Page 53 of Sheriff's City Girl

Jess stopped at the back passenger side, turning to give Emma a weary expression. “I don’t need a lecture… I know I shouldn’t have snuck out.”

Emma smiled. “It’s not a lecture, I promise.”

My daughter hesitated, glancing over to me. “Okay.”

I watched with curiosity as Emma guided Jess around to the back of the Bronco, keeping her voice low as they began to talk. I wanted to interrupt, demanding to know what the hell she was telling my daughter, but I could just make out Jess’s face through the back glass… And she looked relieved as they started to talk.

What are they talking about?

I climbed into the driver’s seat, keeping my eyes trained on the rearview mirror. I don’t know why, but I felt apprehensive about Jess and Emma talking without me knowing what it was about—and it wasn’t because I didn’t trust Emma… It was just, well…

I felt left out.

Things were bad enough with the way that Jess was acting—and the fact that tonight confirmed that she had been keeping that kid a secret. I didn’t know exactly who he was, but just based off his looks, I assumed he belonged to Graham Hudson.

And also, how the hell did Graham not know his son was throwing a wild party? I get that they were out of town, but there were cameras all around the house. I noticed them as soon as I pulled up…

They could be charged.

My jaw twitched at the thought, eyeing the underage drinkers meandering around the house. It was dumb—really freaking dumb—but I had no idea what kind of tension that would cause.

And Jess would really hate me if I went charging her boyfriend’s parents.

Yuck.

I did not like the sound of that word. Jess hadn’t had a boyfriend until now—well, none that I had known about. I pushed away the thought, trying not to torture myself. I wanted to storm back in there and punch the kid’s lights out for touching my daughter, but I knew that wasn’t the right thing to do.

The minutes ticked by, Emma and Jess still talking behind the Bronco. I was more than ready to go home and call it a night—but while I couldn’t hear the words, I did hear Jess’s muffled voice. It had started out thick with emotion and now it was much lighter…

And she was laughing.

What the hell? She’s supposed to be in trouble.

Right as I was about to get out and put an end to the conversation, Emma and Jess headed back to the front of the truck, both climbing in. Jess lost her pleasant expression, eyeing me as she got settled in the backseat. She clicked her seatbelt into place and wiped away the remnants of tears from her eyes.

“You can just take me home,” Emma said, her voice soft. “Lily sent me a text and said that they’d drop my car off at my house in the morning. I’ll just take my spare.”

“Spare car?” I questioned, surprised at the fact.

“Yeah,” she said with a shrug. “When I had the SUV in the shop back in Austin, I bought an older car. I like having a backup. I didn’t like the idea of being stranded as a single woman.”

“Smart,” I commented, looking back at Jess. Her eyes were on her phone, eagerly texting away. “I’ll take that,” I said in a stern voice. “You don’t need your phone for the weekend.”

Jess glanced up at me, a defeated expression on her face. I expected her to test me, making some smartass remarks… But she didn’t. She powered it down and handed it to me. “That’s fair.”

I raised my brows, surprised, and set the phone in the front cupholder. “Okay. You can have it on Monday when you go to school.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod. Her eyes held mine in the rearview for a moment, and she let out a sigh. “I’m sorry for sneaking out, Dad. I didn’t mean to worry you like that.”

“It’s okay,” I grunted, swallowing the urge to lecture her. Whatever Emma had told her must’ve gotten her thinking… And that was enough for me. I wasn’t going to push her any further. Honestly, I was just thankful that she was safe.

Emma turned herself in the seat, adjusting to look at Jess. “You know, I was thinking, how does Cody’s parents not know that he’s having a party? I saw the cameras everywhere.” Her casual tone and soft expression made her easy to talk to, and for a second, I felt a pang of relief that I had decided to take her with me.

It was a good idea.

Jess shrugged. “I have no idea, honestly, but his parents are gone all the time. I don’t think they care about what he does. His mom isn’t in his life—and his stepmom is a witch.”

Ah, so they have a lack of mom in common.

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