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“Yeah, after sitting out there in the cold rain for at least two hours. Miserable, but it’s my job.”

“Well, at least you got to arrest them.”

“I didn’t. U.S. Park Rangers did.”

“You didn’t arrest them?”

Shaw shook his head. “Nope. I don’t get that privilege. I don’t get recognized. I go out there and put my life on the line, and the newspaper will talk about how Whitley County and Williamsburg city and the U.S. Park Service brought them in. KDFWR won’t be mentioned anywhere. If we are, it’ll be a first.”

“Were you the only conservation officer out there?”

“No. WadeJennings was there too. He’s from our region. I’m usually alone on this end of the region, but I specifically asked CaptainLarrison if he could send somebody else down here tonight, and he did, thank goodness. We needed everybody we could get.”

“Violent bunch?”

He swallowed another bite of soup. “No, but what we found in the way of supplies was disturbing. Stuff that the Oklahoma City bomber used to make the bombs. Kinda scary.”

“Well, at least they’re gone now.”

The bowl was empty and he was full. “Lawd, honey, that was delicious.”

Cherilyn grinned. “Getting warm?”

“Slowly but surely. You guys have a good night?”

“I guess. I got to talk to Candace one-on-one for a while.”

Shaw’s eyebrows shot up. “And how did that go?”

She took a deep breath and sighed it out. Shaw took that as a bad sign until she said, “Surprisingly well. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

It seemed like she was having trouble figuring out what she wanted to say. He just waited, not wanting to push, as she thought. Finally, she said, “That girl needs a mother.”

“She does.”

“That’s something I could do for her, be a mom.”

“Yes. You could.”

“But do you want me to?”

Shaw knew where it was going. “Do you want to?”

“I’d like to.”

“Okay. Well, what’s stopping you?”

“Ummm…”

Shaw reached over and took her hand. “Okay. Let’s do this. For right now, I can say that I love you as a friend and always want you in my life. How’s that?”

She seemed to relax, and a little smile crept across her face. “Yeah. I love you as a friend and I always want you inmylife.”

“Good. So that paves the way for you to do what you feel you need to do in regard to Candace.”

“Thank you. She’s your daughter. She asked me if I could ever love her like I love my girls, and I really want to.”