Single Dad Sheriff (Harlequin American Romance) by LISA CHILDS Page A

kiss him. But after that promise he’d made to Tommy, she should want to kill him instead.
    â€œI know you’re not dead, but you’ve been living like a nun since you moved to Forest Glen,” her cousin teased.
    â€œI’ve been a little busy raising my son,” she reminded Belinda. When Tommy had come into the world, after twenty-seven hours of excruciating labor pain, Jessie had promised herself and him that he would always come first with her. She hadn’t broken that promise. Or had she? Was not telling him about his dad putting her needs—and her fears—before his?
    â€œYou don’t have to go it alone, you know.”
    â€œSo you think I should tell Tommy about his father?” Jessie asked, steering the conversation back to where she’d started it. “Do you think I should tell Tommy’s father about him?”
    With a heavy sigh, Belinda flopped back on the couch. “I’m not the one you should be asking.”
    â€œI want to know what you think.”
    â€œYou already know what I think, but you pay about as much attention to me as my kids do.” Belinda shook her finger at Jessie as if she were chastising one of her children; she had twin seven-year-old girls and a boy just a year younger. She claimed all those grandkids had inspired her mother to move to Florida. But it waslove, in the form of the man she’d reunited with, that had compelled Aunt Sue to leave Forest Glen.
    Jessie blinked and teased, “Huh? What? Did you say something?”
    Belinda chucked a wadded-up napkin at her head. “I thought you were crazy to choose to raise Tommy all alone.”
    â€œI wasn’t all alone. I had you and Aunt Sue.” And she couldn’t have endured those miserable months of her pregnancy, the endless hours of labor and the sleepless nights of Tommy’s colic without their support. Belinda still helped her with babysitting when Jessie had a night class in Grand Rapids.
    â€œBut Tommy’s Keith’s son, too,” Belinda reminded her. “His responsibility. He should have been here to help you. If he’d been paying you child support and helping out, you’d have your nursing degree and you’d be able to buy your own place instead of renting. You wouldn’t be just scraping by.”
    â€œI’m not just scraping by,” Jessie proudly insisted. “I have a good job with flexible hours.” Burying a little of her pride, she admitted, “And my parents send me money.”
    Belinda snorted. “Guilt money for deserting you when you needed them most.”
    â€œI could have gone with them.” And suffocated under the weight of their disapproval and disappointment in her. She was sure she was the reason they’d wanted to leave Fort Hood, Missouri, because they’d been embarrassed that their teenage daughter had been stupid enough to get pregnant. Jessie hadn’t wanted to stay there, either, because she hadn’t wanted anyone to notice she was pregnant and tell Keith.
    â€œTo live on yet another base, in another country?” Belinda asked.
    â€œGermany,” Jessie reminded her. “It’s where my mom is from. She has family there.” Which was why her parents had decided to retire in the country.
    â€œYou and Tommy are their family, too.”
    â€œThat’s why they send money,” Jessie said with a smile. “It’s fine. I’m happier here in Forest Glen than I was on any of those bases where I grew up. I want to raise my son in one place, too.” Not split between two households.
    â€œIt must have been hard, growing up like that, switching schools all the time,” her cousin commiserated. “Always being the new kid.”
    She nodded. “It was hard…until I met Keith.” Maybe that was why she’d fallen so fast for him, because she hadn’t known how long she’d be staying at Fort Hood. Then, ironically,