The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor

by Anna J. Stewart

  “I’m sorry this situation hurts you, Holly.” Luke’s voice had switched to cool politeness. “But I’ve got a job to do and I can’t do it if I’m constantly worrying about setting off your righteous indignation. Be angry with me or don’t, but stop the flip-flopping. It’s exhausting. The world is bigger than the sheriff’s station and your father’s stellar career. I can only do what I think is best from here on. You might be okay living in the past, but I’m not. I’ve worked hard to move on from what happened twelve years ago and I don’t want to go back. You know what? I think you were right. Keeping our distance from one another would be best for everyone involved.” The forced civility in his tone raked her already frayed nerves. “Thank you for the muffins.”

  A utility van rumbled to a stop on the side of the road. Luke gave the driver a wave and called a greeting before returning his attention to Holly. “Have a good day—” Luke cocked his head to the side “—ma’am.”

  Holly’s mouth dropped open. Had he just dismissed her? “Infuriating, irritating—” Holly muttered.

  “Mom?”

  Holly sucked in a breath. Simon. She dropped a hand on top of his soft hair and brought him in for a quick hug and pat on the back. “Sorry, bud. Just a little angry at the whole situation.”

  “He made you cry.”

  “No.” Holly shook her head and dropped down to meet him eye-to-defiant-eye. “No, Simon. Gert made me cry. There’s a lot of memories for me and your grandpa in that office. And you, too. They’re hard to let go of.” But she had to. Accept the idea of her past folding up behind her with every step she took... It made her heart hurt.

  Simon looked at the door as Luke carried in a new flat computer screen. “Grandpa taught me go fish in his office.”

  “Me, too.” She brushed a finger down the side of his face. And gin rummy and later, poker. Now she routinely beat him at all three. “Simon, Sheriff Saxon is right.” She swallowed the truth of it and wished she’d maintained better control, if for no other reason than to spare Simon from witnessing her flash of temper. It seemed as though every time she saw Luke she was thrown into that hospital waiting room, praying her father was going to survive with no one to cling to, no one to blame, except Luke. “None of this is his fault. It’s time for things to change, even if we don’t want them to.” It was one fight she’d obviously lost long before this morning. Butterfly Harbor, along with her father’s job, was rocketing in a new direction. She’d have to jump on board or risk getting vaporized in the after burn.

  “I don’t like him,” Simon argued. “He hurt your feelings and took Grandpa’s job. He’s mean and I want him to go away.”

  “Simon.” She stroked a hand down the side of his face, hating the frustration and anger she saw on his normally smiling features. “We don’t always get what we want. And as much as I wish this was all Luke’s fault, it’s not. There are other grown-up things going on. And Luke’s not mean.” At this point, she’d grasp any silver lining, however thin, she could. “He’s trying to make the best of a bad situation.” She couldn’t keep living in the past. She wasn’t that scared sixteen-year-old girl anymore. She had to quit thinking—and acting—like one. “Let’s head to the diner, okay? I bet Paige and Charlie are there by now, and you like Charlie, remember?”

  “Of course I remember,” Simon said in such an annoyed tone, Holly laughed. “She’s my new sidekick.”

  “Sidekick, huh?” She stood and steered him toward town. “And what does that entail exactly?”

  “We’re not sure yet.” Simon scrunched up his face and looked up at her. “We’re still working out the details. But I’ve got some ideas.”

  Wonderful. Holly bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to sigh. Simon and his ideas rarely turned out well.

  For anyone.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “MORNING, SHERIFF.” GIL HAMILTON strode into Luke’s office after lunch on Wednesday. If the mayor was trying to convince his constituents he wasn’t his father’s son, wearing a suit that cost as much as a month’s mortgage for most residents wasn’t the way to earn points.

  “Mr. Mayor.” Luke pushed away from the new computer system at his desk and got to his feet, holding out his hand. “What can I do for you?”

  “I see my tech people got you up and running.”

  “Ozzy did most of the work.” Personally he’d found the mayor’s chosen messenger boys just that—more boys than tech. Watching Ozzy take charge had given Luke more insight into what the underutilized deputy was capable of. Of course he, Ozzy and Fletch had been sidetracked this morning by someone squirting Krazy Glue into the front door lock. It took a broken window and a visit from the town handyman to fix that. That was after yesterday morning’s power surge courtesy of a penny being wedged in the ancient fuse box outside. The poor coffeemaker hadn’t known what hit it. The station still smelled like burned coffee. “We’re working out the kinks for the new wireless system, but things are moving along. What brings you by?”

  “Oh, paperwork.” Gil slid a thick file folder onto the edge of Luke’s empty desk. “Permit applications and a couple of licenses for you to sign off on. Nothing major.”

  “Great.” Luke flipped open the cover and scanned the form. “I’ll run the background checks and get them to your office—”

  “I’ve already had my people run the names,” Gil interrupted and moved off to stare out the window before Luke could read his expression. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

  Oh, but he was concerned. “I assume you included those reports with the applications?”

  “It’s busywork, Luke. Not something you need to concern yourself with. Your signature will do.”

  Luke sat down, leaned back in his chair and glanced up at the ancient clock. “Two days, five hours and twenty-seven minutes.”

  “What’s that?” Gil turned his head and arched a brow at Luke.

  “That’s how long it took you to try to get one over on me.” Disappointment swelled beyond any bitterness he might have felt. Despite protests to the contrary, Gil hadn’t changed since high school. He was still the charmer who smiled and hid the truth and made his way through life without paying the consequences for his arrogance and actions. And he wondered why people didn’t trust him. Luke wondered—and not for the first time—how Gil had ever been elected. “I told you at the diner the other day, I’m not your errand boy and I’m not your mouthpiece. I won’t blindly sign off on anything requiring my attention where this town is concerned.”

  Gil let out a huff of frustration. “It’s just building permits and such, Luke. It’s not as though I’m asking you to sign off on invading another country.”

  “I don’t see much difference, actually,” Luke countered. “I don’t think I have to remind you that the city council approved my interim appointment, and without cause you can’t get rid of me for the remainder of my term. I’ll do this job my way, aboveboard, completely transparent. That includes looking into the backgrounds of anyone wanting to open a business in Butterfly Harbor. So unless you have grounds to fire me—”

  “After two days on the job?” Gil’s eyes iced over. “Hardly.” But Luke could tell he wished he did.

  “Then, stop playing politician and be straight with me. It’s the only way this is going to work.”

  “And here I thought those new computers of yours might have bought me some goodwill.”

  Luke tried to stifle his rising temper. “Think again.”

  “Oh, for—” Gil sighed. “It was a joke, Luke.”

  So this was the kind of crap Jake Gordon had been dealing with. No wonder he hadn’t fought harder to keep his job. “I told you when you hired me I don’t do politics. You wanted someone to come in and help ease the town into the changes you want to make. You need fresh eyes and new ideas. Happy to accommodate. But I will not cut corners. Not
for friends. Not for you. And not when those corners could prove damaging to Butterfly Harbor. Now—” Luke leaned forward and folded his hands on his desk “—do you want to send over the background checks your people ran on these applications or shall I take a second run at them?”

  Gil stared at him, jaw set, but other than that, his expression was unfathomable.

  “Great. I’ll have these papers to you in a couple of days,” Luke promised. “Anything else?”

  “We’ll be getting applications from speculation companies for the new butterfly sanctuary over the next couple of weeks,” Gil said. “I’ll be giving an update on the project tonight at the town hall meeting.”

  “Have fun.”

  “I’d like you there.”

  “Why? It’s not in my job description.” Truth be told, he’d been expecting the request, if for no other reason than Luke would make an apt distraction should Gil put his foot in his mouth. The last thing he wanted was to be paraded about in front of the entire town at one time. He preferred to take the skepticism—and criticism—in small batches.

  “I’d like to present a united front, so to speak. I’d like people to know we’re a team and that we’re working well together.”

  “You’re afraid you’re going to be harassed for kicking Jake Gordon to the curb.”

  “I didn’t kick him to the curb,” Gil huffed.

  “Yeah, you did.” No sense beating a dead horse. “I’ll go. It will give me a chance to get a sense of how people might feel about reopening the community center as a youth facility.”

  “How long has that idea been brewing?” Gil couldn’t have looked any more sour if he’d sucked on a lemon.

  Luke grinned. “Since I first drove into town. I’d love to get a budget to you, crunch some numbers. See what positive changes we can make for the young people around here. Something I’m sure your constituents would be happy to see.”

  Gil stared at him for a count of five before he blinked. “Send me your proposals. I’ll see what can be done.”

  “Great.” He picked up the folder and tapped it on the desk. “Fletch!”

  Fletch came sliding backward into the office in his wheelie chair. “Sir?”

  Gil shot him such a look of disapproval Luke felt his own mood lift. He was liking his deputies more and more.

  Luke got up to hand Fletch the files Gil had given him. “We need to run background checks on all these people, please. Paper and digital copies. On my desk by tomorrow.”

  “On it.” Fletch winked at the mayor and scooted out the same way he came.

  “You gain people’s loyalty quick,” Gil said.

  “It’s about respect, Gil.” Luke slapped a hand hard on the mayor’s shoulder. “You get what you give out. Speaking of out, you know the way, right?”

  * * *

  “HE’S PLOTTING SOMETHING,” Holly whispered to Abby as she watched Simon and Charlie, their heads stuck together so close she couldn’t see any light between them. They’d been huddled over Simon’s notebook scribbling notes and whispering for the better part of an hour. “I can feel it.”

  Abby slurped up the last of her soda and leaned her cheek in her hand, blinked sleepy eyes. “It’s not as if he can take over the world, Holly. Stop overthinking things.”

  “If he was going to take over the world, you’d be fine with it, wouldn’t you?” Holly asked, wishing once again she’d been smarter than to put Simon in the middle of her argument with Luke.

  “Absolutely I would.” Abby batted her lashes. “That kid is smarter than most of the people in this town. Which reminds me, I’m having some computer issues over at the inn. Can I borrow him—”

  “You can’t be serious! For all I know he’d infiltrate the NSA and come out with nuclear launch codes.”

  “It’s an inn, Holly, not NASA. He knows his stuff, well, more stuff than I do, and besides, the closest service tech person is a hundred bucks just to come out and I can pay Simon in cookies. I promise I won’t let him out of my sight.”

  There weren’t many people she could trust to keep an eagle eye on her son. But if Abby said she’d watch him, she would.

  “Fine. How about tomorrow morning? I can bring him by on my way to the diner.”

  “Awesome. Thanks, Holl.”

  “Kitchen’s cleaned up, ready for the dinner rush.” Paige joined them, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Any idea what those two are up to?”

  “See?” Holly smirked at Abby. “I told you. I’m erring on the side of your daughter’s levelheadedness,” Holly said. “Other than that, I don’t think we want to know.” The idea of uncovering Simon’s latest plot might just give her a migraine. Maybe plausible deniability was the way to go.

  “Hello.” Abby turned quizzical, amused eyes to Holly before flicking her gaze to Paige. “You must be Paige. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “Hi. Paige Cooper.” Paige turned on her million-watt smile. “Charlie and I got into town last week.”

  “Not a moment too soon,” Holly added. “I’ve managed to close on time and be out of here within a half hour for the past four nights thanks to her.”

  “Well, welcome, Paige Cooper.” Abby nodded. “Okay, now I understand...”

  “Understand what?” Paige got sidetracked by the family of four who chimed their way in to the diner. “I’ve got them. Nice to meet you, Abby.”

  “You, too. Look at you.” Abby spun around on her stool. “Expanding your circle of friends and biting that employee bullet. Good for you. Where’s Twyla?”

  “Summer classes. I’m telling you, Paige is magic. I want to clone her. Ten times.” For the first time in months, Holly was getting to bed before midnight.

  “I’ve got the extra linens you asked about in the car,” Abby said. “And I found some old curtains in the storeroom at the inn. Odds and ends, too. Lots of homey touches.”

  “Great. Bring them around back when you leave. I want to get the apartment ready before I show it to her.”

  “You sure you want to do this?” Abby asked, turning her normally optimistic face into a frown. “You haven’t known her very long.”

  “She’s lost.” Holly couldn’t explain it. She’d watched Paige over the past couple of days and while her new waitress exuded confidence and happiness, something hovered and convinced Holly there was much more going on than Paige felt comfortable confiding. “If I can help her get by for a while, it’s worth the risk. Plus, her kid’s keeping mine occupied more than I ever could.”

  “Huh.” Abby hopped off her stool to refill her soda.

  “What?”

  Abby shrugged and sucked on her straw. “It’s interesting how you’re willing to give others a chance to make up for the past but not everyone.”

  “Oh, for the love of—” Holly snapped her towel at Abby as she took off for the kitchen. “There’s no comparing Paige’s situation with Luke’s. They’re entirely—”

  “The same, as far as you know.” Abby slouched against the door as Holly got the stove and griddle ready for the dinner rush and Ursula’s imminent return. “For all you know, what she’s got behind her is even worse. Look, I’m all for giving Paige a hand. You seem happy with her and yep, that Charlie’s a cutie. Simon better watch out.”

  “Wh-what?” Holly gaped. “Abby, they’re eight!”

  “How old were you when you met Gray?”

  “Sixteen, thank you very much.”

  “Oh, flag on the play!” Abby set her glass down with a clunk. “You spotted Gray across the playground when we were seven years old. And okay, I was hanging upside down on the monkey bars at the time—”

  “In a dress, if I remember,” Holly cut in.

  “I had on clean underwear. Seven years old, little miss, let’s rewrite history. You didn’t let Gray out of yo
ur sight from then on. And I have the doodles in my old school notebooks to prove it.”

  The memories of those early days with Gray brushed against her heart like a featherlight beating of wings. She’d been heartsick from the start, but, looking back, blind to his shortcomings. She’d never wanted to see the bad in him.

  Until the bad was all that was in front of her.

  “See!” Abby pointed at her and chuckled. “I’m just saying it happens. To some of us.”

  “You can always give bowling-alley guy another shot.”

  “Ooh, and three strikes, my friend. Hey.” Abby’s voice turned serious. “How much energy does it take to stay mad at someone for over a decade?”

  Holly hated Abby’s deft way of changing the subject. “A lot.”

  “Energy that could be much better spent spying on your mischief-prone son. At some point, you’ve got to let what happened go and move on, Holl. Your dad is alive. Your mom’s gone and so is Gray. Stop living in a past of what-ifs. And stop lumping Gray’s failures onto a man who doesn’t deserve it.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing.” Holly glowered at her friend. “And you don’t know he doesn’t.”

  “Looks that way from where I’m standing.” Abby shrugged. “Luke did everything Gray always promised he’d do but never did. Luke stopped drinking. He made something of himself. He’s dependable, so far at least, and trustworthy. And he’s come home to make amends. Don’t hold any of those things against him. From what I hear, Luke’s a good man in spite of his past, and mostly thanks to what happened between him and your dad after the accident. Luke has enough demons to fight. He doesn’t need to fight you, too.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  LUKE STOOD AT the base of the glistening white steps to the Flutterby Inn, Butterfly Harbor’s mainstay for almost half a century. He’d always considered the Flutterby a beacon in town, its sunshine-yellow paint reflecting against the morning sun, standing strong against cool morning breezes as the weather settled into its normal temperatures.