Beneath the Stetson(19)

“He’s missing out,” Gil said soberly.

Bailey exhaled and took a drink of water, her hand trembling visibly. “Thank you.”

After a moment’s awkward silence, she leaned forward and clasped her hands on the table. Her beautiful brown eyes were earnest. “If there’s a possibility that you and I are going to become...intimate...I wonder if I may ask you a personal question.”

“Of course.”

“Does Cade remember his mother at all?”

He hesitated. This wasn’t a road he had expected to go down. But since he had inadvertently overheard Bailey’s extremely personal confession to Cade, it seemed only fair that Gil should reciprocate. “No,” he said slowly. “She died before his first birthday. Took her own life.” Even now, it hurt to say the words. And since Bailey had dossiers on half the people in town, she probably already knew that.

“Oh, Gil. I am so sorry.” Bailey took one of his hands in her two smaller ones and held it tightly.

He squeezed her fingers, warmed by her genuine sympathy. “It was a long time ago. And to be honest, our marriage was doomed from the beginning, though I didn’t realize it for a long time. My wife had severe emotional problems that she hid well.”

“You don’t have to explain,” Bailey said, still holding his hand.

“It’s okay. I want to tell you. It might help you understand why I’m so protective of Cade. When things started to go wrong in my marriage, I urged Sherrie to go with me to counseling. In the safety of that situation she was able to reveal that she had been abused as a young teenager. I found it almost impossible to believe at first, but her parents were part of a religious cult that ‘married’ young girls in the church to older men.”

Bailey released him and sat back, her gaze stricken. “That’s horrible.”

“Yes. To her credit, Sherrie really did want a child, and she was so happy to be pregnant. But postpartum depression took a toll on her, and she was never able to recover.”

“So you made Cade your priority.”

“Don’t paint me as noble,” he said soberly. “There was more to it than that. My in-laws took me to court and tried to steal Cade away from me. Faced with the prospect of losing him, I realized how much I loved that little innocent baby.”

“Thank God they didn’t succeed.”

“I went through a hellish eight months of court-ordered visits and psychological evaluations...”

She nibbled her lower lip, her eyes huge, her expression sober. “I’m beginning to see why you have a chip on your shoulder about government intervention.”

“I suppose I do, but I came close to losing everything. My in-laws paid off a judge, and it nearly worked. Fortunately for me, I have a lot of friends in Royal and in the state at large. Powerful friends. In the end, justice prevailed, but it was a close call.”

“I’ve admired you since I first came to Royal,” Bailey said quietly. “Now, even more.”





Six



Bailey was shaken by what she had heard. Imagining Gil without his son was a picture she didn’t want to paint. The two of them were a tight family unit. Despite the absence of a female figure.

She had wondered from time to time if Gil were still in love with his dead wife...and if that was why he hadn’t remarried. Apparently, the truth was more complex. He wanted to protect his son, and that included not letting Cade’s little heart get broken time and again if his father indulged in short-lived relationships.

Bailey had to admire Gil’s selflessness. But how long could a virile, healthy man suppress his sexual needs before he did something reckless? Like initiating an intimate relationship with a woman he barely knew...a woman just passing through.

Sitting across the table from him was like a romantic fantasy come to life. She seldom had opportunities for fine dining, and never with someone who looked like Gil. His expensive black suit showcased broad shoulders and a trim waist. A crisp white shirt and red tie completed the image of a successful businessman. Though he would have fit right in wearing tooled leather boots, he had chosen more traditional dress shoes for their date. She found that she missed his cowboy look, though this man was wildly appealing, as well.

But no matter how much she was drawn to him, the truth of their situation gave her pause. If she made unwise choices and things blew up in her face, she could face a formal reprimand from her boss, or even worse. She’d seen other colleagues terminated because they let their judgment be clouded by personal involvement on a case.

Beyond the professional implications, Bailey didn’t want to be Gil’s guilty pleasure. She didn’t want to be filed under the category secret dalliance or enjoyable mistake. Not that he was hiding anything tonight. They were eating dinner in front of half the town, it seemed. But letting Cade know was another story.