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here came the questions! Kendra slammed the door shut before Michelle could get out one more word. Not that she’d succeeded in keeping her mission secret. No, if anything, she was simply delaying an explanation.
    Michelle was bound to notice what was going on, since she had a perfect view of the office’s front door. She would be pelted with questions on her return as to why she was leaving cookies for the town’s handsome and available sheriff.
    Would Michelle believe the truth? Of course not! The truth was too boring. Her lovely sister would see romantic intent in a simple offering of thanks. Kendra would never hear the end of it.
    This is what she got for doing the right thing. She heard the buzz of the window being lowered the instant she set foot on the sidewalk.
    â€œOoh, you’ve got a crush on that new deputy, don’t you?” Michelle sparkled with complete delight. “Sis,you’ve got great taste. What’s his name? Frank? I knew it. I knew the right man for you would come along if we prayed hard enough.”
    See? This was exactly the type of thing she was trying to avoid. “I don’t have a crush on anyone.”
    â€œSure. I understand. You’re doing your civic duty. Thanking the eligible bachelor who protects our town.”
    â€œIt’s not like that.”
    â€œYep, sure, like I understand totally.” Michelle feigned absolute empathy, but there was no mistaking that look on her face. “I’m glad for you, Kendra. You deserve a fine man.”
    Kendra opened her mouth to argue, but what would she say? Denial would only make it look like the truth. She loved Michelle for her kind words, but Michelle didn’t know what had happened that night when everything changed.
    There’d be no man for her. It was that simple. Kendra had been in love once and it had hurt worse than anything she’d ever known. She’d spent the last half-dozen years picking up the pieces of her life.
    She would never give another man that much power over her. She would never trust a man that much. No matter what.
    So Michelle could hope all she liked. She could think whatever she wanted. It would not change the facts.
    The window buzzed upward, and Kendra could feel Michelle’s elation. Now her entire family was goingto hear about this. Yep, she definitely should have delivered the cookies later in the week, stale or not.
    There was Cameron’s cruiser, parked neatly against the curb, polished and spotless.
    And why was she noticing it? Didn’t she have enough on her mind with the thousand things she had to do next? She needed to clean Karen’s house, catch her up on her laundry and do a thorough grocery shop so her pantry would be well stocked. Then she needed to figure out what was she going to cook tonight for dinner for her entire family. That’s what she ought to be thinking about.
    Not noticing that she had a perfect view of Cameron’s desk through the generous front window. And her stomach should certainly not be doing little quakes, as if butterflies were trapped there.
    Why was she feeling this way? There was nothing to be anxious about. She intended to say hello, leave the plate on his desk and walk back out. Nothing personal about it. There was nothing personal between them.
    Thank the good Lord that’s the way Cameron felt about her, too. It wasn’t as if he thought, as Michelle did, that romance could be blossoming.
    Before she could reach for the tarnished brass knob, the door swung open. Cameron, looking fine in his navy-blue uniform, took a step back.
    His smile was dazzling. “Come in. I never turn away a woman bringing baked goods.”
    â€œIt’s bad form to turn away free food,” a second man’s voice commented from inside the office.
    Kendra pushed her sunglasses off her nose and up over her forehead, and the shadows became a burly uniformed man sitting behind a desk in the corner, but she hardly