Her Three Wilde Champion Men (Wilde, Nevada 2)

“Same as me, son. A mix of blue cheese and French.”

Connie shook her head. “All you Champion men have such strange palates.”

“Don’t knock it, sweetheart. Just enough blue cheese to give it a tangy flavor,” his pop said, grabbing her hand and squeezing.

“Too harsh a flavor for me, Sheriff Champion.” She smiled. “Give me Thousand Island over any other every time.”

Their waitress came over with her arms full of plates. A cutie with short black hair and hazel eyes,

which normally would’ve had him intrigued, but all his attention was on Shelby at the moment.

“Hi, Sheriff,” the woman said, placing their lunch onto the table.

His dad smiled. “Hey, Anna. Busy today, isn’t it?”

“You’re telling me. Carlotta and Deuce went to Reno to meet some of his old rodeo buddies. Mackenzie quit after everyone learned about her working undercover to get you-know-who. I didn’t know her long, but I would not have guessed she was a reporter.”

“A damn good one, too,” his dad said.

“I suppose so. She’s working over at KINK as the five o’clock anchor and also taking the reins of the paper. With no Carlotta and no Mac, that leaves me and Danielle to run the front.” Anna, clearly a chatterbox, leaned in and whispered. “Danielle isn’t the same after all that happened with you-know-who.”

“You mean Malcolm Winters, don’t you?” Brandon asked.

“Yes. Thank God he’s dead.” She turned to his dad. “We’re safe in Wilde now, aren’t we, Sheriff?”

His pop smiled and patted Anna on the back of the hand. “I’ll do my best to make sure our streets are free of criminals like Winters, young lady.”

“That’s a relief. Let me know if you need anything.” Anna bounced away.

“She’s something else.” Brandon inhaled the savory aroma of the meatloaf on his plate. He was hungry, having skipped breakfast this morning.

“She’s sweet, son.”

“Very sweet,” Connie chimed in. “She just needs the right man in her life, Brandon Champion.”

“She’s from Wilde.” He lowered his voice. “Forgive me, Connie, but I think she’s looking for the right men, not man, if she’s anything like the other girls I’ve known here. If that’s what this lunch was about, trying to set me up with Anna, then I’m afraid you wasted your time. I’m not interested in Anna.” He glanced over at the booth with the one woman from Wilde he would be interested in getting to know more.

“Son, this lunch was my idea, though Connie thought it was a good one.” His dad shook his head. “We weren’t thinking about Anna, though you could do worse. She’s a sweet, lovely girl.”

“She’s also not a native of Wilde, Brandon,” Connie added.

“So this was a setup attempt. Yes or no?” he said in his best courtroom voice. Then he smiled. “You two like playing a matchmaking team?”

“You could do worse than us, son. This wasn’t about Anna, but it is about you.”

“What do you mean?” he asked his dad, not liking where this seemed to be headed.

“You’ve been alone far too long,” his pop said. “I know your heart was broken by Ashley, but that doesn’t mean you need to stop living.”

Connie kissed his dad on the cheek. Then she fixed her gaze on Brandon. “It also doesn’t mean you need to stop being open to love. Who knows what’s just around the corner? Your soul mate might even be in this diner.”

Three booths down? He shook his head. “I’m so happy for you two. You found each other. You deserve love. I’m not ready to settle down yet. Why aren’t you having this conversation with Alex or Justin? Or have you already?”

“Alex is swamped with the new hospital construction.” His father sipped his tea. “Justin…well, you know your brother as well as I do. He’s not the marrying kind.”

“That’s putting it lightly. You think Alex is busy? I’m buried with all the cases I’m working on.”

“Have you given any more thought to coming up here to Wilde and taking over the Silver County District Attorney’s office?” Connie asked.