arter again and watching them fly away had tugged at her heartstrings. It seemed they’d all become close and now they made up part of her extended “family”. She looked forward to visiting Snakeskin Gully in her downtime to meet Jo’s daughter, Jaime and spend a relaxing weekend with friends but she had to admit, the FBI held no allure for her. She preferred her life as the sheriff of Black Rock Falls.
At last, life had gone back to normal and three months without a case had Jenna scratching her head. It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop and the anticipation grew with each passing month. She patted Duke on the head and rubbed Pumpkin’s ears. How easy it was to make animals feel safe. The pain Kane had carried deep inside for so long had faded and she believed he’d finally turned the corner. He laughed more and had an easy going way about him. It was as if she was seeing the man before the car bombing emerging from a cocoon of sadness.
They’d spent alternate weekends working on the ranches. Jake and Sandy Rowley’s ranch needed a lot of work and she’d pitch in with Kane to help them. With nothing much happening at the office, she looked forward to getting her hands dirty. She’d also spent some time looking over applications for another deputy. She had funding for two more but with Rowley’s old house sitting empty, she could take her pick from a ton of experienced men or women from around the state. She put the notion on the back burner as the front gate alarm buzzed. She headed to the front door, in the screen she made out Sandy waving at the camera and opened the gate to let her in.
As Sandy came up the driveway, she sounded her horn and Rowley and Kane picked up their gear and headed toward her. She jumped out the truck and suddenly the three of them went crazy, jumping around and laughing. The next instant, Duke leapt to his feet and headed toward them barking like he’d gone mad and ran in big circles around them. Bemused, Jenna stared at them and looked at Pumpkin. “Hmm maybe there’s a special on peach pies at Aunt Betty’s?”
They all climbed into the truck and headed for the house. Jenna stood to meet them as they tumbled out all grinning like Cheshire cats. “What’s happened? Did you win the lottery or something?”
“Better.” Sandy grinned from ear to ear. “I’ve just talked the guys into building me a nursery.”
* * *