he’d made it down the brick steps. She cut the engine and reached for her purse before swinging out of the car.
Vander tried not to notice the curves hugged by her sage green dress suit decorated with a simple strand of pearls. Her shoes and purse matched—a totally Southern thing that still mystified him after all these years—and were an off-white. That luscious brown hair of hers blew in the breeze, and his fingers twitched with the longing to touch it.
When she saw him, she immediately halted. “Oh!”
He fought a smile at her greeting. “Hello, Shelby. I was just calling on your boss.”
She looked toward the house. “I didn’t want to use her name. Gail has had too many people use her. It was enough that she recommended you.”
Vander was seeing Shelby in a new light after his talk with Gail. There were layers there, and he suddenly wanted to discover them, everything from why she liked order to the kind of ethics that hadn’t allowed her to use Gail’s name. “On that, we agree. Some of the work I’ve done for Gail has been to protect her from just those kinds of people.”
Her nod was perfunctory. “I’d imagine so. I’ll…see you for our meeting later on.”
He’d scheduled them for five-thirty since the rest of his day had already been booked. “I’m looking forward to it,” she added, her voice a bit husky.
He wanted to linger, he realized, but that was exactly why he couldn’t. After giving her a curt nod, he started off to his car.
“Would you like a penny?” she called out to him.
Turning, he watched as she opened her baby blue coin purse and extracted two coins. “What for?”
“The fountain,” she said, holding the coin out. “So you can make a wish. You don’t keep change in your pocket.”
That was an interesting observation, and he found himself walking back toward her. “How did you know that?”
“Men jingle when they carry coins,” she said matter-of-factly. “You don’t.”
Oh, the jokes he could make. “Indeed I don’t.”
Her cheeks pinkened prettily, and he realized she was blushing. He fought the urge to clear his throat. She extended the coin to him again, but he shook his head.
“I don’t make wishes,” he said flatly.
Her mouth parted in surprise. “Ever?”
“Ever.”
She lowered her head and held the coin to her ample breasts for a moment, drawing his eyes somewhere they shouldn’t go. Then she threw the coin in the fountain.
“I’m sorry you don’t believe in making wishes,” she said, studying him closely.
How was he supposed to explain himself to her without giving away too much? The day his mom had told him about his daddy, he’d gone to bed and made a wish that his father would rise from the dead like Jesus had.
Of course, his daddy hadn’t risen, and Vander had wiped away tears at the graveside as the other officers lowered his daddy’s coffin into the ground.
He’d wished a few times more. For his mommy to stop locking him out of her room and not coming out all day. For someone to find the man who had killed his father.
None of his wishes had been granted. And so he’d stopped believing.
“I make my own fate,” he told Shelby, his voice a little harsher than usual.
“Wishes are like prayers,” she said, fingering the coin still in her hand. “There’s an infinite supply. You can never wish too much.”
Anger rocked through him, and he ground his teeth to control it. “Wishing doesn’t make anything happen. Shelby, I need to go now. I’m late for my next meeting. I’ll see you and Sadie later.”
He stalked past her to his black SUV and slammed the door once he was inside. She was watching him, a pretty picture in the sunlight. When she turned back toward the fountain with the frolicking cherubs and threw in the remaining coin, he made himself pull out of the driveway instead of gunning it down the lane as he was tempted to do.
Chapter 6
Shelby watched Vander speed down Gail’s driveway to
Vander tried not to notice the curves hugged by her sage green dress suit decorated with a simple strand of pearls. Her shoes and purse matched—a totally Southern thing that still mystified him after all these years—and were an off-white. That luscious brown hair of hers blew in the breeze, and his fingers twitched with the longing to touch it.
When she saw him, she immediately halted. “Oh!”
He fought a smile at her greeting. “Hello, Shelby. I was just calling on your boss.”
She looked toward the house. “I didn’t want to use her name. Gail has had too many people use her. It was enough that she recommended you.”
Vander was seeing Shelby in a new light after his talk with Gail. There were layers there, and he suddenly wanted to discover them, everything from why she liked order to the kind of ethics that hadn’t allowed her to use Gail’s name. “On that, we agree. Some of the work I’ve done for Gail has been to protect her from just those kinds of people.”
Her nod was perfunctory. “I’d imagine so. I’ll…see you for our meeting later on.”
He’d scheduled them for five-thirty since the rest of his day had already been booked. “I’m looking forward to it,” she added, her voice a bit husky.
He wanted to linger, he realized, but that was exactly why he couldn’t. After giving her a curt nod, he started off to his car.
“Would you like a penny?” she called out to him.
Turning, he watched as she opened her baby blue coin purse and extracted two coins. “What for?”
“The fountain,” she said, holding the coin out. “So you can make a wish. You don’t keep change in your pocket.”
That was an interesting observation, and he found himself walking back toward her. “How did you know that?”
“Men jingle when they carry coins,” she said matter-of-factly. “You don’t.”
Oh, the jokes he could make. “Indeed I don’t.”
Her cheeks pinkened prettily, and he realized she was blushing. He fought the urge to clear his throat. She extended the coin to him again, but he shook his head.
“I don’t make wishes,” he said flatly.
Her mouth parted in surprise. “Ever?”
“Ever.”
She lowered her head and held the coin to her ample breasts for a moment, drawing his eyes somewhere they shouldn’t go. Then she threw the coin in the fountain.
“I’m sorry you don’t believe in making wishes,” she said, studying him closely.
How was he supposed to explain himself to her without giving away too much? The day his mom had told him about his daddy, he’d gone to bed and made a wish that his father would rise from the dead like Jesus had.
Of course, his daddy hadn’t risen, and Vander had wiped away tears at the graveside as the other officers lowered his daddy’s coffin into the ground.
He’d wished a few times more. For his mommy to stop locking him out of her room and not coming out all day. For someone to find the man who had killed his father.
None of his wishes had been granted. And so he’d stopped believing.
“I make my own fate,” he told Shelby, his voice a little harsher than usual.
“Wishes are like prayers,” she said, fingering the coin still in her hand. “There’s an infinite supply. You can never wish too much.”
Anger rocked through him, and he ground his teeth to control it. “Wishing doesn’t make anything happen. Shelby, I need to go now. I’m late for my next meeting. I’ll see you and Sadie later.”
He stalked past her to his black SUV and slammed the door once he was inside. She was watching him, a pretty picture in the sunlight. When she turned back toward the fountain with the frolicking cherubs and threw in the remaining coin, he made himself pull out of the driveway instead of gunning it down the lane as he was tempted to do.
Chapter 6
Shelby watched Vander speed down Gail’s driveway to
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