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Page 4 of Stormswept Colorado (Hart County #3)

THREE

Teller

“You okay, Chief?” Finn Mackie, one of our dispatchers, said as I walked into the station. “You look…well, even less happy than usual.”

“I’m fine,” I grunted, heading for my office. Then I stopped and turned. “I usually look unhappy?”

Finn’s eyes darted to Officer Seth Duncan, who was on the front desk this shift. Seth shook his head lightly, lips pressed together like he was holding in a laugh.

“Is that a trick question, sir?” Finn asked.

“Never mind,” I muttered. But I had to wonder if the very sight of me was that off-putting to everyone, or just to visiting celebrities.

Ayla Maxwell had just flipped me off. When all I’d been doing was driving down the street.

I’d smiled when I spotted Maisie. I had no clue what my face had been doing when I noticed Ayla. She was almost unrecognizable in the hat and sunglasses. But there was no hiding that platinum hair. Or her slender waist and curvy hips, which her coat didn’t diminish at all.

There was something delicate about Ayla whenever I saw her in person. She was smaller, more fragile than I would’ve expected. I’d actually been worried, seeing her and Maisie out there by themselves.

Until I’d seen the SUV with dark-tinted windows driving behind her. Good . She’d brought security.

But make no mistake, that woman was a spitfire. Pure diva. Ready to throw attitude my way at the slightest provocation, or none at all.

Damn .

In the past, my officers and I had bent over backwards to accommodate her. Like increasing patrols in the area around Ashford’s home whenever she was in town. And this was the thanks I got?

So much for trying to fix that first impression. She hadn’t even given me a chance.

Maybe Ayla was a lost cause where I was concerned.

I settled behind my desk and started on some paperwork. But I didn’t make much progress before my younger sister Piper was barging into my office, her skin flushed and her eyes wide.

“Teller, I swear I am going to kill him.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Not the kind of thing you should admit at a police station.”

“And that is not funny.”

I schooled my features as I stood up and came around the desk. “You don’t mean Ollie, do you? Is he at school?”

Last time Ollie was unsupervised here at the station, the kid had managed to get into a box of handcuffs we’d just had delivered. We still hadn’t found the keys.

“Of course I don’t mean Ollie. And yes , he’s at school.”

“Then what’s up?”

“ Danny .” She spit out the name like a curse. And it might as well have been.

“What did your ex do now?”

Piper was ten years younger than me. Dad had worked on offshore oil rigs as a roughneck, which took him away from us for months at a time. Mom coped with the stress by leaving us on our own a lot.

There’d been rumors when Piper was born that she wasn’t Dad’s. I remembered the first time some kid on the playground teased me about it.

We both got sent home, me with bloody knuckles and that kid with two black eyes.

With our mom checked out from her parental duties, I’d picked up the slack. Looking out for Piper, making sure she did her homework and didn’t run too wild. Which, with a baby sister like Piper, had not been easy.

Piper owned Silver Linings Coffee on Main Street, and that suited her outgoing personality perfectly. Piper was the head of our town’s unofficial welcoming committee. Never met a stranger she didn’t want to call a friend.

We couldn’t have been more different.

And yet, whenever there was trouble, she came to her big brother. Sometimes Piper just needed me to tell her everything would be okay.

“It’s what Danny isn’t doing. Writing me back. I keep texting to ask when he’s going to see his son, and he’s ignoring me.”

Piper’s ex was a real piece of work. Danny had been a shitty husband and a worse father. They’d been divorced for several years. But last year, he’d left Silver Ridge and hadn’t shown any interest in being in Ollie’s life.

My hands rested on Piper’s arms. “I’ll try calling Danny. See if I can get through to him.”

“He won’t listen.” She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “Ollie was up crying last night. Missing his dad. He doesn’t understand why this is happening. What if he blames me?”

Shit. “He won’t. He loves his mom, and that will never change. I’ll keep being around for Ollie too. Like I have been. Like I always will be.”

I felt bad enough that I’d been gone so much myself during Piper’s life. When I was a kid, I’d sworn never to repeat our father’s mistakes. And then, what did I do? Joined the Army and then the Special Forces. A career that took me away from my sister when she needed me most.

Piper had met her ex in college. Could I have stopped her from marrying him if I’d been around more? Probably not. Piper was too strong-willed to bend to my advice if she didn’t want to. But I could’ve done more to support her.

Instead, an IED had almost killed me along with half my unit. And Piper had to help get me back on my feet after I returned to civilian life. Just another thing for Danny to complain about in the days before their divorce.

Serving in the Special Forces was the honor of my life. I didn’t exactly have regrets. But being Piper’s brother and Ollie’s uncle were pretty damn important to me too, and I still had a lot to make up for on that front.

I pulled her into a hug and rested my cheek on her hair. “It’ll be okay.”

Piper sniffled and wiped her eyes. It took a lot for her to reveal her insecurity, much less shed tears. “I was spiraling. Thanks for talking me through it. Sorry to barge in.”

“Anytime.” I grabbed a tissue from the box on my desk, one I kept there for witnesses and crime victims. She blew her nose.

I sat on the edge of my desk. “Hey, Piper? Do you think I seem…mean?”

Her bloodshot eyes scrutinized me. “Mean?”

I shifted my weight. “Grumpy. Like I’m always unhappy or something. Do I put people off?”

She was trying to keep a straight face, but I knew my sister. She was laughing. “Do you remember that time Grace and I were playing treasure hunters, and you got annoyed at us for digging holes in the backyard? And she climbed a tree and wouldn’t come down because she was scared of you?”

My lips pressed into a flat line. “You and Grace were five.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t usually run away from scary things. You , though?”

“Grace and I get along great.”

“Nowadays, sure. My point is, you can be intense. Intimidating. Even when you don’t mean to be. This can’t be a surprise to you.”

I stuck my hands in my pockets, searching for the right words. “I’m known for being serious. Maybe even uptight. But I didn’t think I was unlikable.”

“Why do you even care?”

“So I am unlikable?”

“Good lord.” She rubbed her face. “Where is this coming from? You never care what anyone thinks. Are you talking about someone specific? Did somebody hurt your macho, manly feelings?”

I grumbled, crossing my arms. “ No . I’m speaking generally.” And not about a gorgeous Grammy winner who couldn’t stand me. This wasn’t about her at all. “Just thinking about the qualities of a good police chief. I can’t operate effectively if I’m going around terrifying people.”

She held her pointer finger and thumb an inch apart. “You’re only slightly terrifying.”

“Slightly terrifying is still terrifying. My constituents have to be able to trust me.”

My sister paused, trying and failing not to roll her eyes.

“This town respects you more than almost anyone. You always tell the truth the way you see it, and if that rubs somebody the wrong way on occasion, so be it. Anybody who knows you thinks you’re a great guy.

Fair and loyal and reliable. Very trustworthy. ”

She hadn’t mentioned easygoing . Because I wasn’t. But I wasn’t the type to doubt myself either. Not usually.

Piper smacked a kiss on my cheek. “Now I’d better skedaddle. I’ll see you later, right? You’re good with watching Ollie? If you want to go to Ashford’s bachelor party after all, I can figure something else out. Since you’re so concerned suddenly about being social. ”

“Ashford doesn’t need me at his bachelor party. I’ll be at your place to watch Ollie. No change of plans.”

She studied me another moment. “Okay. Thanks, Teller. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

During my time serving my country, there’d never been a question about returning to Silver Ridge. I’d been the police chief of our small mountain town for a few years now. Most of the time, it was great. Maybe I had a tendency to be cynical and skeptical.

Especially of people who showed up here and expected the rest of us to pick up after their messes.

But I knew I was where I belonged. I was forty years old. Set in my ways. If that made me unlikable, too bad.

We had a good life here. I had a good life.

Once, I’d dreamed of having a wife and kids of my own. The whole white-picket-fence package. I’d even been engaged, but that was ancient history. I’d given up on that kind of thing a long time ago.

Maybe it was for the best it hadn’t worked out. Too many people were already counting on me.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.