Jessica's Cowboy Daddy - Melinda Barron Page 0,13
of that stuff they do on TV?” Aurora asked.
Nate laughed. “We’re not getting a signal from either.” He turned his gaze back to Jessica. “What did the ring look like?”
“It’s an emerald, a huge one, surrounded by diamonds on either side.” She shrugged. “It belonged to Mrs. Dobbs’ family when they moved to America.”
“Do you know how much it’s worth?” Nate asked.
“I have no clue,” Jessica answered.
“Five caret emerald is worth about forty grand,” Nate said. She could tell by the way he watched her that he wanted to see her reaction.
“It was heavy, I know that.” She held up her hand. “Grant used to get mad because I wouldn’t wear it around the house.”
“Did you and Grant live together?” Nate asked.”
“No.” She looked over to where Hawk stood. “We dated about a year, and he asked me to marry him and I admit I was star-struck. His family was a big deal in Bringham. But after we’d been engaged for a while I realized I couldn’t spend the rest of my life with him. I didn’t love him enough.”
Nate nodded. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
“No.” She shrugged. “She was here, she left, and I didn’t see her again. Maybe she had a wreck somewhere. I have no clue.”
Nate looked like he was going to say something, but decided against it at the last moment. He nodded ever so slightly and said, “I might be back.”
“I hope you’ll have a donut next time,” Jessica said.
“I’ll walk you out,” Hawk said.
The two lawmen left the building and Aurora said, “Oh my God.”
Jessica looked over to where the retirees still sat, their heads close together as they talked. About her.
“So I wonder where she is,” Aurora said.
“Probably holed up in a hotel at some resort so the police will come and grill me,” Jessica said. “She never liked me.”
“How long were you engaged?”
Jessica shrugged. “A few months. I realized after a while it just wasn’t for me.”
She stared out the front window where Hawk stood talking to the Texas Ranger. Hawk nodded several times, and the ranger kept looking in the window. She wondered if he was deciding whether or not he should come back inside and arrest her. But arrest her for what?
“Damn you Matilda Dobbs,” she whispered.
“Are you okay?” Aurora asked, her concern obvious in her voice.
“I’m fine,” Jessica said. She looked over to where the retirees still sat. It would be all over town in an hour that she’d been questioned by the Texas Rangers in the disappearance of a woman who had come into the bakery on Monday. What would that do for business?
The door opened and Hawk came back inside. He had a frown on his face, and Aurora jumped up from her stool. She grabbed the boxes of cookies and said, “I’ll be on my way. I still have to stop at the grocery store. See you later.”
She hurried out the door, and the retirees grew silent. Jessica glanced at them, and they all looked away.
Hawk came over to the counter and said, “Monday, huh?”
It was horrible to be caught in a lie. But there was nothing for it but to nod and say, “Monday.”
Would he accuse her of doing something to Mrs. Dobbs, as the ranger had just done? Their gazes locked and they stared at each other for a few moments. Finally he said, “I’ll bring pizza tonight. How does that sound?”
Jessica sighed in relief. Take-out food usually meant a Daddy/Little night. He didn’t want her to cook. He wanted her to be his little sweet pea. She prayed that’s what his words meant now.
“See you around seven,” he said.
He made a kissy face once more, then turned toward the door. When he was gone she looked back at the retirees. They all had phones in their hands.
This day was not turning out as she’d planned.
“Do you think she killed the woman?”
“No!” Hawk paced Holt’s office, his heart pounding at today’s turn of events. “I could tell Monday that something was wrong, but she said everything was fine. I never expected to have a Texas Ranger show up at the meth lab and tell me he needed to talk to me.”
“Did he know the two of you are in a relationship?” Holt asked.
“No, he was there as a courtesy to let the local LEO know what was happening. I told him Jessica and I were seeing each other.”
“Was that wise?” Holt asked.
“Do you think I should have waited until after