“I’ll come back and get that,” Rance called over his shoulder as he headed into the kitchen.
“I’m not an invalid. I can carry boxes, open doors, and cook, too. Guess it’s up to me to handle that part of this sequestering.” She moved on through the living room with her box and sat it on the bed in her room. She called out to the man in the other room.
“I’m going to take a quick shower and find something better to wear. Then I’ll look over the grocery situation. You can put the items away in the meantime.”
“Whatever you say, Your Honor. I live to serve.” His attitude—or was it ego—was a little dinged, she guessed. That made her smile.
*
Thirty minutes later, the woman exiting the hall was different. Rance removed his feet from the coffee table in automatic manners taught to him by his sisters. He hit the mute button on the music that was playing…some country ballad from a system hidden no doubt in the wall of bookcases on the far wall.
“Don’t let me interrupt your music,” she said. “I’ll just see what might look good for dinner.”
“I guess you’d prefer something else besides country. I could find a classical station maybe…”
“And you would be wrong… I realize that word might not be popular in your way of seeing things, but it is correct in this case. You’re profiling of me might need a bit of tweaking. There is only one king of country and that will always be George. Throw in some Patsy Cline or Reba and I wouldn’t complain. And here is another news flash…in addition to those red-bottom shoes you ruined, I would be even more upset if you had done something to one of my cowboy boots. Your mouth is agape, Marshal,” she finished sweetly and opened the refrigerator.
“Okay,” he admitted after a long pause of digesting her words that had taken him by surprise. “I might be guilty as charged, but I was not privy to any discovery prior to this hearing, Your Honor. Those would be extenuating circumstances that should be considered.” He had moved to lean a shoulder against the archway separating the kitchen and dining area. His arms folded across his chest as he watched her move about, opening first one cabinet door and then another, acquainting herself with what she had to work with.
“Throwing yourself on the mercy of this court based on your ignorance plea?” She shot him a smart look as she withdrew a knife and cutting board, placing them on the cabinet closer to him. “Your presentencing involves how well you can chop some vegetables for a salad. Best get busy. I’m placing the casserole in the oven to heat it.” She tossed a head of lettuce in his direction, and he had to make a quick grab for it.
Who was this person? Is this what a shower and a change of better clothes could do for her? He wasn’t complaining. But he doubted it would last. Until that time, he would wait and watch. Which was what this assignment was really all about. And he was waiting for his phone to ring and tell him that he could get back to where the real action was and deliver this judge back to her high bench.
“Your sister was really nice to bring the clothes and food. You and she seem to have an easy relationship.”
He shook his head while concentrating on not losing a finger in his chopping duties. “Easy? I guess you could call it that. It wasn’t always easy…or I should say I wasn’t always easy in my younger, know-it-all, daredevil years.” He gave a self-deprecating chuckle.
“Really? So that attitude began early in life?”
He glanced over at her, but her gaze was on the bread she was getting ready for the oven, brushing butter and some garlic on the loaf gauging by the aroma coming from her side of the island worktable.
“Don’t give me that lawman stare of yours. It was just a casual observation.”
“Guess you could say that. I wasn’t the easiest sibling. And looking back, she had a lot of patience, and it wasn’t easy for her, being the oldest and still a kid herself. But she stepped up when we lost our family and ended up in the system…foster care…not juvie hall,” he added for good measure.
He could feel her solid gaze turn upon him. He kept his attention on the slippery tomatoes. Rance wished he could take the last part of his words back. Too much information, and she had no need or interest in his or his family’s history. But clearly, he was wrong there. She continued.
“You and your siblings were in foster care? For how long?”
“Until we aged out. But Tori was the first to leave us, and she went out and kept her promise to find what she called a forever home for all of us when we were released. She came upon Destiny’s River by chance during a stopover on the bus route. As she puts it, she felt that she had found home…and she went to work, making it happen. That’s the abbreviated version. And even though we each came out of the system with our own ideas about how we wanted to go with our newfound freedom, somehow life led each of us to find our way to Destiny’s River.
She took it all in and seemed to consider what he had shared before she finally responded. “So, this is home to you, as well. A bit distant from where you work, isn’t it?”
“Physically, it is. Being in the marshal’s service, I operate where needed. I am based out of the Austin area, but I do get back here when some R and R is needed and for special occasions. And with my sisters there are lots of occasions…birthdays, weddings, holidays…you name it.”
“You ever thought of just staying put here and making it permanent? Surely, you can do what you do from just about anywhere?”
He glanced over at her, and she had made herself comfortable on one of the two high stools at the island. Dressed in a dark green blouse and better-fitting jeans, she even had a pair of leather moccasins on her feet. If he didn’t know better, it seemed like she fit right in with this place. But he did know better. She was a high court judge, with a rich society family, and far above his pay grade. She was his job. And that was an irritant.
“Maybe when and if I settle down. But women these days don’t seem to want those things. At least the ones I’m around.”
“They’re out there. Maybe you just haven’t opened your eyes and looked that hard. You strike me as a lone wolf type who might like his freedom to come and go.”
He looked up at her and considered her words. “Did a psychology degree come along with that black robe of yours? What about you? I don’t see you surrounded by a few kids and a husband and rushing home at five to change the robe for an apron to put dinner on the table.”
He saw the blue eyes slide behind that curtain and she slid off the seat to take up a potholder and check the oven’s work. He wanted to kick himself. His sisters had schooled him often on that sarcastic bent of his.
“Sorry. I forgot myself for a moment there, Your Honor.”
