Read Online The Sheriff's Son by Stella Bagwell - Free Book Online Page B

know men like I do. But believe me, it doesn’t take very long to see through them,” Justine said flatly.
    Rose frowned as she watched her sister stuff several clean diapers into a duffel bag. “Well, I admit I haven’t had as much experience with men as you, but this attitude that you have toward the sheriff seems rather unfair. You make him sound like the cad who ended your engagement and left you pregnant with Charlie.”
    Justine hoped her face wasn’t white as she glanced evasively at her sister. “Believe me, Rose, all men are from the same mold. You ought to know that as well as I.”
    Rose walked over to the bedroom window and glanced out at the corrals in the distance. Her face was suddenly pinched with pain and disgust. “And you know I’ll never forget what Peter did to me, Justine. I’m frigid now because of him.”
    â€œOh, dear heaven, you’re not frigid, Rose!” Justine softly scolded her. “You just think you are.”
    Rose slowly turned back to her sister. “Frigid or not, I realize all men aren’t bastards. And I have a feeling that Sheriff Pardee is different from most men out there. I think deep down you know he’s different, too.”
    Justine sighed as she gazed at the two babies lying side by side on the double bed. They were looking up at her with trusting eyes, the same way Charlie did. Her heart surged with love. “Right now, I’m not concerned with Roy. I just want to make sure the twins are taken care of.”
    A few minutes later, Rose helped her carry the babies and the duffel bag out to her pickup, where the two women had strapped down a double car seat for children.
    After securing the babies, Justine climbed behind the steering wheel. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I don’t know how long this is going to take. Just make sure Charlie doesn’t eat any candy before supper.”
    Rose nodded and smiled. “He’ll be fine. As long as he’s with Chloe and the horses, he won’t even miss you.”
    â€œThat really makes me feel needed,” Justine said with a grin, then started the engine and pulled the gearshift into drive. “See you later.”
    Rose stepped back and waved her sister and the twins down the road.
    Thirty-five minutes later, Justine pulled into the parking lot in front of Ruidoso’s police department. Roy’s four-wheel-drive vehicle was parked to one side of the building. She parked beside it and killed the motor.
    She didn’t know what she was supposed to do now. She wasn’t about to leave the twins in the pickup alone while she went inside to find Roy. Nor was she capable of safely carrying both twins into the building with her.
    The dilemma was suddenly solved, as Roy and a man who appeared to be one of his deputies walked through thefront entrance. The two men paused on the steps and exchanged a few more words before Roy walked over to her vehicle.
    â€œAre you ready to go?” He glanced at the babies, then settled his gaze on Justine’s face.
    She wanted to stay angry with him, she wanted to look at him and feel nothing, yet she could do neither.
    â€œThe babies are strapped in their car seat. Do you want to move it to your vehicle or take mine?” she asked.
    He opened the door and motioned for her to scoot over and let him behind the wheel. “It’s only a few blocks to the ice-cream parlor,” he told her. “This will be faster.”
    Justine wedged herself as close as she could to the babies, but there just wasn’t enough room on the bench seat for her to put space between herself and Roy. His thigh was pressed into hers, and his upper arm pinned her shoulder to the back of the seat. Touching him like this was agony, and she figured he knew it.
    â€œI don’t like being manipulated,” she said as he steered the pickup onto a main thoroughfare.
    He glanced at her. “You think I’ve