Confessing to the Cowboy - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,60
had creaked and groaned and made frightening noises. That’s when they’d decided maybe sleeping in the house in their own beds wasn’t such a bad idea.
Junior had wanted his own fort, a place where he could pretend he was in charge and away from his overprotective mother. He’d wanted to feel normal...like a man.
Junior Lempke wasn’t the killer they sought. Cameron knew it in his gut. He completely believed Junior’s story. “Are you going to arrest me, Sheriff Cam?” Junior asked, his voice trembling like that of a young child’s. “My mom is really going to be mad at me if I end up in jail.”
“No, I’m not going to arrest you, Junior,” Cameron said and slid a glance to Mary, who nodded her head in agreement.
“But you have to get your things out of the cabin,” she said. “I can’t let you use this place, Junior.” She gazed toward the open door where the snow was falling in sheets of white. “You wait until this snow moves out and then you get your things from here and never come around the cabins again.”
Junior’s lower lip quivered. “Am I fired, Mary?”
Mary moved over to stand next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Of course you aren’t fired. What would I do without you, Junior? You help me keep the café running smoothly.”
Junior’s chest puffed out with pride and Cameron admired Mary’s compassion, her gentleness with Junior. “You need to get on home now,” Cameron said to the man. “I doubt if Mary is going to need you in the kitchen. The snow is going to keep everyone inside for the night.”
“Call me tomorrow, Junior, and I’ll see if I need you to come in to work,” Mary added.
Junior pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Two is for Mary.”
“That’s right,” Mary replied.
“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow,” and with that Junior turned and ran out of the cabin.
Mary appeared to deflate, slumping down on the sofa atop Junior’s navy sleeping bag. “I stepped in here and knew I’d found Jason’s lair...right in my own backyard. My heart beat so hard it hurt and then I turned around to see Junior standing in the doorway. He told me I’d ruined everything and for one insane minute I thought he was the killer, and then you showed up.”
She reached over and attempted to straighten the lamp shade on the crooked lamp. “Poor Junior. He just wanted to feel normal, to have his own place without his mommy around.”
“Junior isn’t our killer,” Cameron said and sank down next to her on the sofa, instantly engulfed by the familiar raspberry scent of her. “But you got lucky because this could have been where the killer was staying. You could have walked inside this cabin and never left it again.” His heart filled his throat at the very thought. “You should have never come out here alone.”
“I know. I was foolish.” She looked at him and offered him a half smile. “Although I did tell Rusty that if I wasn’t back inside the café in twenty minutes to call you.”
“A lot of bad things could have happened to you in twenty minutes.” He took the strand of hair she twirled between two fingers and instead twirled it between his finger and thumb. Despite the circumstances she looked lovely with her cheeks pinked by the cold and her black winter coat making her hair appear almost as pale as the snow falling outside the cabin.
He so wanted to kiss her. When he’d walked into the cabin and had seen Junior standing in front of her and the wall filled with the news clippings, he’d thought about how easily he could lose her.
Dropping the piece of her hair, he leaned forward, wanting a kiss to assure himself she was really safe, but was surprised when she jumped up off the sofa and headed for the door. “We’d better get back to the café before we can’t find our way back.”
She had her back to him and he knew in his gut that she’d intentionally avoided his kiss. Maybe she regretted those moments they’d shared in her bed. He’d hoped the time they’d shared had been a beginning, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe it had simply been an awakening for her and there was no place in her future for him except as the local lawman. Maybe the truth of the matter was that he was simply a transitional man to her and nothing more.