LOVE in a Small Town

by Janet Eaves

  “But not a very small child and he was kicking the hell out of me. What am I supposed to do?”

  “Watch your mouth.” She narrowed her gaze. “You’re on school grounds.”

  Michael’s eyes closed for a second then snapped back open. “Okay,” he said through clenched teeth. “So what am I supposed to do with a kid who comes barreling out of school, nearly knocks me over, kicks the h…h…heck out of me and calls me a bas…a…an…illegitimate child?”

  She glared, studied his screwed up face, and then burst out laughing. In the next instance, Michael joined her. It was a moment before they recovered.

  “An illegitimate child?”

  One corner of Michael’s mouth drew up. “Doesn’t pack quite the punch, does it?”

  Kate shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. Loses the effect entirely.”

  Michael agreed. “So what’s the problem here?” He glanced in Danny’s direction. Kate followed his gaze.

  But Danny was gone.

  ****

  After school, they perused the streets of Legend in Michael’s patrol car. Danny hadn’t returned, nor had he shown up at his foster parents’ home, so they decided to unofficially search. His foster mother told them the older kids who stayed there weren’t home, either. Kate didn’t like the sound of that.

  Technically, he wasn’t a runaway, and they hoped that was the case. Being influenced by older kids wasn’t a great thing, either, since Danny was vulnerable.

  Peering from the passenger side of the car, she said, “I can’t believe Bill found his wallet and all of this happened for no reason. Danny was turning himself around.”

  “I know. He did leave school on his own, though. That was no fault of yours or anyone else’s. He has to own up to that.”

  She nodded. “I worry about those older kids.”

  “It’s not a good mix. Believe me, I know.”

  “You know what?”

  He switched gears. “Where did he find the wallet?”

  “The janitor found it on the sink in the men’s restroom.”

  He swore under his breath. “Aggravates me when people jump to conclusion.”

  “And Bill Alexander does that way too often. I think the Vietnam experience did it to him.”

  Michael studied while he drove, silent for a moment. “Understandable if he’s a vet. War does crazy things to people.” His face grew somber. Without hesitation, he elaborated. “My older brother was in the first Gulf War.”

  “Did it leave him wary and jumpy, like Bill?”

  “No. It left him dead.”

  Sucking in a breath, she tipped her head in surprise. “Michael, I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “Killed in the line of duty?”

  “No. Drugs.” His shoulders dropped and his grip loosened on the steering wheel. Glancing her way, he pulled over, parked, and turned to her. “Yeah, I’m sorry too. He was eleven years older than me and I thought he was next to God. I loved him like crazy.”

  She touched his arm and registered the anguish in his face. “I’m sure you did, Michael.”

  “I haven’t talked about him in years.”

  “Do you want to?”

  Something strange about that question from her made her uneasy. Hadn’t he asked the exact same question of her days earlier? Suddenly, she softened a bit at what she once thought was prying. “Never mind,” she added.

  He inhaled deep and closed his eyes. “There’s a lot of pain there, Kate. I’m not even sure why I brought it up.” He looked at her then, sighing.

  “Sometimes our subconscious tricks us into thinking about things we put away along time ago. Death is difficult to deal with, Michael.”

  His knowing look penetrated hers. For two years she’d dealt with death herself and now she was comforting him? Somehow she wasn’t sure she was the best person for the job.

  “Tell me about him.”

  Michael looked to the seat between them. After a few minutes, he spoke. “I was seven years old. Brent was eighteen. He wasn’t the college type and enlisted right after high school. Army. He got caught up in the patriotic frenzy and was eager to enlist. I remember I loved his uniform. I wanted one just like his. Maybe my fondness for uniforms was one reason I got into law enforcement. But when he came home a year later on leave, he wasn’t the same person. I was a kid but I could tell.”

  He edged a little closer. “My parents argued with him late one night. He was drunk or high or something…had a few days left at home but he stormed out and didn’t come back. The next thing we got was a telegram from his commanding officer. He’d gone AWOL and was missing. Turned up dead a few days later on the street in Miami. Drug overdose. His buddies said he went kind of nuts for a while, the war messed with this brain, and the drugs were his getaway. Guess he found the ultimate escape…”

  All she wanted at that moment was to comfort him. Her arms went around his shoulders. His cheek rested on against her neck, her hands gently caressed his back. An incredibly warm sensation rippled across her chest. He groaned and pulled her close, perhaps her body a buffer for his pain.

  “Did you ever find out what your parents and Brent were fighting about?” she whispered.

  His head nodded against her. With a hesitant gesture, she slowly ran her fingers through his hair.

  “The goddamned drugs.”

  He pulled away and Kate caught the moist glimmer in his eyes. “He was using.” The comment was matter-of-fact. “He must have had a pretty severe problem. I recall some of the things he did and said now, the needle tracks, the pot smell on his clothes. He must have been into all sorts of stuff.

  “At first I blamed my parents for his death. They’d forced him out by fighting with him, I thought, and then he died. When you’re nine you don’t realize the kind of pain adults go through. And then I turned quite rebellious myself for a few years. Gave them even more fits.”

  “You?”

  “Yeah, me. Unbelievable, isn’t it?” He searched her face and cracked a smile.

  She gave him a shy smile back.

  “But that’s another story.”

  Leaning into their embrace, he touched his lips to hers. When she didn’t resist—and she was surprised that she didn’t—he deepened the pressure. Moaning ever so softly, he devoured her, at first slow and sensuous, sending ripples over her chest and to the peaks of her breasts, then like a freight train out of control, shooting desire right to her center.

  Rivulets of sensation tripped down her spine as his tongue penetrated and mingled, then he drew back and nibbled at her mouth.

  “Kate…” he whispered as his lips feathered across hers, “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that. I…”

  Sighing, she pressed her lips against his jaw line and inhaled of his musky scent. His arms tightened around her and he drew her close. For some insane reason, she felt safe. Secure. Needed. His hands found their way to her neck and he massaged. Her breath caught in her throat. She’d forgotten what it was like to feel a man’s passion, a man’s desire. And it was good, oh, so good to be held again.

  “Michael…” she whispered.

  “Shsh.”

  Michael silenced her with his mouth. The last thing he wanted was to hear her objections. He wanted only her moan and sigh against his lips. If she didn’t speak, he didn’t have to think. Because if he started thinking, he would come to his senses and halt kissing her, immediately.

  He’d fallen into a pleasurable abyss and he liked being there. Her lips were soft as rose petals and just as sweet, like a tiny bud, opening and flowering. Running his tongue over them, he extended a teasing invitation for her to do the same. She responded with fervor, thrilling him more.

  He slid his palm along her neckline and across her collarbone. So soft. Oh, Kate…

  She moaned and tilted back her head, allowing him access. He trailed kisses down her throat, her pliant, luscious, milky throat.

  If we don’t stop this soon…

  A howl went up across the
street. Whistles and catcalls.

  Kate wrenched back. Michael turned toward the noise. They both focused on the group of kids standing on the street corner by the neighborhood grocery store.

  And Danny.

  Michael gently grasped her chin and angled her face back to look into her eyes. “I want to continue this…” he whispered. “We need to talk.”

  The spell broken, she skidded her gaze between him and Danny. “Oh, God. He sees us.” She looked embarrassed.

  “Later?” he urged.

  She stared, frozen.

  “Please?”

  “Oh, Michael. I don’t know. We shouldn’t. We…”

  His registered the flicker of hesitancy. Or was it annoyance? So he chose to put himself out of his misery and reached for the door handle, leaving her alone.

  All the better, the thought. Kissing her was a damn big mistake. Too often lately he was thinking of kissing her, when he should be trying to figure out if he was going to have to arrest her and put her in jail.

  ****

  The slamming car door was merely the footnote to jolt Kate back into reality. Her indecision had angered him.

  Dammit.

  She watched his slim hips and long legs and tight butt cross the narrow street toward Danny. Her desire, a moment earlier about to erupt into flames, was taking its good old time trying to tamp down to a burning ember. Frowning, she opened the car door and followed. Two can play this game.

  “Michael! Wait.”

  He walked on.

  “Michael.” He stopped in the middle of the street.

  She put herself between him and the kids. “So, let’s talk.”

  “We’ve got other things to think about right now.” He started to sidestep her.

  In a brave move, she grasped his arm. “Michael. It’s just that this is so new. And I’m so… I don’t know. I don’t know how to handle this right now.”

  His gaze darted back and forth to where the kids were standing. “Not now, Kate. Later.” He moved toward the sidewalk and Kate pulled on his jacket sleeve.

  “Michael, please.”

  When he jerked back, she froze. She’d seen that look before. He was preoccupied with something else and she would take a back burner. Just like with Rob.

  And my insecurities are showing. “All right. Fine.”

  She watched his gaze drift. “As much as I’d love to continue the ‘conversation’ we were having in the car,” he said, “this is not the time. We’ve got a problem.” Her heart jumped in panic. She turned back to see his gaze trained on Danny.

  “Oh, no.”

  There he stood, leaning against a light post with arms crossed, a miniature James Dean with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. The small group of teenagers milled about. The boy warily watched every move made by Kate and Michael. As they walked toward him, he didn’t flinch, but stared coolly ahead, gaze narrowed. Challenging.

  No one said a word for several beats of a heart.

  “So, you two doing it, or what?”

  Kate gasped. “Danny!”

  Michael waved her off and frowned.

  “Are you?” Eyes of ice stared back.

  “That your business?” Michael returned.

  Danny took a lengthy drag off the cigarette and threw it to the ground. He toed the cigarette butt out on the sidewalk and then exhaled long, the smoke wafting toward Michael’s face. “Guess not.”

  “That’s right. When did you take up smoking?”

  “That your business?”

  “Not at the moment, but if you don’t stop screwing up, it might be.”

  “I don’t screw up.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion.”

  Dismissing him, Danny glanced at Kate. “What are you two doing out here?”

  She stepped closer and laid a hand on his forearm. He flinched and she took it away. “Danny, I want to apologize. For Mr. Alexander, that is. His wallet’s been found. I’m sure he’ll apologize tomorrow at school.”

  “School? Yeah, like I’d go back there now.”

  “Like you don’t have a choice,” Michael interjected. “You either go back there or you’ll be gone and we wouldn’t be able to find you for months.”

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  Michael grimaced and placed both hands on each hip. “No, no I wouldn’t. Mrs. Carpenter wouldn’t either. Why do you think we’re out here, anyway?”

  “Trying to get a little, looked like.”

  “Danny,” Kate’s voice softened, trying to ignore his words. “We’re trying to make things right here.”

  Danny harrumphed. “So now I’m okay again, is that it? But you needed proof before you’d believe me.” He stepped to Kate, his voice rising. “You know I was really beginning to like you and this place, but it’s no different from anywhere else. I don’t belong there. This is where I belong, on the streets. This is my home.”

  “Danny. I said we’re all sorry. I was wrong… Mr. Alexander was wrong.”

  “Yeah, you bet you were all wrong.” Turning, he kicked the light post as he stalked off.

  “Danny!”

  He kept going, the others joined him, jeering and punching him on the back.

  “You’re one tough little dude, aren’t you?” Michael shouted. Danny balked, then took another step. “Yeah, you’re so tough you don’t even have to try, do you. You’d rather take the easy way out. Be a bum, Danny. Let this one incident cheat you out of what’s yours. Yeah, that’s right. Pretend like you’re too dumb to know the difference. Don’t use your brain, kid.”

  Danny’s swirled and glared. “I’m not dumb!”

  “Then why are you giving up?”

  “I’m not giving up anything.”

  “Oh, yeah? Seems you are giving up something pretty important because of one mistake. People make mistakes, Danny. Don’t you agree? Don’t you ever make mistakes?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I make mistakes. But I don’t ever let anybody know it.”

  “Oh, so you take the coward’s road, huh?”

  “I ain’t no coward.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Prove it.”

  By now, the two were nose to nose. Kate stood angled behind Michael. Angrily, Danny spoke directly into Michael’s face. “What do you want me to do, big man?”

  Michael crossed his arms over his chest and peered at the boy. “Apologize to Mrs. Carpenter.”

  “What?” He glanced to Kate.

  “Apologize for the rude remarks you made earlier.”

  Danny sucked in a breath, looked long at Kate, then let his shoulders slump. “Okay, so I’m sorry.”

  She gave him a half-hearted smile. “I know, Danny. Apology accepted.”

  He turned away.

  “That’s not all.”

  The kid nearly pounced. “What do you want out of me, man?”

  “One more thing.”

  “What?”

  “I want you back in school tomorrow morning and apologize to Mr. Alexander.”

  “If you think I’m going back there…”

  “Then you are a coward.”

  Danny fumed and glanced from Kate to Michael. It took a full minute for him to respond. “Ain’t no coward. I’ll be there at eight-thirty.”

  “Good.”

  “Now, will you get off my back?”

  “Sure.”

  Danny turned to join his friends, but halted. His friends were gone. He glanced up and down the deserted street.

  “Real friends are there when you need them, Danny.”

  The time bomb inside the boy’s body had obviously reached its peak. Turning on Michael, he let into him. “And how come you’re so smart, huh, man? You don’t know anything about my life or how I live it. You don’t give a damn about me, so why do you care if they’re there or not. Besides, you’re wrong. When I need them, they’ll be there.”

  “No, I don’t think so. You see, deep down inside, they’re cowar
ds too.”

  Danny paced the sidewalk in front of them. “How can you stand there and tell me that? You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh yes, I do.”

  “Yeah, right. How?”

  Michael’s mouth turned into a solemn frown. “Because I used to be one of them, Danny. I used to be you.”

  Silence blanketed them. Kate focused her gaze on Michael’s face, questioning. Danny stared.

  “So what’d you do, man, smoke a little now and then?”

  Michael exhaled, as if gathering strength. “Unfortunately, yes. And I regret it to this day. I was drinking and skipping school and headed on a path of destruction larger than the one you’ve carved out for yourself, but I was a lot older than you, Danny. Fortunately, I turned myself around before it was too late. I realized there are other things in life more important than a high or thrills. I wanted more than that, that’s why I quit. And that’s why I do what I do today. I think you’re smarter than you are acting right now. So if you think I’m going to stand around and watch you turn yourself into a juvenile delinquent, you’ve got another thing coming. Because whatever you think, Danny, I care. I care about what happens to you. So does Mrs. Carpenter. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”

  Danny’s face softened. He glanced from Kate to Michael. “Why would you want to care about me? Nobody else ever cared.”

  “That’s why. Everybody needs someone to care for them.” Michael held the gaze with Danny, then lifted it to peer into Kate’s eyes. “I don’t care who you are, everyone needs someone to love them.”

  Chapter Ten

  If I did want parents, you know, I’d probably pick out someone like Mrs. C. for a mom. She’s pretty and funny and never really raises her voice much. I can’t see her ever hitting a kid. Not like my real mom. And I can’t ever see her getting drunk.

  And even Trooper Lehmann, that cop, he’s pretty nice too, really. I didn’t know cops could be like that, but the stuff he says in class makes me wonder. I always thought cops were so damn smart-aleck and all, you know? But Trooper Lehmann, he doesn’t seem to be like that. He cares a little. The thing is, a guy like me never really knows for sure. Guys like me gotta be careful around cops like him. They’re sneaky, for sure. But I just gotta feeling that he ain’t like that.