The Heart Of Devin Mackade

'Thanks a lot.'

'No problem. Connor was already writing a story about you.'

'No kidding?' The grin all but split his face.

' 'A Day in the Life of Sheriff MacKade.'' Rafe helped himself to coffee. 'The boy's nuts about you.'

'Good thing.' Shane took another cookie. 'Since Devin's going to marry his mama.'

Rafe bobbled the coffee, spilled it on his hand and swore. 'Cassie? Little Cassie?'

'Shane's getting ahead of himself,' Devin said, in a mild tone that belied the gleam in his eye. 'As usual.'

'Hey, you're the one who said it. Me, I figure you've just lost your mind. Like these two.'

'Shut up, Shane.' Jared kept his eyes on Devin's face. 'You and Cassie?'

'So what?'

'So... that's interesting.'

'Are you speaking as her attorney?' Devin pushed back from the desk. If the phone rang again, he thought he might just rip it out of the wall. To get himself back under control, he went to the coffee.

'He's got it bad,' Rafe observed. 'Didn't you have a thing for her about ten, twelve years ago?' When Devin didn't answer, merely poured the coffee, sipped it steely-eyed, Rafe grinned. 'Never got over it, did you? Son of a gun. Why, that's practically poetic, bro. It gets me, right here.' He thumped a hand on his chest.

'Keep ragging me, it'll get you somewhere else.'

'It's getting so every day's Valentine's Day in An-tietam.' In disgust, Shane shoved another cookie in his mouth. 'A man's not safe.'

'Cassie's a sweetheart,' Rafe said pointedly.

'Sure she is.' Gamely, Shane swallowed, so that he could make his point. 'She's as good as they come, and pretty with it. But why does that mean he has to marry her? You see all this stuff?' With a sweep of his hand, he indicated all the pies, cakes, tarts, cookies. 'Women are going to fall all over him, and he's tossing them off because he's gone cross-eyed over one woman. It's not only stupid, it's... well, it's selfish.'

Rafe gave Shane a thump on the back of the head that would have felled a grizzly. 'Man, I love this guy. He's going to carry the MacKade legend into the next millennium.'

'Damn right,' Shane agreed. 'No woman's going to tie me down. I mean, with all the flowers out there, why pick one when you can have a bouquet?'

'Now that's poetry.' Rafe thumped him again. 'Let's go get that beer.'

'You two go on.' Jared stayed where he was. 'I need to talk to Devin a minute.'

They left, arguing about who was buying. When the room was quiet again, Devin took his coffee back to his desk. 'You got a problem?'

'No.' Jared shifted so that they were face-to-face. 'But you might. Have you talked to Cassie about marriage?'

'A little. Why?'

'Joe Dolin.'

'They're divorced. It's done.'

'They're divorced.' Eyes steady, Jared rested a hand on his knee. 'But done's another thing. He'll get out eventually, Devin. He'll come back.'

'I'll handle it.'

'Yeah, I figure you can handle Joe, one-on-one. But there's the law.'

Unconsciously Devin brushed a finger over his badge. 'He tries to touch Cassie again, just tries, and I'll have him back behind bars before he can blink.'

'And that's part of the problem. You're the sheriff, but you won't be objective. You can't be.'

Devin set his coffee aside, leaned forward. 'I've been in love with her most of my life. At least it seems that way. And I had to stand back and do little more than nothing while he hurt her. While I knew what he was doing to her inside that house. She wouldn't let me help, so the law tied my hands. Things are different now, and nothing's going to stop me from taking care of her. He lifts his hand to her again, and he's dead. Problem solved.'

Jared nodded. He didn't take the statement lightly. He knew what it was to need to protect the woman you loved from any sort of harm. And he knew Devin was a man who said exactly what he meant.

'I'm talking about a situation that could develop if he's smart enough not to lift his hand to her. What if, after he serves his time, he moves back here, stays clean. How are you going to handle that?'

'One step at a time, Jared, like always. Of course, the first thing I'd have to do is keep Rafe from going after him because of what he tried to do to Regan.'

That was true enough, Jared thought. And Rafe wouldn't be the only one who wouldn't welcome Joe Dolin back into the community. 'Dev, I know what Cassie's been through. Exactly. I know because I'm her lawyer, I handled the divorce. We're talking about a textbook case of spousal abuse. A pitiful phrase, textbook case, for that kind of horror. Therapy's helped her, the town's helped her, and her own backbone's helped her. But she's got scars she's never going to get rid of.'

'I'm being careful,' Devin said slowly. 'For God's sake, Jared, I've given her time—even after the divorce, I waited and gave her time. I'm trying to give her more.'

'Devin, I'm just trying to show you the whole package. Believe me, I can't think of anyone I'd rather see you with than Cassie. Anyone I'd rather see her with than you. God knows she deserves somebody decent. But it's not just the two of you. There are two kids here. Joe Dolin's kids.'

Devin's eyes darkened, narrowed. 'You can say that to me, when you've got Bryan? Are you going to tell me it matters they're another man's blood, when I know damn well Bryan's as much yours as Layla?'

'That's not what I'm saying.' Jared's voice was low and calm. 'I've seen you with them. I didn't have a clue how you felt about Cassie. You kept that covered well. But anybody with eyes can see you're crazy about those kids, that you've been good for both of them. They deserve you,' he added, and nipped Devin's temper before it could bloom. 'They deserve a father who loves them, and a home where they can just be kids.'

'Fine. That's what I'm going to see they have.'

'But it's not like Bryan, Dev. His biological father isn't around, isn't an issue. Dolin is.'

'He doesn't give a damn about those kids, never has.'

'No, but he'll have a right to them.' Knowing that the frustration he felt didn't help, Jared spread his hands and took a deep breath. 'The law says he does. And if he can't get to Cassie, he may just come up with the notion to get to her through them. Once he's out, he'll have a legal right to see them, to have visitation, to be part of their lives. You won't be able to block that.'

Devin hadn't thought of it. Maybe he hadn't let himself. Now that it was there, right in the front of his mind, his blood went cold. 'You're the lawyer. You block it.'

'Parental rights are a sticky business, Dev. You know that. Until and unless he does something to put them in jeopardy, until and unless we can prove he's not just unfit, but dangerous to them, he'll have the law on his side.'

Already Devin was thinking it through, working it out. 'We may be able to put the pressure on for supervised visitations only, but blood still counts heavy in court.'

'He beat Connor.'

Jared's brows drew together. 'I didn't know anything about that.'

'Connor didn't tell Cassie, didn't want to make it worse on her.'

'I might be able to use that, if the time comes. But once he's considered rehabilitated, a lot of the slate gets erased. He's going to be in for a long time yet, but I want you to know what you're up against here.'

'I've got a clear picture of what I'm up against. Nothing's going to stop me from making Cassie and the kids mine. Not Joe Dolin, not the law, not anything.'

'Well, then.' Jared rose. 'I'll state the obvious. I'm behind you. Rafe and Shane are behind you.'

'I appreciate it.'

'If you get yourself out from behind that desk for an hour, come down to Duff's. I'll buy you a beer.' Satisfied, Jared headed for the door, then paused. 'She's a terrific woman, Dev. Sweet, like Shane says, but tougher than you might think. Tougher than she thinks. If you convince her she wants you as much as you want her, you'll handle whatever comes down. I've got one piece of advice.'

'You always do,' Devin said dryly.