LITMIR.BIZ

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his heart.

      He’d dated more women than he could keep up with after she’d dumped him and moved away. None of them could hold a candle to her. He rarely saw anyone for long. Just didn’t seem to find that spark with anybody. His mother had worried about him, and his brothers had called him a lovesick fool. Then a few years ago, he’d met somebody when he was visiting friends in Dallas. Tess had looked a little like Mary Beth, only taller. Smelled like her, too. They’d carried on hot and heavy for two years—even talked about getting married, but things hadn’t worked out. Tess wasn’t about to move to Naconiche and he hated the notion of living in Dallas. Tess found someone who loved city life, and she’d given him his walking papers.

      He hadn’t been as broken up about it as he should have been.

      Figuring that he ought to set his sights closer to home, J.J. had tried keeping company with a first-grade teacher at the local elementary school. Pretty young woman. Sweet natured. Crazy about Naconiche. His mama had loved Carol Ann. He’d dated her for over a year.

      But the chemistry just wasn’t there. Maybe it was because she didn’t smell right. Anyhow, as gently as he could, he ended their relationship. She married the associate pastor of the Baptist church the following year, and they had moved to the Valley when he got a church of his own there a few months ago. Carol Ann was better off with the preacher.

      Now Mary Beth was back. The spark was still there. And she still smelled like honeysuckle.

      Damn.

      One whiff, and he was like a bull after a cow at mating time.

      Fool.

      He wasn’t about to get mixed up with her again. He planned to give her a wide berth. She’d waltzed back into town, thinking she’d inherited a tidy sum. No way would she hang around when she discovered the truth. She’d be on the next bus out of town.

      That little Katy was cute as a button. She should have been his.

      But she wasn’t.

      Hell, he had to get some sleep. He strode back inside, shucking his jeans on the way to bed. He had to get his mind off Mary Beth. Anything between them was over and done with a long time ago. His plan was to totally steer clear of her and do no more than tip his hat if they met on the street. No need to go asking for trouble.

      THE NEXT MORNING, J.J. was on his third cup of coffee at the City Grill when Dwight Murdock took the stool beside him.

      “Good morning,” the lawyer said.

      J.J. merely grunted. He didn’t see a damned thing good about it. He hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours and he’d cut himself twice while he was shaving.

      “I was hoping to find you here,” Dwight said. “I’m concerned about Mary Beth Parker and her little girl.”

      “How so?”

      “Well, their sleeping accommodations for one thing.”

      “Coffee, Dwight?” Vera Whitehouse said, pouring a cup for him even as she asked.

      Vera, who wouldn’t weigh ninety pounds dripping wet, had been the morning waitress at the Grill for as long as J.J. could remember. He’d heard once that she’d arrived on the bus forty-some odd years ago, saw a sign in the window advertising for help and stayed on. She knew everybody in town by their first name—and most of their business.

      She warmed up J.J.’s cup. “You ready to order yet, J.J.?”

      “In a minute. What do you mean about their sleeping accommodations, Dwight? Ouida’s is a nice place, isn’t it?”

      “From what I understand,” the lawyer said.

      “Top-notch,” Vera chimed in. “Why, you could eat your dinner off Ouida Tankard’s floors.”

      “Problem is, they’re not staying at Ouida’s.”

      “Then where are they staying?”

      “At the restaurant.”

      Puzzled by the answer, J.J. asked, “What restaurant?”

      “The Tico Taco. The people who were leasing it moved out last week, left in the middle of the night owing two months rent. I tried to talk her out of staying there, but she was determined.”

      J.J.’s boots hit the floor, and he swung around on his stool. “Do you mean to tell me that you went off and left them at that Mexican joint on the old highway?”

      “She insisted. Reminded me that she owned it.”

      Vera rolled her eyes and muttered, “Men! Leaving Mary Beth on crutches and with that baby to tend to. Why, I’d bet my bottom dollar the sorry bunch that ran the place didn’t even leave a scrap of food in the place.”

      “Hell’s bells, Dwight!” J.J. slapped a couple of bills on the counter and stalked off, grabbing his hat from the rack on his way out the door.

      “Wait! Wait, J.J.,” Vera yelled. She came running after him with three small cartons of milk cradled in one arm and a bag in the other. “Here’s some milk and doughnuts. You bring them to town for a decent meal. I’ll bet that poor lamb is starving.”

      J.J. cursed Dwight Murdock all the way to the Tico Taco. For a smart lawyer, sometimes that old man didn’t have the brains God gave a billy goat.

      Chapter Three

      “Mommy, Mommy, are you awake?” Katy asked as she shook her.

      Mary Beth opened one eye. “I am now.”

      “I have to go to the Señoritas, and somebody is knocking on the front door.”

      Groaning, Mary Beth struggled from the position she’d slept in. Her knee was stiff and her neck had a terrible crick in it. The banging on the door would wake the dead. How could she have slept through it? “I’m coming! I’m coming!”

      Katy began dancing from one foot to the other. “Mommy, I’ve gotta go. Now.”

      Since Katy’s need seemed more critical, she took her to the washroom, splashing cold water on her own face while they were there. The racket was still going on when they came out.

      Not taking time to locate a robe, she grabbed one of the tablecloths and wrapped it around her, sarong style. But the blasted thing fell off before she got to the door, tangling around one of her crutches as she darned near went sprawling.

      “Hold your horses!” she yelled. “I’m coming as fast as I can.” She unlocked the shaded front door and opened it a crack. There stood J. J. Outlaw breathing fire.

      “Dammit, have you lost your cotton-pickin’ mind?” he shouted.

      She felt as if he’d smacked her in the face with a bucket of slop. “I don’t think so,” she said in a tone that would have frozen a rump roast. “I’ve lost just about everything else, but my mind seems intact, thank you very much.” She slammed the door and turned the dead bolt.

      He started knocking again. “Mary Beth, let me in.”

      “Eat dirt.”

      “Mommy, who’s that outside?”

      “That’s Sheriff J.J., sweetie.”

      “Aren’t you going to let him in?”

      “No. He said a rude word. Besides, I’m still in my nightshirt. How about we get dressed and I’ll fix breakfast.”

      “He’s making an awful lot of noise.”

      “I know. Just ignore him, and he’ll go away. Would you like an omelette?”

      “With cheese?”

      “Absolutely.”

      “And orange juice?”

      “We

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