“Oh.” He looked around and then nodded once, as if things made sense all of a sudden. “We don’t want Edna thinking you’re letting me off easy.”
“I’m giving you a ticket because you ran the stop sign and that’s the only reason. And now you’re walking a fine line toward failure to comply.”
He frowned. “I know you’re upset, but—”
“Give me an excuse,” she said in a low voice. “Give me a reason to drag you out of that truck here in front of God and everybody and put you on the ground and show you that handcuffs are, in fact, the unsexiest thing you’ll ever wear.”
“Okay, you’re really angry. And that’s actually a good thing because it must mean you care, right? So just let me explain.”
“Send me a text if you have something to say. All I want from you right now is your license and registration.”
She’d gotten out of the cruiser on a wave of hurt, anger and disbelief, but looking into his face was harder than she’d thought. It took everything she had to stand there with her cop face on and not let him see how utterly devastated she felt.
When he leaned over to get his paperwork out of the glove box, she realized something looked off and stretched up onto her toes. “You cleaned your truck out.”
“Yeah.” He handed her his papers. “I don’t know why. Show of faith, maybe? Some way to prove I’m capable of cleaning up my act.”
She clenched her jaw and walked back to the cruiser, where she wrote out the ticket. Recognizing it was a petty way of lashing out at him, she might have let him off with yet another warning, but word had gotten around, and there was now a substantial crowd trying to pretend they weren’t watching her and Chase. There wouldn’t be any special treatment this time.
When she walked back to his truck and handed his license, registration and the ticket through the window, he gave her a look that threatened to tear down the wall she was barely keeping in place.
“I just drove for hours, Kelly. Please. Give me ten minutes.”
He was a hard man to say no to. “No.”
“Five minutes. I came back to say something to you, Kelly McDonnell, and I intend to say it. If I have to stand in the middle of the street and yell it after you while you drive away, so be it.”
She’d managed to hold her head up while people gossiped about her and Chase. She’d survived Edna Beecher sticking her nose into it. But there was no way in hell she would take the chance of breaking down in tears while in her uniform, doing her job, in front of everybody.
“I’ll meet you in my dad’s driveway. Leave your truck running, because you won’t be staying long.”
She took a different route than Chase, mostly so people wouldn’t know they were going the same place. As ridiculous as it sounded, she wouldn’t put it past some of them to find a reason to walk down Eagles Lane, and she didn’t want an audience for this.
By the time she pulled into the driveway next to his truck, she felt as if she had her emotions mostly under control. Or the tears, at least. She didn’t think she’d cry. After killing the engine, she took her time getting out of the cruiser, making him wait.
He was leaning against the passenger side of his truck, where he knew she’d have to park, but he didn’t look relaxed. She walked to the front fender of the SUV and basically mirrored his posture. “Okay, five minutes. Go.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re going to have to be more specific.”
He held up his hands. “I’m sorry about everything, but mostly that I left without saying good-bye. It was a chickenshit move.”
“So you drove all the way back to say good-bye? I’m surprised you didn’t text me.”
“I’m definitely sorry about the text message.”
“And what you said? What the hell was that?” She wanted to shove him, so she put her hands in her pockets instead. “You’ll never forget the frozen pizza?”
“That was stupid and I’m so sorry. I was trying to be funny. To keep it light because I thought that’s what you wanted from me. And the frozen pizza was special to me, actually. It’ll always remind me of that night, so it wasn’t as idiotic as it sounded.”
No, she guessed it wasn’t. The frozen pizza night had been one of her favorite evenings with him, so she could see where he was coming from. She guessed if he’d stayed gone, it would have been a long time before she passed the frozen pizzas in the grocery store without thinking of that night, and of him.
“Why did you leave without saying good-bye?” she asked, since that seemed more important than analyzing his text to her.
He rolled his shoulders a little, and she realized he was nervous about what he was going to say. “Because you wouldn’t look at me during the parade. I felt . . . dismissed. Like I’d screwed up so badly kissing you on the sidelines that you couldn’t even stand to look at me.”
Kelly closed her eyes for a moment, willing them not to tear up. She’d never for a moment imagined she’d come across that way, and the only way to explain why he’d been wrong was to confess how she felt about him.
Her heart had taken a hard knock, and she wasn’t sure about making herself that vulnerable, but the man had to have made it at least halfway home to New Jersey, and he’d come back just to talk to her.
“I was trying not to look at you because I’d made a decision to tell you something, and I was so intensely emotional about it, I was afraid you’d see it. I didn’t want to scare you off.”
She watched his face as she spoke and could almost see his mind turning as he tried to make sense of what she was saying. “What were you going to tell me?”
“That I . . .” What the hell, she thought. If he didn’t like what she had to say, he could put a few more miles on that truck of his. “That I didn’t want you to go. I mean, I know you have to go for now, but that I wanted you to come back to Stewart Mills. To me.”
“Why?” His look was so fierce, she thought she might melt.
“Because I fell in love with you,” she said, surrendering to saying it first. Assuming that’s what he’d come to say. “I love you.”
All the breath rushed out of his body and he seemed to sag against the truck’s door. “I came back to tell you I love you, Kelly.”
Tears prickled at her eyes again, but she blinked them away. At least they were leaning toward happy tears now. “You should have led with that and closed with the frozen pizza joke.”
“I was afraid to tell you. I was afraid you wouldn’t want me because my life’s not really in order.”
“It’s scary,” she admitted. “But we’ll figure it out, because being with you means more to me than having all of our ducks in a row.”
“Like you said, I’ve got a few things to take care of in New Jersey. I might even have to do four days there and three days here for a while, but everything I do will be working toward being here with you.”
“What will you do here?” She knew things were still tight in the building market.
“Whatever it takes. I’ll find work, or I’ll drive down to the southern part of the state every day because there’s new building going on there. The commute will be worth it if I get to come home to you every day. Eventually people will start buying all the houses for sale and want them remodeled. I’ll find work.”
She laughed, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Listen to me. I’m being all practical and ruining our romantic moment.”
He crossed the distance between them and cupped her cheek in his palm. “Practical things are important to you. I’ll stand out here and make spreadsheets and pie charts if it means you’ll take a chance on me.”
“I’m ready. No matter how messy it gets.”
He rested his forehead against hers. “I kept thinking I didn’t even have a solid foundation in the ground to offer, but I was wrong. Loving you is my foundation, and we can build on that. I
want to build on that. I don’t know what that building will look like, but I know it won’t ever shift out from under us. It’ll stand forever.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He kissed her. “I’m sorry I took off. Trust me when I tell you I’m seriously kicking myself in the ass right now for not at least trying to talk to you first.”
“Don’t do that again.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him close. He was hers. Forever.
When she thought about how close they’d come to losing each other because of bullheadedness, she shivered. He held her tighter and kissed her neck. “I’m going to love spending the rest of my life with you.”
They heard the screen door slam, and she wasn’t surprised when Chase took a step back from her in reflex. She saw her father on the front porch, one eyebrow raised as if waiting for some kind of explanation as to why Chase Sanders was back in his driveway.
Chase took a step toward the porch, and Kelly slid her hand into his to walk with him. “From now on, we’re a team.”
He grinned and squeezed her hand. “Then I’ve already won.”
Coach met them at the bottom of the stairs and gave Chase a hard look. “I was beginning to wonder about you, son. I was pretty sure I’d taught you better than to give up on what you wanted most.”
“I always had to learn the hard way.”
Coach turned to Kelly, and she smiled for her dad. “I’m trying to think of a football analogy that doesn’t sound weird in front of you. Scoring drive. In the end zone. They all sound a little inappropriate, though.”
He chuckled. “I’ll just say welcome to the family, son.”
Kelly’s throat tightened as she watched the two men she loved shake hands. Then her dad went back inside to give them more privacy.
“You should probably shut your truck off before it runs out of gas,” she said, wiping away the last wetness from her cheeks.
“Uh, yeah.” He did that, then pulled her into his arms again. “I really do have to go back. I was thinking I could spend a couple more days here, though. With you.”
“I want that more than anything. I’m on duty for a few more hours, though.”
“I can sit on the curb in front of your apartment until you’re done. That’ll give people something to talk about.”
She slapped his shoulder. “Or I can give you the keys.”
He kissed her until she could barely breathe. “I’ll be waiting for you when you get home. I’ll make us a frozen pizza.”
Happiness curled through her, and she laughed as she threw her arms around his neck. “It’s a date.”
Please turn the page for a sneak peek at
Defending Hearts
The next book in the Boys of Fall series by Shannon Stacey
Available November 2015 from Jove Books
Dodging bullets had a way of making a man realize he wasn’t young anymore. Dodging them for no good reason made the realization a lot harder to shove to the back of his mind.
Alex Murphy sat on the thin mattress in his shitty motel room and looked at the photo on his phone’s screen again. It wasn’t one of the many he’d taken during his week in the volatile region, using instincts and years of experience to capture on film a population on the brink of revolution. It was one some random passerby had taken with his cellphone and it had gone viral. It was the photo the world would remember.
Alex would still sell his pictures. They told the story in a way one viral camera shot couldn’t. But times and technology were constantly changing, and sometimes he felt like a dinosaur. Photojournalismasaurus.
Burnout. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, even to himself, a decade of freelancing and travel—only to be scooped by a teenager with a cellphone and Instagram account—took its toll, and it might be time to take a break. The idea of going back to Rhode Island didn’t appeal to him, though. The apartment in Providence was a place to keep his stuff, but it had never felt like a home.
Using his thumb, Alex navigated to a recent photo album he’d set up on his phone, titled Stewart Mills, NH. After almost a decade and a half away, he’d recently spent about ten days there and, when it was time to leave, he’d found himself wishing he could stay a little longer.
He flicked through the photos, pausing over each one. Not with a technical eye, but to gauge his emotional response. Old friends laughing. People he’d known most of his life, but who were practically strangers. A town that had once been his entire world. And Coach McDonnell, who had taken the ragtag group of boys making up the Stewart Mills Eagles football team and made them men.
Alex had been on the first Stewart Mills Eagles football team to win the championship back in the day and, when the town cut the football team’s funding, he’d been one of the alumni players who returned to help out with a fund-raising drive to save it. He’d gone out of love for Coach McDonnell, but rediscovering his hometown had also reminded him of how nice it could be to have roots. He hadn’t felt grounded to any one place in a very long time.
He wanted to go back.
The plan was taking shape in his mind even as he closed out the photo app and pulled up his contacts. Calculating time zones was second nature to him at this point, so he knew it was safe to call Kelly McDonnell, the coach’s daughter and a police officer for the town. She’d given him her cell number when he was in town, and he tapped it.
She answered on the third ring. “Hey, Alex.”
“Are you busy right now?”
“Nope. I’m actually sitting in my cruiser, making sure everybody slows down and doesn’t hit the power company guys replacing a transformer. What’s up? Did you forget something?”
He laughed. “Nope. How are things in Stewart Mills?”
“Pretty good. Everybody’s still on a bit of a high from Eagles Fest, for which I can never thank you enough.”
“The Eagles are why I’m calling, actually,” he said. “I was looking through the photographs I took while I was there, and the story’s unfinished. I’m thinking about coming back for a while and following at least the opening of the team’s season.”
“Following them professionally, you mean? Like for a story?”
“If I can get releases from everybody, I’d like to do a story, yes. Or maybe even a book. There are a lot of towns going through what Stewart Mills has faced, and what you all did is pretty inspirational. And I’d like to broaden the angle, too. Make it about the entire town and not just the team, though that’s the core story, of course.”
“Wow.” There were a few seconds of silence while she digested what he’d said. “That sounds really great, as long as you respect privacy where it’s requested and recognize there are some things people wouldn’t want shared.”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, Officer McDonnell. I won’t hurt anybody and I won’t share anything people don’t want shared.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem, then.”
“Perfect. I called you because I’m hoping, since you know the community in and out, that you could recommend a place to stay. I know the motel’s closed up, but maybe somebody willing to rent an apartment or even a house on a month-to-month, short-term basis?”
“With so many people losing their homes, the rental market’s incredibly tight right now.” She sighed and he gave her a moment to think. “You know, Gretchen was talking to me about renting a room at the farm. She hasn’t because she’s nervous about having a stranger living with her grandmother, but renting to a friend can end badly when there’s money involved.”
“I’m not a stranger, but I’m not exactly a friend, either.” He remembered Gretchen Walker from school, and he’d had a chance to talk to her a few times during Eagles Fest. She was an attractive woman, but she was definitely a closed book. “All I need is a place to sleep and it wouldn’t be long-term, so maybe I’m a good opportunity for a tri
al run.”
“That’s what I was thinking. The room has its own bathroom and you’d have access to the kitchen, not that her grandmother would let you go hungry. I’ll talk to Gretchen and have her get back to you. She’ll have to talk it over with Gram, too. Can she call you at this number?”
“The time zones will be a horror show for the next few days, so email’s the best bet.” When she said she was ready, he gave her his email address. “It sounds perfect on my end, so I’ll look forward to hearing from her.”
Once he hung up with Kelly, Alex flopped back on the mattress and stared up at the peeling ceiling. Maybe it was the professional version of a midlife crisis, but he needed a break, and Stewart Mills seemed like the perfect place to regroup and make a plan for his future.
Chronicling the current state of his hometown and the Eagles while rediscovering his roots would simply be a bonus.
—
“You have to stop trying to sit on Gram’s lap,” Gretchen Walker told the sixty-pound chocolate Lab looking up at her with adoring eyes. “You’re not good for the circulation in her legs.”
Cocoa tilted her head sideways and blinked before raising her paw for a high five. Gretchen sighed and gave her one. It seemed to be the only trick the newest member of the Walker family knew, so it was her answer to everything.
It had been the nurse at Gram’s doctor’s office who suggested a dog might be good company for her grandmother, since Gretchen had her hands full trying to work the farm, and Gram had immediately agreed. Gretchen had driven her to the shelter in the city, anticipating a fluffy little lapdog who would be content to curl up with Gram and watch her knit the days away.
Instead, Gram had fallen in love with a big Lab the color of rich hot chocolate, and Gretchen had to admit she felt an immediate connection with the dog, too. The entire household budget had to be recalculated to accommodate the beast’s food costs, but it was nice to get a high five every once in a while. And Cocoa seemed to love the sound of Gram’s voice, so everybody was happy.
Under the Lights Page 23