LITMIR.BIZ

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told her he didn’t have any kids. And now here one stood, in the all-too-bizarre flesh.

      But almost immediately Hallie smiled, a bright practiced smile that could have fooled any one of her sisters but not him, and she offered her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Les.”

      Grudgingly, the kid shook her hand, then pulled back right away.

      “This is quite a surprise,” Hallie went on. “If you need to cancel lunch, Brady, I understand—”

      “No. Les is hungry, too. There’s a place a block away called the SteakOut. We can go there.”

      “A cop eating at a place called the SteakOut?” Les rolled her eyes dramatically. “How…small-town.”

      Brady scowled at her, then pointed north. “It’s that way, if you don’t mind walking.”

      As they started toward the intersection, he glanced at the department windows again, and saw even more faces pressed up against them. First they found out he apparently had a daughter no one knew about from a marriage no one knew about, and now he was meeting the sheriff’s new sister-in-law for lunch. He was going to be the subject of gossip so intense it would probably get back to Reese and Neely all the way down in the Caribbean.

      He really did have the damnedest luck.

      Chapter 4

      The SteakOut was the perfect ranch-country steakhouse, Hallie thought as they followed the hostess to a table. The walls were paneled with what looked like old barn siding, and the chandeliers were made from wagon wheels. Various brands hung on the walls, along with other cowboy stuff—lassos, horseshoes and blankets, a few rodeo champion belt buckles. The food smelled wonderful, making her realize how hungry she was, but apparently it wasn’t enough to distract the other diners from them.

      “Damn, all these hicks look like they’ve never seen a kid before,” Les muttered.

      “More likely, they’ve never seen a kid with him—” Hallie nodded toward Brady, who looked as if he’d rather be staked to an anthill under the desert sun “—who wasn’t in handcuffs.”

      And they probably hadn’t seen him in here with a woman before, either. In fact, she wouldn’t be surprised if this was the first time he’d been in the place.

      “Yeah, well, if they don’t quit staring, I’m gonna—”

      “What?” Hallie asked. “Give ’em something to stare at?”

      Les looked at her belligerently for a time before letting a smile slowly form. “This isn’t the worst I can get, you know.”

      “I know. I was your age once, too.”

      “Yeah, but that was a long time ago.”

      Hallie returned the smile. “Not so long that I couldn’t wrestle you to the ground and tickle you till you pee your pants.”

      On her left, sitting at the head of the table, Brady cleared his throat but didn’t say anything. Hallie exchanged looks with Les, then said, “I believe your father wants us to be quiet.”

      “You be quiet. I gotta go to the bathroom.” Les pushed her chair back, then headed back toward the entrance.

      As soon as she was gone, Hallie’s smile faded. Now that the surprise was wearing off, she knew it was silly, but she felt betrayed. She’d thought she and Brady were building some sort of friendship—thought they had some kind of connection that they lacked with most other people. He’d shared his secrets with her, for heaven’s sake.

      They probably hadn’t been secrets at all. Probably everyone in town knew everything about him, and he’d just lied to her.

      Lied.

      The man who’d told her he was as honest as the day was long, and she’d believed him.

      “Listen, Hallie…”

      Jaw clamped shut, she glanced at him. She wouldn’t make it easy for him by asking questions or responding in any way. Let him get the explanation out all on his own.

      “This is as big a surprise to me as anyone else.”

      Her resolution to stay quiet did a quick poof! into thin air.

      “You just happened to forget that your marriage to your ex-wife produced a daughter?”

      His mouth thinned. “No, of course not. But…she’s not my daughter. At least, that’s what I always believed.”

      “And why would you believe that? Because it was easier than being a part of her life? Because then you could go off to New Mexico and Colorado and Oklahoma and do what you wanted and never have to deal with her?”

      His eyes turned cold and hard, as if they’d been chipped from a chunk of frozen sky. “I believed it because her mother swore it was true. I told you Sandra had a lot of affairs. She was convinced that one of her boyfriends was Les’s father, not me. That’s when I ended the marriage.”

      “But Les uses your name. She believes you’re her father.”

      “I know. Apparently, Sandra lied to one of us.” A scowl settled over his features. “I don’t think Les knows why I haven’t been around for fourteen years, and if she doesn’t, I’d rather not tell her.”

      Of course not. What would it do to the mother-daughter relationship if he said, Hey, kid, you haven’t had a father in your life because your mother drove him away? Though judging from the way Les looked, Hallie wasn’t sure there was much of a mother-daughter relationship to damage.

      “I didn’t lie to you, Hallie. When you asked me if I had any kids, I honestly thought the answer was no.” He reached back to rub his neck as if it ached. “Even now I don’t know…”

      “But you’re going to let her stay.”

      “For a while. What else can I do?”

      He could put her on a southbound bus, or drag her onto an airplane, or simply call her mother and demand that she come and get her. He could even turn her over to social services. After all, a man had no obligations to his ex-wife’s child.

      But if she was his child, too…

      “I, uh…I can’t get off early today,” he went on, his gaze fixed somewhere around her hands, resting on the tabletop. “Reese is gone, and one of the deputies called in sick today, so we’re shorthanded. I was wondering…if maybe you could…” He drew a deep breath, then met her gaze. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

      She smiled a bit. “There’s no shame in asking favors. Everyone needs help from time to time.”

      “Not me.”

      “Ha. You need help right now, and the reason is on her way back here.” She didn’t need to look to know that Les was returning from the bathroom. The central focus of virtually every diner’s attention was enough to tell her.

      In a rush, Brady blurted out, “Will you keep an eye on her this afternoon?”

      “See? That wasn’t so bad.” She watched as Les circled the next table, then pulled out her chair. “I’d be happy to.”

      “Redneck goobers,” Les said as she sat down. “They should keep their looks to theirselves.”

      “Aw, come on, Les,” Hallie gently chided. “If you didn’t want people to look at you, you wouldn’t dress in a manner guaranteed to make them look.”

      The kid gave her a scornful look, then scanned the menu. “Jeez, did I forget to mention that I’m a vegetarian? And you bring me to a freakin’ steakhouse? Don’t you know what red meat does to your body? To say nothing of the fact that consuming animal flesh goes against the laws of nature.”

      “Animals eat animals in the wild,” Brady muttered.

      “Some

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