The Cowboy Next Door. Brenda Minton

      Pete woofed from the dog bed near the fireplace. The dog didn’t bother getting up. He was retired from the police force and usually didn’t care who did what.

      Jay walked out the door and headed across a field bathed in silver light as the clouds floated overhead. Pete woofed again and he heard the dog door flap as the lazy animal ran to catch up with him. Obviously Pete had decided the action was worth getting up for. Five years of sniffing drugs and searching for lost kids, and now he spent most of his time sniffing rabbit trails and chewing up perfectly good shoes.

      A shadow lingered in the front yard of the old farmhouse. Pete lumbered to Jay’s side, growling a low warning. Jay’s hand went to his sidearm and he walked more carefully, deliberately keeping an eye on the form that had stilled when the dog barked.

      Pete took off, his long legs pounding and his jaws flapping. The person in the yard ran for the car and was scrambling onto the hood. The outdoor security light had been shot out by kids nearly a year earlier. As clouds covered the moon, Jay thought about the mistake of not getting that light fixed.

      “Who’s there?” He recognized the trembling voice.

      “Pete, down.” The dog immediately obeyed Jay’s command. He walked through the gate and crossed the lawn to find Lacey cowering on the hood of her own car. He should have recognized the headlights of her Chevy.

      “Where in the world did he come from?” She didn’t move to climb down from the car. He almost laughed, but she had books and she might throw them.

      “He’s mine.”

      “Do you always sic him on people when they come home at night?”

      He held a hand out and she refused the offer. Lacey Gould, afraid? How did he process that information? She always seemed a little like David, confronting the world with five stones and a lot of faith.

      And she collected dogs. Of course, not real ones.

      “I didn’t know it was you. I saw a car pulling up to a dark house, late.”

      She grasped the books and shot him a “stupid male” look. “So, I can’t come home late?”

      “You were in Springfield this late?”

      “Do you interrogate all of your renters?”

      “No, I don’t interrogate all of them. It was a question, Lacey. You were going to Springfield after work. It’s late. We saw headlights down here and we were worried. Mom was worried.”

      Her shoulders slumped. “I have to get inside. I have the breakfast shift and I have to be at work at five in the morning.”

      “Let me help you down.”

      “Jay, do me a favor, grab your dog.”

      “He won’t hurt you.”

      “He’s huge and he has big teeth.”

      “You’re afraid of dogs.” More information to process. He reached for Pete’s collar. “What about that dog collection of yours?”

      He shouldn’t have asked. Asking meant he wanted to know something about her, something that didn’t quite make sense. He wanted to deny that she was a mystery to solve.

      He definitely didn’t want to get involved.

      “I love collecting dogs.” She stared at Pete. “The kind without teeth.”

      “Toy ones.” He smiled and she glared.

      “Don’t tell anyone. How embarrassing would it be if everyone knew?”

      “People can be afraid of dogs, Lacey.”

      “It’s a ridiculous fear. Some dogs bite.”

      “Pete doesn’t bite.”

      She smiled. “But if he did, he’d take a big bite.”

      “He chews on shoes, but he barely chews his own dog food.”

      “You chew it for him?”

      “Now that’s disgusting.”

      She slid down from the hood of the car, but stayed on the other side of the vehicle. “I need to get some sleep. Thank you for checking on us.”

      He nodded and in the sliver of moonlight that filtered through a break in the clouds he read the book in her hand. Algebra 2. She hugged it tight to her chest.

      “You don’t have to know all of my secrets, Jay. At least you know I wasn’t in town and up to no good.”

      “I never thought that.” But hadn’t he wondered? When she’d said she was going to Springfield tonight, hadn’t he suspected something?

      “You did. And that’s fine.”

      She turned and walked away. He held on to Pete’s collar and watched her go. Her back was straight and her step was less than bouncy.

      Pete pulled, trying to go after her. Jay almost agreed with the dog, but decided against it. One thing he didn’t need was more information about Lacey Gould.

      

      Saturday mid-morning and the diner was full. Every table. Lacey hurried to the table where the Golden Girls were having Saturday brunch. Not that the Hash-It-Out served brunch; for Gibson, that meant a late breakfast if Jolynn still had biscuits left.

      “Lacey, honey, how are you doing?” Elsbeth Jenkins pointed to her coffee cup. She could chat as much as anyone, and Lacey knew the older lady really did care. But Elsbeth did have her priorities. Coffee first.

      “I’m doing fine, Miss Jenkins.” Lacey poured the cup of coffee and handed her a few more creamers. “Is there anything else?”

      “No, honey, nothing else. We’re just going to sit and chat for a bit. Is Bailey working today?” Goldie Johnson asked.

      “No, ma’am, she’s not working today. She’s only here when we’re short on help.”

      “How is she feeling?” Goldie nodded as she spoke.

      “She’s feeling great and she and Cody’re excited about the baby.”

      “Honey, did that grandson of mine ever write to you?” Elsbeth stirred two creamers into the tiny coffee cup and turned the liquid nearly white.

      Lance had taken a job in Georgia shortly after the two of them broke up. And she hadn’t really missed him. She realized now that she had been more in love with the idea of love than in love with Lance. It had been wrong to start a relationship based on a desire to be a part of this town, a family and something that would last forever.

      “No, Miss Jenkins, I haven’t heard from him. Is he doing okay in Atlanta?”

      “Oh, I don’t know. You know how men are, they don’t talk a lot. But I’m really sorry that things didn’t work out between the two of you.”

      The cowbell over the door banged and clanged. Lacey looked up, glad for the distraction. And then not so glad. Jay walked in, blue-and-gray uniform starched and pressed. He looked her way and then looked the other way.

      She swallowed and started to move away from the Golden Girls but one of them stopped her. “Honey, now that’s a boy that needs a good woman like you.”

      “No, I don’t think so.” Lacey smiled anyway.

      Jay sat down with a couple of guys close to his age. They were dusty from work and their boots had tracked in half the dirt from the farm. Lacey had just finished sweeping up before the Golden Girls came in.

      “Would you like coffee?” She asked because she knew he’d say no. He always did, and it was fun to watch his eyes narrow when she asked.

      “Water, and a burger. No fries.” He moved the menu to the side.

      “Extra lettuce.” Health