Town Darling Read Free Page A

mother announced, catching Casey’s attention.
    “Tucker and Mitchell have
more seniority than Vaughn Holt,” Brandon informed his wife.  “Sheriff Wiley
isn’t going to pass the torch to him.”
    “And I certainly don’t want
him as sheriff,” Casey remarked.  “He has it out for me.”
    “He doesn’t have it out for
you,” Catherine scoffed.  “You just challenge his authority.”
    “Yeah, because he has it
out for me--”
    Catherine rolled her eyes. 
There was no winning with Casey.  She was almost as hardheaded as her father
was. 
    “You certainly had no
problems with him when he was first hired a few years back,” her mother
reminded.
    “Probably because I was
fifteen, and he looked good in his uniform,” Casey replied dryly.
    “That’s an understatement,”
Catherine remarked and grinned teasingly.  “I seem to remember you having the
worst crush on him.”
    “She did?” Brandon suddenly
asked.  “Where was I?”
    “Tinkering on that piece of
junk in the garage,” she casually informed him.
    “Hey, that piece of junk is
a 1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28 classic muscle car, I’ll have you know.”
    His words went right over
them.  Catherine rolled her eyes and looked back at Casey, who shared the same
glare as her father.
    “I hope you haven’t been
spreading those rumors around about that non-existent crush I didn’t have on Deputy Holt,” Casey scolded with a look of mayhem in her eyes.
    “Of course not,” her mother
retorted.  “But maybe if you still felt that way about him, you two would get
along better.”  Catherine teased Casey with a lustful grin.
    Casey glared at her mother
with a look of horror.  She couldn’t believe her mother was suggesting such a
thing.  “Ewe, you want me to hook-up with Deputy Holt?  That’s nasty,” she
remarked.  “He’s a surly bastard.”
    “Casey,” her mother gasped
then glared at Brandon.  “This is what happens when you expose her to your
military friends.”
    Her father appeared humored
and unruffled by the comment.  “You should hear yourself sometimes.  Get a few
drinks into you--”
    “We weren’t discussing me,”
Catherine scoffed and shut down the entire conversation.
    Brandon laughed softly. 
Casey just rolled her eyes.  She’d be more concerned about her parents’ bouts
of banter if they didn’t cuddle and act like teenagers on the couch in the
evening.  The way they went at it was almost embarrassing.  They were an old
married couple.  It wasn’t right.  Dina approached their table and glanced at
Casey with a sympathetic look on her face.
    “I hate to be the bearer of
bad news, Casey,” Dina announced timidly, “but Deputy Holt is issuing you a
parking ticket.”
    Casey quickly turned to
look out the window, appeared shocked, and forced her mother out of the booth
so she could get up.  “He is unbelievable!”
    “Be nice, Casey!” her
father scolded even though he didn’t bother to stand and stop her.
    “Oh, I will,” she announced
while turning toward her father.  “I’ll smile while I give him the verbal
lashing of his life.”  Casey hurried away from the table. 
    Catherine eyed Brandon
while sitting back in her seat.  “Yep, she’s your daughter.”
    “Are you kidding?  That
girl has Catherine written all over her,” Brandon replied.
    “Oh, please,” Catherine
snapped.  “I never acted that way.”
    Brandon stared at her with
a surprised look as his mouth hung open.  “Have you met you?”
    Catherine glared sharply at
him.  He smiled and chuckled at her look.  She hid her smile and looked away. 
Casey hurried from the diner and crossed the street toward the parking spot
where her gray horse was tied.  A ruggedly handsome, dark-haired deputy in his
late twenties, Deputy Vaughn Holt, stood next to the parking meter with Casey’s
horse tied to it and wrote on his pad.  Casey approached him and her horse,
stood near the horse’s head, and glared at Vaughn.  He didn’t