Read Online Sheriff Needs a Nanny by Teresa Carpenter - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Teresa Carpenter
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her lips. Soon he’d be looking for a new nanny.
She shook her head. “Not always. Did you eat? Why don’t I put on some clothes and come heat up some food for you, and you can tell me what the doctor said?”
“I’m fine.” Food sounded good, but more trouble than he wanted to go to this late. “I’m just going to shower and go to bed. Good night.” He pulled the door closed and waited until he heard the bolt.
Ten minutes later he had Mickey tucked into bed, and was stepping from the shower when he heard a knock on the back door. It could only be Nikki. He considered ignoring it. Hadn’t he faced enough temptation tonight? But he owed her for his previous rudeness.
Sighing, he pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of navy sweatpants and went to answer the summons. He opened the door to a steaming plate of food. Savory aromas floated to him on the night air, making his stomach growl.
Nikki cocked her head and grinned. “It goes against my civic duty to let the Sheriff go to bed hungry.”
She’d donned low-riding gray sweatpants, and her pink tank top stopped just above her waist, leaving a band of creamy skin visible. The sight of her made him hungry for more than food.
“Is that macaroni and cheese?”
“It’s homemade mac and cheese. Plus smoked sausage and sliced tomatoes.”
“Okay, you can come in.” He took the plate and left her to follow him. “How did you manage homemade macaroni and cheese with only a coffeemaker and a microwave?”
“It’s leftovers from dinner with my sister. It’s my mom’s recipe. I make it better.”
“This is pretty good.” He stabbed a piece of sausage. “You’ll have to send my compliments to your sister. It must have been rough on the two of you to lose them both together.”
“Yeah.” She sat down across from him and laid her hands flat on the table. “But they would have wanted it that way. My mother was a good military wife, she went wherever Dad was stationed. They loved each other very much—were the center of each other’s lives. My sister and I completed the circle, but they always came first for each other.”
“It must be nice to have had such a bedrock foundation.”
“There were trade-offs. Mom coped with all the travel by micromanaging what she did have control of—the family.”
She reached out, caught herself, and her fingertipsstopped just shy of his. How he resented that quarter-inch of space.
“It was bad tonight?” She zeroed in on what was bothering him.
“Two dead at the scene. A man fell asleep at the wheel. Killed himself and his adult daughter. The wife survived, but she’ll just wish she were dead.”
“Oh, Trace. I’m so sorry. It must be difficult to work accident scenes after losing your wife to a drunk driver.”
“I had to leave Homicide. I couldn’t make death my business anymore, or deal with it every day. This is better. There’s probably the same amount of fatalities, but they’re spaced further apart. And it’s not the focus of what I do.”
“No community meetings when you worked Homicide?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. She had a talent for making him smile. “Hardly. I was just asking myself how I’m supposed to keep Mickey safe in today’s world. So much violence. Accidents, disease…Every couple of months there’s an accident on the highway. With the casino on the reservation so close we see drunks, sleepy gamblers, tourists coming from the east. Illegal aliens freeze or die from the heat, trying to cross over the mountains. I’m all he has. What happens to him if something happens to me?”
“Trace, you know better. You can’t focus on the negative. Make the most of what you have. Build your own bedrock with Mickey. Amanda and I knew we wereloved, and that’s huge—especially when there are a lot of changes or unknowns in your life.”
Great. “And I’m the current unknown in my son’s life.”
“No, you’re the new constant in his life.”
“Little Miss
She shook her head. “Not always. Did you eat? Why don’t I put on some clothes and come heat up some food for you, and you can tell me what the doctor said?”
“I’m fine.” Food sounded good, but more trouble than he wanted to go to this late. “I’m just going to shower and go to bed. Good night.” He pulled the door closed and waited until he heard the bolt.
Ten minutes later he had Mickey tucked into bed, and was stepping from the shower when he heard a knock on the back door. It could only be Nikki. He considered ignoring it. Hadn’t he faced enough temptation tonight? But he owed her for his previous rudeness.
Sighing, he pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of navy sweatpants and went to answer the summons. He opened the door to a steaming plate of food. Savory aromas floated to him on the night air, making his stomach growl.
Nikki cocked her head and grinned. “It goes against my civic duty to let the Sheriff go to bed hungry.”
She’d donned low-riding gray sweatpants, and her pink tank top stopped just above her waist, leaving a band of creamy skin visible. The sight of her made him hungry for more than food.
“Is that macaroni and cheese?”
“It’s homemade mac and cheese. Plus smoked sausage and sliced tomatoes.”
“Okay, you can come in.” He took the plate and left her to follow him. “How did you manage homemade macaroni and cheese with only a coffeemaker and a microwave?”
“It’s leftovers from dinner with my sister. It’s my mom’s recipe. I make it better.”
“This is pretty good.” He stabbed a piece of sausage. “You’ll have to send my compliments to your sister. It must have been rough on the two of you to lose them both together.”
“Yeah.” She sat down across from him and laid her hands flat on the table. “But they would have wanted it that way. My mother was a good military wife, she went wherever Dad was stationed. They loved each other very much—were the center of each other’s lives. My sister and I completed the circle, but they always came first for each other.”
“It must be nice to have had such a bedrock foundation.”
“There were trade-offs. Mom coped with all the travel by micromanaging what she did have control of—the family.”
She reached out, caught herself, and her fingertipsstopped just shy of his. How he resented that quarter-inch of space.
“It was bad tonight?” She zeroed in on what was bothering him.
“Two dead at the scene. A man fell asleep at the wheel. Killed himself and his adult daughter. The wife survived, but she’ll just wish she were dead.”
“Oh, Trace. I’m so sorry. It must be difficult to work accident scenes after losing your wife to a drunk driver.”
“I had to leave Homicide. I couldn’t make death my business anymore, or deal with it every day. This is better. There’s probably the same amount of fatalities, but they’re spaced further apart. And it’s not the focus of what I do.”
“No community meetings when you worked Homicide?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. She had a talent for making him smile. “Hardly. I was just asking myself how I’m supposed to keep Mickey safe in today’s world. So much violence. Accidents, disease…Every couple of months there’s an accident on the highway. With the casino on the reservation so close we see drunks, sleepy gamblers, tourists coming from the east. Illegal aliens freeze or die from the heat, trying to cross over the mountains. I’m all he has. What happens to him if something happens to me?”
“Trace, you know better. You can’t focus on the negative. Make the most of what you have. Build your own bedrock with Mickey. Amanda and I knew we wereloved, and that’s huge—especially when there are a lot of changes or unknowns in your life.”
Great. “And I’m the current unknown in my son’s life.”
“No, you’re the new constant in his life.”
“Little Miss
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