Another Solution (Crowley County Series Book 4)

by T. E. Killian

  Daisy sighed again. “Wow! When it rains it really does pour doesn’t it?”

  When Karen just sat there staring out across the hospital grounds, Daisy said, “Look, I don’t think you ought to be alone too much this evening. Why don’t you join us for supper and we can watch a DVD afterwards?”

  Karen had almost forgotten about Jason asking her to have supper with him tonight. “Thanks Daisy, but I’m having supper with Jason tonight at the pizza place.”

  “Good.” Daisy was grinning now. “That’s much better. I’ll bet Jason will be able to pull you out of the dumps.” She shook her head. “That boy sure does have it for you big time.”

  Karen looked into Daisy’s eyes to judge her seriousness as Daisy added, “I’m not kidding about that girl. He has been crazy about you for almost a year now and you’d know it too if you’d just stop to think about it.”

  Karen went back to work feeling much better. She still felt as if a heavy, dark cloud was hanging over her head though. But Daisy now had her looking forward to her date with Jason. Was it really going to be a date? After all, they were just planning to have supper then go home, weren’t they?

  * * *

  After he left Floyd’s office that morning, Jason couldn’t possibly stay in his own office. He needed to go over his squad’s reports for last week but they’d just have to wait. That was a big part of why he’d resisted promotion to sergeant for so long. He just plain couldn’t sit behind a desk very long at all. Before he took the promotion though, he’d made Floyd promise that he could still go out on patrol any time he needed to get away from the office.

  Well, that’s where he was now. It was well after lunch and he wasn’t sure that it was helping that much being out there. He’d almost lost his temper on two different stops when the drivers gave him a hard time.

  After the second one, he figured he’d better just drive around town without making any more stops unless someone did something really drastic.

  He spent the next hour sitting in the parking lot of a grocery store watching traffic go by out on the street. He looked at the clock on the dash, realized his shift was over, and decided to head home. Before he could though, Floyd pulled his unit up next to Jason’s so that the driver’s side windows were next to each other.

  Floyd’s big freckled arm was hanging out of his window as he leaned toward Jason and said, “Just thought you might like to know that I just finished talking with the joker who brought the complaint against Karen.”

  Jason held his breath as he waited for the big redhead to speak.

  Floyd took off his cowboy type hat and wiped his forehead. “Well, I don’t think we’ll be hearing from that boy again. I put the fear of God in him. Threatened to arrest him for filing a false report and man did he ever recant everything so fast it’d make your head spin.”

  Jason felt like shouting out.

  “You want to be the one to tell Karen?”

  Jason was grinning at Floyd and he said, “I sure do. In fact, if I don’t get a move on I’ll be late to pick her up for supper at the pizza joint.”

  Floyd laughed at Jason’s enthusiasm then said, “Might see you over there. The kids talked Sue Ann into going there for supper tonight. I’m sure it wasn’t too hard to do since she can barely get around to do much cooking lately. I just hope the baby doesn’t decide to come while we’re there tonight.”

  With that, Floyd drove off leaving Jason just sitting there listening to his laughter as it faded away. Then he shook himself. He had to get going. He needed to get home so he could shower and get into some comfortable clothes. So he took off too.

  Less than an hour later, Jason was excited when he pulled his pickup into the driveway of Karen’s townhouse. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He knew Karen was going to be happy when he told her about the complaint being withdrawn.

  As soon as he slid into the driver’s seat after opening Karen’s door for her, he turned toward her and said, “Floyd got the guy to drop the charges.”

  Jason had expected quite a reaction from Karen. He’d expected her to be as excited about the news as he’d been. But no, that wasn’t quite what happened.

  Karen was looking into his eyes when he said that and then she burst into tears putting her head in her hands.

  Now Jason was at a loss. He’d never been around crying women except on the job and he’d always been able to detach himself from them. But this was Karen, the girl of his dreams who was crying. He felt like he’d been belted in the gut. He couldn’t even breathe at first.

  He tentatively reached out with his right hand and tenderly placed it on her shoulder and she looked up at him then. She reached down into her purse, pulled out a tissue, and wiped her eyes.

  “You must think I’m a mess and I guess I am.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that so he didn’t.

  “Oh I am happy about the charges being dropped. It’s just that so much has hit me all at once that I simply don’t know what to do next.”

  Jason hadn’t fastened his seatbelt yet so he slid over next to Karen on the bench seat and put his arm around her shoulders. He was thrilled when she didn’t pull away from him but instead leaned into him and even placed her head on his shoulder.

  Jason had made a career out of helping people in their times of need. But right then, he wanted to help this wonderful woman more than he’d ever wanted anything else in his life.

  He patted her shoulder and said, “Do you want to tell me about it. Maybe I can help with some of it.”

  Karen sniffled, pulled her head back, and looked into his eyes. She began nodding her head. “Yes . . . I think I would like to do that.”

  They sat where they were as she told him everything. She told him about her ex-fiancé, her mother and sister, and even Ben at work. He had known about the ex-fiancé but not all of the details. All the rest of it though was totally new to him.

  When she finished, he looked into her eyes and said, “Karen, unless you run me off, I will always be here for you no matter what else happens. Now, what can I do to help?”

  Karen had recovered most of her composure by then and she smiled at him and said, “How about feeding me. I’m starving.”

  They both laughed as he slid back behind the wheel and drove them to the pizza place.

  They had just ordered their pizza when Floyd, Sue Ann and their kids, Andy and Penny came in. And of course being the open friendly family that they were, they found a big table and insisted that Jason and Karen join them.

  Jason wound up with Karen on his right and the kids on his left. Sue Ann was on the other side of Karen and Floyd was across from Jason.

  He marveled at how women must have built-in radar for when another woman needed help. He knew that Floyd wouldn’t have told his wife about the complaint against Karen. But there Sue Ann was with an arm around Karen while Karen was wiping her eyes with a tissue again.

  He couldn’t hear everything they were saying but whatever it was, it sure seemed to be helping Karen for after a few minutes, she turned back to him and gave him one of those smiles that had made him fall in love with her.

  Whoa, what was that? Then he thought, yes, that was exactly what had happened, what he felt for Karen Bierstadt. And it felt great too.

  Almost two hours later, Jason pulled his pickup into Karen’s driveway and they were both smiling.

  He put the truck in park and turned to Karen. “Are you going to be all right now?”

  He was glad she didn’t pretend not to know what he meant. She nodded her head and said, “Yes, Jason, I think I will be now. Thanks to you, and of course the McCrackens. Aren’t they simply wonderful?”

  He smiled and said, “After you’ve been with Floyd so much today, I think you can understand why I admire him so much and enjoy working for him.”

  Her smile grew broader and she said, “Yes, and also, Sue Ann is such a dear. I would really like to become friends with her.”

  He chuckled. “I don’
t think you have to worry about that. I’d say she’s already taken you under her wing.”

  Her smile brightened. “Do you think so?” When he nodded, she said, “I’m glad.”

  Jason jumped out and went around to open her door. This time when they stood at Karen’s door, Jason leaned toward her and she leaned toward him too. Their lips met briefly but it was enough to light up Jason’s world for the rest of the night.

  Chapter Four

  Karen didn’t usually set around and wish for the weekend to come like most of her co-workers did because she thoroughly enjoyed her job. She loved helping people return to their former mobility. But by the time this particular Thursday came around that’s exactly what she was doing.

  She and Jason had had supper together every night this week and tonight was going to be quite a bit different. At least for her it would be. She was having Jason over to her house for supper and she was cooking for him. She’d decided that something rather simple like spaghetti would be best for the first time. She had the sauce simmering in her crockpot at home all day. She even had the salad ready to toss and garlic-cheese bread ready for the oven. So all she’d have to do when she got home was just throw it all together.

  It surprised her at how quickly she’d become used to seeing Jason every night. Should she be worried about that?

  It didn’t take her long to think about that though. No. This was not Larry it was Jason. There was nothing about Jason that was anything at all like Larry. Jason was so caring and gentle. And he was fun to be with too.

  As she looked back, she realized that Larry had never been caring or gentle, not even after they’d decided to get married. Sure, he’d been fun to be with at least in the beginning but she could see now how he had changed without her realizing it at the time.

  She shuddered to think what it might have been like being married to such a self-centered man as Larry.

  Jason had a two-day fishing trip that he’d planned with a couple of the other deputies and he’d be gone Friday and Saturday. But he promised that he’d be back in plenty of time for their “real date” that they had planned for Saturday night.

  She’d been with Jason last night but she already missed him. What made it worse was that she knew she wouldn’t see Jason tomorrow at all not even for supper. Now she was beginning to sound like a teenager.

  It was break time and Karen headed for the break room with some vegies to munch on. She was planning to have lunch with Daisy at Best Friends and she was looking forward to it.

  As she sat down, she realized how tired she was. She shouldn’t be this tired with more than half the day still to go. As she thought about it though, she wasn’t really tired physically, she was just tired of all the emotions that had been more or less in control of her since her phone conversations with her mother and sister Sunday night. Of course, Ben had further complicated things with his continued harassment every day this week.

  That was all she needed. With her mother and sister already trying to push her back to Larry, she didn’t need to be working with Larry’s spy too.

  She needed to come up with a plan. Because she had a feeling that the way things were going, Larry would be bothering her in person before too long.

  She was munching on a celery stick and thinking about Jason when someone sat at the table with her. When she looked up she almost moaned. It was Ben. So far, he’d pretty much left her alone in the break room but from the looks of him that was about to end.

  “Hey Karen, how you doing today?”

  Before she could answer and she’d just about decided not to, he said, “Talked to Larry again last night and he’s not too happy with you. Said to tell you he’d be calling you soon to set things straight.”

  Karen was about to snap at Ben but was barely able to hold herself back. After all, he was apparently just relaying Larry’s messages. And besides that, he seemed to be the type who would love to get that kind of a reaction out of her. So she remained calm.

  She took a deep breath before saying, “Let him call.”

  Ben only laughed and stood to make his way to another table where two other male therapists were sitting.

  She was glad. She didn’t want to be rude but she really didn’t want Ben sitting with her.

  It seemed to Karen that the rest of the morning passed too slowly. Finally though, she and Daisy were in Daisy’s car heading downtown toward Best Friends.

  Karen knew Daisy was about to bust with wanting to ask her all kinds of questions but she waited.

  Once Daisy parked, she turned to Karen and said, “I think you need to talk. Do you want to wait and talk inside?”

  Karen smiled at Daisy and nodded as she opened her door.

  As soon as they walked through the door, Sue Ann who was sitting on a stool behind the register with her arms wrapped around her huge belly saw them and called out.

  “Hey you two. Why don’t you come on back to the kitchen where we can talk?”

  She gestured to two older women bustling around the dining room waiting on tables then patted her tummy. “Floyd and Jo don’t want me doing much of anything until this little fellow comes, so they called in reinforcements.”

  Karen smiled when she realized that the women were Pastor Gil’s mother and aunt who were identical twins.

  Karen and Daisy followed Sue Ann into the kitchen where Jo was working the grill and keeping an eye on her nine-month old son who was sitting in a playpen playing with plastic blocks.

  Sue Ann led them to a small table with four chairs to the side of the kitchen.

  Once they were all sitting, Sue Ann placed her hands on her hips, looked at Karen, and said, “All right girl, talk.”

  Karen giggled. She was really beginning to love being around these wonderful loving Christian women. She had never had that back home in Springfield.

  Before she started though, Jo called out from her position at the grill. “Speak up so I can hear you over here.”

  “Okay, here goes. You all know about my ex-fiancé and even that it sounds like he wants me back.”

  When the two in front of her nodded, she continued, “Well, this new male therapist is apparently a friend of Larry’s and he’s making sure I know that he’s reporting everything I do back to Larry. And that especially means every time I see Jason.”

  Sue Ann grunted. “I told Floyd about this guy and I sure would like to see what happens if the guy tries to bother you in this county.”

  Karen giggled. “I know. Jason says the same thing.” She brushed some stray hairs out of her eyes. “It would almost be worth it just to see what they would do to him if he does try something.”

  Just then, Jo stepped up to the table and slid a couple of sandwiches on the table in front of Daisy and Karen.

  Karen was so surprised that all she could do was smile up at Jo and say, “Thank you.”

  Daisy looked up at Karen and said, “Speaking of Jason, how are you two getting along? You’ve been out to supper with him every night this week so far.”

  Karen smiled as she thought about how wonderful it had been to be with Jason.

  “Jason is not like any other man I’ve ever known. He always seems to know exactly what I want and he takes care of it. It’s almost scary how it happens.”

  Sue Ann snorted. “That’s not so unusual.” She turned to Daisy. “Floyd and I are that way too. How about you and Mike?”

  Daisy nodded her head emphatically. “Yes, we are.” She turned to Karen. “You know what that means don’t you?”

  Daisy didn’t give Karen time to think about her question before she answered it herself. “It means that you and Jason were meant for each other just like Mike and Me, Sue Ann and Floyd, and Jo and Gill.”

  “That’s right,” Jo called out over the sounds of frying meat.

  Instead of blushing or even feeling the least bit embarrassed, Karen thought about it for a second and said, “You know. I think you may be right.”

  Sue Ann burst out, “Of course we�
�re right, and you’d better make sure you don’t lose that man.”

  Karen went back to work after lunch feeling better about everything than she had in days.

  * * *

  Jason had spent the whole week so far high on life in general, which he attributed to all the time he was spending with Karen. He laughed. They weren’t really calling them dates since they both wanted their first real date to be a nice dinner and a movie. And that first date was scheduled for Saturday night.

  All week long, he’d been regretting his commitment to a fishing trip with a couple of friends for tomorrow and Saturday. Now, he’d much rather spend as much time with Karen as possible.

  Sure, he knew he had it bad as Floyd had accused him of several times during the week. But he didn’t care. He was in love with Karen and he couldn’t wait for just the right time to tell her so too.

  Since it was Thursday, the end of his workweek, he was finding it extremely difficult to sit at his desk any longer. He looked at the clock on the wall for the tenth time. It was still only ten o’clock but he had to get out of there before he went stir crazy.

  He had only driven a few blocks from the station when it came over the radio that one of his deputies was trying to break up a fight over a minor collision.

  He headed out the state highway past the high school where the incident was.

  When he arrived, it seemed that the two fighters had turned on his deputy who was about to use his Taser on them.

  Jason jumped out of his vehicle with his Taser in his hand. When the deputy Tased the one away from Jason, he Tased the one near him.

  They had both men on the ground and hooked up with handcuffs quickly after that. The deputy led one to his patrol vehicle and put him in the cage. Just then, another patrol vehicle pulled up and Jason led the other fighter over to it.

  As soon as the other deputies left with their prisoners, Jason called for tow trucks to haul off the two pickups involved in the collision.

  He was sitting in his Tahoe waiting for the tow trucks when Floyd’s vehicle pulled up behind him. Floyd jumped out, made his way up to Jason’s vehicle, and slid into the passenger seat.