Free Annie's Neighborhood (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Roz Denny Fox Page B

in the countryside. Fifteen minutes ago, a car sped down our private lane. Some crazy person heaved two big rocks through our living room window. There was a message tied to one. It says if you don’t stop helping someone named Annie Emerson, our son will pay.”
    Annie jerked at the sound of her name, and so did Sky, who immediately snapped out questions. “Did you get a license number? Can you describe the person who threw the rock? I assume no one in your home was hurt, or you would’ve said so.”
    “Honestly,” the caller shrieked, causing Sky to angle the phone farther away from his ear. “Archibald said to tell you to cease and desist whatever you’re doing, or our attorney will petition the court to cut off all the visitation you now have with Zack. In fact, I think I’m going to request an interim hearing on the basis of this incident.”
    Archibald . Sky’s anger flared. Her new husband didn’t have any say in anything involving Zack . “You can’t do that, Corrine. I’m a cop. A police chief, in case it’s slipped your mind. A job I took so I could pay you the hefty child support the court set for Zachary. My payments are never late, and it’s because of this job.”
    “I doubt that’ll matter when a judge sees our shattered window and this note, Skylar. If you want to continue seeing Zachary, you need to move to a less dangerous town, and get a less dangerous job.”
    It was evident to Annie that the furious woman, Sky’s ex-wife, had ended the call. All she heard now was his angry breathing. “I wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose,” she said. “But I heard every word. And I have to tell you, if I was a mother and that rock-throwing incident happened to me, I’d feel exactly the way she does.”
    “Of course you would,” he said scathingly “But you don’t even know her. You have no idea what kind of hoops she makes me jump through.” His mouth tightened as he said this.
    Annie gazed steadily at him in the glow of the flashlight. “No, but what I’m saying now is that you can opt out of helping me. If you’re still planning to arrange for a direct hotline, don’t include your phone. Residents can contact your staff. Oh, thank you for escorting me home and checking out my house. I’m going in now, so you can leave. I’ll deal with the graffiti tomorrow.”
    Over Sky’s objections, Annie climbed into her pickup, drove into her garage and promptly hit the automatic door closer.
    Sky held his breath until a light came on in her living room, followed by another one in her kitchen. He hadn’t looked indoors, darn it. But, after standing watch where he was for a few more minutes, he assumed that if anything was amiss in there, he would’ve heard a commotion. Annie would have used her martial arts skills to stomp on an intruder like she had him. All the same... He walked toward her house again. Ah, there she was. He could see her moving around the kitchen . Still, he was oddly reluctant to return to his cruiser. Once he did and turned the key, he was struck by a mind-boggling thought. Annie had willingly put his problems before her own. Sky couldn’t remember when he’d run across any woman that unselfish. She’d stood in front of her vandalized home, but after hearing Corrine rail at him, Annie’s uppermost concern had been for him—and his fight to spend time with his son. That rattled him.
    Driving home, Sky recognized that despite their confrontations, Annie Emerson stirred a long-dormant yearning in him, a desire to have a home like the one he’d been raised in. A home with a loving family. He’d fought for people in war-torn lands who’d had nothing to cling to except family. Yet here, it seemed, too many of his peers were cavalier about splitting up a marriage, breaking up a family. So, yeah, he’d grown jaded.
    There was something else that was different about Annie, he decided, pulling into his own garage. In voicing her unselfish opinion, she’d made him want to be the