Hometown Christmas Gift. Kat Brookes
of words, and I’d appreciate it if things could stay that way. Sounds like she’s got enough on her plate already without adding embarrassment to all the other emotions she’s dealing with right now.”
“I appreciate that,” his friend said, concern creasing his brow. “I had intended to take the day off and be home waiting for them when they came, but they arrived a couple days ahead of schedule and I am tied up here at work for several more hours.”
An impatient tapping sounded at the office door.
“Excuse me,” Justin said apologetically as he stood and crossed the room to answer it.
“Sheriff,” Mrs. Baxter, the middle-aged receptionist who worked the front desk, said a bit breathlessly, a troubled frown marring her features. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Kathy Culler just called. Todd—that is Deputy Culler—has had an accident.”
“How bad?” Justin pressed, his words pulling Jackson back to the present.
“Bad,” she said fretfully. “Apparently, Deputy Culler fell off his ladder while putting Christmas lights up on their roof and broke his hip. Kathy told me they’d just taken him back for emergency surgery.”
Justin dragged a hand back through his dark brown hair. “The break must have been a serious one.”
She nodded. “Kathy isn’t one to get too overwrought about things, but she was definitely in a panicked state when she called to let us know.”
Jackson said a silent prayer for the injured man, knowing firsthand how hard recovery could be for a badly broken hip. Especially for an older man. Deputy Culler was in his late fifties and had been employed by Bent Creek’s Sheriff’s Department for as long as Jackson could remember. Could probably even have been sheriff somewhere along the way if he hadn’t had such an aversion to all the extra paperwork and responsibility the position demanded, stressors of the job Justin handled with ease.
“I’ll head over to the hospital to sit with her for a while as soon as I finish up here,” Justin told his frazzled secretary. “In the meantime, call Deputy Mitchell and explain the situation. See if there’s any chance he could cut his vacation short to come back and take over Deputy Culler’s shift. Tell him we’ll make it up to him.”
“I doubt he’ll be able to,” she replied, her frown deepening. “He’s on a ship somewhere in Alaska.”
Justin sighed. “I forgot he was going to be seeing Alaska by cruise ship.”
She managed a slight smile. “Probably because his vacations usually include a remote cabin somewhere. Not a fancy hotel on the water. Besides, you’ve got a lot on your mind with your sister and her son coming home to live with you.”
Jackson’s brows knitted together. Justin had told his receptionist about Lainie moving home, but had chosen to keep the news from him? Sure, Jackson had mentioned knowing there were issues between him and Lainie. But it made Jackson wonder exactly what his friend did know. Had Lainie opened up to her brother about the heartbreak Jackson had caused her? About how he had crushed all of her girlhood dreams about true love?
“I could probably reach him through the cruise line’s main office,” Mrs. Baxter suggested. “He could probably catch a flight home from his next stop.”
“No,” Justin said, shaking his head with a sigh. “Deputy Vance and I can split Deputy Culler’s shifts between us.”
“Only two of you doing everything?” she said, growing wide-eyed beneath the rim of her rhinestone-lined cat’s-eye glasses.
“It’ll only be for ten or so days,” he assured her. “Then Deputy Mitchell will be back and can take over his share of the extra workload. In the meantime, I’ll see if we can bring in additional help until we’re back to a full crew.”
She shrugged. “I suppose that’s all we can do for now. Thank the Lord above that Bent Creek is a peace-loving town or we would be in real trouble.”
Justin offered her a reassuring smile. “If that was an issue, I’d just deputize Jackson here to fill in. He’s good with a rope. Could lasso any criminal who dared to step foot in our little town.”
The older woman looked his way and Jackson smiled. “If it ever came down to it, I wouldn’t even wait for him to ask. I’d volunteer.” His gaze slid over to Justin. “Because that’s what friends are for. To help each other out in times of need.” And Justin had been there for him plenty of times over the years. Especially after Lucky Shamrock had sent Jackson to the hospital with a crushed leg and fractured hip. Justin was always checking in on him. He’d driven Jackson to countless physical therapy sessions and had picked Jackson up those times depression threatened to claim him.
“That’s good to know,” the older woman said, sounding a little less harried. Looking to Justin, she said, “I’ll call Kathy and let her know you’ll be stopping by.”
“Thank you,” Justin said, closing the door behind the older woman’s departing form. Then he turned to Jackson. “This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”
“Not so sure Todd had much say-so over the timing,” Jackson pointed out with a small grin, hoping to ease some of his friend’s stress.
“Maybe not, but the fact remains I’m going to be spending most of my time working.”
“In other words, nothing’s changed,” he pointed out. His friend was very committed to the position he’d been appointed to and worked long hours already as it was.
“I had hoped to take a little time off to spend time with Lainie and Lucas, but that won’t be possible now,” Justin said with a heavy sigh.
“I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“Maybe so. But Lainie was counting on me to do things with Lucas his father might have done if he were still here. With Todd out of commission, and Deputy Mitchell away on a lengthy vacation, I’m going to have far less time to spend with my nephew. Intentional or not, I’m letting my sister down when she needs me the most.”
“Maybe your dad can fill in until your schedule frees up a little,” Jackson suggested.
Justin looked to him. “Dad? You do recall that he’s seventy years old now, with arthritis in both knees.”
Jackson nodded. Justin and Lainie’s parents had been in their early-to midforties when they’d adopted the orphaned siblings. His friend had been five at the time and Lainie only two, and they had been loved beyond measure by their adoptive parents—the only parents they had ever really known. “I suppose that would make it difficult to play football with Lucas, or to go on hikes with him through the woods.” And all the things they used to do with their fathers as boys.
“Jackson,” Justin said, meeting his gaze. “You’ve always been like a brother to me. To Lainie as well.”
Not always, Jackson thought, recalling the kiss. Guilt nudged at him. “I feel the same way.”
“Glad to hear it,” his friend replied. “Because we need your help.”
Jackson’s brows arched upward. “My help?” Something told him he didn’t want to hear what the other man had to say.
“I’m not going to be able to be there for my sister and her son right now,” he said, and Jackson could tell it was tearing him apart. “At least, not like I’d planned to be. But I’m hoping they’ll be able to have the next best thing—you.”
Me? he thought, feeling the urge to back himself right out of Justin’s office. The last thing Lainie wanted to do was spend time around him. “Justin, you know I would do anything for you. But how am I supposed to help Lainie with her son?”
“You’re an uncle,” his friend explained. “You’ve had experience with kids.”
“Limited,” he countered.
“More