The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Jed parked in front of the stone two-story building, the small city hall that the sheriff’s office was in. He strode up the concrete steps two at a time and then went down the old tiled hallway to the double glass doors that read “Sheriff.” He pushed them open and stopped at the front counter. A deputy with dark-rimmed glasses was behind the sterile brown counter. He glanced up at Jed.

“Is the sheriff in?”

The guy looked over his shoulder. “Can I tell him your name?”

Jed leaned his elbow on the counter. “Yeah. Jed Friessen.”

The deputy picked up the phone and said, “There’s a Jed Friessen here to see you, sir.” He nodded and hung up the phone. “Go on back.” He buzzed the gate. Jed pushed through, and the deputy pointed to an office at the back.

Jed knocked on the open door. “Sheriff?”

The blond-haired solidly built sheriff stood up and gestured to an empty chair at his desk. Jed closed the door. The young sheriff sat back in an old wooden chair that squeaked and then leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk.

Jed sat and tilted back his hat. “You take a kid from a young lady named Laura?”

The sheriff didn’t flinch but leaned back in the old swivel chair. The hinges squeaked again. “Yes. Are you related?”

“Why did you take her kid, Larry?” Jed asked.

The sheriff glanced at the door, and when he faced Jed, his baby blue eyes were hard and unforgiving. “We had a duty, Jed. My deputy found them living in her old car. She looks barely old enough to have a kid. It’s damn cold out, and who knows how long they’ve been living like that and when the kid last ate?”

“She’s at our place now. Diana hired her—she has a job. She’ll have a place to live, too. So call this social worker and get her kid back to her.” Jed hated this and watched as the sheriff shook his head.

“Doesn’t work that way, Jed. This was an emergency situation. She’ll have to contact social services, and there’ll be a hearing to determine whether she has suitable living arrangements and whether she’s fit as a parent. They’ll investigate first, and then it’ll go before a judge. It’s not up to me anymore.” He held up his hand when Jed cursed. “Hey… I am not about to allow some tiny kid to go back to that. If she’s cleaned up and has a place, she’ll get him back. But he’s in the system now, and he’s probably better off, too.”

“In the system, are you kidding? What does that mean? Be honest, Larry. She’s pretty torn up.”

“Look. Your wife’s a lawyer?” The sheriff wiped his hand across his face.

“Yeah, she’s only done a few corporate things, wills, small stuff, nothing like this. She’s helping me on the ranch and is a full-time mom.” Jed never liked the fact that Diana worked, and he told her he’d provide—he’d look after them. He never wanted her to become a full-time lawyer in town and have Danny stuck with some nanny. It had been a bone of contention between them whenever clients phoned, because Jed was old school about a lot of things, including his opinion that a man should look after a woman, not the other way around.

The sheriff nodded. “So are you really taking this girl in and helping her?”

“Yeah, we are.” Jed didn’t know this girl from a hill of beans, but he trusted Diana and her instincts, even though he worried deep down that she’d be taken advantage of. But he had seen the girl with his own eyes—seen how torn up she was and how young she was. Before he got any deeper in with this girl, he was determined to find out more about her, and the entire situation, for his wife’s sake.

The sheriff opened his top drawer. “Here’s the social worker’s card. Call him, tell him she wants to see him. She’s entitled. Ask them to set up a hearing. And for God’s sake, make sure she’s got a roof over her head. Do you even know why she was on the streets?”

Jed didn’t give too much away, so he took the card and said, “Thanks, Sheriff,” and started to leave.

“What do you really know about this girl, Jed?”

Jed stopped with his hand on the door. “Why are you asking?”

“Maybe you should ask yourself if the kid isn’t better in a foster home, where he can get three square meals and a warm bed to sleep in,” the sheriff said none too lightly.

Jed opened the door. “What about love, Sheriff? You forgot to mention that part. Diana will be calling. I expect you’ll treat my wife with respect.” He paused. The sheriff inclined his head. Jed left and was almost to his truck when someone shouted his name.

It was Andy, shouting out his open window, and he pulled in, parked beside Jed’s truck, and jumped out. Jed shook hands with his cousin.

“What are you doing here?” Andy asked. “I’ve been meaning to call you to come out and see you, Diana, and that godson of mine.”

Jed tilted his hat up. “Stopped in to talk to the sheriff.”

Andy appeared distracted until Jed mentioned the sheriff. “Everything okay? Did something happen?”

“No, just some young girl Diana found yesterday with her kid in the store hungry. The sheriff took her kid away this morning. Diana was trying to help her after finding them.…”

Andy cut him off before he could finish. “Was her name Laura, by any chance?”

Jed narrowed his eyes. “That’s her. Guess you know her. Heard she worked for Caroline and she fired her.”

Andy nodded. “I’ve been looking for her. She was fired by Mother in one of her fits. I was finding her another job, but I went to her place only to find out she’d been thrown out by her slime-bag landlord. So what happened, and where is she?” Andy sounded worried, and Jed really looked at him, because that was so unlike his cousin.

“Right now, Diana’s taken her home. All I know is she’s been sleeping in her car. The sheriff had social services take her kid. Diana found them yesterday, hungry, begging for a job at the grocery store. She took them to Merle’s and fed them, offered the girl a job. She was supposed to meet her at nine outside the grocery store.” Jed watched Andy, wondering if he was sincere. After all, his history with women wasn’t great. “Were you sleeping with her?”

Andy narrowed his eyes and snapped, “No, I wasn’t.”

“You know darn well why I asked. You and your daddy have a way with women, turning their lives upside down.”

“I’m not my dad, Jed. You know that. And that girl didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

Jed nodded, seeing a side of Andy he hadn’t before. “Well, if you want to follow, I got to go tell my wife what the sheriff said. But I got to warn you, Laura was pretty messed up when Diana took her home.”

Andy really did appear worried. His entire expression surprised Jed. “I’ll be right behind you.” Andy ran his hand over his head and then strode back to his truck and climbed in, following Jed back to his ranch.

Andy parked beside Jed’s truck in front of his house. Diana must have seen Jed coming, as she was pulling on her coat as she closed the front door behind her, clipping the baby monitor to the waistband of her jeans. She hopped down the stairs and then paused mid-step when she saw Andy. Even though they’d come so far, the array of emotions that shifted through her face had Jed worrying about her still.

Jed leaned in and kissed his wife. He touched her cheek, taking in her softness and the tiny lines that seemed to have popped up overnight around her eyes. “Where’s Danny, and Laura?”

Diana slid her hand in his, holding it a little tighter than usual. “Danny’s sleeping. Just put him down. Laura fell asleep on the sofa. I made her eat some eggs and toast. I know she was starving,” Diana said, as she stepped closer to Jed. He could see that this whole situation with Laura, and now with Andy here, was reminding her of things she most likely didn’t want to remember.

Andy strode up. “Diana, I heard you found Laura.”

Diana glanced briefly at Jed. Jed knew her concern. “He’s been looking for her,” he explained.

“Why were you looking for her, Andy? What do you want with her?” Diana asked in a way that was as fierce as a protective mama bear. Jed slid his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

“She didn’t deserve what happened. I was trying to find her another job. I promised the cook that I would. My intentions are honorable, nothing more. She’s young, and I feel sorry for her to be treated so horribly. It was unfair what Mother did, and the cook told me a few things. Laura hasn’t had an easy life…” Andy started, but he said no more, wondering if maybe he shouldn’t repeat it. “I’d like to help if I can.”

“She looks pretty young to have a kid, only twenty, so I can only imagine the story. It sounds as if you know more, Andy?” Diana slid her hand over Jed’s chest as he kissed the top of her head.

Danny started whimpering from inside, and Jed slipped the monitor from Diana’s waistband. “I’ll get him.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a business card. “This is from the sheriff. He said to call this guy. He took the kid. He’s the social worker.”

Jed slid his hand around Diana’s chin and watched her for a second until she looked up at him. He knew she’d be okay. He hurried to the door and hopped to the top step. When he slid open the door, Laura scrambled up off the sofa as if she’d just been caught doing something she shouldn’t.

“Diana.” Jed motioned her in with his hand. He knew she’d understand, as she opened her mouth and nodded.

“Would you like a coffee, Andy? I think Laura’s awake.” She tucked her hands in her pocket and went to Jed, who held out his hand to her.

“Sure,” Andy replied, and he followed, determined. Jed could see the hesitation and something else in his cousin. For the first time, he appeared willing to help.