Small Town Justice(26)
Vulnerability was not a pleasant sensation.
* * *
Shane wheeled his rig into the parking lot before the arrival of any patrol cars. It was easy to guess where Jamie Lynn was because a knot of people had gathered near a battered truck. Hers.
Evening shadows were lengthening but the air remained balmy as he climbed down and started toward her. Seeing her expression of relief and the way her eyes lit up when she spotted him in the milling crowd made his insides curl and twist. He couldn’t help being glad to see she was unhurt.
She headed straight for him. “You didn’t have to bother. The sheriff is supposed to be on his way. So are the city police.”
“I know. Mom was phoning Harlan when I left.” Out of things to say, he added the first thought that popped into his mind. “I just figured you might need a tow, so...”
“Right. I should have noticed what you were driving. Business as usual.”
Shane wanted to take back the suggestion that he’d only shown up to make a few bucks, yet he didn’t know how to mend the rift without sounding too personally concerned about her. Never mind that he was, in spite of his vows to the contrary. It was one thing to constantly think about Jamie Lynn and quite another to admit it, particularly to her.
Quickly, Jamie Lynn told him what had happened to her truck. Shane sighed. “I can stay here with you until the sheriff shows up if you want.”
“I hate to ask it.”
“You didn’t. I offered.”
“You did, didn’t you?”
A smile lifted the corners of her mouth enough to make her dark eyes begin to twinkle, and Shane could hardly keep from breaking into a grin, himself. “Yes, I did.”
“Then, yes, please stay. I don’t like feeling alone in a crowd.”
He nodded. “I’d never thought of it quite that way. I suppose that comes from being new in town.”
“Yes.” Her gaze lowered and she studied the ground between them as if it was the most interesting gravel she’d ever seen.
Rather than follow the train of thought his mind was suggesting and start to dwell on the lonely weeks following his wife’s desertion, Shane mentally shook himself and took up another subject. “Let’s go look over your truck. Maybe I can get a few answers from people I know.”
“Okay.” She visibly brightened. “It’s a better idea than my standing here feeling sorry for myself. I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m not usually so moody, honest I’m not.”
“You have had a rough week so far.” He fell into step beside her, careful to control the urge to take her arm or guide her in any other way. “I don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind about staying?”
“You must be joking! The more they try to scare me off, the more I’m certain there’s a good, strong reason to stick around and keep digging.”
“I figured you’d say that.”
“I suppose you think I should give up and turn tail like a scared pup.” Her hands were on her hips and she’d wheeled to face him.
Shane shook his head and smiled at her. “Nope. On the contrary. If I were in your shoes I’d do exactly the same thing.”
“You would?”
A softening in her expression tugged at his heart. He knew what she was likely to ask next so he cut her off quickly. “Yes, but I’m not in your shoes. This isn’t my fight, so don’t expect me to keep bailing you out.”
Jamie began by looking astonished, then glared at him. “I don’t believe you! Have I ever asked for your help? Well, have I? Except for towing my truck and getting it back on the road, and that was strictly business, I have not asked for one single thing from you. Not one.”
“How about rescuing Useless?”
“That was the sheriff’s request. He said so. And as for all the other times, those were because someone else sent you. Your mother, for instance.”
He figured the last thing she wanted to hear was how cute and funny he thought she was when she was mad, so he kept that opinion to himself. He did, however, smile. “I tracked you down at the old police station after you’d been shot at.”
“Did I ask you to follow me?”
Chuckling softly, he shook his head. “No, can’t say you did.” He paused, then added, “You make it awfully hard for me to be a hero.”
“Are you trying to be?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Maybe.”
To his relief, the arrival of the sheriff’s car interrupted their banter. Good thing, too, Shane reasoned. He’d become so engrossed with Jamie Lynn he’d almost forgotten himself and led her to realize he cared.