He looked her over. “So...I guess you’ve made peace with the assignment?”
Embarrassment welled, making her cheeks heat. “Yes.”
They walked down the next hall, turned a corner and suddenly came upon the exit to the parking lot. As they walked outside, the sun greeted them. “It’s almost five and still sunny as ever.”
“I’m glad. I hate it when the days are so much shorter in the winter.”
“Are you free tonight?”
“I am. Until I hear differently, I’m on school hours.” That was one part of her new assignment she wouldn’t find fault with. “I’m looking forward to it—I haven’t had a regular schedule in years.”
“So maybe you’d like to grab some pizza?”
Nothing sounded better. “I’d love some pizza.”
“Good.” His steps slowed. “Oh, no.”
“What’s wrong?” She followed his gaze. Spray painted in the same bright red that was used on the wall outside Kate Daniels’s classroom was the word NO scrawled across the side of Gen’s cruiser.
Looking around, Gen scoped the area, but it seemed completely empty. Pulling out her cell phone, she quickly punched in the precinct’s number. “Hey, Amanda. I need Sergeant Conrad or Lieutenant Banks, please.” When Sgt. Conrad got on the line, she said, “I’m in the high school parking lot. There’s been another incident of vandalism.”
“What happened?”
“My car. Someone had a field day with a can of spray paint.”
“I’ll be right there, Gen. Secure the area.”
“Yes, sir.”
After she clicked off, she apologetically turned to Cary. “I’m afraid I can’t make it for pizza after all. I, uh, will call you later, okay?”
To her surprise, Cary shook his head. “Oh, Gen, you’re crazy. Do you really think I’d just leave you here? I’ll stay with you as long as you want.”
Relief slid through her at his words. Though she knew she could handle the situation, it was nice to know she wouldn’t have to do it alone. “Thanks.”
He kissed her brow. “Anytime, Slate. Anytime at all.”
Chapter Twelve
PICTURES HAD BEEN taken, followed by fingerprints. After questioning the few staff members who had still been on campus at the time, Gen made plans to ask the remaining teachers if they’d seen anything suspicious. Finally, Sergeant Conrad asked two other officers to take Gen’s squad car back to the station.
Through it all, Gen was torn between duty and her desire just to react. She felt angry and violated. Now she knew what it felt like to be a victim and she didn’t care for the feeling one bit.
“Well, that’s it for now,” Sergeant Conrad said. “Slate, you’re going to be busy tomorrow.”
“Yep. If you’ll give me a lift to the station, I’ll file this report—”
“Whoa. You’re off duty, Slate.”
“But—”
“I saw your time card. You reported in at six this morning.” He glanced at his watch. “I think twelve hours is long enough. Sam’s going to type up the notes.”
“But my car—” When she’d picked up the cruiser at the start of her shift, she’d left her Outback at the station.
“Sam and another officer are going to drop it off at your home later,” Cary said, gently curving an arm around her shoulders. “Everything’s taken care of.”
“You sure?”
Her sergeant’s eyes softened. “Positive. Go take a break, Gen. See you, Cary.”
“Bye, John,” Cary said as he unlocked his Explorer’s doors. “Let’s order a pizza, Gen.”
After seeing that Conrad and Sam definitely had everything under control, Gen finally relaxed. “You know, pizza sounds even better to me now. I just realized I’m starving.”
“Me, too.”
“So...your place or mine?”
He grinned. “How about we go to yours? If we go to mine, I have a feeling we’ll run into Melissa and Dean. They’re going to ask a dozen questions, and I’m just not up for that right now.”
“Me, neither.”
As Cary drove out of the parking lot, Gen couldn’t deny that she was shaken up, not only because she’d been personally touched by the vandal, but she now knew the perpetrator was targeting people who had a connection with Cary.
As if reading her mind, Cary murmured, “This has something to do with me, doesn’t it?”
“I think so.”
“Any idea why?”
“Not yet.” She leaned her head back against her seat. “As far as I know, you’re well-liked in the community, so the only thing I can think of is that someone might have a crush on you.” Attempting to lighten the mood, she added, “Besides me.”
Her words hung between them like clothes on a line. Yet again, she’d blurted her inner thoughts. She waited for him to contradict her, to patiently explain how she’d completely misread his feelings, but the exact opposite happened.
“You’ve got a crush?” he asked, looking pleased.
“Yeah, I do.” She studied his profile, liking the way a hint of a beard was visible on his face. Liking the way he never shied away from his feelings or from hearing hers.
He was a far different man than Keaton was. Though Cary, too, had seen his fair share of heartache—losing both his parents, having to give up some of his own needs to help his brother and niece—the experience didn’t seem to scar him. He still acted hopeful about the future, was content with himself.
At that moment, Gen wanted to grab on to him and hold on tight.
It felt good to be with him. She was incredibly thankful he’d stayed by her side this evening. Maybe, despite her fear of being hurt again, they did have a chance together. Maybe—
A horn blared to her left.
Cary grinned when she jumped. “Settle down, Slate. It’s not a crisis—it’s the horns from the band. Look at them!”
Sure enough, twenty kids wearing jeans, old tennis shoes and black T-shirts were lined up in front of the community center, playing the Lane’s End High School fight song. The mascot, a large golden lion, held a tub of candy and was passing it out to children who came forward.
Pinned across the center’s front porch was a pair of sheets with the words Go, Lane’s End! painted in bold black letters.
Cary laughed as cars all around them honked their approval. “The more things change in Lane’s End, the more they stay the same, huh? You and I aren’t the strangers we once were, yet we’re still here in the same place, doing the same things.”
Gen couldn’t agree more. While she’d been attempting to uncover a vandal and get a handle on her relationship with Cary, life had gone on. Once again, she was stuck in LEHS traffic.
“I’ve been so focused on what’s been going on with you I completely forgot about the tournament,” she admitted with some surprise.
Squeezing her hand, he teased, “I wouldn’t mention that to another person around here.”
“I wouldn’t think of it.”
“Because you’ve had such a long day, I’m going to do you a favor when we get to your place.”
“Rub my back?” She hadn’t been able to forget about his earlier promise.
“I will. Then I might even put on the game and teach you everything I know about basketball.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just because I forgot about the tournament doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the game. I know the basics.”
“Xavier University’s playing at seven. You up for it?”
“Maybe. Can we have mushrooms on the pizza?”
“Only if you have something to down it with.”
“I have Coke.”
“Then it’s a yes.”
Gen chuckled to herself as he pulled in to her drivew
ay. There was something very good happening between them. A tension, an awareness she sensed had never been between her and Keaton.
And more importantly...how had she not realized something so vital in creating a strong relationship had been missing in her feelings for Keaton?
* * *
“I HAVE TO ADMIRE A gal who can almost single-handedly finish a whole pizza.”
“There was a reason I ordered two.”
Cary raised his second Coke to her in a toast. “Here’s to planning ahead.”
Gen playfully clicked her can with his before taking a sip.
As the Xavier game ran into the third quarter, he was happy to see that they were up by ten. They’d been looking good tonight. Good enough that he thought he could pull his attention away for a few minutes.
“So...did you do any hunting and fishing while growing up?”
“Yep.” She tilted her head and studied him carefully. “You ever fly-fish?”
“Nope.”
Gen leaned back. “One day I’ll take you to the New River. There’s some real pretty sections where the fishin’s good. I’ll outfit you in waders and we’ll have a go of it.”
Cary laughed. “Your West Virginia voice is talking.”
Unexpectedly she blushed. “I guess it was. I try to tame the twang, but when I think of things I used to do when I lived in Beckley, I can’t help but think of them in terms of the language I used growing up.”
“You shouldn’t try to get rid of your accent. It suits who you are.”
Gen’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that funny? Do you always think of yourself as an algebra teacher?”
“I certainly hope not!” Sipping his drink, he studied her. “But I see what you mean. Some vocations are like that.”
She leaned closer. “So what would you say you are?”
He shrugged. “Too many things...and in some ways, not anything. I’m Dean’s brother. We’re closer than most. I’m Melissa’s uncle. I wouldn’t have missed living next to her for anything.”
Thinking back to how he’d wanted a change just a few short days ago, he shook his head. Now he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. “Lately I’ve been hoping for more.”
“Like what you had with Kate?”
Cary sighed. “Looking back on the time Kate and I were dating, I’ve realized we weren’t really ‘together.’ Now I can see that we both knew it...I just didn’t want to face the truth.”
Finding out about Cary’s past was interesting. “So before Kate, did you ever have a serious girlfriend? Even in college?”
“Not in college. I dated Sarah Williams during my junior and senior years in high school.”
“Pretty name.”
“Yeah,” he said fondly. “Wow, I haven’t thought of Sarah in years.” Turning to Gen, he smiled at the memory. “Sarah not only went to my school, she went to my church. I was with her constantly.”
“Pretty?”
“Oh, yeah. But in a way, her looks didn’t matter, you know? After a while, she was just Sarah.”
“What happened?”
“The usual. She went away to college and we grew apart.” He shook his head. “I worry about Melissa sometimes. She and Brian are so close and he’s heading to college next year. I don’t know what she’s going to do or what I want her to do. If she and Brian break up, she’s going to be devastated. If they stay together, she’s going to spend her whole senior year wishing she was someplace else.”
Belatedly realizing he’d just droned on about more than she’d asked him, he said, “What about you?”
“Me? Well, hmm. No, I never did the serious-boyfriend thing.”
“Not even in high school? I would have thought the boys would love a girlfriend who liked the things they did.”
Gen shook her head. “If they did, they didn’t tell me about it. In a lot of ways, I stayed in the shadows. My sister, Margaret, was homecoming queen and prom queen and student council vice president. She’s petite and feminine and caught the eye of every boy in the county. I was just her sister.”
The hurt in Gen’s eyes stung Cary. Imagining how awkward that must have felt and knowing how easily a guy could chase after a pretty, popular girl, he said, “Was that hard for you?”
“Back then, it didn’t bother me too much. Meg’s social success made me even more determined to move away from Beckley and do something different. I started looking at colleges my sophomore year of high school.”
“Did you always know you wanted to become a cop?”
“Pretty much. I wanted a job where I could be outside a lot, not chained to a desk. I thought about being a firefighter, but frankly, I wasn’t sure if I could pass the physical tests. I was a lot leaner back then.”
“So then...”
“I earned an associate’s degree, then applied to the Cincinnati PD. The rest is history.”
“Except why you’re here.”
“I needed a change.” Closing her eyes briefly, she said, “I had thought—mistakenly—that I had finally found the guy I would spend the rest of my life with. Ultimately it turned out he didn’t feel the same way as he fell in love with someone else. I thought I could handle working with him after that, but I was wrong. It was then I decided it was time to move on.”
Her eyes wide, she reached out to grip Cary’s arm. “I’ve never told anyone about him. About Keaton.”
“I guess it was time then.” Wrapping an arm around her, he held her close.
As though she was embarrassed about her admission, she turned to the TV. “Hey! Xavier’s up by twelve.”
It was too bad he couldn’t have cared less. At the moment, Gen was the only thing on his mind. The way her long, sleek black hair felt like liquid silver whenever it brushed against his hands. The way her dark-blue eyes could look sad and hopeful at the same time. The way every inch of her was finely toned and incredibly strong yet seemed so delicate, daring him to touch her soft skin. Giving in to impulse, he traced her collarbone.
“I’ve been thinking about doing that for a while.”
Her lips curved up, her expression tentative. “Do you still want to rub my back?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” he murmured.
Without another word, Gen presented her back to him.
Annoyed with himself for feeling like a schoolboy, he began kneading her muscles. He felt a knot above her shoulder blade and massaged it.
Gen moaned. “Oh, that feels good.”
Yes. Yes, it did. Gen’s skin was velvety-soft and lightly tanned. The fresh scent of lemons surrounded her. He breathed in deeply and sighed, wanting to kiss her again.
He dug deep for a little control. “Okay. This is what we’re going to do. You’re going to watch the game, and I am going to rub your back.”
Gen raised an eyebrow as she looked at him over one shoulder. “I thought that’s what we were doing?”
Almost against his will, he spanned her waist, caressed her lower back.
Gen rolled her spine forward.
As Xavier rebounded and the crowd on the television went wild, Cary tried to resist the urge to pull her back into his arms and kiss her senseless.
Chapter Thirteen
FROM THE MOMENT the first bell chimed, Gen felt way too out of place at Lane’s End High.
Rather than befriend her or volunteer any information, students avoided her like the plague. They talked in whispers and darted the other way when they saw her coming.
Her inability to blend in was extremely irritating. Sgt. Conrad would rip her to shreds if she didn’t make this work. What she needed was to lose her natural reticence and be warmer and chattier. If the run of vandalism didn’t end soon, eventually a person was going to get hurt, and everyone affiliated with the case would feel the
sting of lost opportunity.
When the first health class of the day started, Pat Brown introduced her. Gen strode to the front of the room with more than a little trepidation. She’d never had to address a bunch of kids before, and any hiccup could affect the students’ opinion of her.
“Hi, everyone. I’m Officer Slate and I’ll be on campus for the next month.”
Not one of the thirty kids looked as if they cared.
Gen pretended they did. “I’ll be acting as a liaison between you and the police department. Schools in Cincinnati have police officers on campus on a regular basis. We’re testing it out here.”
One boy slumped in his chair in the back raised his hand. “Aren’t you really here because of the smoke bomb and the graffiti?”
“Well...yes. That’s the other reason.”
The class seemed to breathe a collective sigh as they realized she was going to speak straight, tell it like it was.
“My job is to keep everyone safe so you can do your job and get an education. I’m hoping we can be partners. Someone around here has made it his or her business to make the environment here uncomfortable. These pranks may seem harmless, but they can get dangerous, and someone might get hurt.”
Gen paused to let her words sink in. “If you know anything about what’s been happening, or who might be involved, you need to speak to me or a teacher. I think we’d all feel horrible if someone got hurt and it could have been prevented.”
“Listen to what Officer Slate has to say,” Mrs. Brown said. “She’s here to make sure we all stay safe.”
Only silence met that suggestion.
Gen was just wondering what else she could talk about when a hand rose. “What do you think about the Lions?”
“I think they’re great,” she said in relief. “They might even have a chance to get to state.”
A gal in the front row smirked. “A chance?”
Obviously those were fighting words. Since anything was better than stone-cold silence, Gen egged the students on. “Given the team’s past record, I’d say ‘chance’ is a little generous.”
Starting Over at Lane's End (Harlequin Heartwarming) Page 11