Page 64 of Bullets and Dandelions

I looked up. Yep, along with about a dozen patrol cars and a bunch of worn-out livestock. This was going to get interesting.

Chapter Fourteen

Getting out of the van, I watched the molten sun turn the sky a fiery red before it dropped behind a jagged crown of mountains. The silence was broken only by the wind in the trees, and the hoot of an owl. Peace seeped into my bones. It was like I had come home.

Stone gestured at the large, adobe hacienda with pink bougainvillea cascading down the walls. “What do you think?”

“Your house is beautiful.”

His shoulders relaxed. “Could you think of it as home?”

“I’ve never belonged anywhere. Never had a family.” I smiled at him. “This place is like a dream come true.”

Something intense flared in Stone’s eyes. “All of this can be yours, if you marry me.”

“What? Marry?” I felt a curious swooping pull on my heart and I wanted to shout yes, but I wasn’t sure he even liked me. “Are you serious?”

“I am.” Stone smiled. “I knew you were the one when you started throwing your precious food at me.”

“It’s about time you got here,” a tiny Hispanic woman scolded from the doorway.

My squad groaned.

“Say yes,” Tex urged.

Rodriquez interjected, “C’mon Chiquita, you know you belong with us.”

I gaped at them. It was like all of them were proposing.

The Hispanic woman hurried toward us. “Is someone hurt? What did Doss do?”

Hector strode over to her and planted a hot one on her lips. “Hush momma, I told you what happened at the rodeo.”

“They really arrested Doss?”

Stone picked her up, swung her around and kissed her cheeks. “They did, Momma Rosa.”

“And you didn’t hit him?” Momma Rosa asked.

With a huge grin, Stone replied, “No, but Tess did.” He set Momma Rosa on her feet.

“Hey, the ass was trying to get away,” I replied.

Momma Rosa stared at me for a moment, then nodded. “You are just like Alex described you.”

I was?

“You should have been there Momma Rosa. The local television station showed up. They interviewed everyone and took pictures of us herding the livestock back into the arena,” Tex said.

Johnson laughed. “There were over one hundred witnesses, and the Sheriff couldn’t let it slide, this time.”

“What nailed it was Doss didn’t know about the security cameras Buffalo Bill just installed. Once the Sheriff reviewed the tapes, he had to arrest his nephew. You should have seen the expression on Doss’s face when he learned the property damage was over ten thousand dollars. I think he shit himself,” Rodriquez chortled.

I sniffed the air. “Something smells awfully good.”

“I made tamales,” Momma Rosa answered.

“Tamales!” The guys charged into the house.

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