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

really, really fast. But Mommy won’t let me run him yet. She says I need to be six, and then I can take him on the galloping track.”
    â€œSounds like you have something to look forward to,” Roy told the boy.
    â€œCharlie is like his Aunt Chloe. He has a great love affair with horses,” Justine said as she walked up to the two of them.
    Roy looked at her. “And what about you?”
    Justine didn’t want to get involved in small talk with this man. He’d caused her so much pain that she still, after all these years, wasn’t able to forgive him. But since Charlie was present, Justine didn’t want to appear short or impolite.
    â€œI love horses. I just don’t sleep, eat and breathe them, as my sister does,” she said, her eyes meeting his, then glancing away.
    â€œKitty tells me Rose and Chloe went into town earlier.”
    Justine nodded. “To get a few things for the babies. Clothes, diapers, bottles and such. I’m sure they’ll be back any time now. Chloe doesn’t want the horses to go five minutes past their regular feeding time. She says it upsets their digestion, not to mention their nerves.”
    â€œI don’t behave too well when I’m hungry, either.”
    Justine didn’t think a full stomach could help Roy’s attitude. In fact, she was beginning to wonder what it would take to make the man smile more often.
    At that moment, Kitty appeared in the open doorway behind them. “Sheriff Pardee,” she called through the screen door. “The girls are back from town now, if you’d like to come in and speak with them.”
    â€œI’ll be right there.” He turned and headed toward the house. To Justine’s surprise, Charlie followed behind him. She opened her mouth to call him back, then closed it just as quickly. Not allowing her son to go into the house would look odd. Besides, being around Roy for a few minutes wasn’t going to harm him. Charlie was fascinated with the sheriff, not the man, she assured herself.
    With the two of them gone, Justine decided to walk down to the stables and feed the horses. Roy might keep Chloe and Rose tied up for several minutes, and she knew both her sisters would enjoy a little extra time with the babies.
    The stables were built on a sloping hill at the foot of the mountain. Several yards to the northwest, where the land flattened out to become valley floor, a plowed circle of track covered a half-mile distance.
    Justine had seen her father stand many a time at the edge of the track, watching proudly as Chloe galloped his racehorses. He would be there no more, Justine thought sadly. And she was beginning to wonder how much longer they would be able to hold on to the racing stock. It was very expensive to keep a stable of horses, and since their father’s death, they’d been faced with one debt after another. But there was always the possibility that one of the animals would win them a chunk of money. At least Chloe liked to think so.
    Justine was filling the last hay bag with alfalfa when Roy entered the long barn. Determined to ignore her poundingheart, she leaned against the door of the stall and waited while he approached her.
    â€œWhat are you doing down here?” she asked, annoyed that her voice had come out husky, rather than in the cool tone she’d been hoping for.
    He didn’t smile at her, but when his eyes met hers, they didn’t seem nearly as hard as they had yesterday. Or was she only imagining that they had softened?
    â€œI wanted to talk to you, remember?”
    She’d been hoping he would forget. “I knew my sisters were busy, so I decided to do the feeding for them.” Her eyes slipped over his face. “Did they have any helpful information?”
    Roy shook his head. “No. All of you say there’s no one out there that you know who would leave babies on the Bar M’s doorstep.”
    Justine made a helpless