Soon, she was happily lost, and the only image occupying her mind was the one in front of her.

IT TOOK A WHILE to shake off the distractions—seeing Brynne so undone by the presence of a man she’d clearly loved, listening to Sara declare him the official village idiot—but by the time he’d reached the office, sat himself down in the chair behind his desk and gone through a sheaf of messages, Eli was back in work mode.

Dan arrived right on time, bringing coffee from a drive-through joint, and Eli was grateful for the java. It was better than the often-scorched stuff he usually drank on the job. Connie firmly maintained that she’d been hired as a dispatcher and receptionist, not a waitress, and Melba was equally adamant: she wasn’t going to brew a single pot of coffee unless the male deputies took their fair turns.

All this distilled down to the unfortunate fact that only Amos Edwards, the lowest man on the totem pole, ever attempted to brew the sludge he called coffee.

Everyone else, including Eli, tolerated the stuff.

Thus, he welcomed the brand-name concoction Dan brought in.

The big man took a seat across from Eli, popped the little tab on his own cup and took a cautious sip. Then he made a satisfied sound and grinned.

“Melba hates it when I do that,” he said happily.

Eli grinned. “Speaking of your better half, how’s the reconciliation coming along? I’d ask her myself, but she hasn’t been in the greatest mood since we found Freddie Lansing hanging from a rafter in that old barn.”

“Thing like that’ll ruin a person’s day, all right,” Dan observed. He was being cagey; the gleam in his eyes told Eli that much.

“You don’t want to talk about it. Fair enough.”

“You could always ask Melba.”

“Not without getting my lips torn off, I can’t.”

Dan gave his thunderous laugh. “My woman’s got fire in her, and that’s the God’s truth.”

“You love her.” It was a statement, not a question.

And Brynne played on the edge of Eli’s mind, like a wildcat circling just beyond the reach of the firelight.

“Hell, yes,” Dan said. “Worst mistake I ever made was choosing the Bureau over her and our kids. I had my head stuck square up my ass.”

“Why did you choose the Bureau?” Eli pressed, knowing he was on private ground, but wanting to know badly enough to risk it.