“Carly Kendrick. Mac’s ex-wife and the mother of his daughter.”

Oh shit, Mac thought.

“Whose side are you on?” the judge asked, sounding weary.

“Mac’s. I was furious when I found out what had happened, but since arriving in town, I’ve heard nothing but praise for how he handled a very difficult situation. Plus, if you consider that Andy Murphy tried to murder his wife, I would say he had a beating coming. Not that I want to speak ill of the dead.”

Mac turned around and stared at her.

“Of course not,” the judge said. “Anything else?”

“Just that Mac and Emily, our daughter, have a wonderful relationship and I would hate to see that taken away from either of them. She’s only eight and she needs her father.”

The judge narrowed his gaze. “Can we all be clear here? Mr. Kendrick’s custody arrangement isn’t in question. We are here to discuss whether or not he’s going to be charged with assault.”

“He didn’t do it,” a man in the back yelled. “He couldn’t have done it. He was with me at the time.”

“And who are you?” the judge asked.

“Marly Cobson. I run a couple of tour boats. Mac and me were having a beer at the time someone else beat the crap out of Murphy. He had it coming. Murphy, not Mac.”

“I was with them, too,” another man said.

Nothing made sense, Mac thought, even as the unexpected support warmed him.

“Did you arrange this?” he asked Strathern.

Jill’s father shook his head. “I prepared a brilliant legal argument. Makes me think I wasted my time.”

“Fred and me here, we were with them, too,” another man said.

“I baked cookies for the whole lot of them,” Tina said as she stood. “There was a real crowd.”

The judge banged his gavel on the desk and glared at the spectators. “I’ll remind you again to be quiet. If you all listen, then I won’t bother with a lecture on the dangers of perjury.”

John Goodwin, the D.A., stood. “Your Honor. In light of this new evidence, I’m going to have to ask that the charges be dropped while my office does a more thorough investigation.”

A cheer went up in the crowd. Mac looked at his lawyer and shook his head. “We both know it can’t happen like that.”

“You’re right,” Strathern said, and rose. “Your Honor, my client would like to speak.”

“It seems to me this is a good time to stay silent,” the judge grumbled. “Go ahead.”

Mac stood. “Your Honor, I don’t want anyone to get in trouble for what they said here today. They’re being kind and I appreciate that, but the truth of the matter is I lost my temper and I hit Andy Murphy. It was wrong. He beat his wife and in the end, he tried to kill her, but that doesn’t give me the right to punch him. We have laws and as the sheriff of this town, it’s my responsibility to set an example by following them. I don’t want to go to prison and I don’t want to lose my daughter, but I’m not going to do the wrong thing for the right reason again.”

The judge glanced at him, then the D.A. “Any other surprises?”

“No, Your Honor.”

The judge returned his attention to Mac. “You planning to take the law into your own hands again?”

“No, but that doesn’t change what I did.”

The judge leaned forward. “Bill, you want to instruct your client to answer the question asked and nothing else.”

Mac felt Jill’s father nudge him in the ribs.

“I won’t be taking the law into my own hands again,” Mac said.

“Good. I don’t want to see you again in this courthouse. At least not on the wrong side of the law.” The judge banged his gavel. “Case dismissed. Everyone, get the hell out of my courthouse.”

JILL WATCHED everyone surround Mac. It seemed the en tire town of Los Lobos wanted to congratulate him and take part in the victory celebration. Somehow she didn’t feel comfortable in that crowd.

So she walked out of the courthouse only to realize she’d given her ride home to Lyle. The BMW was gone, as was the delivery truck. It was about an eight-mile walk back to Bev’s place, which meant she was going to have to call and ask to be picked up.

She punched the number on the cell phone. When Bev answered, she explained what had happened.

“We have cookies in the oven,” Bev said when she’d finished. “Give us fifteen minutes and we’ll be there. Tell Mac we’re delighted for him.”

Jill had no plans to talk to Mac so Bev was going to have to deliver that message in person before she packed up and left for Vegas.

Jill planted herself on a top step off to the side of the courthouse. It didn’t take long for the people to make their way out and leave. She supposed she could have gotten a ride from nearly anyone, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk. Not when everything hurt.

Now what? If she didn’t stay mad at Mac for being an idiot, she was going to have to feel horrible because he wasn’t willing to fight for her. How could she love a man so very willing to let her go?

Her eyes burned. She blinked hard, because there was no way she was going to cry over him. He wasn’t worth it. Except he was, and she loved him and why couldn’t he see that?

She felt someone approach and turned her head so whoever it was wouldn’t notice the tears. Then, before she realized what had happened, Mac had slipped a pair of handcuffs around her wrists. She stared from them to him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked in out rage.

“Getting your attention.”

“Are you arresting me?”

“Do you want me to?”

She held out her hands. “This isn’t funny.”

“I know.” He sat next to her and stared out at the horizon. “I love it here, Jill. Los Lobos has always been my home. I want to run for election next November and I want to serve here for the next thirty years.”

“Nice to know you have your future mapped out. Now unlock these.”

“I don’t think so. See, I’ve been trying to figure out why you got so mad at me yesterday and I think I know what happened.”

“Gee, I’ll have to put a star by this day on the calendar.”

He leaned over and kissed her. She sat there as stiffly as she could, refusing to kiss him back, even when he nibbled on her lower lip.

“You love me,” he murmured.

“I don’t.”

“Yeah, you do. You love me a lot and you don’t want to go anywhere, but you didn’t want to come out and say that. You wanted me to ask.” He kissed her again. “You wanted me to prove you were more than a convenience and that I thought you were worth fighting for.”

Her eyes started burning again and she knew she was seconds from crying but for very different reasons than before.

“Maybe,” she admitted.

“So if I hadn’t asked, were you just going to go away?”

“No,” she said, her voice low. “I already turned down both jobs. I was going to stay in Los Lobos and make you see sense.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “But I have to tell you, I gave the BMW back to Lyle.”

“That’s okay. I prefer to buy American. Maybe we can get a minivan. You know, for all the kids we’re going to have.”

She stared at him. “What?”

He smiled. “I love you, Jill. Please stay in Los Lobos and marry me. Although if it’s really important, we can go somewhere else so you can practice your big-city law.”

The first tears slipped down her cheek. She raised her handcuffed hands over his head and pulled him close.

“I would rather stay right here,” she said with a sniff. “With you. We can buy Bev’s house and have babies, but I’m not sure I’m ready for a minivan.”

“I thought you hated Los Lobos.”

She thought about the town and how everything had changed. “Actually, I think it’s grown on me. Besides, you love it and I can live anywhere with you.”

He kissed her, and somewhere in the distance she heard the sound of applause.

“We have an audience,” she whispered against his mouth.

“I know.”

“You should probably stop kissing me and let me out of the handcuffs.”

“Yeah. I will.” He pressed his mouth to hers. “In a second.”

She pulled back slightly and grinned. “I think we should keep the handcuffs, though. For later.”

He laughed. “Jill, I have to tell you. I’ve always admired your style.”