She tore the ticket out of her book and handed it to him along with his license and registration.
She smiled back. “You have a real nice day, Mr. Wolf.”
* * *
GRACE HENDRIX STOOD under the shade of a cottonwood tree, knowing she didn’t belong. Not here at the Sundance ranch. Not at the wedding. And not in Blackfoot Falls. Yet here she was, trying to hold on to a smile while staring at all these strange, happy faces.
The bride, Rachel McAllister, had been kind to invite her, but Grace didn’t really know Rachel. Or her three brothers. Or anyone else in the crowd of over four hundred people, all the women wearing dresses except, of course, Grace. If she still owned a dress, it was in storage along with most of her stuff. She’d packed in a hurry before leaving Arizona two weeks ago. Who knew what she’d crammed into the boxes?
Grace cast a quick glance at the two bars set up on either side of the huge white tent erected for the occasion. Her uncle Clarence was around somewhere, irritating someone, no doubt. Of that, Grace was quite certain. He was her mom’s brother, the mayor of Blackfoot Falls, and the main reason Grace had moved to town, even though she didn’t know him well. The last time she’d seen Clarence was at her mom’s funeral. Grace had been ten. And while she appreciated his support, he was embarrassing her with his blatant campaigning to get her elected sheriff in November, so she’d given him the slip about an hour ago.
The shade inched away with the sun, and Grace inched along with it. The weather was perfect. Bright. Warm. People had scattered, gathering wherever they could find shade instead of confining themselves to the tent. This made escaping tricky. But everyone was busy laughing and talking, so it was possible she could dash to her car without being noticed.
She spotted Roy and cringed. He stood with his wife, and luckily was more interested in the bowls of munchies at the bar than anything else, including Grace. Fine by her. She wasn’t interested in socializing with him or the other deputies, though she hadn’t seen any of them at the wedding. They probably hadn’t been invited. Which meant they’d have something else to hold against her. As if being an outsider and a woman weren’t enough.
She could hardly blame them. The sheriff had resigned. Noah would be gone in ten days, and she wasn’t the only deputy who wanted to take his place. In truth, the others had a right to view her as an interloper, regardless of the fact she was the best qualified. Just like she had a right to throw her hat into the ring.
Someone tested the mic, drawing everyone’s attention to the stage. Perfect opportunity for Grace to zip to the parking area. She pulled her cell out of her pocket and checked the time. It was already six. Preparing to bolt, she glanced toward the large three-story family home to make sure she wasn’t being observed.
“Well, look at that.”
The voice startled her. Grace whirled around, ready to make an excuse, when she saw it was three of the bridesmaids talking to each other. They weren’t even looking at her.
“Where? What?” The blonde in the royal-blue dress shaded her eyes, her gaze darting from the stable to the house.
“Right over there,” Katy said, her steady focus almost predatory. Grace had briefly met the tall brunette. She and the other two bridesmaids were Rachel’s sorority sisters, all of them wearing different styles and colors of dresses, which Grace thought was pretty cool. “He just got out of the red Porsche.”
Red Porsche?
Grace’s heart skittered from first to third in two seconds. Silly, since she’d guessed the speed demon was in town for the wedding.
“I still don’t see him.” The shorter blonde wearing emerald green—Grace thought her name might be Chloe—pushed up on tiptoes. “Where?”
“Tall, longish dark hair? He’s gorgeous.” The blonde in blue adjusted her neckline, tugging at it until her cleavage was just so. “I wonder who he is.”
“I bet he’s Hilda’s son,” Katy said. “Ben, I think.”
“Hilda?”
“You know...the McAllisters’ housekeeper. Rachel said he was driving from California.” Katy slid an arch look at the woman still fussing with her dress. “By the way, Liz, I saw him first, so don’t even think about it.”
It took a moment for Grace to realize she’d joined the pack and was actually waiting for a glimpse of Ben Wolf. If he spotted her, she wondered how he’d react. She knew he hadn’t expected her to ticket him. A hot guy like that probably got away with murder.
Admittedly, her intention had been to give him a warning. Stopping him had almost made her late for the reception. But once Roy had seen them, she’d had little choice but to write the ticket. The last thing she needed was to come off as a pushover for a good-looking guy.
“California, huh?” Chloe settled back on her heels and drained her margarita. “I wonder what he does.”
“Stunt man,” Katy murmured. “He grew up here, though.”
Chloe let out a laugh. “How do you know all this?”
“I overheard Hilda and Rachel’s mom talking in the kitchen. Now that I think about it, Rachel mentioned him back in college.” Katy straightened. “There he is. Walking toward her and Matt near the stage. Navy blue shirt. About six foot two. You can get a closer look when his arm’s around my shoulder.”
Grace smothered a laugh. But Katy had a good eye for details. According to his driver’s license, Ben was thirty-three and six foot two and weighed two hundred pounds. The sexy hazel eyes Grace had seen for herself.
A pair of stocky cowboys wearing Stetsons blocked her view. She moved slowly to the left. But caught only the briefest glimpse of him. She shuffled over a couple feet. And bumped into someone.
“Excuse me,” she said, spinning around to see who she’d...
It was a tree. Jeez.
Chloe turned and smiled.
Grace smiled back and pretended she’d been on her phone. This took crazy to a new low. She was hanging around just to get another look at the guy. Even if she was interested, which she wasn’t, Ben Wolf wouldn’t give her the time of day unless he wanted something. Her instincts said this guy was trouble, and her cop gut was rarely wrong. Which meant she needed to keep her distance. She couldn’t afford a misstep.
She’d come to Blackfoot Falls for a fresh start. To get her career back on track. To escape the lingering suspicion that she’d been involved in the death of her partner. Wrong place, wrong time was basically how Internal Affairs had ruled the tragic incident. But not everyone had believed her story.
Sighing, she slipped her cell into her pocket. Her car key was in there, as well as some lip balm. She hated carrying a purse. T.J. used to tease her about her stuffed pockets.
Damn. She couldn’t think about her ex-partner right now. It would only depress her.
She needed to make the most of this opportunity at a fresh start and stop second-guessing herself. Stop worrying that moving here wasn’t the answer. She’d deal with Uncle Clarence later. Make him see his nepotism was narrowing her odds of being named interim sheriff, much less getting elected in November.
“I should go see if Rachel needs anything.” Katy looked over her shoulder, spotted a tray and set down her empty flute.
Liz snorted. “Good luck.”
Grace’s sweep of the crowd stopped dead when she got a perfect view of Ben. He looked like he’d walked off the cover of American Cowboy. The confidence practically oozed out of him. While he wasn’t the only man wearing jeans, he seemed the only one who’d be comfortable wearing a tux to a softball game. It wouldn’t matter. Women would flock to him either way.
Yep. Trouble. No two ways about it.
Katy