one another and caused a truck to jack-knife.

“While we’re waiting for the towing company to pull him out of the road, Felicity and I are doing wellness checks on the travelers stuck in their cars.

“And when I saw you napping with an open window…”

His dimpled smile could cause snow to melt in the Alps, Indie decided as she looked at him.

“I missed you,” she told him.

“How about dinner with Sarah, Amelia, and me on Thanksgiving? If you don’t have anything else…”

“I usually have dinner with Grace and Faith, but it sounds fantastic.”

“Bring them along.” Indie blinked up at the sincerity in his voice, his eyes dark in his earnestness.

Felicity whistled at Seth, and Indie started her car as deputies waved the cars to move along.

“My place? Tomorrow?” Indie asked as she put her car in gear.

“How about tonight? I finish at midnight, though.”

“The door will be unlocked.”

“Good.” Seth smiled as he put his hat back on.