Christmas On The Range. Diana Palmer

about her brother, either.

      Autumn turned the leaves on the poplars and maples beautiful shades of gold and scarlet. Ivy felt restless, as if something was about to change in her life. She did her job and tried not to think about Stuart York, but always in the back of her mind was the fear of something unseen and unheard. A premonition.

      There was a party to benefit a local animal shelter, which Shelby Jacobs had organized. Ivy wouldn’t have gone, but Sheriff Hayes Carson was on the committee that had planned the party, and he was showing an increasing interest in Ivy.

      She didn’t know if she liked it or not. She was fond of Hayes, but her heart didn’t do cartwheels when he was around. Maybe that was a good thing.

      When he showed up at her boardinghouse late one Friday afternoon, she sat on the porch swing with him. Her room contained little more than a bed and a vanity, and she was uncomfortable taking a man there. Hayes seemed to know that, because he sat down in the swing with no hesitation at all.

      “We’re having the benefit dance next Friday night,” he told her. “Go with me.”

      She laughed nervously. “Hayes, I haven’t danced in years. I’m not sure I even remember how.”

      His dark eyes twinkled. “I’ll teach you.”

      She studied him with pursed lips. He really was a dish. He had thick blond hair that the sun had streaked, and a lean, serious face. His dark eyes were deep-set, heavy browed. His uniform emphasized his muscular physique. He was built like a rodeo rider, tall, with wide shoulders, narrow hips and long, powerful legs. Plenty of single women around Jacobsville had tried to land him. None had succeeded. He was the consummate bachelor. He seemed immune to women. Most of the time, he looked as if he had no sense of humor at all. He rarely smiled. But he could be charming when he wanted to, and he was turning on the charm now.

      Ivy hadn’t been asked out in months, and the man who’d asked had a reputation that even Merrie knew about, and Merrie didn’t live at home anymore.

      Having turned down the potential risk, Ivy kept to herself. Now Hayes was asking her to a dance. She walked around in jeans. She looked and acted like a tomboy. She frowned.

      “Come on,” he coaxed. “All work and no play will run you crazy.”

      “You ought to know,” she tossed back. “Didn’t you take your last vacation day four years ago?”

      He chuckled deeply. “I guess so. I love my job.”

      “We all noticed,” she said. “Between you and Cash Grier, drug dealers have left trails of fire behind them running for the border.”

      “We’ve got a good conviction rate,” he had to admit. “What’s holding you back? Nursing a secret passion for someone hereabouts?”

      She laughed. It was half true, but she wasn’t admitting it. “Not really,” she said. “But I’m not used to socializing. I didn’t even do it in college.”

      He frowned. “I know why you don’t date, Ivy,” he said unexpectedly. “You can’t live in the past. And not every man is like your father.”

      Her face closed up. Her hands clenched in her lap. She stared out at the horizon, trying not to let the memories eat at her consciousness. “My mother used to say that she thought he was a perfect gentleman before they married. They went together for a year before she married him. And then she discovered how brutal a man he really was. She was pregnant, and she had no place to go.”

      He caught one of her small hands in his big one. “He was an outsider,” he reminded her. “He moved here from Nevada. Nobody knew much about him. But you know people in Jacobsville.” He pursed his lips. “I daresay you know all about me.”

      That droll tone surprised her into laughing. “Well, yes, I do. Everybody does. The only brutal thing about you is your temper, and you don’t hit people unless they hit you first.”

      “That’s right. So you’d be perfectly safe with me for one evening.”

      She sighed. “You’re hard to refuse.”

      “You’ll have fun. So will I. Come on,” he coaxed. “We’ll help add some kennel space to the animal shelter and give people something to gossip about.”

      “It would be fun,” she came back. “You don’t date anybody locally.”

      He shrugged. “I like my own company too much. Besides,” he said ruefully, “there’s Andy. He stunts my social life.”

      She shivered. “I’m not going home with you,” she pointed out.

      “I know. I haven’t found a single woman who will.” He sighed resignedly. “He’s really very tame. He’s a vegetarian. He won’t even eat a mouse.”

      “It won’t work. Your scaly roommate is going to keep you single, just like Cag Hart’s did.”

      “I’ve had him for six years,” he said. “He’s my only pet.”

      “Good thing. He’d eat any other pet you brought home.”

      He scowled. “He’s a vegetarian.”

      “Are you sure? Have any dogs or cats disappeared on your place since you got him?” she teased.

      He made a face at her. “It’s silly to be afraid of a vegetarian. It’s like being afraid of a cow!”

      Her eyebrows arched. “Andy doesn’t look like any cow I ever saw,” she retorted. “His picture was on the front page of the paper when you took him to that third grade class to teach them about herpetology. I believe there was some talk about barring you from classrooms...?”

      He glowered. “He wasn’t trying to attack that girl. She was the tallest kid in the room, and he tried to climb her, that’s all.”

      She had to fight laughter. “I’ll bet you won’t take him out of the cage at a grammar school ever again,” she said.

      “You can bet on that,” he agreed. He frowned thoughtfully. “I expect he’ll have a terror of little girls for the rest of his life, poor old thing.”

      She shook her head. “Well, I’m not going into the room with him unless he’s confined.”

      “He hates cages. He’s too big for most of them, anyway. Besides, he sits on top of the fridge and eats bugs.”

      “You need to get out more,” she pointed out.

      “I’m trying to, if you’ll just agree,” he shot back.

      She sighed. “All right, I’ll go. But people will gossip about us for weeks.”

      “I don’t care. I’m immune to gossip. So are you,” he added when she started to protest.

      “I guess I am. Okay. I’ll go. Is it jeans and boots?”

      “No,” he replied. “It’s nice dresses and high heels.”

      “I hate dressing up,” she muttered.

      “So do I. But I can stand it if you can. And it’s for a good cause,” he added.

      “Yes, it is.”

      “So, I’ll pick you up here at six next Friday night.”

      She smiled. “I’ll buy a dress.”

      “That’s the spirit!”

      * * *

      Word got around town that she was going to the dance with Hayes. Nobody ever knew exactly how gossip traveled so fast, but it was as predictable as traffic flow in rush hour.

      Even Merrie heard about it, although Ivy had no idea how. She phoned her best friend two days before the dance.

      “Hayes actually asked you out?” Merrie exclaimed. “But he doesn’t date anybody! At least,