“I’ll let you get to it.Thanks again,” she said and then turned away.
Wes watched her scurry back inside as he pulled out his gloves, then walked over to Levi.
“You ask her out yet?”
“Shut up.”
“I mean you can’t just wait for another blizzard to put her in your path.You’re going to have to make some effort.I bet a woman like Shelby gets a lot of offers.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No, it’s not,” Levi said as he expertly removed old, mangled nails.“She’s a beautiful, smart woman willing to give you the time of day—Lord knows why.You’ve got to jump on this opportunity before she rolls back out of town.”
“She’s got a lot on her plate here, and I don’t think spending time with me rates at the top of her list.And it definitely won’t encourage her family to welcome her home.”
Levi pulled out a box of weatherproof nails and started to refasten the post to the steps first, then the railing to the posts.
“Why don’t you let her decide if she cares what her family thinks?Besides, you two can be discreet for a bit.”
Wes looked over his shoulder to see Shelby clearing the kitchen table and Zeke waved with a big smile on his face.
“Her grandfather will approve, and that’s probably the only opinion she cares about,” Levi pointed out.
“Maybe.”
“I heard talk about the sheriff finally announcing his retirement.Are you planning to run to replace him?”Levi said over the nails he had in his mouth.
Wes let out a breath he’d been holding since he saw Shelby again.“I’m not sure.”
“Why not?”Levi stopped to look at him like he was nuts.“Everyone already thinks of you as the sheriff.You run everything anyways.”
“Honestly, I always thought of this gig as temporary.And if I’m sheriff then that’s it, I’ll never leave Sandy Point.”
“You wanted to leave?”Levi stopped mid-swing of the hammer.
“When I first moved home after Mom and Dad died, I knew I’d have to stay until at least you got off to college.Then it’s like I forgot I had a whole different life planned and got sucked into law enforcement, this town, and running the sheriff’s department.But I’m still relatively young.I could go back to Atlanta and do something else with my life.Dalton’s settled back here to look out for Gran.”
“Yeah you could,” Levi said.“But what would that be?”
“I don’t know.”
Levi hammered a final nail into the top of the post and stood up straight to inspect his work.Then gave the railing a tug.
“Not bad for a shortstop,” Wes said.
“I guess you have some thinking to do, brother, and another reason to think about staying,” Levi said, nodding toward the house where Shelby was sitting with Zeke talking in the kitchen.
It didn’t make any sense to consider Shelby part of the equation.Her life was solidly in Atlanta, but he definitely couldn’t help but wonder if she would be moving back to Sandy Point permanently.
CHAPTER TEN
Shelby
Ready For It
It was impossiblefor Shelby to focus while Wes was on the property.She kept feeling like she was on some stage and telling herself not to stare at him.While at the same time hoping he’d pull her into a closet or ask to speak to her privately.
“Those Hart boys all turned into good men,” Pops said from the kitchen table where he watched them fix his railing.
