White Dove's Promise by Stella Bagwell Page A

“Take over, Mitch, and make sure you keep Harv digging at the right level. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
    Jared climbed out of the ditch and walked over to where Bram had parked his pickup truck in an out-of-the-way spot at the edge of the work site.
    â€œWhat’s up?” he called to his brother.
    The lazy smile on Bram’s face as he climbed out of the vehicle quickly assured Jared that the sheriff’s early visit had nothing to do with an emergency.
    â€œI’ve been sent on a mission,” Bram said.
    Jared casually propped his boot on the pickup bumper. “Well, from the way you’re grinning it must not be a dangerous one.”
    Bram chuckled. “I don’t know yet. Depends on whether you want to be stubborn about this.”
    Jared’s brows lifted in surprise. “Me? What do I have to do with anything?”
    Bram slanted him a mocking look. “Oh come on, Jared. You’re Black Arrow’s newest hero. And the mayor has sent me out here to fetch you to his office. He wants to present you with a key to the city. And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he and the city council vote to change the name of Main Street to Jared Colton Boulevard,” he added dryly.
    Willow had already warned Jared that the mayor had been trying to contact him. But he still found it hard to believe that a city politician wanted anything to do with him. For the past ten years Jared had spent mostof his time away from Black Arrow and before then he’d never been a civic-minded citizen. He’d mostly been a hell-raiser and womanizer. The idea that the mayor, or anyone else for that matter, saw him in a heroic light was almost laughable.
    Shaking his head with disbelief, Jared said, “Don’t tell me the press is going to be there.”
    Bram grunted with amusement. “It’s election year. The mayor is hardly going to pass up a chance to get his photo in the paper. Especially when it’s connected to a happy story. And I’ve already had a call from someone in Oklahoma City saying AP has picked up your story and published it in the Daily. So I don’t look for this thing to die down soon.”
    Jared frowned and heaved out a heavy breath. “Not when the public officials around here want to keep feeding it.”
    â€œHumor me, brother,” Bram told him. “Since the mayor wants me to join in on the ceremony, too, I can hardly go back and tell him you don’t want a key to the city. I do have to get along with the man.”
    With another shake of his head, Jared said, “Don’t get me wrong, Bram, I appreciate the mayor’s gesture. But if this hero stuff keeps up, it’s going to start getting embarrassing.” And for some reason it was important that he didn’t come across to Kerry as a showoff. He’d worked hard to rescue Peggy because he’d desperately wanted to save the little girl’s life. Not to make himself out a hero.
    â€œSince when did you get so humble, little brother?” Bram asked wryly. “You’ve always loved the spotlight. Especially when it caused the females to flock around you.”
    Pulling his boot from the bumper, Jared hooked histhumbs over his belt and looked out over the busy work site. The morning sun was already warming a bright blue sky and beyond the heavy equipment and the scars they had made in the earth, deep green grass and fully leafed trees announced the rebirth of spring. It was going to be a glorious day and Jared had never felt more glad to be alive and to be back in Black Arrow.
    â€œYou make me sound like some rooster calling for a bunch of hens to gather around him.”
    Bram chuckled. “Well, you are, aren’t you?”
    Jared turned his gaze back to his brother. “Why no,” he said with faint surprise. “Those days are long gone, Bram.”
    Bram stared at Jared as though he was a thief caught in the act, yet still trying to