Last holiday season, V.R. Marks treated readers to a bonus glimpse of life in Haleswood with The Sheriff’s Proposal, a romantic story of Sheriff Cochran and Ruth Williams, characters first introduced in The Thief.
The annual Thanksgiving feast in Haleswood will be more than memorable when Sheriff Cochran won’t let the woman he’s loved for years turn down his marriage proposal.
Here’s an excerpt:
-One-
“Marry me, Ruth.”
The words echoed in her head as Ruth Williams sat at the end of the tall counter nearest the kitchen. It had been a struggle to think of anything else since the sheriff had unexpectedly popped the question two nights ago.
At some point in the past, she’d dreamed of a husband and family of her own, but life happened, priorities shifted, and things just worked out differently. She was happy with the differences and happy here, with her busy restaurant, close friends, and her house on the lake.
Sipping the Midnight Rooster’s house blend of coffee – black today to match her Monday mood – she checked over the supply list for the third time that morning. Her only hope was to focus on other things. Business things. Things that made sense.
This Thanksgiving was hardly her first community event. She’d thrown this holiday celebration feast almost as long as she’d owned the restaurant. She and her staff always had a good time during both the prep and serving of the meal. The extra work paid off in the fun and camaraderie of seeing nearly everyone in town stop by at some point during the day.
But this year’s dinner felt more important than others in recent memory. Haleswood was growing in so many good ways and they’d been through a nasty shock when a madman had come to town, determined to kill her niece, Allie.
While she hadn’t been here for the danger, she knew the community needed the warmth, love, and stability of the annual event more than ever before.
She tapped pen against paper and added another turkey to the list, along with two more bags of potatoes. The youngest O’Kelly boy was sixteen and eating everything in sight. The newest professor at the college had three young sons and an adorable daughter who wasn’t quite four years old yet. She had yet to meet a toddler who didn’t love creating mashed potato sculptures.
On a personal level, it was most important to her that Ross Carpenter was returning to the annual feast. Having fed him as a teenager, and knowing he would be bringing Allie – as his fiancée – along with the rest of his team from his private security firm, more food seemed prudent.
Nothing would be wasted and everyone in town loved the thick ‘leftover’ sandwiches she added to the menu for a few days after the holiday.
When her business partner, Jeanne, passed by with the coffee pot, Ruth covered her mug. Fighting off jitters from the sheriff’s proposal, more caffeine was the last thing she needed. Unfortunately, the move only prompted Jeanne to plant her hands on her hips and stare.
“Want to talk about it?”
No. “Nervous stomach today, that’s all.”
Jeanne’s snort made it clear she wasn’t buying the story, but she let it slide. Ruth appreciated the benefit of their lifelong friendship. She just wasn’t ready to share any of the personal details plaguing her thoughts this morning.
She gave herself a mental shake, irritated with her theatrics. Her current predicament about a marriage proposal was hardly a plague and she wasn’t sure there were details worth sharing. Yet. If she gave the answer she planned to give –
The bell over the front door chimed and in walked the real cause of her jitters. A veritable chorus of greetings followed Haleswood’s sheriff, Ben Cochran, as he hooked his jacket on the coat rack and made his way to his usual spot at the end of the counter.
They exchanged greetings as they’d done every morning for as long as she could recall. Today was just a typical Monday, like so many other days when she pretended not to notice how his khaki shirt stretched across his broad shoulders and tucked neatly into the trim waistline of his dark jeans. Another normal morning, as if they didn’t both know he’d changed all the rules when he’d flashed that ridiculous diamond ring two nights ago.
“Marry me, Ruth.”
Her heart had done a happy skip at the time and the ‘yes!’ was almost past her lips when her head crashed the party.
They’d been friends for years, but something more had started – at that first community Thanksgiving dinner he’d attended as the new sheriff. What started as friendly flirting had changed when they’d both had too much champagne at the New Year’s bash. What might have been a one-night stand turned into a discreet relationship with benefits that had lasted almost a full year now and made her feel thirty again.
The fact that no one in town had managed to unearth their secret was a testament to how well their system was working. Why did he have to mess all of that up now?
The diamond was still in the little velvet box on her dresser. She narrowed her gaze at him, frustrated just thinking about the curve ball he’d thrown at her. The stubborn man had insisted the ring stay with her while she considered his proposal.
Ruth frowned at her list, made another notation while the waitress at the counter poured him a cup of coffee.
Two nights ago, he’d stopped by to check on her and, typically well informed, asked if she needed assistance assembling her new treadmill. She could have called any number of people, but he’d been right there and she enjoyed his company.
Instructions, diagrams, a few extra pieces, and two attempts at setting the computer made her grateful for his assistance by the time they toasted success with a beer.
Grateful for help with an exercise machine didn’t mean she wanted a wedding or needed a husband.
She couldn’t figure out why she was angry about it. They shared a mutual affection, respect, and an excellent sex life, but up until the treadmill she didn’t think what they had required any formality.
With a nod in his direction, she took the coward’s way out and retreated to the kitchen. She should have known his thoughts were meandering down that path. He’d been practically hovering over her since she got back from her vacation cruise. She hadn’t liked the death threat she’d received any more than he did, but he could hardly do anything about it now that she was home safe and the criminal was in custody.
He’d nearly admitted the scare was the catalyst for his proposal.
“Life’s for living,” he’d said, opening the jeweler’s box. “Let’s not waste any more time.”
She pushed aside the memory of that sparkling diamond ring and pinned her food order list to the bulletin board with a bit more force than necessary.
“No place for temper in the kitchen,” Jeanne deadpanned.
Ruth tried to smile. “Sheriff’s here. He’ll want his usual.”
“Sure.” Jeanne added two sausage patties to the grill and started whisking up eggs for the sheriff’s omelet.
“Wouldn’t hurt him to go a day without sausage,” Ruth grumbled on her way to the freezer.
“Did the man serve you with papers?”
“What?” She paused with a hand on the door, the cold air turning her jeans cold against her legs. “Of course not.”
“Never seen you quite so out of sorts with anyone.”
Ruth ignored that. She lost her temper as often as the next person; she just didn’t show it here at the restaurant. Of course when she did lose her temper, she typically knew the ‘why’ of it.
She stopped lying to herself. The proposal was at the heart of her tantrum. Almost. What she wanted more than a diamond was to know if it was love, convenience, or Ben’s mile-wide protective streak at the heart of his proposal.
* * *
To read the rest of The Sheriff’s Proposal pick up your copy of Heroes for the Holidays – currently on sale for only 99 cents!
Or you can find this short also included with three other wonderful holiday tales in the 2012 anthology: A Season for Romance
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
~V.R.