Free The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set by Olivia Jaymes

takes time and patience to win back their trust.”
    “But it’s worth it, right Mom? To have a dog’s pure love?”
    Alyssa reeled as if she’d been hit on the head with a two by four. Hank, her wonderful beloved husband was afraid of being hurt again, and when she made demands he withdrew, not ready to extend trust. That had been the look in his eyes she’d seen, not hate or rejection. It was fear. She needed to have more patience. Hank wasn’t ready yet.
    If he didn’t give a damn about her he wouldn’t have withdrawn into himself the way he did. Her heart fluttered and a fresh spate of tears filled her eyes. She needed to give him more love and time. She needed to let him learn to trust again. His every action told her he loved her—couldn’t she wait for the words?
    “Yes, it’s absolutely worth it,” she replied, her tone lighter than it had been before. She believed in her husband’s love and she believed in their life together.
    “Luke, how would you like to spend some time with Grandma today? Mommy needs to do some shopping.”
    She’d make a fancy dinner tonight and put on some sexy lingerie. Give him a special night that was all about him.
    She knew where the door was and she damn well wasn’t going to be using it.

    Alyssa shoved the grocery bags into the trunk of her car and pushed down the lid. She’d dropped Luke off at Alice Dixon’s house, finished grocery shopping, and now she needed to get home and start making the special chocolate mousse she had planned for tonight’s dessert.
    Hopefully it would be a dessert they’d eat after some naked fun. Alice had been happy to watch Luke and had even offered to have him overnight. The shrewd older woman had immediately seen that something was amiss and offered her services in any way she could to fix it without prying into the details.
    Climbing into the vehicle, she pulled out onto Oak, stopping at the red light at Sycamore. She hummed as she pictured the evening ahead. Letting Hank know he had all the time he needed to trust was her main job tonight. No more pushing. She’d win back his love a little at a time.
    The light turned green and she pressed down on the accelerator, pulling into the intersection. Her eyes were focused forward but out of her peripheral vision something blue flashed. There was a squealing of tires and then an awful crunching noise. She screamed in pain and fright as her fragile bones met something relentless and unyielding, and her head violently hit the driver’s side window.
    Blinking to try and clear her cloudy vision, she reached up to rub her eyes and gasped at what felt like a sharp knife in her ribs. Her hands were covered in blood and she let her head fall back onto the headrest with a groan. Everything hurt so badly and she was fighting to stay conscious.
    The passenger door on her car was pulled open and a man’s voice barely penetrated the fog that was coming over her.
    “Ma’am? Ma’am? Can you hear me? I’ve called 911. Just hold on.”
    The gray mist was turning dark and taking the excruciating pain away. The only image in her brain was of her family sitting at the dinner table last night laughing and smiling.
    “Luke? Hank?” She could feel her lips form the words but she couldn’t tell if she actually said them with the roaring in her ears. The blackness was persistent and she didn’t have the strength to fight it anymore, didn’t even want to. It hurt to breathe and it hurt to move, but if she closed her eyes and let the fog take her it would all go away. She let it slip over her, blurring the picture of her son and husband and sending her to a most peaceful place.

    Hank turned on his lights and siren and pressed down on the accelerator. On the radio, he’d heard there had been an accident with injuries at the corner of Oak and Sycamore. Some idiot had blown through a red light T-boning another car. He wasn’t specifically called to the scene but he knew from experience Seth would need all