The Sheriff's Son (18 page)

Oh, dear God, she prayed as her heart broke into bits and pieces. What was she going to do? How could she protect Charlie from having his heart broken by rejection?

Before she could think of some sort of reply, the sound of an approaching vehicle brought her head up. Over Charlie's head, she could see Roy's Bronco and a trail of dust speeding toward them.

Charlie twisted his head around to look, then let out a loud yip of pleasure. “See, Mommy. I told you he'd come! I told you!”

Justine tried to smile, but it was almost impossible to do when her insides were shaking so badly she could hardly stand. She seriously doubted that Roy had come to make any sort of amends with her. He might have had an urge to see Charlie. But more than likely, she figured, he was coming with news about the twins' mother. Maybe he'd found her! Maybe Belinda Waller was coming back to reclaim the twins!

As soon as he spotted Justine and the children, Roy slacked the Bronco's speed to a crawl. Once he reached them, he pulled to the side of the dirt road and killed the engine.

For the first time in Roy's life, fear rushed through him like a tidal wave, the same sort of fear that he'd seen in the Sanchez woman's eyes when she told him about her missing son.

Up until an hour ago, Roy had been searching the desert hills for Jorge. He'd finally found the little boy and his dog in the bottom of a deep arroyo. Thankfully, the child had been unharmed, and he'd had the pleasure of returning him to his mother.

Ms. Sanchez had been lucky. She hadn't lost her son completely. But had Roy lost his? Had it taken him too long to get past his anger, to realize how much he needed Charlie? And his mother?

Slowly Roy climbed down from the Bronco. Charlie, who'd been clutching a fold of his mother's skirt, ran to him.

“Hi, Sheriff Roy!”

Roy squatted down on his boot heels to be on the boy's level. His heart ached with love as he looked into his son's freckled, beaming face. “Hi, Charlie. How have you. been?”

“I've been good.” He glanced back at his mother, gave her a big I-told-you-so grin, then turned back to Roy. “I told Mommy you would come. But she didn't believe me.”

Roy glanced over Charlie's head to where Justine still stood beside the twins. Her face was unmoving, and he wondered sickly if he'd managed to kill all the love she'd ever felt for him.

“She didn't think I'd come, eh?” Roy asked as he glanced back down at Charlie's happy face.

Charlie shook his head. “Nope. But I knew you would. ‘Cause Mommy told me that you're my daddy.”

Surprise flicked Roy's eyes up to Justine. She gave him one solemn nod, and his heart soared with inexplicable joy.

“And what do you think about that?”

Charlie reached out and stroked Roy's cheek with the same loving reverence he'd stroked Levi's face. “I'm real glad! I always wanted a daddy, and now I have one that's the sheriff, too!”

Roy couldn't say anything. There was a lump as big as
Texas in his throat. He clutched the child tightly against his chest and held him there for long moments.

“I'm pretty glad about it, too, partner,” Roy said huskily.

Charlie squirmed his head back far enough to look up at Roy. “Are me and Mommy gonna live with you now?”

Roy glanced once again at Justine. She was still standing completely still beside the baby stroller. The evening breeze ruffled a gauze skirt around her ankles and fluttered the coral scarf tied in her long hair. She was the most gorgeous, exciting woman he'd ever seen. No matter what happened in the past or what might happen in the future, he would always love her. He knew that as surely as he knew this valley.

“Your mommy and I are going to have a long talk about that,” he told Charlie.

Rising to his full height, he walked over to Justine. “Do you want to ride up to the house?”

Justine shook her head, her heart refusing to believe, to hope, that the three of them would ever be a family. Roy was as unpredictable as the desert wind, and she'd had her hopes dashed too many times to put any faith in him now.

“No,” she said. “Charlie can ride with you. I'll push the twins back.”

Roy looked as if he wanted to argue with her, but he just nodded and loaded Charlie into the Bronco.

After the vehicle had pulled away and eased its way on toward the ranch house, Justine pushed the twins slowly back up the slope of the mountain.

Seeing Roy's tender reaction to their son a moment ago had shaken her. For the past two weeks, she'd firmly convinced herself that he was a heartless, selfish man. But she wasn't the sort of woman who could love a man like that. And she did still love Roy. She'd known that the moment she looked up and saw his Bronco coming toward her.

So what was she going to do now? Marry him so that
Charlie could live with his father and Roy could be with his son? Would knowing Charlie was happy be enough for her?

Back at the house, she turned the sleepy twins over to Chloe, then walked out to the courtyard, where Roy was kneeling beside Charlie on his sandpile.

When Roy saw Justine approaching them, he rose and went to meet her. For the first time since he'd arrived, she noticed he was dressed as though he'd just gotten off the job. His gun was still strapped to his hips, his badge still pinned to his khaki shirt. She couldn't help but be struck by his tough masculinity, and yet there was a weariness about his face that made him vulnerable somehow.

“Don't let me take you away from Charlie,” she told him. “He's been dying to see you for a long time.”

His blue eyes lovingly touched her face. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her to carry his baby alone, to give birth to and raise him alone and away from her family. And she'd done it all out of love, he realized. Love for him and for their baby.

“I wished I'd come sooner.”

Her heart felt as if a hand were squeezing it. She drew in a long breath in hopes of easing the pain.

“I wish you had, too. For Charlie's sake.”

“I'm not here solely for Charlie's sake,” he said.

Her brows lifted. “For your own?”

Roy took her by the arm, led her past Charlie and out the back entrance of the courtyard.

“Charlie won't—” she began, only to have him interrupt her.

“I've already explained to our son that his mother and daddy are going to have a long talk by themselves. He understands.”

“Apparently more than I do,” she said with a weary sigh. “He believes you love him.”

“I do. More than you'll ever know.”

“He believes you love me, too.”

“He's right. I do.”

Unable to hide the pain in her eyes, she glanced at him sharply. “You don't have to tell me that, Roy. I'm not going to try to stop you from seeing Charlie. You're his father. I want you to
be
his father.”

He guided her over to a stand of pine trees. The shade was deep and cool, and the breeze sang through the boughs above their heads. Justine leaned her back against the largest trunk.

“I'm not saying anything I don't mean, Justine. You and I—we've gone too far to be skipping around the truth now.”

She slowly searched his eyes, and what she found there made her heart melt like chocolate candy in the warm sun.

“I don't understand you, Roy. You ordered me out of your house.”

He grimaced. “I was angry and hurt. I couldn't believe that I'd been cheated out of five years of my child's life.”

Tears filled her eyes. “That wasn't the way I wanted it to be, Roy. Not for you or me, or Charlie.”

He took her hand and clasped it tightly between the two of his. “I know that. It was just hard to accept that you kept his existence from me for so long.”

Justine shook her head with deep regret. It was as Rose had said, she thought. Both of them had done what they believed was right, yet all of them had wound up being hurt.

“To be honest, Roy, I came back to the Hondo Valley with intentions of never seeing you again, or telling you about Charlie. Our affair had been over for a long time. You'd married Marla, and I certainly didn't think you'd want anything to do with me. Or a ready-made family.”

With a groan, he tugged her head against his shoulder and held her tightly against him. “You can't imagine how many times down through the years I'd wished it had been
you who'd come to me and told me you were pregnant with my child. Then, to find out that you really had been… It crushes me, Justine. To think of all the wasted time you and I and Charlie could have had together. Instead, we were kept apart, because of Marla's lies.”

She lifted her head to look at him. “It's been two weeks since you found out about Charlie. I thought you'd decided to put us out of your life.”

“It's not easy for me to forgive or forget, Justine,” he admitted with a rueful twist to his face. “For the first few days, I was so angry I couldn't see straight. Then I began to miss you both terribly, and I knew that if I was ever going to be happy I was going to have to do what you said and put the past behind me. I have, Justine.” His hands reached up and gently framed her face. “I've spent the bigger part of today searching for a missing boy not much older than Charlie. His parents are separated, and he thought he could walk all the way to Alto to see his father.”

Justine gasped with fear for the unknown child. “Did you find him?”

Roy nodded. “He was crying and scared, but safe.”

“Thank God.”

“Yes, thank God. I tell you, Justine, when I found that boy, I vowed to myself that Charlie would never have to be without his father. And that you would never have to experience the terror his mother went through before we returned her son to her.”

“Oh, Roy, your job is—” She paused, then swallowed, in an effort to collect her surging emotions. “You do such good things for people, and I'm so very proud of you. But it scares me at times. Especially when I know you're out there tracking down deranged people with guns.”

He smiled with gentle understanding. “Justine, I've been a law officer for many years now. I'm well trained. I know how to handle myself in dangerous situations. I promise you, I'll never try to be the hero, or take an unnecessary
chance and put myself in the line of fire. Especially now that I have you and Charlie in my life. I want to stay safe and sound for the both of you.”

Suddenly she was sobbing tears of joy. “You really do mean all of that—don't you?”

Still smiling, he wiped her eyes. “Of course I mean it. I want to marry you. To give you and Charlie my name.”

She gripped his arms and pressed her cheek against his heart. “I love you, Roy. I'm going to spend the rest of my life making everything up to you.”

“No,” he said as he eased her face up to his. “We both made mistakes. We'll make it up to each other.”

Lowering his head, he kissed her with love and promise and hope. “Maybe we can have other children, Justine? And this time I can be there to help you. To experience it all with you.”

Her head was reeling with happiness. “Would you like that?”

He gave her a slow, sexy grin. “I can't wait to get started,” he whispered.

Laughing breathlessly, she grabbed his hand and started leading him back toward the house. “Then we'd better go tell Charlie and the rest of the family.”

“Do you think they'll be happy for us?”

“They'll be thrilled we're getting married,” she assured him. “Now, if you could track down the twins' mother and Rose could find someone to help her with the cattle, everything would be so much better for all of us.”

“I promise I'll help your family as much as I can, Justine. The future is going to get better. Starting now. With the two of us,” he whispered, his blue eyes sparkling with love.

“Well, I'm sure Aunt Kitty is going to insist on toasting the good news.” Her eyes suddenly widened with mischief, and she began to laugh. “Speaking of drinking a toast,
Rose just bought a new jug of apple cider. I'm sure she'd open it for you.”

Laughing, he caught her by the waist and tugged her into the circle of his arms. “I think it's time I paid you back for that little shower you gave me.”

“Roy!”

Her squeal was blotted out by his kiss, and as the last rays of light fell behind the mountains in the distance, Justine took sweet punishment from the sheriff of Lincoln County.

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eISBN 978-14592-7283-5

THE SHERIFF'S SON

Copyright ©1997 by Stella Bagwell

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