The Lawman's Convenient Family by Judy Duarte

Author:Judy Duarte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-10-10T19:55:49+00:00

* * *

An hour later, Adam returned to Julie’s place, a small but appealing yellow house with redbrick trim and a green front door. A white picket fence enclosed a simple but well-manicured yard. It suited her.

He walked up the sidewalk with a brown bag in one hand and holding a canvas carry-on and Biscuit’s leash in the other. He didn’t like leaving the dog home too long. Whenever he expected to be gone any length of time, he asked a neighbor to check on her. But the woman, a kind-hearted widow, left on vacation today.

Adam yawned as he reached the front porch. The sun had set long ago. If he’d thought he was tired before, he was really winding down now. But he’d never been a quitter.

He knocked on the door.

The moment Julie spotted him on the porch and blessed him with a breezy smile, his heart took a soaring leap, jump-starting his lagging energy level.

“You’re back,” she said.

“I told you I wouldn’t take long. I hope you don’t mind that I brought the dog.”

“No, not at all.” Julie gave Biscuit a scratch behind the ears before stepping aside to let them inside.

“Did you get anything done while I was gone?” he asked.

“I put away the groceries and I washed the new sheets. I still have a load of clothes to wash, fold and put away. But you were right. Things might be coming together, but we probably won’t finish before midnight.”

His red, gritty eyes and his dragging body hoped it wouldn’t take that long. At the possibility that it might, his little burst of energy fizzled.

Julie stepped aside and let him into the house. “I can guess what’s packed in that overnight bag, but what’s in the paper sack?”

“I stopped by a liquor store on my way here and bought a bottle of champagne. I also picked up two fluted glasses.”

A smile stretched across her face. “So we’re celebrating?”

“Don’t you think we should?” He laughed. “Besides, if we leave the empty bottle and the glasses out for Ms. Kincaid to see, it’ll make a wedding night seem more believable.”

“Looks like you thought of everything.”

“I try. Besides, I’ve worked a few child welfare cases. I also know what my social workers used to look for when checking one of the homes I lived in.” He nodded toward the bay window and the front yard. “I have some shirts and pants on hangers in the car. I’ll go back for them and bring them in. Hopefully, you have some room in your closet.”

“I’ll make room.” She looked at the clock on the bureau. “It’s nearly nine o’clock. The beds should arrive soon.”

As if on cue, a diesel engine sounded outside, followed by a whoosh of air as the truck braked to a stop.

“That’s probably the deliverymen,” Julie said.

She was right. Moments later, the doorbell rang. By the time the men set up the beds in the kids’ room, and Adam hung up the last of his clothing in Julie’s closet, a beep sounded from the laundry room.

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