Page 11 of Break My Fall

She caught Gray’s eye, and he dropped his gaze and studied the ground. But not before she caught the flicker of satisfaction on his face.

“I promise.”

“Thank you.” He kissed her temple and released her. As he walked around her van he called over his shoulder, “When do you need Flossy back?”

Gray tensed and quirked one eyebrow at her. She’d stood in front of a mirror once and tried her best to mimic the look but had failed miserably. The best she could do was get one eyebrow a fraction higher than the other.

“Not for two weeks. I don’t have anything planned next weekend.” She pitched her voice loud enough to carry to him on the other side of her van. “I’m still working on Cassie’s flowers, and I got a new wedding order this week that I wanted to create a few samples for. I’m planning to be in the shop this weekend and next.”

Gray’s shoulders dropped a few inches, and her dad’s grunt of approval filtered to her. “Do you need a ride back to your office?Or do you want to go in and see your mom?” Gray’s question sent a prickle of ... something ... along Meredith’s spine.

This man. He kept himself so closed off that sometimes she wondered if he even liked her. Not in a romantic way. She’d given up on that. Or, tried to give up on it. But she did suspect that he knew how she felt and her presence annoyed him. She was sensitive to things like that, and she was aware that he made it a point to avoid her. Not always. But enough that she’d noticed and had tried to stay out of his orbit as much as possible too.

And then he went and did something like this. Something so thoughtful and gracious. He had other things to do, but he was willing to wait for her to say hello to her mom because, somehow, he knew she’d feel bad if she didn’t.

Following her train of thought to what seemed like a logical conclusion, she decided that Gray did like her. He did pay attention to her. He did know things about her that she didn’t make a point of sharing. It made her want to hug him.

But she’d already kissed him today. It wouldn’t be wise to force herself into his personal space again. “Can I have five minutes?”

“You can have as long as you want.” His voice was low and gravelly. “I’ll be out here. Come find me when you’re ready.”

“Thank you. I’ll be fast.”

Gray watched as Meredith jogged to the house. He would never tell her she couldn’t speak to her mother. One of the things he appreciated most about her was her connection to her family. The way they loved each other so openly and so well.

But he had a couple of ulterior motives today. One, he wanted to talk to Doug Quinn without Meredith overhearing. And two, he needed some space before he drove her to the office.

Doug leaned against the van. “What do we need to do to protect her?” he asked Gray. “Keeping her in the county isn’t a permanent solution.”

Gray took a position beside Doug. “It’s a start.”

“I’ll talk to the boys.”

“The boys” would ultimately include every male member of the Quinn family, but it would begin with Mo, Cal, Cal’s brothers Chad and Connor, and Cal’s dad, Craig Shaw.

“And I’ll be having a chat with the mayor.”

Gray frowned. What would the mayor have to do with it?

“We’re long overdue for some changes around here. How would you feel about being sheriff?”

The police/sheriff situation in this part of the state was muddled at best and full-on chaotic at worst. North Carolina’s constitution called for each county to have a sheriff, but through some quirk of distance and muleheadedness, Gossamer County, Neeson County, and a few other neighboring counties had never gotten the memo.

Even though it was a murky legal area, Gray handled the law enforcement for the entire county. Chief Kirby did the same in Neeson County and for the town of Neeson.

They’d had few major crimes, and no one had questioned Gray’s authority to enforce the law in Gossamer County.

But Doug wasn’t wrong. No one wanted a criminal to get by with their crimes due to technicalities over jurisdiction limits.

Gray wasn’t sure how he felt about the position, but before he could answer, Doug continued. “Think about it. If it turns out that you’d have to run for sheriff, are you willing to do it? I can assure you, you’ll win. You’ll probably run uncontested.”

“I don’t love the idea of running for office.”

“I know. But times are changing. We need to get ourselves sorted.” He looked toward the house where Meredith had openedthe door. “Right now, though, we just need to keep our girl safe. I don’t want this sheriff stuff to distract you.”

“Then why’d you bring it up?”

“Because I don’t want you hearing about it from the wrong person or being blindsided by it. You’ve done a great job as chief of police. This town and this county are too small to need a sheriff and a police chief. If we have to change the titles we will, but when it comes to how things get done? No one wants anything to change.”

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