Once the thought entered Erin’s mind, she couldn’t banish it. She didn’t finish unloading the dishwasher. Instead, she went directly to her bedroom to grab a quick shower. Then she threw on clean civilian clothes, hopped into the county truck, and drove to the sheriff’s department.

When Erin stepped inside the building, Noreen Garrison, one of the department’s dispatchers, glanced up from her desk. When she recognized Erin, she beamed a smile and pushed at her red hair, which had recently been cut to frame her face in a pixie style. “Hey! You’re the last person I expected to see this evening.” She winked and dimpled a cheek. “If you’re hungry, we’ve got warm pizza and I brought a batch of my chocolate chip cookies.”

Erin had already caught a whiff of the pizza. Normally she would have been reminding herself that nothing ever tasted as wonderful as it smelled, but she was too preoccupied right then to worry about her calorie intake. “I pigged out over at the Morning Grind late this afternoon, so I’m not hungry. Not even pizza tempts me.”

Noreen’s blue eyes twinkled with amusement. “I quit dieting. Hank says I’m perfect just the way I am.” She wrinkled her nose. “Not that he’s seen me without clothes yet to be a good judge. But I don’t feel so unhappy with myself now.”

Erin was pleased to see the happy glow on her friend’s face. Hank Bentley, a hefty man who reminded her of Hoss in the old Bonanza reruns, had given Noreen the cold shoulder for a while because of a department rule, instituted by the sheriff, that none of his staff could date one another. When Erin had learned of Noreen’s attraction to Bentley, she’d gone behind the scenes to talk with other deputies, and they’d formed a committee to petition the sheriff for a change in department policy. Now a person could go to Sheriff Adams to ask for permission to date a colleague. She was glad Hank and Noreen had gotten special dispensation.

“You look fabulous,” she told her friend. “And you shouldn’t feel even a tiny bit unhappy with yourself. Hank is right. You are perfect just as you are.”

Noreen blushed. “Well, nobody’s perfect, I guess. I’m just glad Hank likes me back.”

Erin felt as if she were talking to a teenage girl, but when she thought about it, she guessed Noreen probably wasn’t much more experienced. Afflicted with dyslexia, she’d grown up feeling second-rate, married a man who preyed upon her insecurities, and then had divorced him for the sake of her children. She’d had little opportunity to interact with men. Not that Erin possessed a lot of knowledge about the opposite sex. She supposed many people felt out of their depth when it came to dating.

“What are you doing here so late?” Noreen asked. “I thought you’d be enjoying your unexpected day off and doing something fun tonight.”

Erin had already devised a response to that question. “I just came in to catch up on paperwork.” It wasn’t uncommon for deputies to drop by the department at odd hours to file shift reports. “And I did spend the afternoon out at the ranch with Uncle Slade and had a wonderful time.”