Sierra Falls (Sierra Falls 1)

“All good. ” She leaned against him with a sigh. “But boy, am I beat. ”

Sully watched the exchange in silence. He was sure they were blissfully unaware how obvious the fireworks were that crackled between them. He’d said Sorrow could handle Damien, and he hoped he was right. She was, in her way, a bit of an innocent with men, unaware of her effect on them.

Damien, though, he was a pro. Not manipulative, but a smooth talker, that was for sure. Sully had tried to like him, wanted to trust and respect him, but as far as he could tell, the guy earned his money mostly by wearing those fancy clothes and talking on his cell. Born into the richest family in Sierra Falls, he’d had a lucky birth, though with the way women treated him, you’d have thought he was in line to be king of England.

The front door opened, bringing in a gust of crisp winter air. Speak of the devil.

Sorrow sat bolt upright. “Damien, hi,” she said, her voice overly bright.

Damien stiffened. “Hey, Bailey. Sheriff. ” He gave a curt nod toward the back of the room. “Sully, congrats. I hear you got a new freezer. ”

A crazy grin was pasted on Sorrow’s face. “What a surprise to see you. I thought you had to work. ”

He took in the whole scene. “I like to keep you on your toes,” he said carefully. “I wanted to check out the new setup. ” He shot a pointed look at Billy. “See if you need anything. ”

Looked like things might come to a head sooner rather than later. Sully suppressed a smile—this was more fun than he’d had in some time. These kids, figuring out their lives. Youth really was wasted on the young.

She stood, looking brittle enough to snap in two. Damien wrapped an arm around her and leaned down, taking a kiss that struck Sully as longer and firmer than necessary.

Sorrow pulled away. “Well, come see. ”

Damien strode straight back into the kitchen, leading the way. And of course he did—Damien was the sort of guy who never second-guessed himself.

Sully couldn’t help but follow, and he felt Billy at his back. The word guarded came to mind.

Damien gave the freezer a once-over. It was a professional model, with great stainless steel panels. “She’s a beauty. ”

“A friend of mine is in the restaurant business,” Billy said evenly.

Sully frowned. “Nobody better tamper with this one. ” He met the sheriff’s eye, and they exchanged a meaningful look.

“I’m going to talk to Bear about installing a security system,” Billy said.

“Good luck with that. ” Damien opened the door to take a look. “This whole thing must’ve cost him a fortune already. ”

Sorrow was nodding away like a bobblehead doll. “Billy’s friend got it for me at cost. ”

“I’ll bet he did,” Damien muttered.

Sorrow and Billy were so focused on staring inside that freezer that Sully was the only one to notice the smirk on Damien’s face. He wasn’t sure if the kid was getting ready to laugh or punch the sheriff.

“Well, Sheriff, nice work. ” Damien shut the door. “It sure is a big one. Sort of reminds me of those Transformer movies. Like it might spring to life. ”

“Yeah, right?” Sorrow tried to sound playful, but there was tension in her voice.

Damien put his hands in his pockets. “So I guess you don’t need me. ”

“No—” Sorrow stopped herself with a dispirited laugh. “I mean, of course we need you, but this is all taken care of. ”

Sully noted it was “we need you” instead of “I need you. ”

He backed away slowly. Seemed like a good time to run out and do an errand. Maybe make a quick stop by the house. Marlene’s grandkid wanted to see his Vietnam medals.

Folks said all was fair in love and war, but at the moment, war sure seemed the easier of the two.

Twenty-four

Billy’s friend had moved heaven and earth to deliver the freezer so soon, and Sorrow contemplated the big, whirring beast as she cleaned the kitchen, scouring away grease and the dust that’d exploded from beneath the old one when the appliance guys had done their thing.