The Sheriff and the Baby by C.C. Coburn Read Free Book Online Page B

out of there, and fast.
    “Like I was saying, haven’t you got a whole barn full of animals waiting back at the ranch for you to torment?” Matt said, holding Sarah protectively against him.
    A slow grin spread across his brother’s face. “That I do,” he agreed, a little too readily, making Matt even more suspicious about his motives.
    His stomach sank to his boots when Luke said, “Seems my little brother’s in an awful hurry to be left alone with you, so I’ll be taking my leave, if you don’t mind.” He turned and winked at Matt, then slipped out the door.
    Matt stole a glance at Beth. Her face was bright red with embarrassment. He didn’t know what to say in answer to Luke’s parting shot. He’d been set up and he hadn’t seen it coming! The silence in the room stretched to a minute, then two. He wished Sarah would start fussing, but she slept on, contented in his arms.
     
    B ETH FIDGETED WITH the sheet. Was Luke implying that Matt was… interested in her? Surely not! They hardly knew each other.
    She changed the subject. “Becky said you’re a widower.”
    From his pained look, she knew she’d struck a raw nerve.
    He put Sarah in her crib, tenderly covered her with the blanket, then raised his head. “My wife died three years ago,” he murmured.
    The agony she saw etched in his eyes made her regret her prying. “And you’re still in love with her,” she said softly.
    “No.” He spoke too quickly and drew his hand throughhis hair in what seemed to be an uncharacteristically nervous gesture.
    He stood and said, “I’d…better be off. But first I want to apologize for that outburst earlier. I think my busybody of a brother was trying to matchmake. It was inappropriate and I’m sorry for any embarrassment it caused you.”
    Matt O’Malley was blushing! Beth found it touching.
    “It didn’t embarrass me,” she told him, although that wasn’t true. “And…I’m so sorry about your wife.”
    Matt gave her a curt nod and left.
    “Phew!” Beth fanned her face after the door closed behind him. Questioning Matt about his wife sure had him heading out in a hurry. He must still love her, she thought, smoothing the sheets. In spite of his denial.
    She nestled beneath the covers and thought about the sheriff. He was a complex man, an intriguing man. Big but gentle, physically strong yet weak stomached. She smiled at that one. He’d been so good-natured about Lucy’s teasing in the delivery room. And he obviously cared about his family, just as they cared about him.
    He had the one thing she’d always wanted—a big, loving family. She’d always craved siblings to play with, fight with and go on holidays with. Instead, she’d been a lonely child who’d had to rely on her own company. She supposed there was one benefit to her upbringing; it had stood her in good stead for the past months of enforced solitude.
    There was something inherently appealing about a man who could grieve for his wife for years. Unlike me, she thought with a pang of conscience. She’d grieved more for the sham that was her marriage than for Marcus, after his treachery was revealed.
    How could she have lived with someone for so long and not really known him?
     
    T HE DAY BEFORE Marcus’s funeral, she’d found a safety-deposit-box key taped beneath a kitchen drawer.
    While searching for a silver cake knife her mother-in-law had given them and now wanted back, she’d become frustrated when the drawer had stuck. Worn out with grief and exhaustion, she’d wrenched it so hard, it came completely off its runners. As she was trying to replace it, her fingers had made contact with something taped under it. She pulled off the tape and withdrew a key. It looked like the one Marcus claimed he’d returned to the bank after they’d installed a home safe.
    Curious to see if it was the same key, she’d gone to the bank and used it. Turned out it fit their old safety-deposit box and inside were stacks of hundred-dollar bills