One Hundred Excuses (An Aspen Cove Romance Book 5) Read online

  “But Victoria will be back in town, and Mimi and I thought it would be great to get you two back together. I mean—”

  “Mom,” he warned. “Victoria and I aren’t ever getting back together.” Victoria was the last person Aiden wanted to see. They’d been engaged when he was injured four years ago. It was supposed to be a simple speeding ticket but turned into a high-speed chase and an exchange of gunfire.

  “Oh, honey, you can’t blame her for panicking. It’s scary being married to a cop.” Mom would know since her husband had been one for thirty years before his death. Aiden’s dad had made it all the way through to retirement only to be killed by a drunk driver a week after he left the force.

  “Nope, you’re right. I can’t blame her for being scared when I got shot. Hell, I was scared, but I can blame her for sleeping with my partner. If she wanted comfort, she could have found it in our bed. You and her mother need to stop meddling.”

  He knew he’d won the fight when there was silence on the other end.

  “Okay, I’ll stop pressing, but I don’t think it’s healthy for you to be thirty-six and single.”

  “What about you? It’s not like you’re ancient. At fifty-eight you’ve got some living to do as well.”

  “I’m trying,” she said, but there wasn’t a hint of conviction in her voice.

  “Me too.” He hadn’t been interested in anyone since the Victoria debacle, but he thought about Marina and smiled. “I’ve got a new neighbor. She seems nice. She has a child.”

  “Oh really? You like her?”

  He could hear hope bloom in those two words. “Don’t go ordering the wedding invitations. I’ve only just met her, but she seems nice enough.” She was cordial but not overly friendly, and if he was being honest with himself, she seemed cautious. He’d caught a glimpse of her daughter and noticed the sheer look of panic on the little girl’s face as she pressed her nose to the glass.

  The way Marina stood between him and her child was telling. He knew right away she was a lioness ready to pounce if she thought her daughter was in danger. He liked that quality in a woman. Liked it when the people who were supposed to love you fought for you. Too bad Victoria didn’t have that inside her. If she’d had that protective mechanism, their lives would have been a lot different. He might not be living in the tiny town of Aspen Cove. He would be in Colorado Springs, married and with a child or two of his own.

  “Invite her over for your famous spaghetti,” Mom suggested. “Women like men who can cook. Your dad got me with his beef stew.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” He took the steaming plate out of the microwave. It was hot and cheesy, just the way he liked it.” His cell phone rang. “Got to go. That’s work calling.”

  “Love you,” she said before hanging up.

  “Hey, Poppy, what’s up?” Poppy Dawson was in the office filing and answering the phones today.

  “Sheriff Cooper, there’s a problem at the firehouse. Something about a fight.”

  He looked at his lunch and groaned. Food would have to wait. “I’m on my way.” He covered his dish with foil and raced out to his cruiser. The nice thing about small towns was he was minutes away from everything. The other problem with small towns was he was minutes from everything, which meant he never got away.

  Three minutes later he drove up to the new fire station. It was a work in progress but it was coming along fast. The company construction team was from Denver. The problem was the men were used to a little more life in town and if they couldn’t find it, they created it.

  He got out of his SUV and started toward the area where a group of men stood in a circle. One guy said, “Cops are here,” as if warning the others to scatter like dust in the wind.

  He could always tell the troublemakers because they seemed to grow larger as he got nearer as if their brawn could outwit his brain.

  When he got to the center of the group, two men were going at it like pugilists. “Break it up,” he called out. He didn’t want to step into a fight. Hated that he might have to cuff someone and put them in a cell. He always tried to settle things with logic first.

  “He started it,” the bald guy yelled as he swiped blood from his lip.

  Aiden wanted to roll his eyes. He was way beyond playground antics.

  “You—” he pointed at the other man, who was fisted up and ready to swing “—need to stand down.” He pointed to the pine tree off to the side. “Take your corner.”

  The man seemed to debate within himself. It took a single glance at Aiden’s hand on his holster to make his decision and move to the tree.

  After twenty minutes of talking to both men and finding out the fight was over a “borrowed lunch,” Aiden headed to the diner thinking he’d have a better chance of getting his stomach fed if he ordered the blue plate special. Always hot. Always ready.

  As he pulled into a parking spot, Marina was leaving the nearby bakery. He lifted his hand to wave, but she either didn’t see him or she ignored the gesture.

  He stood on the sidewalk, looking at her. What was her story?

  Katie ran out of the shop with a bag in her hand. She passed it to the little girl who stood next to Marina. She was a pretty little thing with brown hair and eyes to match. She moved a green wooden cylinder from her right hand to her left and took the bag.

  Katie threw her arms around Marina and gave her a kiss on the cheek. That wasn’t the behavior to lavish on a woman she’d just met, but then again it was Katie Bishop and she lavished her love on everyone.

  Aiden looked toward Maisey’s Diner and decided that maybe today he’d settle for a carrot cake muffin.

  He waited for the white Jeep to drive away before he walked inside the bakery.

  “Hey, Coop.” Katie was behind the counter filling half-empty trays. He loved the woman she’d grown into since she moved to Aspen Cove. He could still remember the frightened girl she was the day she showed up and took over the bakery. A bakery she had no idea how to run or any idea why Bea Bennett, a stranger, would have left it to her. It was amazing how much a town could change a person and how much a person could change a town. He’d delivered her first batch of muffin ingredients and left them anonymously at her door. It was a dying woman’s wish that he couldn’t ignore.

  “I’ll take a muffin, a coffee, and any information you have on our newest resident.” He put a five on the counter and moved to the table in front of the window. He had a habit of sitting where he had the best view.

  “You mean Marina?”

  “Yes, she’s my neighbor.”

  “She said she met you, and that she’s renting Doc’s bungalow.”

  It was funny to hear the house next door called Doc’s bungalow. No one had lived there since Doc’s wife had died and his daughter moved out of town. Hell, he wouldn’t have known it was Doc’s if people in town hadn’t told him, but then again towns like Aspen Cove were that way. If you wanted to visit the Covingtons you didn’t say you were going to 10 Rose Lane. You said you were going to the big Victorian. If you wanted to see Sage and Cannon, you were going to the B and B. Bowie and Katie were the house next to the B and B, and Dalton and Samantha were the house next to last year’s fire. Aiden lived next to Doc Parker’s house, and no doubt people would say Marina lived next to the sheriff’s house.

  “You hugged her like you know her. Do you?”

  Katie brought over his muffin and coffee and took the seat across from him. “She’s been in town a few times.”

  He paid attention to the way she avoided eye-to-eye contact. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Her eyes got saucer big. “Nothing. I don’t know much about her. Heck, I didn’t know she had a daughter.”

  Aiden took a bite of his muffin and considered Marina for a minute. “What’s her last name?”

  Katie shrugged, “All I know is she’s had a rough life. Her ex…” She chewed her lower lip. “He’s the worst kind of man.”

  “Got a name?”

  “Ma
rina. That’s her name. Her daughter is Kellyn.”

  “I know her name’s Marina. What’s her last name?”

  “Last time I checked, I wasn’t your deputy.” She smiled. “I’m sure she’d tell you if you asked.”

  He knew Katie had more to offer, but she wasn’t telling. He also knew that all it would take was a license plate check to find out all he wanted to know about the beautiful Marina. He supposed if he wanted to get to know her better, he should go about it the right way. Most people didn’t take kindly to him doing a full background check after the first hello.

  Chapter Three

  She’d dropped the last chocolate chip onto the pancake and smiled. Kellyn wouldn’t care that one eye was lower than the other. All she cared about was that the pancake was smiling and it contained chocolate.

  Marina had Dr. Lydia to blame for Kellyn’s new smiley face obsession and only herself to blame for the chocolate chip pancakes.

  She flipped the single plate-sized cake and looked out the back window. Movement to her right caught her eye. Her heart raced like it could escape her chest. She hated that reaction. Hated herself for fearing every shadow and sound.

  “I am a victor,” she said to herself. “I fear nothing and no one.” She leaned forward to see what had moved and caught the spray of a hose on the beautiful flowers next door. Only a short chain-link fence separated the houses. Sheriff Cooper was watering his garden.

  She hadn’t really gotten a good look at the man. He was a puzzle to her. Here was a man who carried a gun, wore a uniform, no doubt could throw a brutal punch, and yet he grew daisies and by the looks of his raised planter in the back, lots of other things.

  Tomato plants were tied neatly to stakes. Tiny mounds of lettuce filled an entire row. Carrot stems peeked from the rich-looking soil, as did rows and rows of other vegetables. Her focus turned from his garden to her yard. It was such a mess. The only thing growing were weeds. She wiped her hand on a towel and turned to Kellyn, who sat waiting for her breakfast.

  “How about we work in the yard today?”

  Kellyn took a bite and smiled. Marina wasn’t sure if it was the chocolate or the fact that they would play in the dirt together that made her happy, but she’d take whatever she could get. While her daughter never spoke, she also rarely smiled, so this was a moment to take in and remember.

  “I thought we could plant a garden like Sheriff Cooper.” Marina lifted in her chair to take another glance next door. The water and the man were gone, but the green garden remained and somehow it became a symbol of hope.

  If a garden could sprout from mountain soil where the air was thin and arid then she and Kellyn could plant roots and thrive. With newfound energy, she waited for her daughter to finish her breakfast while she planted rows of vegetables in her mind.

  Marina didn’t have much, but they walked into the overgrown yard with kitchen shears and a metal spoon. She’d started with less and survived.

  They began in the right corner. It was grass-free and contained the remnants of a long lost garden. While she tugged at the brambles and weeds, Kellyn dug in the ground with the kitchen spoon.

  “It will take you years to till the soil that way.” A deep voice sounded from behind her. Marina leaped into the air and swung around with her fists pulled up and the scissors ready to strike. When she saw it was Sheriff Cooper, she let them fall to her side.

  He raised his hands in surrender, though he never let go of the hoe and shovel. “I come in peace.”

  Marina looked at Kellyn, who had moved far away. Her knuckles had turned white with the force of her grip. “Hang on one second.” She walked over to her baby girl and squatted in front of her. “You’re okay. I’m okay. It’s okay. He’s being neighborly. You can stay here and help or you can go inside and read Mrs. Beasley a story. It’s up to you.” She returned to the sheriff, who had moved to her plot of land.

  He turned the soil like it was nothing. “Gardening is more effective if you have the right tools.”

  She glanced at the kitchen shears in her hand and laughed. “You don’t think these will work?” She realized she’d been gripping them like a weapon.

  “Sure, if you’re going to shank the ground or give the weeds a trim.” He swiped the sweat from his brow.

  She took in his appearance for the first time. He was a good-looking man. Her mom used to tell her that a man’s soul was found in his eyes. The sheriff had kind brown eyes. The sunlight danced off the amber specs, making it look like they were dipped in gold. She should have thought about eyes when she met Craig. His were dark, like caves of nothingness. That should have been her first clue.

  “I could give it a cut, that’s what I do, but I fear I’d have a hard time getting a return on my investment of time and talent.”

  He moved with ease across the land, digging and turning the soil while Marina followed to loosen the dead plants. “While I appreciate your help, Sheriff Cooper, I don’t want to take up any more of your day.”

  He stopped and put one boot on the shovel, cupped the handle and laid his chin on top. “I’ve found few things grow without care—not a garden and not friendship. Anything worth having is worth cultivating. We’re neighbors, Marina, and I’d like to be friends.” He lifted his head and pressed his foot on the shovel again. “Call me Aiden.”

  The man in front of her was sexy, kind, and considerate. That made him dangerous. But he also had a shovel and a hoe. That made him a valuable asset for a woman who wanted a garden.

  “I appreciate the help, Aiden. I have little to offer you right now, but I’ll share my harvest if I can get anything to grow.”

  He smiled and continued to till the soil. “All this needs is attention, water, and some tender loving care.” He pulled several packets from his pocket. “And maybe some seeds.”

  She’d never felt so giddy over a few packets of seeds. She took them from his hand and saw there was everything to make a salad from lettuce to tomatoes. “I can replace these.”

  “They’re a gift.” He looked at Kellyn. “Do you think she’d like to help us plant them when we’re done?”

  Marina felt awful that she hadn’t introduced Kellyn to him, but she also didn’t want to push her. She was apprehensive around strangers, especially men.

  “Kellyn, honey, come over here and meet Sher…Mr. Cooper.”

  “Mr. Cooper was my father.” Aiden laughed. “Way to make a guy feel old.”

  Kellyn lifted her head and watched him with a wary eye. She looked at Marina and then back at the ground she’d dug with her spoon. She took a long minute before she dropped the spoon and crept to Marina, taking her place behind her legs. She fisted Marina’s pants and peeked around the side to where Aiden stood.

  He dropped to his knees, making Kellyn pull back.

  “She’s shy. She doesn’t speak, but she understands you.”

  Most men didn’t have time for a little girl who was more of a shadow than a presence, but Aiden smiled. “Hello, Kellyn. I love your name. I think we should plant a flower and name it after you. What do you think?”

  Marina stepped to the side so he could see her daughter. “She loves daisies.”

  “Is that right?” Aiden walked to the chain-link fence. Its four-foot height didn’t stop him from reaching over and picking several of the flowers from his garden. He returned and showed the daisies to Kellyn. “How about a flower for every year you’ve lived?” He plucked one from the small bouquet and offered it to her. She took it and stared at the rest in his hand. “Oh, you’re older than one. Right.” He passed another, and another and looked at her. “How many more do I owe you?”

  To Marina’s surprise, Kellyn held up a single finger and Aiden placed the fourth flower in her tiny little palm. She looked up at Marina and down at the flowers.

  “She’s almost five.”

  “Wow, such a big girl. Do you think your mom should have one for every year she’s lived too?”

  An almost imperceptible nod moved her he
ad.

  “Oh no,” Marina said. “That would strip your garden bare.”

  “I doubt that.”

  Kellyn took her flowers back to the spot where she’d dug a hole and planted the stems into the ground.

  “Oh, honey, they won—” Marina started to say they wouldn’t grow, but Aiden stopped her.

  “Let her plant them. You never know what might happen.” He returned to digging the soil.

  “She’s lived with enough disappointment in her life, I hate to add to it.” She could see the gears in Aiden’s head move and knew she’d said too much.

  “Tell me about you two and what brings you to Aspen Cove.”

  Yep, she’d said too much. She wanted as few people to know about her life as possible. How was she supposed to start over if she had to go back to the beginning all the time? “Not much to tell. We wanted a change. I’ve always found Aspen Cove to be a place of comfort, so when the opportunity came for us to move, I chose to relocate here. Tell me about your garden.” The subject change was abrupt but needed.

  Aiden continued to dig while she removed the debris and garbage. “I love that I can plant a seed and start something wonderful. Like anything, you get out of it what you put into it.” He glanced at the space that took half his yard. “I started with tomatoes and carrots a few years ago. Now I grow everything from eggplant to pumpkins.” Pride showed in his smile. “This year I’ll try to outgrow last year’s biggest pumpkin, which was over a hundred pounds.”

  Marina stopped and stared. “You grew a hundred-pound pumpkin?”

  “Yep.”

  “Why?”

  “Why not? Maybe Kellyn can grow a pumpkin this year too.”

  At the mention of her name, she looked up from planting her flowers, which had already started to wilt. She gave them a look and walked inside the house.

  “Maybe. She’s—”

  “She’s lovely. I don’t know what she’s been through, but I can see you’re the perfect mother for her. You water and care for her like she’s a delicate flower. She will grow and she will flourish.” He bent over and picked up the seed packets they’d left on the ground. “She’s like a seedling waiting to take root.”