The Accidental Sheriff by Cathy McDavid Read Free Book Online Page A

you thought this through?”
    “It so happens I have.”
    Carolina took her older sisters’ criticism in stride. She’d expected nothing less than shock and outrage from her family when she’d informed them of the run-in with her boss after lunch with Neil. The only one of them who might have understood her reasons was Corrine. She, however, was still cruising the Caribbean with her new husband and wouldn’t be back for several more days.
    “What if you lose your job?” Vi asked.
    She was the oldest of the four sisters and the first to make their mother’s fondest wish come true by giving her a grandchild. A girl. No surprise there, the Tucker-Sweetwater clan was overrun with members of the fairer sex. Even their cousin Jake, the lone male in their generation, had produced four daughters. With Carolina and Rachel still single and Vi having trouble getting pregnant a second time, all hopes were now pinned on Corrine to break the trend.
    “I won’t lose my job.” Carolina tried to convey a confidence she was far from feeling. Ward had made his displeasure at her defiance abundantly clear. She was still smarting fromhis verbal reprimand. “If he was going to fire me, he’d have done it already.”
    “Maybe not. He could be waiting.” Jake stepped out onto the redwood deck, carrying a plastic pitcher of fruit punch and a bag of potato chips. He’d invited his cousins over for a lazy Saturday afternoon of hanging out in his backyard and enjoying the spectacular mountain views. The girls had insisted on playing in the hot tub. Briana was recruited to supervise them in exchange for getting a day shaved off her punishment. She’d been grounded a month for the parking lot fender bender.
    “Waiting for what?” Carolina sipped her iced tea. She’d contemplated asking for a beer but was afraid it might look as if she was drowning her sorrows.
    “You to quit,” Jake said.
    “Why would I quit?”
    Jake set the fruit punch and chips down on a picnic table beside the hot tub. His three oldest daughters, along with Vi’s rambunctious preschooler, scrambled from the hot tub in a noisy, chaotic frenzy. Leaving a trail of puddles and wet footprints in their wake, they pounced on the snack as if they hadn’t eaten in days. The only one missing was Jake’s youngest. A year old, she was much too little to swim in the hot tub with her sisters and cousin. She and her mother had gone into town for some shopping, leaving Jake in charge of keeping the masses entertained.
    “Here. Put these on before you catch cold.” Vi jumped up from her chaise longue and handed the girls towels, making sure to wrap up her daughter snugly.
    “This isn’t Denver, Vi,” Rachel admonished. “It’s, what, seventy-two?”
    Jake tipped his chair back and studied the thermometer mounted beside the door. “More like seventy-eight.”
    “How quickly they forget.” Rachel laughed. “Fall in Arizona is like summer everywhere else.”
    Carolina’s relief that the subject had veered from her current work dilemma didn’t last. Jake refused to let it go.
    “Your boss might try and force you to quit,” he said, shooting her a quelling look, “by making your job a living hell.”
    “Don’t swear in front of the girls,” Vi hissed.
    “Sorry.”
    “I doubt Ward would pressure me like that. It would be considered harassment, and the station has a no-harassment policy.” Carolina leaned forward and reached for a chip, promising herself she’d have just one. A half dozen magically jumped into her open hand.
    “Not necessarily,” Jake answered. “Depends on how he went about it.”
    “What would be the benefit of me quitting versus firing me?”
    “He wouldn’t have to give you severance pay, for starters. And you probably couldn’t collect unemployment.”
    “Humph. I’m not sure even Ward’s that devious. He’s more of an explode one minute and forget about it the next kind of manager.” More potato chips appeared in Carolina’s