Firefly Glen: Winter Baby (Harlequin Signature Select) by Kathleen O`Brien Page A

you? It’s just the thing on such a nasty day.”
    The two women over by the stained-glass window immediately began clinking cups and saucers and pouring steaming, aromatic liquid. The sisters were every bit as lovely as Madeline, though they couldn’t match her rippling stream of charming chatter. They didn’t, in fact, seem to try. They merely beamed at Sarah and nodded their heads in agreement that, yes, it was delightful finally to meet her.
    â€œAnd the guy with the badge over there,” Sarah’s uncle said from behind her, “is Sheriff Parker Tremaine. Tremaine, this is my niece. Keep away from her. I haven’t had a long visit with her in fifteen years, and I don’t plan to share her visit with anybody.”
    â€œHello, Sarah.” Parker, who had stood at Sarah’s arrival, smiled that cockeyed smile she remembered all too well. “I was hoping I’d get a chance to say thank you in person. Your niece and I have already met, Ward,” he added blandly. “She saved my life about an hour ago.”
    â€œShe did what? How?” Ward looked irritated. “No, don’t even tell me. Sarah, I’m going to have to ask you not to fall in love with Tremaine here. It would be just too boring. Every other female in the Glen already has beaten you to it. Hypnotized by thebadge, I guess. You know women. Anything that sparkles.”
    Madeline made a small, offended noise. “Not every woman, Ward,” she sniffed, but the old man just rolled his eyes and ignored her.
    â€œBesides,” Ward went on, obviously enjoying himself, “he’s kind of a half-ass sheriff, and lately he’s been annoying the hell out of me. But he’s a passable chess player, so I haven’t thrown him out. Yet.”
    â€œActually, I think you should hear this story.” Parker Tremaine was clearly undaunted, as amused by the bickering as her uncle was. He tossed a wink at Sarah. “It’s a good story, Ward. You’ll love it—it’s all about you. See, your niece rescued me from a lynch mob. That’s right, a lynch mob, ready to string me up in the town square. And you know why? Because I haven’t slapped you in jail yet.”
    â€œHa! Put me in jail?” Ward raised his shaggy black eyebrows. “You and whose army?”
    â€œThe Chamber of Commerce army, Ward. Every one of the Firefly Glen innkeepers, shop owners, ski renters and hot chocolate vendors who had planned to get rich from the ice festival. They think you’re trying to destroy them financially, and they don’t plan to lie down and let you do it. I’m pretty sure the words ‘libel’ and ‘punitive damages’ were mentioned.”
    So that was what it had all been about, all those tense faces and strained voices at the clothing store.Sarah looked over at her uncle, perplexed. She wondered what he’d done.
    â€œOh, what a bunch of babies,” Ward said, waving his hand in a symbolic dismissal of the entire argument. “It was just a couple of little letters to the editor. Just one man’s opinion. This is America, isn’t it—even this far north? Since when did it become libel to express your opinion?”
    â€œI’m pretty sure it’s always been libelous to imply that there’s something dangerously wrong with the Glen’s tap water.”
    To Sarah’s surprise, her uncle looked sheepish, an expression she didn’t remember ever seeing on his rugged face before. “Well, mine tastes funny, Tremaine, and that’s a fact. Try it. Tastes like hell.”
    â€œIt’s always tasted like hell. It’s the minerals. You know that. And honestly, Ward. Ten newspapers? Including the New York Times? ”
    â€œWell, I didn’t think they’d run it,” Sarah’s uncle said, his voice a low grumble.
    â€œTea, Ward?” Madeline chirped merrily. Ward glared at her, but she kept bustling