“It’s not like I have a car to drive here myself,” she pointed out. “Plus, you deserve answers as much as me on what happened at the shop. That’s probably why I’m being called in anyways. It’s more cost-effective to just come in together.”
James nodded, absently.
“Sure, I guess.”
Rose gave him a questioning look but didn’t pry. Not everyone was comfortable around law enforcement. That wasn’t a fault to poke at.
At least, that was what Rose thought until James glued himself to her side on the walk up to the front doors and blurted out exactly what he was thinking.
“I know I’m not here to get into trouble or anything,but I have some childhood bad memories with the law and a cow can’t change its spots.” He put an arm around her shoulders and dropped his voice into a whisper. “Can we pretend you need my help to walk and that’s why I’m here?”
Rose looked up at him with an expression she hoped showed nothing but being dumbfounded at that.
He saw the look and rolled his eyes.
“Not everyone has nerves of steel like you, Deputy Little. Let me feel needed so I can feel safe. Plus, I can’t get in trouble here if I’m your plus-one. So let’s have a nice cooperation.” He started walking forward, his arm like a sling around her. Pulling her along with him was easy. Partly because of his height, but mostly because Rose allowed it.
Let me feel needed so I can feel safe.
James had said it so casually, in one breath, that someone else might have glossed over it entirely. Yet, Rose knew there were roots to the meaning of the phrase. Roots that went deep into the man’s past.
Because Rose knew what James Keller had gone through as a child. Day two in the hospital and her curiosity about the man had seduced her to the dark side.
She had gossiped with Price, one of the few career locals she trusted to be as accurate as they were discreet.
That was how she’d found out about the time James woke up in the hospital alone.
She wasn’t going to blame him now for being wary. Rose shrugged James’s hand off her shoulder but kept in step with him.
“You can hold my elbow,” she grumbled out. “Butthe second we’re in front of the sheriff you better be hands-off.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said, voice still low. His hand closed around its designated spot. He was gentle, even if his hand was calloused and rough.
Rose only hoped no one inside made a fuss over it. Shehadbeen blown up after all. A helping hand didn’t seem too outrageous only a few days after.
There’s that being too comfortable with James Keller thing again, she thought to herself, realizing how absurd it was of her to accept his request.
Yet, Rose didn’t try to pull away either. Not even when James lowered his voice again and rumbled out another question.
“Can you limp a little or something? You know, really sell it?”
Sympathetic or not, comfortable or not, Rose narrowed her eyes at him.
“James Keller, don’t push your luck.”
* * *
JAMES KNEW ABOUTSheriff Liam Weaver the way he knew about Rose—everyone in Seven Roads had done their due diligence when he had first moved to town. James had gotten most of his details from Mr. Donahue about the newcomer then.
Sheriff Liam Weaver was ex-military, a non-talker and no-nonsense law enforcement officer. He got to the point with precision and weight. Or he had, at least until he met and married his wife, Blake. The gossip about her had been more sensational than that about her husband.
She was a former sheriff, current law enforcement,and wasn’t afraid to let her braids down if needed—Mr. Donahue’s daughter’s words. Locals often joked about which one of the two won in arguments between the powerhouse hitters. Almost everyone eventually agreed it was Blake. She had won Weaver’s heart completely, and together they had a blended family that was as loving as it was exciting.
Still, when it came to his work, it was heavily rumored that when Weaver stepped into the department wearingthat look, no one could deny he was made to be sheriff.
James straightened his back a little as the man of the hour walked into the meeting room. He believed the rumors then.
Sheriff Weaver demanded attention without ever needing to steal it.
