Page 124 of The Cowboy's Unshakeable Love

He chuckled. “I wasn’t about to say it.” He wrapped both arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet. “Am I squashing you?”

She laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re not. This is perfect.”

He kissed the tip of her nose as he swayed to the music. “You can say that again, darlin’.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Travis felt a lot more confident about leaving Retta alone to work in one of the cabins on Monday morning. He kept telling her not to overdo it, but even he wouldn’t deny that she was making great progress. He’d talked to Trip on Saturday night about how slowly she would need to take it in terms of weight-bearing now that she was using the crutches more than the wheelchair, and Trip had reassured him that the kind of boot she was wearing would prevent her from doing herself much damage.

He curled his arm around her waist and kissed her. She gave him a puzzled smile. “I feel like you’re up to something.”

He chuckled. “I told you; I need to go to town.”

“You did, but what you didn’t tell me is why.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Can’t a man get away with arranging a little surprise for his woman around here?”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

He kissed her again. “No worries. I’m working on a little surprise for you, that’s all. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely. You take your time,” she added with a laugh. “I’ll…” The sound of her phone ringing cut her off.

“Want me to get that for you?”

“Please.”

He fetched her phone from her purse on the end table where she’d left it.

She checked the screen and smiled. “It’s Callie.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then. Say hi to her for me and send Kolby my best. Give me a holler if you need me.”

“I’ll be fine. See you later … Morning, baby girl. Do you have any news for me?”

Travis hesitated by the front door.

“Finally!” she exclaimed. She looked up at him. “Tandy’s gone into labor – they’re on their way to the hospital.”

He grinned. “Tell them I said good luck.” With that, he headed out for his truck. If he knew Retta and Callie, they’d be talking for a while.

When he got to town, he pulled into the parking lot outside the sheriff’s department, and Deacon came out to meet him.

“Are you sure it’s all right for you to play hooky with me?”

Deacon laughed. “I’m the sheriff, I can do what I like.”

“I wouldn’t say that too loud; they might vote you out the next time around if they think you’re getting too big for your boots.”

Deacon shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think I’d mind if they did. I might not even run again next time around.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah. I’ve had a good run. I did what I set out to do, but since Luke handed in his badge … I don’t know. I’m starting to think that it might be time for me to call it a day.”

“What would you do instead? It’s not like you’re ready for retirement, is it?”

“No. I’m not. I don’t know yet what I’d do with myself but … I have time to figure it out.” He checked his watch. “But all joking aside, we’d better get going; I don’t have all day.”

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