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Veri took one look at Bailey and Clay when they walked in together early the next morning, and she knew they’d finally figured things out between them. She had to smile at that. She hadn’t smiled in more than twenty-four hours. Not since the storm had hit.
Now that the storm was over, she had to turn herself to getting through. On her own two feet. Not with that man dictating what she was going to do next.
Give a man a kiss and he’d take a mile.
But that man could certainly kiss.
He’d won last night. She’d intended to stay at the precinct and help, but Bert had swooped in and taken her home with him. He’d given her the room next to his, one floor above where his son and grandson—and their guests, the Lakes—all slept. His daughter and her fiancé had been around, too.
It had shocked the heck out of Veri when he’d snuck into her room to talk.
It hadn’t been all talk they’d ended up doing last night. There’d been nothing more than PG-13, but it had been enough to get her hot and bothered. And confused.
She wasn’t about to get involved with a man like Bert just because her world had changed. That would be a stupid mistake, and Veri always thought her way through life instead.
She and Bert, they were going to take their time. Figure out if what was going on was something she wanted.
Veri was fifty-three years old. Too old to do something stupid with a handsome man. Even if it was Bert.
She was thinking of him when the door opened again.
It was just her and Bailey and Clay this early. Deb had worked eighteen hours straight, as had Loretta—even though Loretta had been injured when a tree had fallen on her place a few miles south of Veri’s. The Value TSP was nothing if not dedicated.
Now that a few days had passed, she and the other three dispatchers and the two clerks were getting volunteers in rotation and getting their boys—and girl—out there where they needed to be.
They were pulling together—like the team she knew they could be.
“There’s breakfast in the break room! Make sure you eat!” she called after them. No doubt they’d already eaten, but Bailey at least needed the extra calories.
She knew damned good and well that that girl had not slept in her own bed last night.
The way it should be.
Veri was smiling when the fax machine beeped. She grabbed the fax quickly. It was from Wichita Falls—where Bailey and Clay were headed in the next hour.
This was information they no doubt would need.
She took a quick look at the photo and gasped.
Veri hurried into the sheriff’s office, not caring what she might be interrupting.