Rekindled Hearts Read online

She nodded and went back to her truck. She started to pull out posters and sheets for adopting animals, but first had to wipe her hands on her jeans. She looked back at Colt. His clothes were soaked.

  “Your hands are wet,” she teased.

  “No kidding?” He pulled out his wet shirt. “What gives you that idea?”

  “Things going well at the dunking tank?” She grabbed the posters and closed the truck door.

  “The dunking tank is great. The water is cold, but that ensures that we earn more money. For some reason people love it when a cop is dropped into freezing cold water.”

  “I know, that’s my favorite.”

  The sheltie, Lassie, whined a little, asking for attention. Lexi stopped at the cage and opened the door. She ran her fingers through the thick fur of the little dog and let the animal lick her fingers.

  “What’s this?” Colt pointed to the information hanging on the outside of the cage, information about the dog.

  “I thought maybe her real owners would show up.” Lexi closed the door after petting the little dog one last time.

  “Lexi, you really like that dog, don’t you?” Colt slipped an arm around her waist.

  “She’s sweet.” The truth was, she let the dog have free rein of her temporary home. The puppies slept in a box. The sheltie slept with Lexi.

  “Lexi, that dog’s owner isn’t going to come looking for her.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Colt, handsome and always so sure of himself, turned a little red and looked away. Guilty. He was guilty and she didn’t know why.

  “What did you do?” She flipped his arm. He laughed a little, but she wasn’t about to be amused.

  “Okay, this is the thing. And you’ll see, it’s kind of funny.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “The guy that had the dog. It was his dog. He was willing to let me think she was Charlie because he wanted that reward. One problem, she’s a girl. Oh, and the wrong kind of dog.”

  “You took the guy’s dog?” She wasn’t getting this.

  “No, I didn’t take someone’s dog. I bought her from him. I knew you’d love her. He didn’t want her.”

  Now she got it. She didn’t know whether to punch him or kiss him. Quick, before she lost her nerve, she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. And then she punched his arm.

  “I’m not sure what to say to you.” She looked away because her eyes were burning and she wasn’t going to cry.

  “Tell me you like your new dog?”

  “She, I like.”

  “Me?”

  She glanced up, not able to hide her smile. “You’re okay, too.”

  A crowd had gathered and children were reaching in to pet animals. Kittens were mewing. The goat was out of her pen. A little boy tugged on Lexi’s arm; in his other hand he had a kitten.

  “I need to take care of some business.” Colt stared at her for a long minute, making her think of days when he would have kissed her before walking away. “I’ll be back, and you can lecture me then.”

  Lexi nodded and watched him go, tall and in control. And her heart was out of control, because it wanted to believe that she and Colt were working things out. More than that, she wanted the Colt that she’d known four years earlier, before they fell to pieces.

  And she thought that the time they were spending together was his way of saying a final goodbye. It was time for that often spoke of closure.

  Colt stopped when someone walked up behind him. He turned and wished he hadn’t stopped. Michael Garrison laughed and shook his head. “That was cheesy.”

  “Excuse me?” Colt took a step away from his friend. “What was cheesy?”

  “I’m not blaming you for trying to work your charm on her. But you passed the dog off as a stray?”

  “I know, cheesy.” Colt shrugged. “Actually, it’s a little bit because of Chico. He was her dog and he wouldn’t stay with her after the divorce.”

  “Try for real points. Come to church tomorrow.”

  “I might do that, but I’m not looking to earn points, Michael. Lexi and I needed this. We’ve skirted around each other for two years, avoiding being in the same room, the same place. We need to be able to be around each other without the tension.” Colt held up the fake ring. “I need to talk to Missy Duncan.” Newly engaged and possibly wanting a ring.

  “Missy? Why?”

  “I thought maybe she might know something about this ring.”

  “The ring that isn’t the Logan ring. Why would Missy know about it?”

  “I don’t, Michael, I just like wild-goose chases. I thought maybe there might be a woman or man in this town that would have liked the Logan ring, because of what it stands for.”

  “That’s not a Colt theory.”

  “No, it’s a Lexi theory. They took the real ring, for the family history, and dumped the fake ring to get the heat off their back, allowing them a happy-ever-after with someone else’s ring.”

  Michael laughed a little, with less humor. “Follow me. Have you talked to any other women in town?”

  “Jamie Masters. Chuck proposed at the game. He was in the outfield and he held up a sign.”

  “Nice.” Michael shook his head.

  Colt thought corny was a better word. Lexi would have said it was romantic. Colt thought back to his own proposal. He had been more about tradition, because he knew that’s what Lexi would want. She wanted it all. She had wanted the down-on-one-knee proposal, the traditional wedding, the house, the kids.

  “How did you propose?” Colt asked his friend.

  Michael shot him a look and shook his head, but Colt didn’t miss the way his friend then glanced in the direction of Heather Waters. And he couldn’t miss that maybe God had used this tornado to take care of unfinished business in a few lives.

  Hard as it seemed, God was in control.

  “There’s Missy.” Michael pointed. “I need to help Lexi match animals to people. You go match a ring to a con man.”

  “I didn’t say she’s the one.” Colt shook his head. This wasn’t working out the way he planned. “Michael, do you have any other ideas? Jesse wants his ring. This ring was tossed into your lost-and-found box. I’m the one who has to find answers—for this and a dozen other problems since the tornado.”

  Michael’s brows shot up. “Colt, I’m not sure what to say about this. Other than you’re taking it all on yourself. You have other officers. You have a community that supports you. You have a wife….”

  “Ex-wife.”

  “Wife. You know you still love her. She still loves you.”

  “It takes more than love.”

  “It takes trust.” Michael patted his back. “It takes a willingness to talk and work through things. It takes the knowledge that there are no perfect relationships. And Lexi didn’t ask you to carry it all for her.”

  “No, she didn’t.” Colt slid the ring onto his little finger and waved his hand. “I need to take care of this.” He started to walk away, but he turned. Michael was still standing there. “Michael, I appreciate you. You’re being honest. And you’re probably right.”

  Michael laughed at that. “Of course I’m right.”

  Missy looked at him as if he was crazy when he asked to see her engagement ring. He felt a little crazy. He was actually following Lexi’s advice on how to investigate a case. And he knew better.

  When they were married she sent him on more wild-goose chases. Once she had called to tell him that someone was stealing laundry off an elderly neighbor’s clothesline. It turned out to be a neighbor’s dog, and the owner of the dog, embarrassed by the situation, was throwing the clothes in a bag and hiding them.

  He glanced in Lexi’s direction. She stood off to the side holding a kitten out to a little girl. When Lexi leaned, her hair fell forward. She pushed it back with her left hand. A hand without a ring. He looked down at the ring in his hand, the tiny diamond sparkling. He remembered putting the band on her finger the day they pledged to love one ano
ther forever.

  He didn’t remember seeing it in the box of things she’d salvaged after the tornado.

  “Chief Ridgeway, do you have something you want to ask me?” Missy stared up at him.

  “Missy, how did Frank propose?”

  “What? I’m confused, what does that have to do with this ring?”

  Not a thing. He sighed, and for the first time in his career he felt a little scattered. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the ring, Missy. I’m not sure where this ring came from, or who put it in the lost and found. I’m trying to figure this out.”

  “And you think knowing how Frank proposed will help?” Her mouth twisted and she shook her head. “Okay, fine.”

  He pulled out his notebook, as if he meant it. Pen poised, he waited for her to talk. Her gaze flew past him. He turned and saw Lexi tying a rope to a collar on a goat. Missy chuckled a little.

  “Interesting,” she whispered.

  “Interesting?”

  “Frank proposed by putting an advertisement in the paper. It was the sweetest thing. Front page of the County Herald, he asked me to marry him.”

  “You’re kidding.” Colt thought he might be a little sick.

  “No, I’m serious. Isn’t that wonderful and romantic?”

  “Romantic.”

  “Did you hear what Clark Gibson did?”

  He couldn’t wait. “No, I didn’t.”

  “He bought a wedding ring quilt from the craft fair this summer. He had the ladies in the quilting group sew the engagement ring to the center of the quilt and had his name and Cathy’s embroidered on it.”

  “Sweet.” And a little nauseating. He wanted to ask another question. Would these couples make it? Would they stick to it, through the rough times, through doubts and pain?

  He couldn’t ask Missy that question. He could see that she believed in forever. And Lexi believed in it, too.

  “Chief Ridgeway, it isn’t any of my business, but I think you should just ask her to marry you again. You don’t have to buy a quilt or take out an ad in the paper, just ask.”

  His mouth dropped and he shook his head, amazed that she had the nerve to make that statement. But hadn’t he just questioned her about her proposal? Fair turnabout.

  “Thanks for answering my questions.” He shoved the ring back into his pocket and walked away.

  Jesse didn’t have his family heirloom. Couples were falling in love, thinking of forever together, and other people were trying to figure out how to believe again, to have faith.

  He fell into that latter category. He was trying to have faith, but people were willing to take a little girl for money they thought was available, and another man was willing to sell his own dog.

  Sometimes people made it hard to have faith. But looking around—at the town green full of people who had gathered to help their neighbors—maybe faith wasn’t so far out there after all.

  The town was being rebuilt, but so were lives. He had only to look at Maya and Greg with their growing family, or Michael and Heather, to know how true that was.

  “Chief!”

  Colt turned, waiting for Junior to catch up with him. The older officer was out of breath, perspiration beading across his forehead. Junior was a county deputy, but assigned to the High Plains rural area.

  “Hey, Junior.”

  “Chief, big news. Remember that Parsons guy?”

  Colt nodded, but cold encased his heart. “Yes.”

  A man that had gone on a crime spree last year. It had taken several counties to run him down and finally catch him.

  “He escaped.”

  Escaped. A man who had threatened to get Colt back, because Colt had been relentless in hunting him down.

  Lexi. Colt caught her gaze and smiled. She waved.

  “State wanted you to know,” Junior continued. “He might head in this direction. He had a friend outside of town here.”

  “I remember.” The friend had disappeared months ago. The house was sitting empty. No one wanted it. “Thanks, Junior. We’ll be looking for him.”

  “Remember, I’m a radio call away if you need help.”

  “That’s good to know.” Colt worked hard at smiling. If Parsons was on the loose, they would need help catching him.

  He walked away from Junior, thanking him for the information.

  Now he had to add Lexi in danger to his list of responsibilities. And how could he protect her? He could no longer sit in the living room while she slept, waiting for danger to walk through the door.

  He could pray. Lexi and Michael would both tell him that. He could trust that God had this in control. Lexi’s favorite saying echoed in his mind: “God isn’t surprised by this.”

  Lexi watched the last kitten being carried away by a little girl that promised to love the tabby—forever. When she looked up from the paperwork, she saw Colt heading across the lawn. He had been talking to a county officer earlier, and then he’d headed back to the dunk tank.

  She smiled as he drew closer. “Hey, stranger, you’re soaked again.”

  He stood in front of her, sopping wet. His sun-streaked blond hair was plastered to his head and water dripped down his face. Boyish and adorable. He had always been those things.

  “We made a lot of money for the tornado relief fund.”

  “That’s great.” She grabbed an empty cage and shoved it into the back of her truck. “I would have paid a lot of money to see you go into that water.”

  “It was freezing cold.”

  “I’m sure it was. You should probably get into dry clothes and drink some tea to warm up.”

  “I have dry clothes in my Jeep. No tea, though.”

  Lexi bit down on her bottom lip and nodded. She reached for another cage. He got to it first. Their arms brushed. His was damp and cold.

  “I can do this.” She tried to take it from him.

  “I’ll help.”

  “Colt…”

  He turned, his smile soft and the look in his eyes tender. He winked. Resolve melted away, like wax in a hot flame. “Lex, let me help you.”

  “This is too much.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I don’t know where this is going, or how to process what is happening.”

  “I think this is me, trying to help you.”

  “Okay, you help me, and I’ll make hot tea so you won’t catch cold.”

  “Sounds like a great idea.”

  No, it sounded like a mistake and she couldn’t stop herself.

  Chapter Nine

  Colt took the cup of tea Lexi held out to him. Steam rose from the amber liquid, and the fragrance of herbs and jasmine was strong.

  Lexi’s hair fell forward. She brushed it back with her right hand, and the only ring she wore—her grandmother’s engagement ring—caught his attention. She looked up, her gaze meeting his, and then she looked away.

  “Lex, I noticed your wedding ring set wasn’t in the box you had out the other day.” He shouldn’t have brought it up, but he couldn’t let it go.

  She shrugged slim shoulders as she walked back into her small kitchen. She opened a cabinet and pulled out a box of cookies. And she didn’t answer, not right away. Colt moved to the edge of the sofa but he didn’t get up. He wouldn’t push her to go where she didn’t want to go.

  When she turned, her eyes were clear. Had he expected tears?

  “They’re gone. They were in a box in the hall closet.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Another lift of her shoulders, as if it didn’t matter. But it did. To him, it mattered. It probably shouldn’t. Their marriage had ended two years ago. The rings were a symbol of something that had become broken and unfixable.

  Even as he let those thoughts run through his mind, he wondered, was it unbroken, or had they just given up? He put the cup of tea down on the coffee table and walked across the room to stand next to her.

  “Remember when we picked those rings out?” He bumped his shoulder to hers, wanting to
make her smile.

  “Yes, you told the jeweler that price was no object, and then you saw the price of the rings they brought out. I thought you were going to choke.”

  “You let me think you wanted the biggest one.”

  “It was fun, to see you look a little pale, maybe a little green.”

  Her hair fell forward, exposing a sweet spot next to her ear. He had kissed that place so many times. Even the day he bought the rings, as she looked over the half dozen that fit his budget.

  He closed his eyes and remembered. And then he kissed her again, in her kitchen on a fall day with her rings missing and their marriage over. And it still moved him.

  He kissed her neck and then her lips, tasting herbal tea and watermelon lip gloss. She kissed him back, her hands behind her back and her face tilted up.

  Somewhere at the back of his mind he remembered that this was about letting go and moving on, not getting stuck in the past. But the past hadn’t been bad. Their marriage had never been bad.

  It had just been broken, by her fear and his.

  He tasted the salt of her tears on her cheeks and then she moved away from him. He should have moved away first.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair.

  “I could have stopped you, so don’t apologize.”

  “Okay, I won’t. But that isn’t why I came over here.”

  She nodded and turned away, and he could see where her tears had washed away her makeup. He had really messed up.

  His radio squawked. He moved away from her and took the call. Parsons had been spotted outside of High Plains.

  “Lex, I have to go.”

  “What’s up?” Casual tone, as if she wasn’t worried. He remembered the tense voice in the last weeks of their marriage. And he remembered the night he had twenty missed calls on his phone, because she hadn’t been able to reach him.

  He wasn’t going to lie to her. “Mitch Parsons escaped.”

  “Oh.” She washed his cup, over and over. “I guess you do have to go.”

  “I do.” He moved behind her. “You’ll be okay?”

  “Of course.” She smiled at him, really smiled. “Colt, two years is a long time. I’ve learned to pray. I can admit that I still worry about you. But I’m not living in fear, always wondering when something bad will happen.”