A Dad for Charlie Read online

  Every time he saw her was like the first time. And that first time...

  Whew. He felt the rush of heat in his face. That first time it was as if Fletch had been tackled by the entire defensive line of his high school football team. He did his best and tried to maintain his cool and keep a straight face around her. He wasn’t a man prone to feeling, well, flummoxed.

  And Paige Copper definitely flummoxed him.

  He also found her utterly fascinating. She was always helping people, always doing something. She wasn’t one to just sit back and wait for things to happen. She made them happen. His interest confused him, but that was the case with any mystery that crossed his path. How could he be so fascinated and yet so...in the dark? Talk about a puzzle begging to be solved.

  The air around him stilled and she released the soft yellow of her summer bridesmaid dress, the gauzy fabric draping over her pretty form.

  He blinked. There were times he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss her. Then there were others where all he wanted was to talk to her; get to know her, learn about her. Discover whatever secrets he was convinced she had.

  That she did just about everything she could to avoid him should have stung. Instead, it was like honey to a bee and he couldn’t resist the pull. But he respected her enough—and whatever ghosts she carried with her—to do as she silently asked and kept his distance.

  He was a man who not only followed the rules, he lived by them; possibly the only thing stopping him from running a simple background check. Somehow that felt like an invasion; something that if she were to ever find out, she’d never forgive him for. He might not know a lot about her, but he had little doubt she was the kind of woman who valued honesty and truth above all else. He wasn’t about to violate either. He sighed.

  So be it. At least Charlie seemed happy to be in his company, and being around Paige’s little girl definitely kept a smile on his face.

  Paige’s sparkling gaze landed on him and sent his racing thoughts skidding to a halt. Until she looked past him to where Luke stood watching his wife and her maid of honor hamming it up in front of the camera. Fletch’s smile dipped as Charlie darted out of his grasp. Gil Hamilton wasn’t the only one up to something today.

  Paige walked down the stairs and beelined for the sheriff. “Luke? May I have a quick word with you?”

  Luke turned, his dark eyes heavy with celebratory happiness. He blinked, nodded. “Sure. What about?”

  “It’s about Jasper O’Neill and these break-ins,” Paige said. “I was just speaking to Willa and Nina—”

  Luke shifted to full attention, his brow furrowing. “I don’t think—”

  “Paige, I need to talk to you.” Fletch locked his hand around Paige’s wrist and spun her toward him. “Wedding stuff. We’ll be back in a second.” He tugged her toward him, ignoring the brief look of panic on her face as he pulled her to the edge of the narrow path leading up to the lookout point. He stopped just shy of being able to see the foam spraying off the crashing waves. He didn’t need that nightmarish roar of the ocean any louder in his ears on top of dealing with Paige.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Paige shivered as a cold breeze shot over them.

  Fletcher shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Today isn’t the day to talk about Jasper O’Neill, Paige.”

  “Thank you.” Even as he saw her debate rejecting the offer, she clasped her hand around the edges and drew it closed across her chest. The thin gold chain and butterfly charm glistened against the sun and the hollow of her throat. Paige’s eyes narrowed. “Since when is it any of your business what I talk to the sheriff about?”

  “Since the break-ins are my case.” For a man who didn’t lie, he seemed to be setting a world record. “Luke asked me to take over. You want to talk about Jasper, you get me.”

  “Oh.” She shrugged inside his too-big jacket and twisted her head back and forth. She couldn’t have looked any more thrilled if she’d been handed a rotten egg. “Well. Maybe once he’s back—”

  “I’ll have it closed by then.” Boy, he was just digging himself deeper. “What’s this about, Paige? Did Willa and Nina tell you something we should know?” Like where he should start or why Jasper had hit the top of Butterfly Harbor’s Most Wanted List?

  “You mean am I going to give you a reason to go chasing after an innocent sixteen-year-old kid who was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time? No.” Her eyes went ice cold. “I’m not.”

  Why did Fletch have the feeling she wouldn’t have been so prickly if she’d talked to Luke about this? What was it about him that made her so...hostile? “Who says he’s innocent? His family?”

  “Who says he’s guilty? Or what does? Why did Luke question him? What evidence is there against him?”

  Had Fletch climbed onto some whirlwind roller coaster without realizing it? He knew Paige tended to jump in whenever anyone needed help, and he admired her for it. But picking up the sword to fight for a kid with Jasper O’Neill’s reputation seemed a stretch even for her. “First, it’s none of your business how we run an investigation, and second, this doesn’t have anything to do with you. And unless you’ve taken up yet another job as a private investigator, there’s nothing about the case I’m going to share with you.”

  “So you are going after him.” She puffed up in defiance. “Are you looking at anything other than his record, anemic as that is? Fingerprints at the scenes? Witnesses who saw him loitering around those houses?”

  “I’m not talking to a civilian about this.” By the time this day was done he was going to be an expert in bluffing. “I can tell you, and you can assure Nina and Willa, that we’ll take every proper step necessary where Jasper is concerned.”

  Her snort of derision had him taking a step back.

  “So I was right. You aren’t even considering anyone else.”

  He hadn’t anticipated adding irritating as one of the missing pieces to the Paige Cooper puzzle. “It means Jasper is one avenue we’re exploring. And he hasn’t done himself any favors over the years by pushing legal boundaries. If you’re done interrogating me, it looks as if you’re needed for your bridesmaid pictures.”

  He motioned toward a frantically waving Abby Manning, blond curls bouncing, her maid-of-honor bouquet of yellow and white roses interspersed with eucalyptus leaves an odd kind of beacon.

  “We aren’t done talking about this.” Paige removed his jacket and held it out to him. “I’m not letting you railroad him or his family.”

  “No one’s railroading anyone, Paige. I’m a cop. I’m doing my job.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” She may as well have fired lasers at him given that look in her eye before she walked away.

  The odd statement rang in his ears as he grabbed a new beer and rejoined his friends.

  “That looked intense,” Luke observed when Fletch twisted off the cap so hard he left marks on his fingers. “Everything okay?”

  “Peachy.” Fletch shook his head, dismissing his soured mood, and plastered on a congratulatory smile for his boss, the groom. “We can talk about it later. Today’s about you and Holly.” And he had the battle scars to prove it.

  “You said it, Fletch.” Burly Matt Knight slapped Luke on the back, but no amount of jostling, it seemed to Fletch, was going to erase that goofy smile off his friend’s face. “Life as you know it is officially over, my friend.”

  “Life just got a million times better.” Luke toasted his bride as Simon, Holly’s nearly nine-year-old son by her first marriage, dived toward them and suctioned himself to Luke’s side. “What’s going on, bud?”

  “When are we going to eat?” Simon whined. “I’m staaaarving and Jason said he’s making burgers for all us kids.”

  “Two helpings of pancakes this morning and you’re hu
ngry.” Luke laughed. “I might need to take a second job to keep the kitchen stocked. Fletch?”

  “Yeah?” Fletch couldn’t shake the feeling he’d inadvertently turned over an information-laden rock where Paige’s past was concerned. What on earth had she meant with that parting comment? Why was she taking the situation with Jasper O’Neill so personally? “What did I miss?”

  “I think it’s more what we missed,” Ozzy joked as he tugged at the snug cummerbund around his ample waist. “Did you have a nice talk with Paige?”

  “You talked to my mom?” Charlie danced from where she’d been circling Simon over to Fletch. She grabbed his hand and twirled again. “Yay! I’ve been hoping you two would be friends. Spin me again, please, Deputy Fletch!”

  “Again?” Who needed an upper-body workout when Charlie Cooper was around? The little girl looked like she belonged in his sister’s childhood music box. He let out a dramatic sigh and let her grab hold of his hand. Before he could follow through, Simon leaped toward her and grabbed hold of her arm.

  “Come on, Charlie! Let’s go check out the buffet table.”

  “Later, Deputy Fletch!” Charlie called and let her best friend pull her away.

  “Don’t go far, please,” Luke called after them. “You’re not done with pictures.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on them.” Ozzy followed them inside.

  “Tell me that woman put us out of our misery and asked you out,” Matt said to Fletch, who couldn’t tear his gaze away from Paige. “Since you haven’t had the guts to ask her yourself.”

  “Far from it.” If anyone else had accused him of using a troubled kid as a rung on the professional ladder, he’d have dismissed them in a heartbeat. But Paige Cooper? She’d only increased his fascination. What he knew about her could fill a bullet casing.

  Clearly there was more beneath the surface than even he’d imagined.

  “What you need, Deputy Bradley,” Luke said, “is a plan of action where romance is concerned. Standing around mooning over her isn’t getting you anywhere.”

  “Sitting around mooning isn’t either.” Matt choked on his beer when Fletch slugged him. “Oh, come on, man. I’m surprised you aren’t doodling her name with little hearts or something.”

  “I don’t doodle.” He must have it bad if both Matt and Luke were both calling him on his unrequited...love? Fletch tried to dislodge that thought before it solidified. No. That wasn’t possible. But whatever this...thing...was between them, Paige Cooper had just thrown down the gauntlet.

  And Fletch was more than happy to pick it up.

  CHAPTER THREE

  STANDING ON THE bride’s right listening to the click, click, click of the digital camera, Paige wondered just how big a mistake she’d made diving into the O’Neill situation without thinking things through. Story of her life. It didn’t seem to matter her intentions, somehow she always ended up on the wrong end of things.

  Only this time things included Deputy Fletcher Bradley.

  What kind of luck did she have to have that he was in charge of the break-ins investigation? Of all people? Of all...

  Paige blew out a slow, controlled breath. She’d have to be blind not to notice how appealing the deputy was in his khaki uniform, but that was nothing compared with how he looked in all his formal best-man finery.

  Her gaze flicked over to him, reason battling against flights of fancy. He was tall enough for her to look up to, and those sea-green eyes of his had all but twinkled as he’d spun her daughter like a top in front of the inn. The genuine smile on his lips accentuated the lean features of his handsome face beneath a cap of wavy doe-brown hair. Boy, she needed to get some things under control. Beginning with her daughter’s growing attachment to the Deputy and ending with Paige’s own...attraction. Never in her life had she ever dealt with a man she couldn’t seem to think straight around. If she was going to keep her promise to Willa and Nina, she’d have to interact with the good deputy in the coming days.

  Wasn’t that just a great big piece of terrific?

  She recognized that look in Fletch’s eyes when she mentioned Jasper O’Neill. She’d seen the expression on the face of the detective who had questioned her back in New York. The detective who had decided a kid was guilty simply because of his circumstances and history. The same young man whom Paige had gone out of her way to help.

  Paige bit the inside of her cheek. Until now she’d thought Fletcher Bradley to be one of the most charming...and honorable men she’d ever met. Open, friendly, honest. Sticking her nose into a situation only to come up against him?

  Paige clenched her fists around her bouquet.

  Boy, she’d really stepped in it this time. She’d promised Willa and Nina. Following through meant dealing with Fletcher. Somehow she’d have to find a way to make that work and still stay under his speculative radar.

  Did he have to sound so logical? She was an outsider. This really wasn’t any of her business. But if she could make the days just a little easier on Jasper’s mother and sister, how could she not jump into the fray? If Deputy Do-Gooder wasn’t going to be forthcoming with more information, clearly she’d have to find out on her own.

  “Take a break, ladies,” the photographer called, motioning to his suddenly silent camera.

  “Thank goodness.” Holly Campbell, now Saxon, sagged a bit in her tea-length antique lace wedding gown and massaged her cheeks with her fingers. “I can’t feel my face.” The miniature roses and tiny fabric butterflies woven through her shoulder-length brown hair made the diner owner look like a fairy-tale princess come to life; all that was missing were cartoon birds flying around her head.

  The just-married couple gazed at each other in a way that made Paige’s stomach hurt.

  She’d given up on happily-ever-after even before Charlie’s father died; her one shot at happiness, and of course Paige had somehow found a way to ensure it completely misfired.

  As if her eyes had a mind of their own, she found herself glancing at Fletcher before she ducked her head.

  She couldn’t let today be about lamenting the past or the choices she’d made. Today was about Holly and Luke’s future. Listening to the roar of the ocean over the other side of the expansive Pacific cliffs, feeling the barest hint of sea spraying mist on her face, Paige had to admit, the day had been perfect.

  “I thought maybe you were hiding in the kitchen with Jason a while ago.” Maid of honor Abby swooped around the bride and wrapped an arm around Paige’s waist. On the short side with tumbling blond curls and a generous, radiant smile, the hotel manager was considered Butterfly Harbor’s personal pixie. “Imagine our surprise when we saw you up on the cliff with Deputy Studly.”

  “You did not just call him that.” Paige couldn’t help but consider the moniker appropriate.

  “Hey, what’s said between bridesmaids stays between bridesmaids, right, Holly?” Abby blinked wide-eyed innocent eyes at her.

  “If you say so,” Holly said before she wandered over to Luke, who slipped his arms around his new wife with as little effort as it took for him to breathe.

  “Jason said something about needing a taste tester,” Paige said against the rush of happy tears. “Just be careful you don’t accidentally cook anything while you’re in there.” Abby stuck her tongue out at Paige. Paige chuckled. “Even today you couldn’t drag him out of the kitchen, could you?”

  “Jason’s still working on the whole public-interaction side of things. We’re lucky he came to the ceremony. But not to worry. I will acclimate him before our wedding day comes.” Abby leaned her head on Paige’s shoulder as they watched the bride and groom interact. “I’m so happy for her.”

  “Me, too.”

  “That could be you, you know.” Abby squeezed her arm. “All you have to do is give Fletch the all clear—”

  “I’m not
interested, Abby.” Even as she said it she found it difficult to pull her gaze away from the entertaining view of Fletch hamming it up with his friends. He always seemed to be having a good time. What it must be like to be so unencumbered. So carefree. “Even if I was—”

  “Please.” Abby rolled her eyes in the same irritated manner Charlie had a while ago.

  “Even if I was,” Paige repeated as her stomach gave an odd little jump, “he’s not my type.”

  “He’s a nice guy, he’s got a steady job and he loves your kid.” Abby looked at Paige as if she’d grown an extra head. “Plus he’s quarterback handsome. How is that not any woman’s type?”

  “I don’t date cops.” There it was; she’d used her “don’t talk to me about this anymore” tone. “Please stop pushing this, Abby. Yes, I agree. Fletcher is a great guy, but I’m not looking for anyone.” Paige cleared her throat and eased her expression. She had to keep whatever happened between her and Fletcher completely professional. If she had to tick him off to ensure he kept his distance, so be it. “I’ve got Charlie and my jobs—”

  “You work too hard.” Holly joined them while she kept an eagle eye on her son as he and Charlie reappeared in time to dance an awkward jig around the photographer’s assistant. “I assume we’re still talking about Fletcher?”

  “How about you bask in your own joy right now and leave me alone?” Paige sighed. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that after a few months she’d feel as if she’d known these two women forever. Not that she was complaining. She’d spent most of her life wanting friends, needing them. Her welcome to Butterfly Harbor only proved what Paige had learned early on: life could indeed turn in the blink of an eye.