Erin understood then. “Smart thinking. Thanks. He wouldn’t be happy at all.”
“My brother is very good at his job. I hope you know that. But don’t tell him I said so. His ego is too big.” She smiled and Erin returned it.
“That was my first impression.”
“What else?”
“He was very domineering…giving orders and not waiting for any other opinion. But then he did keep me safe so far. I gather Tori filled you in on my situation.”
“Well, with what has been on television about the judges, and then Rance shows up with a judge in tow, having just left the cabin after being there on his medical leave. We could put two and two together, and he shared just a little bit with us so that you could come to the barbecue and not go crazy under his rules.”
“He has been very good at his job, and I wouldn’t want that to get out either,” she joked back with Cassie. “You said medical leave. He glossed over it when I asked him. What really happened?”
“Well, he isn’t one to share much about his job, but Matt got most of it out of him. And then Tori and I made Matt give up some of it…being his loving sisters and all. But there was a kidnapping of a rich couple’s child, a little boy, just outside Houston. Rance and another marshal made entrance into the building the kidnappers were hid out in. There was a gunfight, Rance got the boy out, but he took a bullet in his side doing it. Luckily, it hit nothing major. Those are the main points that were shared with us.”
Erin was shocked, but she wasn’t surprised. He had downplayed the actual events when he told her about his reason for medical leave. Rance would have had no problem going after the child, no matter what. He took his job seriously. And she knew that he would do the same to protect her. She hadn’t made it easy on him. And that made her ashamed of how she’d behaved. He was one of those good men that seem few and far between. She hadn’t had too much experience with that type. Rance Parker was part of a rare breed. She had been looking at him as a lawman doing his job. She was a job. But she wanted to know more about him…as a person.
At the same moment she realized that, she also was hit with the truth that getting to know him more as a real man…that just might be dangerous. And why would it be dangerous? The answer to that realization struck her speechless. She kept silent the rest of the way back to Tillie’s.
Chapter Eleven
“I realize that we took you away from your assignment,” Tori said, “but we do appreciate both you and your assignment,” she emphasized that description of Erin, “jumping in to help us out.”
“You all didn’t take me away if Erin was right there with me,” he corrected his sister. “Besides, it’s what you do for your community—a community that has been good to you and your family. A certain lady jurist reminded me of that not long ago. I wish I could have done more.”
“Well, you and Erin can go back to Primrose and have some peace and quiet. And even when she must return to her life in Austin, I hope she knows that she always has a welcome here. She is quite something. I hope you know that.” Her steady gaze fell on his. There was a wealth of unsaid words in that, and he got the message.
“Her life is far different from anything here in Destiny’s River. This was an unexpected, unanticipated interlude in her time away from the courtroom where she is a very different person than you saw. She is on a lofty pedestal in more ways than one.”
“No pedestal is too lofty if the person wants to reach the top bad enough. Besides, that’s a lonely place to be—on top of a pedestal. And when you assume things…well you know what can happen there. Most importantly, you might miss out on the best thing that might never happen your way again.”
“It seems that for the better part of my adult life, you and my other siblings—each in his or her own way—have been trying to get me settled. I know it has worked out great for each of you. But that’s not to say it would hold true for me.”
“And who’s to say it won’t hold true? I guarantee that each of us thought that at some point in the time we first met our other half. I thought Cade was an arrogant, insufferable thorn in my side. And he was too wealthy and too far above me. Cassie felt that and a lot more when she found herself faced with Cole in an undercover assignment. And Matt, well he needed a make-believe fiancée fast and Ally literally landed in Destiny’s River by sheer chance with every intent to move on.”
“And your point is?”
“My point is that it is plain for me to see that there’s something there between the two of you whenever you’re in the same room…and it isn’t the assignment. You both bring something to a relationship… We all do. There is baggage, there is the assumption of wealth and status breeding insecurity, there is the plain old fear of rejection. But, when you put that to the side and look at the person and take a chance…yes, you could be rejected. But what if the other person does feel the same way about you and never takes the step first? What a waste that would be. Nothing is perfect, not people, not circumstances, and not timing. Gamble, my brother. You do that in one way or another every day in your line of work. You can’t tell me that Erin isn’t worth it. Can you?”
Rance was backed into a corner by his sister with that statement. The whole assignment, which began rough but had hopes of smoothing out, then took a nosedive when the storm and many other little things got thrown into the mix. The woman who was an assignment became real. And then she kept changing. Just when he thought he had her figured out, another side popped up and before he could figure that out, she would pivot again. And then there were the moments that seemed to pause time and cautious thought threatened to go out of the window.
But he couldn’t beat the feeling that it was a no-win situation. Tori and his family lived in a world removed from that in the capital, removed from the private estate on the lake that was Erin Latham’s world. She moved on a different plateau where she dealt justice and moved among the wealthy politicians and elite. He had no idea who the person was that stood in the café kitchen, covered with dough and sweat. Then there was the moment between them…maybe he had imagined it, and it was building into more than it really was to begin with? Bottom line…she had her world, and he had his. And they were far apart. Best to keep that in mind and get the job done.
*
“You are very lucky.”
Erin said the words with her gaze locked outside the window on her side of the jeep.
“How so?”
“Your family. They’re all really involved and love each other and support one another. Plus, you have a great place to call home. Yet, from what I gather from your sisters, you aren’t home all that often.” She turned that gaze upon him as he drove.
It was clear that she wasn’t just making a compliment but expected a response.
“Well, my situation is a bit different. My job keeps me on the road a bit more than most. I do try to get back to Destiny’s River for the important family milestones…weddings, births, holidays when possible.”
“A footloose and fancy-free sort of guy.”
