Texas Lonestar (Texas Heroes Book 4) by Sable Hunter, Texas Heroes Page A

the living room, Dallas rose from the couch. He’d shared with George what he’d learned in town. “Do you think there’s any connection?”
    George pushed his cap back on his head. “Hell, I don’t know. The rich are the greediest people in the world. I would say that I’d want proof before I made any accusations. Daniels has powerful friends.”
    “If he’s guilty, I’ll get proof. Either way, I intend to put a stop to this.” He grabbed his hat from the coffee table. “Tell Sally, I’ll be back. I’m going to go check the cameras.” Dallas started toward the door. “Don’t let Lennon leave the house, George.”
    George chuckled. “That’s right, boy. Give me the hard job. Hurry back. Don’t forget the ball game later.”
    “Sounds good.” Dallas touched his gun, heading out the door. One person had already lost his life; he didn’t intend for that number to rise any higher.
    When Lennon and Sally returned to the kitchen, she immediately noticed Dallas was gone. “Where is he?”
    “Doing his job, he’ll be back.” George balanced his cane across his knees. “My, don’t you look pretty.”
    Lennon groaned. “Don’t start. I don’t even have any makeup on.” She set Sally down who rushed off to the kitchen.
    “Well, it wouldn’t hurt nothing to put on some war paint. Even Flora wore a little. I’ve always said that if you can paint up an old barn and make it look a little better, you should do it.”
    Lennon laughed, chunking a sofa pillow at her old friend. “Stop. Things are too serious for me to laugh.”
    “Laughter is the best medicine. Remember? Besides, this will work out. I have faith.”
    She bent to kiss his weathered cheek. “Just keep praying, George. You have connections in heaven.”
    “That I do,” he sighed heavily. “That I do.”
    In a few minutes, Lennon and Sally were hard at work. “Smells good,” Sally observed.
    “Taste.” She offered the little girl a dollop of dough on the end of her finger. “Good?”
    Sally savored the morsel. “Wondaful. Do you think Dallas will like them?”
    “I’m sure he will.” Lennon still couldn’t believe he had agreed to indulge Sally in this manner. Wait till he saw the tiny cups and saucers and the little chair he’d have to sit on.
    “I wike Dallas, do you?”
    “Sure…Dallas is a nice man.” Lennon checked the stove temperature and bent to get a cookie sheet from the storage drawer below the oven.
    “I tink we should keep him. Mah-wy him.”
    “Marry him?” Lennon couldn’t help but laugh. “I think Mr. Dallas would have a thing or two to say about that. He probably has a girlfriend and even though you’re sweet, I don’t think that’s incentive enough to tempt him. Besides, I’m not the marrying kind.” More correctly, she wasn’t the kind of girl men marry, but there was no use upsetting Sally with a truth she wouldn’t understand. Hearing the front door open and close, Lennon hastily changed the subject. “Come on, help me spoon these beauties onto a cookie sheet.”
    Dallas didn’t knock. He just came on in and found the living room empty. Voices from the kitchen lured him. The closer he drew, the more entranced he became. If his life had turned out differently, it might be his wife and child enjoying themselves, baking cookies for him. Moving slower, he just watched the pair for a moment. God, how had he ever thought Lennon plain? She was absolutely beautiful. He found himself experiencing a longing, a stirring in his soul that he thought he’d never feel again.
    “Um…I’m back,” he said softly, almost hating to disrupt the scene before him. Sally was standing in a chair with a full-size apron tied around her tiny waist. The hem flirted with the top of her shoes. Lennon held a cookie sheet in her hand while Sally put sprinkles on the small rounded mounds of dough.
    Lennon’s eyes widened and her breath lodged in her throat. “Dallas!” She placed an arm around Sally and gently lifted