Page 6 of Mine to Dominate

This job came up, and it was unbelievable how smooth the transition was. The old sheriff had a house for him to rent until he decided where he wanted to live.

He hadn’t found a house he wanted to buy, so he looked for land to build on. He’d found a sweet bit of land about three miles from the edge of town. It was over ten acres, but the majority was woods. It had a house there but had been left vacant for several years, and it had deteriorated, so he decided to tear it down and build what he wanted.

Zeke knew he wanted the master bedroom on the main floor and would have a French door leading out to a patio with a hot tub. There would be a second floor that would hold four bedrooms with two Jack-and-Jill bathrooms between each room.

He did like to cook but didn’t have any idea how to lay the kitchen out to make the best of the space. Maybe that would be a way to get to Kayla. Ask for her help designing his kitchen.

The commotion died down, and everyone got to work. He hadn’t seen Fletcher for most of the afternoon and made a note to look into what he was doing and if he was actually working.

He walked back into his office and sat down. He still had a few hours of paperwork to get through. It was one thing about the job he hated, but it had to be done.

Chapter Four

Zeke was just coming out of the small lunchroom with a cup of coffee when Kayla came through the door. The smile on her face brightened the room. It seemed everyone liked her because they all called out to her.

She and Betsy went over a few things and hugged before the older woman left. The room had quieted down.

“Kayla, can you come into my office, please?”

He didn’t like the look of apprehension on her face as she walked toward him. He stepped back for her to pass him into his office. The door was kept open to help ease her anxiety.

“Have a seat,” he said and sat behind his desk. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

She looked surprised. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Then why did you pale when I asked you to come in here?”

She grinned. “It kinda reminded me of how the principal would call me into his office.”

He chuckled. “I think there are some stories I’d like to hear sometime.”

She shrugged. “Maybe. What did you need, Sheriff?”

“First off, you call me Zeke.”

“Oh … okay.”

“Good. Secondly, I’d like you to tell me if there’s something I need to be doing that I’m missing.”

She looked shocked. “Of course, but I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. You seem to be fitting in very well so far.”

Zeke caught the shadow that stopped outside his door, and it didn’t take him long to figure out who it was.

“Fletcher.”

He saw how Kayla stiffened and grew pale beforechanging her expression.

Zeke watched the man stroll into his office. “Was there something you needed?”

Fletcher stared down at Kayla for a moment before he looked his way.

“No, Sheriff.”

Zeke held back a smile at the force the man used to address him. “Then why were you standing outside my office?”

A red stain covered his face. “I wasn’t.”

Zeke narrowed his eyes at him. “Okay. If you have a problem, I’d like to hear it.”

---