Harlequin Special Edition: October 2022 Box Set 2 of 2 by Roan Parrish

Author:Roan Parrish
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Declan cradled his plate, making his way down the supper buffet, the echoes of bingo calls from across the entry mixing with the clank of silverware in the dining area.

The food at the ranch was always top notch, but he was starting to wonder if he would ever be able to talk Charlotte into a real date downtown. Even though he enjoyed the vacation vibe here, he couldn’t forget that for Charlotte, this was like never leaving work. Even now, she’d left her place at the table to answer questions for a couple celebrating their fiftieth anniversary.

Exhaling hard, Declan scooped sautéed Vidalia onions and peppers over his grilled flat-iron steak. Garlic red potatoes, green beans, biscuits and cobbler rounded out the meal. A great meal, but it could have used more of the spice of Charlotte’s company.

He just wanted an uneventful evening to chill with his girlfriend – who was finally finishing chatting with the ranch guests.

Joining Charlotte back at their table in a corner purposely chosen for its distance from foot traffic to the buffet, he set down his dishes and pulled her chair out, motioning for her to sit. “M’lady.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.” She batted her eyelashes at him playfully as she slid into her seat. “Sorry it took me so long to join you.”

“No need to apologize. You’re well worth the wait.” He drank in the sight of her in a flowing brown suede dress and boots, having clearly taken the time to change clothes for their dinner together. “I’m just glad you’re here now.”

Sighing, she draped her napkin over her lap, then sat up straight again, her eyes scanning the room while concern tightened her normally plump pink lips into a thin line. “Where’s Rory?”

“Right over there.” Declan pointed toward the dessert table, where the teen was flirting with a high school girl who worked part-time in the gift shop. A rare sighting of Rory without his eyes glued to his phone.

Charlotte smiled apologetically. “I feel like I need to put a tracker on my brother.”

“That can be arranged,” he said with a wink, half joking. He had a bad feeling about the kid that left him worried for Rory. And for Charlotte.

“No matter what I do, he works his way around it.” Shaking her head, a strand of blond hair slid forward over her shoulder. “I have him turn on the locator on his cell phone, and he just leaves his phone in the place he’s supposed to be...then uses his burner phone to call his friends when he leaves.”

“How did you figure that out?” He reached for the plate of lemon wedges to add to his iced tea as a fiddle player wove around the tables, playing.

“I was doing his laundry, and a burner fell out. I opened it and saw the texting history. I hate being the kind of person who searches a kid’s room, but I have to keep him safe.”

Charlotte had been thrust into guardianship, and she managed to do all of this for her brother with a smile.

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