Wade glanced at Callie for an answer.
She swallowed her pride. “Yes. The sheriff brought them for us.”
“Cool,” Brit said. “And look, there’s a purple one. I get it.”
The other man brought his bags forward and Wade introduced him. “This is Virgil Dunn, my deputy.” Painfully thin, Virgil was average height and wore the same kind of clothes as Wade, except his were starched and ironed, noticeably so. And he wore a tie. It was obvious Virgil was proud of his job.
“Nice to meet you,” Callie mumbled.
“Welcome to Homestead, ma’am.” He nodded his head and laid the sleeping bags by the others with nervous, quick movements.
“Look, there’s a Barbie one,” Mary Beth cried. “I get it. I get it.”
“Oh, yay. There’s one with horses on it. I want it.” Brit was changing her mind.
“You can’t have two, stupid,” Adam said with his usual scowl.
“You can have the purple one,” Brit told him.
The scowl became fierce. “I’m not sleeping in a purple bag.”
“I’ll take the purple bag,” Callie intervened. “Adam, you can take the nice green one.”
“Okay, but she shouldn’t get to change her mind. She’s always doing that.”
Brit stuck out her tongue at him.
“The kids are tired and out of sorts, so I better get their sleeping arrangements set up.” Callie thought it was time to end this visit. “I do appreciate the sleeping bags. I’m sorry I was curt. I’m tired, too.”
“No problem,” Wade said and made to walk off, but he turned back. “Brit, if it’s okay with your mom, I have a horse you can ride. She’s quite tame and I’ll teach you the basics.”
“Oh, wow, that’s totally cool.” Brit looked at Callie. “Can I, please? Can I?”
“I—ah—”
Seeing Callie’s difficulty, he added, “Think about it overnight and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He walked down the steps, followed by the deputy, and they went to where Odell was working. Their voices floated over her head.
“Is it going to be much of a problem to fix?” That was Wade’s masculine voice.
“No, Sheriff, just take a little time, but I’ll make it rock solid.”
“Thanks, June Bug.”
“Bubba Joe, don’t be climbing on that roof.” That was the deputy. “You’ll fall through and try to sue the city.”
“Give it a rest, Virgil,” Wade said. “Let’s go.”
Callie watched them leave feeling as if she were in a fishbowl with the people of Homestead looking in. And there wasn’t any escape. But the thought did cross her mind that being trapped with Wade Montgomery wouldn’t be too bad. That thought lasted a split second. The man probably labeled her a raving lunatic with her mood swings. She had to stay focused on her siblings’ futures.
Picking up a bag, she followed the kids inside.
“THAT MRS. AUSTIN SURE IS touchy,” Virgil said as they reached the sheriff’s office. “Mighty pretty, too.”
“I think she just wants her space, Virg.” Wade had his own suspicions, but he wouldn’t mention them to Virgil. Virgil’s overactive imagination sometimes ran away with him and he didn’t want to give him any ammunition.
Wade was just trying to help her. He’d found the horse sleeping bag and the green one at the feed store, but he’d had to search through Tanner’s General Store, which had an assortment of anything imaginable, to find the purple and Barbie ones. And she’d bit his head off for no reason.
So he intended to back off and give Callie her space. The incidents happening to the newcomers bothered him though. He didn’t want anything to happen to those kids. Or Callie. The house wasn’t that far from his office and he could keep an eye on things without her really knowing.
He cursed himself for mentioning the horse. Clearly Callie didn’t want her daughter to ride. At least not with him. He’d have to rescind the invitation, but he hated to break the little girl’s heart.
Before he could reach his office, Millicent Niebauer came through the door, a birdlike woman with a camera around her neck and a pencil behind her ear. Barbara Jean, his secretary, was gone for the day or he’d let her handle Millicent. She and her husband, Hiram, ran the local newspaper and Millie was always on the lookout for a story. Or more to the point, gossip.
“Sheriff, I heard we have newcomers in town over at the Hellmuth house.”
“Yes, Millie. Mrs. Austin arrived today with her three kids.”
“What’s she like?”
“Touchy,” Virgil spoke up.
“What do you mean?” Millicent turned to him and Wade sighed. Virgil was worse than any old woman gossip.
“Well, you see, the sheriff and me took sleeping bags over to—”
“Virg, aren’t you supposed to answer that call we just got from the Tuttles’ neighbor?” The only way to sidetrack Virgil was with police work.
“Ah, Sheriff, I hate going over there. Cora Lou shoots at Norris every time he comes home from one of his long-haul trips, accusing him of having an affair. I’m getting tired of having to break them up. I don’t know how she misses him. His chest is as broad as a side of a barn.” Virgil headed for the door, still grumbling. “I just might arrest Cora Lou and maybe she’d stop all this foolishness.”
“Then do it,” Wade said as the door closed.
“What’s the scoop on the new lady, Sheriff?” Millie didn’t skip a beat. “Virgil said she’s touchy. Why do you think that is?”
Wade suppressed a groan. As always, Millie was searching for a story where there wasn’t one. “There’s no story, Millie. She’s a single mom with three kids and wants to raise them in a small-town atmosphere.”
“Single, hmm?” Millicent scribbled something on a pad. “That’s going to get the young bucks in this town stirred up. Like when Kristin and Kayla came to town. They found husbands. You think Mrs. Austin’s looking for a husband?”
“I got work to do.” He walked into his office and closed the door.
A lot of things didn’t add up with Callie Austin, her nervousness, her desire to be alone and her kids calling her by her name. That was odd. It had thrown him for a minute. He’d taken the high road, though, and hadn’t asked. He’d learned that discretion worked best in his job. The details usually came out later, especially the ones people tried to keep hidden.
Sinking into his chair, he couldn’t stop thinking about Callie. Millie thought she was looking for a husband. He didn’t think so, but she was looking for something. What? He had no idea. Maybe it was peace and quiet and time to get over her husband’s death.
Whatever it was, the town had to leave her alone.
And that included him.
CALLIE ARRANGED the sleeping bags in one of the bedrooms. She had to put hers in between Brit and Mary Beth because both wanted to sleep by her. Adam arranged his at their feet. They found a table for Fred and fed him. Then Callie opened the ice chest with their food stash. Since she didn’t know the layout of the town, she thought it best if they just had a sandwich for tonight. Their diet had been atrocious lately, fast food and sandwiches. Until she got the kitchen fixed, she didn’t know how much longer it would be before she could cook them a decent meal.