The Best Bride. Сьюзен Мэллери

stared at him and her heart fluttered foolishly. He’d simply bumped her when he’d grabbed for the restraining device. Why me? she wondered and sighed.

      “I thought we’d go straight to the house,” he said, tossing his Stetson to the back seat. “I want to get you settled. Mandy is at the park with Kyle.”

      “Kyle?”

      He started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. “One of my deputies and my youngest brother. She’s already twisted him around her little finger.”

      “How do you know?”

      Travis shot her a grin. “When he left the office, he turned on his siren. Something tells me that was Mandy’s doing.”

      “She can be stubborn.”

      “I guess she gets that from her mother.”

      She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but he was staring at the road. She relaxed in the seat and watched as he drove through the small town. As they neared the park, traffic became heavy. She saw families walking together. Her stomach clenched, not from the surgery, but from envy and regret. She and Mandy should have been part of a family like that. It had all been taken away from them. Stolen. She stared out the window and willed the tears away. No. Not stolen. They’d never had it in the first place. It had all been a lie.

      As they passed the duck pond, she saw the motel. “Wait, I have to get my things.”

      “Already done,” he said, not bothering to stop. “I went there this morning and checked you out. Your suitcases are in the trunk.”

      She didn’t know whether to thank him or yell at him for invading her personal space.

      “Before you get huffy and start hollering at me,” he said, as if he could read her mind, “I knew you would want your things with you even if you’d made other plans. So I didn’t assume you would take me up on my offer.”

      It took too much energy to get angry, so she simply leaned back in the seat and went along for the ride. He’d been right. She couldn’t have made it work at the motel. They passed a sheriff’s car parked on the side of the road by the park. Elizabeth looked around but she didn’t see Mandy.

      “When will Kyle bring her back?” she asked.

      “I’ll bring her home about four-thirty. There’s a parade today, and a big barbecue. Games for the kids. I thought she might enjoy it and you need the rest. I’m going to have to drop you off then head back to the park myself. Have to make an appearance. Between Kyle and myself, we’ll keep an eye on Mandy. Louise is off until Monday so you should have plenty of peace and quiet.”

      He entered a tree-lined residential area. Elizabeth recognized it from her house hunting. He drove around the high school and along a narrow two-lane road she’d never been on before. The houses got larger and farther apart from each other on oversize lots.

      “You mentioned Kyle was your youngest brother,” she said. “How many are there?”

      “Four, counting me. Craig is the oldest, then me, then Jordan and then Kyle.”

      “So Kyle is a deputy. Are you all cops?”

      “It’s a family tradition. My dad used to be the sheriff in Glenwood. All his brothers are in police work. Jordan is the only rebel. He’s a fire fighter up in Sacramento.”

      “A real black sheep.”

      Travis grinned. “We give him a hard time about it. Yup, the Haynes family grows boys and cops. Not a girl in the last four generations. What about you?”

      “I’m an only child.”

      “Too bad.”

      “Why? It’s all I know. My parents were older when I was born and they only wanted one child.”

      “They got a pretty one.”

      Elizabeth chuckled. This man could charm milk out of a snake. She would do well to remember talk was cheap. But she had to admit Travis Haynes had a certain amount of style to recommend him, and his heart was in the right place. She resisted glancing at his firm body so close to hers in the confines of the car. From what she had seen, everything else was in the right place, too. But the last thing she needed was to get involved with a heartbreaker. Her heart hadn’t recovered from what Sam had done.

      They pulled off the road and onto a long driveway. Maple trees and oaks grew on either side of the path. Up ahead she saw a peaked roof, and more trees. Then the path curved around and they drove up into a clearing and parked in front of a beautiful three-story house.

      He’d told her he was restoring an old house, but he hadn’t said it was a mansion. Big windows opened up onto a wide front lawn. A porch wrapped around the front. The columns holding up the porch covering had been painted white, as was all the trim. The rest of the building was dove gray, soft and light in the morning sunshine.

      “You could get lost in there,” she said, staring at the masterpiece.

      “I did, the first couple of days. Stay in that seat and don’t even think about moving.”

      He got out of the car and came around to her side. He opened the door, then helped her to her feet. Before she could take a step, he bent over and slid one arm behind her back and the other under her thighs.

      “What are you doing?” she asked even as he lifted her against his chest. Elizabeth grabbed his shoulders to maintain her balance.

      “And here I thought you were smarter than that.” He started toward the house.

      Her face bumped against his shoulder, and she could smell his masculine scent. He’d shaved only a couple of hours before, so his neck was smooth. She fought the urge to nestle against him. “Travis, put me down. I can walk.”

      He ignored her. There were four steps up to the porch. He climbed those easily and headed for the front door. She held on, ignoring the way her right breast flattened against his chest and the heated strength of his body. She was wearing shorts so the arm under her legs touched bare skin. Each of his fingers seemed to be leaving a warm imprint on her flesh. She thought about struggling, but her side hurt and she was tired of fighting. Instead, she gave herself up to the feeling of being safe and protected.

      When he opened the front door and stepped inside, she stared at the beautiful interior and caught her breath. He had told the truth when he’d said he was restoring the house. Several of the walls had been stripped but not painted or papered. There wasn’t a rug on the wooden floor, and she could see the pile of tools next to the front door.

      But none of that mattered. He released his arm and she slid to the ground. Instead of moving away from him, she leaned against him and looked around. A crystal chandelier hung in the foyer. The cut glass caught the sunlight and diffused it into a hundred tiny rainbows. The long staircase swept up to the second story where it split and circled around both sides. Arched doorways led to high-beamed rooms. A giant fireplace filled one wall of the parlor to her left, while on the right, a study with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves held sheet-covered furniture.

      “Wow.” She looked at him. “You live here?” He shrugged. “Yeah.”

      “All by yourself?”

      “I do now. I was married when I bought the place. Some people have a baby to try and save their marriage. Julie and I bought this house.” The humor left his brown eyes.

      “I’m sorry.”

      He shrugged. “Don’t be. There were no hard feelings. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Julie and I kept bumping into each other on the curves. Hell, it was no one’s fault. Cops don’t make good husbands and neither do Haynes men. I had no business trying.”

      She was about to ask why when he collected her in his arms again and started down the hallway next to the stairs.

      “I’m going to put you in here,” he said, using his shoulder to push open