The football coach jumped in before Freddy could get to his feet.
Gustavo shook out his fist, turned to Drew. “I hadn’t planned on going to prom or state.”
Miss Gina’s idea of playing nurse when it was her shift—Jo’s friends had mapped out a schedule of who was with her day and night—involved marijuana and vodka. Neither of which Jo took her up on.
Jo didn’t mind. She’d blown out of the hospital after six long days and five nights. Three too many, if anyone asked her.
No one did.
Gill refused to let anyone else drive her home other than him.
She wasn’t sure how he was managing to avoid his day job while he played nursemaid. Shauna had visited twice, both times bringing Gill up to date on the case. Jo envied their working relationship.
Jo couldn’t help but think of the tension between her and her so-called partner. Through the years, they had managed to work well, but in the recent past things had become seriously strained.
Still, she was ecstatic to be home.
Miss Gina sat on Jo’s couch, a plate of one of the many dishes Zoe had made and stocked her refrigerator with warm in her lap. “So much better than hospital food,” Miss Gina said between bites.
“You act like you were the one in the hospital.”
“Am I wrong?”
Jo had eaten half her meal, put the rest aside. “Nope.”
From her bedroom, Gill emerged fresh from the shower, his chest bare, his hips holding up his jeans.
“Well, that’s a damn fine sight.” Miss Gina hummed over her fork as she stared.
Gill paused. “I feel strangely violated.”
Miss Gina kept teasing. “That can be arranged. Pretty sure I can take Jo out in her current condition.”
Jo laughed, held her side with her good arm. The left sat in a sling, more for the broken collarbone than anything else. Overall she was feeling pretty good. Didn’t mind taking the pain meds before bed but stuck with the over-the-counter stuff during the day. Even if that meant feeling the pain with every chuckle.
Gill ducked back into her room, returned with a shirt covering his broad chest.
“So not cool,” Miss Gina muttered.
The doorbell rang. Miss Gina jumped to answer it.
Mrs. Miller stood in the doorway, a pie in her hands. “Hello, Gina. Taking care of our patient?”
Miss Gina shrugged, opened the door wide.
Mrs. Miller smiled at Jo, glanced at Gill, who had sat on the arm of the recliner Jo was perched in.
“Looks like you’re on the mend.”
“Thank you. My friends keep telling me I look like crap.”
Mrs. Miller cocked her head to the side. “Well . . .”
Jo glanced at Gill. “Will someone please lie to me!”
Gill stood and extended a hand. “I’m Gill.”
Mrs. Miller smiled and handed the pie to Miss Gina. “A pleasure. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“You have me at a disadvantage,” Gill said.
“I’m Luke’s mother.”
“Ah.” Gill eyed the pie. “I’ve heard about your pies.”
“I suppose it could be worse.” Mrs. Miller crossed the room and leaned down to Jo’s side. “How are you feeling?”
“I have a marathon scheduled next week. I’m in.”
Mrs. Miller smiled. “I’m not staying. Just wanted to stop in. You call if you need anything.” The woman kissed Jo’s cheek.
“I will.”
After Mrs. Miller left, the parade began.
Once the fourth neighbor had stopped by and left, Gill excused himself, said he wanted to see how everything at the station was running. Considering how much she’d talked about her job, about the cars . . . about Karl’s desire to vie for her job, stress ate at her sleep almost as much as the pain.
Gill noticed.
The station was an excuse. He had every intention of stopping in, make sure that Karl knew Gill was paying attention, but not before talking with Wyatt about his cloaked text. Gill agreed to meet him at Miller’s Auto. Since the mild weather was holding out, Gill took the opportunity to walk through town.
Each step felt more familiar than the last.
When he passed the station, and then Sam’s diner, he found himself waving at the waitress through the glass. He’d forgotten her name but remembered she’d been kind.
Hard rock pumped through the doors of the garage. He found Luke and Wyatt shooting the crap around an old pickup that looked like it was twenty years past its prime.
They shook hands, went over how Jo was doing now that she was home.
“What’s going on?” Gill jumped to the point.
“There are some significant rumors going around,” Wyatt told him. “Beyond gossip.”
“I’m listening.” Gill crossed his arms over his chest.
“It’s starting at the high school. One of my track kids ended up suspended for the last few days for fighting. Apparently he was defending Drew Emery.”
“Karl’s son?”
“That’s the one. One of the kids alluded to the possibility of Karl being behind the dog.”
“You’re kidding.”
“There’s more,” Luke said. “With Karl taking a position for Jo’s job, there’s talk of him tampering with the brakes.”
Gill uncrossed his arms, looked over his shoulder, down the street to where the station probably housed the man right now.
“Gossip or reality?”
“Hard to say. I’d like to know what the mechanics find on the squad car,” Luke said.
“Karl’s dislike for animals isn’t rumor.”
“These are some serious accusations.”
Wyatt shuffled his feet. “Karl is taking point on Jo’s job now with her laid up. An accidental death . . .” He let his words die in his mouth.
“Like her father’s?” Gill asked on a breath.
“We all know how Jo feels about that.”
Could it be that simple? Could Karl be that man?
“Jo can’t take this right now.”
“Which is why we’re talking to you,” Luke told him.
“If it is Karl, why wait until now to make a move?”
“Too suspicious to happen on the heels of her father? You’re the FBI agent, you tell us.”
Wyatt had a point.
“I don’t like how this smells.”
“Neither do we.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“How is it you’re still here?” Jo asked on her third night home.
“I’m the night shift,” Gill told her as he tucked her into the crook of his arm once they climbed into bed for the night. “You have to admit, I’m a decent pillow.”
“You’re hard as a rock.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You love it.”
“I do. But seriously, you have a job, a home.”
“Shauna has it covered.”
Jo wasn’t convinced. “I can’t keep you away forever.”
“Yes, you can.”
She looked up at him. “Gill.”
“My boss understands. Everything is okay.” He closed his eyes.
“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
Gill nodded without apology.
“Gill!”
“It’s okay.”
She hated being placated. “Gill!”
He opened his eyes and sighed. “Okay, here’s the truth. You ready for it?”
The tone of his voice suggested maybe she wasn’t. She said yes anyway.
“I told him the woman I’ve grown to care about more than life itself needed me. And that if I had to take a leave of absence to watch over you, I would.”
Gill’s words stole her breath.
“You know what he asked?”
She swallowed.
“He asked if he was going to be invited to the wedding.”
Jo felt dizzy. “What did you say?” she whispered.
“Only if he granted me
time off.” Gill was slow to smile. “Then he told me of his fondness for wedding cake.”
If she’d been taking pain medication, she’d swear she was dreaming. “Wedding cake is just like any other cake.”
He didn’t agree. “No, it’s sweeter than birthday cake, because birthdays happen once a year, weddings happen only once.”
“Not always,” she found herself saying with worry.
Gill kissed her forehead once again. “For us. Only once.”
The conversation scared and thrilled her equally. “Gill—”
“Shh.” He pointed two fingers at her head. “Let all that cook in there for a while. It’s taking time marinating in mine.”
She snuggled back in his arms, the silly grin he’d put on her face threatening to stick. She licked her lips, thought of cake.
Sugar.
“Gill?”
“Yeah?” he asked in the dark.
“Is there any of Mrs. Miller’s pie left?”
“I want a prom picture,” Gill said as he straightened his tie.
“You’re kidding me.”
He poked his head into the bathroom, smiled at Jo through the mirror. “Does this look like my kidding face?”
Gill pinched his lips together. And when Jo laughed, it didn’t hurt like it had the week prior.
The doctor had given her the go-ahead for desk work. Which she’d already been cheating with. A few more weeks and her bones would be mended enough for her temporary disability to lift.
She couldn’t wait.
Now she just needed to convince Gill to go back to work.
“One picture.”
“I’m holding you to it.”
She pointed to the back of her dress. “Help me.”
Gill zipped her up, kissed the back of her neck before standing back. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress.”
“It doesn’t happen often.”
He slid a hand down her waist, lifted the edges of her dress until the length of her thigh was exposed. “Dresses have an advantage.”
She leaned back. “As much as I’d like to explore that idea . . .”
Gill dropped the dress. “I know. Three weeks.”
The doctors had warned her against moving too soon. From running to sex. The frustration building between them was thicker than a twenty-eight-ounce steak.
Jo had to close her mind to the thought.
“Three weeks.”
Gill kissed her neck and nibbled on the lobe of her ear. “We can make out. Like in high school.”
“I doubt you stopped with kissing.”
“I can.”
She closed her eyes when his teeth grazed her neck. “I can’t.”
The high school gym was glowing with white twinkling lights and silver balloons. The theme was “Reach for the Stars,” and the associated student body, along with a few parent volunteers, had done a brilliant job of taking the gym space and making it feel small and intimate. It might have been considered the senior prom, but that didn’t stop freshmen and sophomores from attending.
“Take a good look,” Jo told Gill. “The same decorations will come out for the reunion.”
“River Bend goes all out.”
“Hey, we’ll have a bar.”
“Big-timers.”
They were both laughing when Jo heard her name. “Coach Ward!”
Tina and Drew were walking toward them, hand in hand.
“You both look spectacular.” And they did. Tina wore a strapless black dress that hugged her waist and stopped just below her knee. Drew’s tux looked like he was born to it. They both were so grown up.
“I’m so glad you came,” Tina said, giving her a one-arm hug, careful of her arm still stuck in a sling.
“You wouldn’t be saying that if I hadn’t had the accident.”
“That’s not true.”
The town sheriff was a killjoy at a high school party.
“You clean up rather well, Drew.”
He tugged on his tie with a grin. Something about his action rang in her head.
“How about a picture?” Gill suggested.
Drew and Tina flanked her. Drew placed his arm around Jo’s shoulder, and Tina leaned in. The moment was frozen in time. One that Jo knew she would keep for years.
“Going to be a couple busy weeks. You both ready for graduation?”
“I am.” Tina had already committed to the University of New Mexico. Drew had been accepted to a few colleges but had yet to say where he was going.
“Drew? Any more thought on school versus military?” Karl wouldn’t like that she asked, but Jo couldn’t bring herself to care.
“I honestly don’t know.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Jo told him. “Either way, I’m proud of you.”
Drew looked deep in her eyes. “Thanks, Coach.”
Jo waved them off. “Now go on . . . I’m sure standing around talking to the sheriff isn’t your idea of how to spend your night.”
“No way,” Drew said, taking Tina’s arm. “We have an epic party out at Grayson’s farm.”
Jo knew she scowled.
“Kidding!” Drew laughed. “No one parties out there anymore.”
Jo warned him with a look. “I did.”
“Yeah, we know that,” Tina said before they walked off.
Gill slid into the space the kids had left behind. “They have your number.”
“I’m going to ignore that they said that.”
“Probably a good idea.”
She glanced over her shoulder, saw Drew pull Tina into his arms to dance.
“How about that prom picture?”
Drew kept half an eye on Coach Ward while dancing with Tina. “Do you think we should skip the senior prank this year?”
Tina followed his eyes. “It’s a tradition. TPing the coach’s house on reunion night never fails.”
“Yeah, she’ll probably feel left out if we don’t do it.”
The slow song switched to rap. They both danced until breathless. And when it wasn’t too obvious, Drew pulled Tina outside for air.
He kissed her as soon as they were alone.
Tina kissed him back, completely into it.
“How long do you wanna stay?” Drew asked when his body raged.
“An hour?”
An hour . . . he could do an hour. “And then?” They’d talked about taking the next step. He knew he was ready, was fairly certain she was, too.
“And then . . .” Tina’s coy smile answered his question.
“You sure?”
“I’m ready.”
His dick jumped and he kissed her again. “This is going to be the longest hour of my life.”
Jo’s first day back to work was Gill’s first night away from River Bend. She forced the issue.
Glynis celebrated her return with a candle in a donut.
The bruises had faded, the stitches removed. Jo put on her uniform and her belt. She’d removed some of the weight but kept her handcuffs, her gun, and her extra clip. Everything else was sitting on the dresser by her bed. Desk duty, she reminded herself.
She’d gone to the high school in the morning and watched as the remaining seniors that were going to state paced themselves. Drew and Tim rounded out her distance runners, and the relay team was there, too.
It felt good to pull the moist morning air into her battered lungs.
She stayed long enough to pitch a few pointers to Drew and Tim. They didn’t need her at this point, both of them hungry for a spot on the podium.
Oregon was a hard place when it came to track. Some of the best schools in the sport were there, and the competition for a state title was fierce.
Still, they had a chance.
She was proud either way.
With a half-eaten donut and a cup of coffee, Jo took her place behind her desk. It was surprisingly clean.
“Glynis? Where is all the mail?”
“Most of it was taken care of.”
; “What?”
“Deputy Fitzpatrick stayed on top of things. I have the papers that need your signature.”
Jo wasn’t sure she liked being replaced. “Where are they?”
Glynis moved to the filing cabinet behind Jo’s desk. “In here.”
Jo peered into the cabinet, felt her heart skip. “Where are all my files?”
“Archived. Anything over seven years. I’ve been scanning and shredding.”
“You’ve done what?” Jo’s voice rose an octave.
“It’s okay. I scanned everything. I’ve let it slip the last couple of years. Deputy Emery told me I should make room.”
“Is that right?”
“Is something wrong?” Glynis asked.
Jo ran her hands over the files, opened the next drawer.
Gone . . . everything around the time of her father’s death was gone. “I want to see the scanned documents.”
“Of course.” Glynis scurried off, and Jo slammed the file drawer.
“Welcome back, Jo.”
Jo tried to keep her cool as she turned to see Karl in her doorway.
“Thank you.” She didn’t make eye contact.
“It’s been quiet without you here.”
A snarky comment about how quiet it would have been had she tumbled off the cliff sat on her lips.
She kept quiet.
“Listen, Jo. I’m sorry.”
She found his eyes.
“I was shitty before the accident. Said some things I didn’t mean.”
He sounded sincere. “You don’t want my job?”
“Not at your expense. I admit it’s been hard at times. I remember sitting in this office, talking with your dad about your crazy teenage years. To have you take his place wasn’t the easiest thing for me.”
“I thought we were past all that,” Jo said.
“I thought I was, too. Sometimes the past comes back to haunt us.” Karl shook his head as if removing thoughts. “Anyway. You might not believe me, but I’m glad you’re back.”
Not sure what to make of his words, she decided mutual ground was best. “You’re going to Drew’s state meet, right? I’ll make sure everything is covered here.”
“Fitzpatrick has done a lot already.”
Jo wanted to scream at the man. “Karl. I’m talking as a friend, not as your boss. Drew wants you there.”
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