Duty or Desire Read online

  Pushing thoughts of Baron from her mind, Myra placed her concentration back on the man standing in front of her. He had chestnut-colored skin, broad shoulders and long legs that looked good in his pants.

  He also had a gorgeous pair of dark brown eyes that seemed to be staring at her in disapproval. Why? Although this was what she considered an informal interview, she had dressed appropriately. She was wearing one of her church dresses with heels.

  And why had he asked about her age? Hadn’t Miss Bonnie given him a rundown of her credentials and experience? What was the issue? She could tell by the frown on his face that there was one.

  Automatically, she slid her hands to the back of her hair and fluffed it away from her neck, something she did whenever she was nervous. And she shouldn’t be feeling nervous, not when she was qualified for the job. If truth be told, probably overqualified.

  “You’re a lot younger than I thought you would be,” he finally said, after staring her down. “Sorry, but I don’t think you’ll work out.”

  Myra blinked. He didn’t think she would work out?

  She was being dismissed because of her age? Maybe now was the time to remind him that there were such things as discrimination laws, but then she figured that would only make the situation worse. She glanced over at Miss Bonnie, who was giving the sheriff a shocked stare.

  Deciding to reassure him, because she truly needed the job, she said, “I don’t consider myself too young to care for your niece, Sheriff Higgins. I’ve worked at a day care and also in the nursery at the hospital. And once I finish my thesis, I’ll have my PhD in child psychology.”

  If Myra thought that information would impress him, then she was wrong. He remained expressionless when he said, “All that’s nice, but I regret you wasted your time coming here today.”

  Although she didn’t understand what was going on, all she could do was take the man at his word. Besides, he might think of her as young, but she was strong. Only a strong woman could have put up with her brother’s foolishness for the past six months and not have broken. Fighting back the anger she felt, she said, as politely as she could, “I regret wasting my time coming here today, as well. Good day, Sheriff.”

  Giving Miss Bonnie an appreciative smile, she added, “I can see my way to the door.” Then Myra turned and walked out of the kitchen.

  * * *

  “Would you like to tell me what that was about, Peterson?”

  It wasn’t the tone of Bonnie’s voice alone that let Pete know she was upset with him. She never called him Peterson. “I stated it already and there’s nothing more to tell. I thought the woman you were recommending was an older woman, closer to your age. She’s way too young,” he said, before sitting back down to the table to resume eating his lunch.

  “Too young? For heaven’s sake, she’s nearly twenty-five. Women her age are having babies every day. How can you think she’s too young when you’ve gotten Charity Maples to babysit for you a few times and she’s only seventeen?”

  He shrugged. “The key word is babysit. I don’t need a young nanny working for me. Have you forgotten I need a live-in nanny?”

  “At the moment what I think you need is your head examined. Myra Hollister is more than qualified to be a nanny, and what’s the problem with her living here while taking care of Ciara?”

  He didn’t say anything and then he wished he had come up with something. If he had, Bonnie might not have slung out her next accusation. “You’re afraid, aren’t you? You’re afraid that a young beautiful woman will remind you to live again.”

  He glanced over at her, which wasn’t hard to do since she’d come to stand by the table. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am living.”

  “No, you’re not—you’re breathing. I, more than anyone, know that a part of you stopped living the day Ellen died. It’s been twelve years, Pete.”

  Every muscle in Pete’s body tensed. He, of all people, knew just how many years it had been. A man would not forget the day his fiancée died when she was thrown from the horse she’d been riding. Pete doubted he would ever forget that day for as long as he lived.

  A man had come into the dress shop where she worked a month earlier and tried flirting with her. She’d told him she wasn’t interested and was engaged to be married. He had begun stalking her and Ellen hadn’t told Pete anything. Then the man had intentionally thrown a firecracker to spook her horse. At least he’d been arrested and was still serving time for Ellen’s death.

  “I know how long it’s been, Bonnie. What’s your point? You act as if I don’t date.”

  “Yes, you date, though rarely.”

  She was right. However, his excuse was a good one. He was too busy. Besides, some women saw a man in a uniform as a trophy to win and he didn’t intend to be a prize in any contest. He sighed as he shifted his gaze from Bonnie to the window.

  Bonnie moved around the table to stand by him, intentionally blocking his view. She stood there, a force to be reckoned with, her hands on her hips, giving him that infamous Bonnie McCray glare.

  “You’ve just dismissed your best prospect for a nanny. I didn’t even know about that thesis for her PhD. That makes her more than qualified.”

  He drew in a deep breath. “What do you even know about her?”

  “She’s living in Denver temporarily, trying to deal with grief. Her parents died a few months ago while vacationing in Morocco. The tour helicopter crashed.”

  “That’s tragic,” he said, shaking his head, feeling bad for the woman. Losing both parents at the same time had to be hard on a person. He recalled years ago when the same thing had happened to his best friends, Derringer and Riley Westmoreland. The cousins had lost both sets of parents the same day in an airplane accident. He recalled how devastating that had been.

  “Yes, it was tragic,” Bonnie was saying. “Her family owns a huge corporation in Charleston, but she’s not in the family business or anything.”

  “How did she decide on Denver?” he asked,

  “Someone she knows from college owns a house here and she’s leasing it for six months.”

  He nodded. “Well, I wish her the best, but like I said, she’s too young to stay here. I’m sure there are other women out there. An older woman I can hire to live here as a nanny.”

  “Myra could live here as Ciara’s nanny, Pete. Don’t think I don’t know why you’re behaving the way you are. I’ve got eyes. I knew the moment she walked into the room that you were attracted to her.”

  He wouldn’t bother denying anything because he’d learned long ago that Bonnie didn’t miss a thing. “And what if I am? I’ve been attracted to women before.”

  “Yes, and the few you’ve dated were women you deemed safe. For some reason you’re afraid if a pretty young woman like Myra got underfoot that she might thaw your frozen heart.”

  First she accuses him of breathing instead of living and now she’s saying he has a frozen heart.

  His heart wasn’t frozen. He just wore a thick protective shield around it. Pete refused to ever go through the pain he’d felt when he lost Ellen. Pain that could still creep up on him even now, twelve years later. Had Ellen not died, they would be married by now with a bunch of kids and living in this very house where he’d been born. They would be happy, just as they’d been that day when they’d been sixteen and had decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend forever.

  Forever...

  For him, forever was still going on. It hadn’t died the day Ellen had.

  “Have you forgotten about that dream you shared with me, Pete?”

  He didn’t have to wonder what dream she was talking about. “What does that dream have to do with anything?”

  She sat down in the chair beside his. “Because in that dream you said your hands had been tied and Ellen was untying them for you. Not only did she untie them but then she tried to push yo
u out some door.”

  A part of him now wished he hadn’t shared any details about that dream with Bonnie. But he had done so mainly because it had bothered him to the point where he’d awakened in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. He’d gotten up to go into the kitchen, needing something to drink and found Bonnie in the living room, sitting in the chair, rocking Ciara back to sleep. While downing a glass of lemonade, he had told Bonnie about his dream and she’d listened and said nothing.

  It had been the next morning when she’d told him what she thought the dream meant. Ellen was trying to release him, free him from all the plans they’d made together. She wanted him to enjoy life. To live and love again. To do more than just breathe.

  Pete sighed deeply. He hadn’t accepted Bonnie’s interpretation of the dream then and he wouldn’t accept it now. “I don’t want to talk about that dream, Bonnie.”

  “Fine, Pete. But you need to accept that I’m leaving and your niece needs a nanny. I honestly don’t think you’re going to find another person more qualified than Myra Hollister, especially not in two weeks.”

  He slid back his chair to stand. “I intend to do just that, Bonnie. I’m determined to find someone more qualified.”

  He had to.

  Two

  Myra looked up from reading the morning paper and sipping her herbal tea. She tipped her head to stare at her cell phone. It was ringing and she didn’t recognize the ringtone. Granted, she hadn’t assigned a specific sound to everyone who called her. Only those that mattered. She was about to ignore the call and then remembered it might be Sheriff Higgins.

  She had run into Miss Bonnie and Ciara at the grocery store two days ago and had been so glad to see them. Ciara’s chubby arms had automatically reached for her and she’d been happy to hold her. That had been the first time she’d seen Miss Bonnie since that day a week ago when the sheriff had turned down her employment as a nanny.

  According to Miss Bonnie, the position hadn’t been filled and she felt the sheriff would come to his senses soon enough and realize Myra was the best candidate.

  Deciding to appease her curiosity, she clicked on the phone. “Hello.”

  “Gosh, Myra, you had me worried there for a minute.”

  “Wallace? Why are you calling me from another number? One that I don’t recognize?”

  Wallace Blue had been her father’s protégé. The man Elias Hollister had groomed for years to replace him at the company whenever that time came. At least her father had the good sense not to make Baron his successor, recognizing at an early age that her brother lacked the skills, knowledge and compassion to ever head a company the size, depth and magnitude of Hollister Enterprises.

  Her father thought his only son’s lack of character stemmed from Baron having been raised by his mother, who’d been Elias’s first wife. He thought Charlene had raised her son to be just as callous, calculating and cruel as she was. Myra hadn’t known just how true those allegations were until her involvement with Rick Stovers.

  She should not have been surprised that Baron’s behavior would get worse after her parents died unexpectedly. The first thing Baron had done was go after Wallace, who’d been in place to head the company. Rumor had it that Baron, along with his devious mother, had gotten to the stockholders after obtaining damaging information on their pasts. Baron and Charlene had threatened to expose the information if the stockholders didn’t vote Wallace out and put Baron in as Myra’s father’s replacement.

  “It’s a burner phone and I wanted to check to make sure you’re okay,” Wallace was saying. “Your brother is more devious than ever and I think he might have put a tracker on my regular phone. He’s desperate to find you.”

  Myra could believe that because in two months, when she turned twenty-five, the entire company became hers and there was nothing Baron or the stockholders could do about it. It was Baron’s intention that she not show up at that meeting where she would take control of the company, appoint Wallace as the CEO and show Baron the door. How he planned to stop her was anyone’s guess, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

  “I can’t understand why you’re still working there,” she said.

  “Because while I’m here I can make sure Hollister Enterprises stays profitable until it’s time for you to take over. Otherwise, Baron will bankrupt it. All Baron’s friends are working here and they don’t know what the hell they’re doing.”

  Myra believed Wallace. Her father had said often enough that Baron had no business sense and as far as Myra was concerned the men he hung out with, mostly frat brothers, were just as bad. “Well, let Baron continue to look for me. I think this is the last place he’ll think to look. According to Cleo, he thinks I’m somewhere in Spain, which is why Charlene tried to have my passport revoked so I couldn’t return to the States.”

  “Don’t put anything past her, Myra. Over the years she’s been known to have bed partners in some pretty high places.”

  Myra could believe that. Baron even bragged about his mother’s past lovers and how she could get some of them to do just about anything for her. Baron and Charlene disliked Wallace because they saw him as taking Baron’s place in Elias’s life. Baron and Wallace were nearly the same age, and yet as different as day and night. Wallace, whose father had been Elias’s best friend since childhood, always carried himself with professionalism and honesty.

  “So, what’s going on with you?” Wallace asked her, breaking into her thoughts.

  She shrugged, not surprised he’d asked. She considered him the big brother Baron had never been. “Not much. Paula needs to turn this house back into an Airbnb for the holidays, so I’ll be moving out in a week.”

  “And going where?”

  “Not sure. There’s a woman I’ve met who relocated from Savannah,” she said, thinking about Bella Westmoreland. “She owns a private B and B. I plan to talk to her about moving into one of the rooms there for two months. Just till Christmas. I told you why I’m avoiding hotels.”

  “Yes, because Baron could trace your whereabouts if you don’t,” Wallace said. “I just hate you’re on the run like this. If your father was alive, he—”

  “But Dad isn’t alive, Wallace, and we need to carry out his wishes like he would want us to do. I’m fine, just a little inconvenienced.”

  She and Wallace knew the truth. She was being inconvenienced a whole lot. It was never her desire to get tied to the family’s business. Her father had always respected her decision. But she’d known, because he’d told her, that if anything happened to him and her mother simultaneously, the company would become hers. He’d instructed her to make sure Wallace was CEO so he could run things. And that was what she intended to do. Her twenty-fifth birthday couldn’t get here soon enough. Now, if she could only stay hidden from Baron until then.

  “You still working on your thesis?” Wallace asked her.

  She moved back to the table to sit down. “Yes, but not as much as I should.” Then, because she wanted to share her disappointment with someone, she said, “I interviewed for a nanny position last week.”

  “That’s great. How’s that working out for you?”

  Knowing Wallace figured she’d gotten the job, she said, “I wasn’t hired. The guy thought I was too young.”

  “Too young?”

  “Yes. I think he was looking for an older, matronly woman.”

  “Too bad, it’s his loss. You’re good with kids and would have been a great nanny.”

  She believed that, too. At that moment her doorbell rang. “Thanks. I have to go. Someone is at the door.”

  “Okay. Make sure you check to see who it is before opening it, Myra.”

  “Okay. I’ll talk to you later.” She clicked off the phone and headed for the door.

  * * *

  Pete couldn’t believe he was here, but it had taken his best friend Derringer Westmoreland t
o help make him realize that just like Bonnie had said, Myra Hollister was the best person to be nanny to Ciara. Besides, he was running out of time.

  Bonnie would be leaving town next week and so far, the women he’d interviewed had been so lacking in certain skills he’d quickly shown them the door. Then there had been Ciara’s reaction to each of them. She had taken one look and started screaming her dislike.

  According to Derringer, Jason’s wife, Bella, and Myra Hollister had become friends. Bella had invited Ms. Hollister to one of those Westmoreland family chow-downs, something the Westmorelands got together for every Friday, and the one thing they’d all been amazed about was how the Westmoreland kids had taken to Myra and she to them. It was as if she was a modern-day Mary Poppins.

  Something else Derringer had said had helped Pete see reason. If he truly wanted what was best for Ciara, then he would get the best. It would be up to him to keep things professional between him and his nanny. He had to agree with that. All he had to do was remember his relationship with Ms. Hollister was strictly business.

  He intended to make sure it stayed that way.

  So here he was on Myra Hollister’s doorstep with Ciara in tow. It was his day off and he hoped Ms. Hollister was still interested in the job. He glanced down at his niece who was smiling happily at him.

  Suddenly the door opened and Myra stood there with a surprised look on her face. “Good morning, Sheriff Higgins.”

  He was about to ask if he could come in when Ciara released a happy scream and all but jumped out of his arms into Ms. Hollister’s. He tightened his hold on his niece as she tried twisting out of his arms.