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scared.
    His stepbrother, Terry, had been standing on the sidewalk behind Sarah, watching them with such malevolence in his eyes it had made Cal’s mouth dry up. He clenched his fists. Cal had killed Terry’s father—unintentionally, but the result was the same. The younger man had made no secret of the fact he’d happily return the favor to Cal or anyone Cal cared about. The guy was never getting near Sarah.
    This was his worst-case scenario. Hopefully his act on the sidewalk would dissuade Terry from doing anything stupid, but Sarah would never forgive Cal for letting her down like that.
    A tapping on the glass jerked him back to the present. He looked up and blinked. Sheriff Scott Talbot stood outside his window, hand on gun like he expected Cal to attack him any moment. The man made a twirling motion with his finger. Cal rolled down the window.
    “Sheriff. What can I do for you?”
    He’d put on a few pounds of beef lately, and his eyes seemed to get beadier every time they met.
    “Step out of the car.”
    “Can I ask why?”
    The sheriff said nothing, just took a wide stanced step back.
    Jesus . Cal kept his face expressionless, but inside he was filled with rage. Making sure his free hand was visible he eased out of the truck. He’d bought the vehicle from Ryan a few months ago. It was old, but the engine was tuned up and ran like a dream. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with the taillights or indicators.
    “Up against the vehicle, Landon. You know the drill.”
    Cal clenched his jaw but held the anger and frustration inside. He “assumed the position.” God knew, he’d done it often enough in the past. Ever since he’d got out of prison, Talbot stopped him every other week for some perceived infraction or another. The sheriff had eased up some after the shooting at the ranch last spring. But it looked like the vacation was over for Cal. Merry Christmas . And Sarah wondered why he didn’t want their relationship made public.
    “Way you parked up there, I figured maybe you’d imbibed a little too much Christmas spirit down at the saloon.”
    “No, sir.” He’d had a beer when he’d gotten feed from the hardware store. One beer.
    “Gonna need you to blow into a Breathalyzer for me.”
    Humiliation rose up inside him. What he needed to do was find Sarah and make sure she got home safely. Instead, he took the small black box and blew into that bitch so hard he hoped it’d burst.
    The sheriff took it back and squinted at him. “Doesn’t look like this thing is working.” He shook the unit, as if that would help. Cal rolled his eyes. The reading had been under the legal blood alcohol limit, if he cried police harassment, it’d only get worse.
    “Sullivans are gonna need that feed.” Cal nodded toward the back of the truck. Snow was forecast by tomorrow. Who knew how long Talbot would detain him. “Better not go missing while you’re taking me in and wasting both our time.” Pissing off Nat was never a good idea.
    “Doing my job isn’t wasting time or taxpayers’ money, Landon. Sullivans’ll get their feed. Don’t you worry about that.” The guy radioed for assistance so one of his deputies could drive Cal’s truck the two blocks to the courthouse. “Let’s go down to the sheriff’s office and take a blood sample.”

Chapter Four

    S arah held the steering wheel gripped tight between rigid fingers the whole ten-mile drive home, forcing herself to concentrate on the road and not crash the damn car. Inside she was frozen. Numb. She shook from reaction.
    The fact that Cal had said that to her…
    She didn’t care what other people thought—it was Cal who was hung up on the opinions of others. Sarah didn’t give a crap. But he’d said those words out loud for precisely that reason—because he cared what others thought, and he didn’t want anyone thinking he was involved with her.
    When she turned off the main road onto the ranch’s drive, she finally allowed tears to blur