Free The Sherriff's Daughter: WESTERN ROMANCE (Cowboy Alpha Male Bad Boy Romance) (Rancher Pregnancy Romance Short Stories) by Sandra Anderson

Chapter 1:
     
    It was January so it was cold in Gaffney South Dakota but that was not out of the ordinary because except for a July, August and few weeks on either side, it was frigid. I lived above the sheriff’s office, which included the jail. A girl couldn’t ask for a more pleasant environment to grow up in. Prisoners in the jail below were often drunk or just plain loony and they howled for no reason. Throwing the cot was one of the things they did for amusement but Deputy Bask got rid of the thing. A plain mattress took it’s place, which they tossed around too but it didn’t have the same effect. Sheriff Kevin Grant was my father, a job forced on him when I was left as an infant on the office steps. He wasn’t my father in that he didn’t create me with a woman. I was there; he found me and decided to be my father. He asked around to see if anyone was missing a screeching infant but no one answered. He named me Beth, which wasn’t short for Elizabeth. He liked that it had less letters in it than his, so I would never think I was more important than him. He told me that with a smile because we grew on each other over the years.
    I crept out of bed to grab an extra pair of socks for my cold feet. My goal was to not let anyone downstairs know I was awake. I peeked out my window and noticed Deputy Bask’s horse tied to the post. He was likely sitting with his feet up on the desk and his hat pulled down on his head. He took more naps than anyone I knew.
    “I hear you up there Beth Grant. It’s about time you brewed a pot of coffee for your father and me.” Clay Bask got on my nerves but he could sense everything going on around him. No one stood a chance tying to ambush him. There was no reason for Clay not to like me but he didn’t and I disliked him in return, also for no reason in particular.
    “I’m coming down Clay, just as soon as I get dressed.” I threw on my drab green dress and white apron. My brush was sitting nearby, which I picked up every day or two. It wasn’t easy to pull through my curly black mane and I wasn’t concerned with how I looked to the residents of the jail. I chopped it short once and Clay teased me until it grew again. It was a long year of teasing. I stepped into my boots and clopped down the stairs.
    “Perks of being the sheriff’s daughter must include sleeping in. Your Daddy’s out walking see if the criminal element has struck overnight. He’ll expect breakfast when he returns and you can fix me a plate while you’re at it.
    “Hoecakes are all I’m making with a bit of berry preserves if I have some. I see the cage is empty. Is Gaffney out of criminals or are you just lazy?”
    “Mind your own business Beth which is taking care of me and your Daddy. That means get in the kitchen and start fixing grub.”
    I huffed and went to the small room, which we called a kitchen with a potbellied stove and a few skillets. Clay Bask was a good-looking man with sinewy muscles and a shock of thick blonde hair. He was slender but I wouldn’t call him skinny and he could outrun a fox if he tried. His eyes, which I wish I hadn’t noticed, were blue grey. None of it mattered because I was so sour on his personality. His father was Deputy Sam Bask, who was a genuine character loved by all. When Sam was shot through the heart with an arrow Gaffney mourned as if he were the President of the US. The Sioux were immediately blamed but it was a clever white man who thought he would go unpunished if he made it look like he didn’t do it. Sheriff Grant figured it out because the arrow used was not like that of an Indian. My father was clever, dogged and respected by the Indians and the residents of Gaffney alike. The hoecakes and coffee were done at the same time I heard the door open, which meant my father was back from doing his morning rounds. I walked through the swinging door with plates in hand.
    “Good morning all. I brought us a friend to keep us company. Menninger was sleeping