by Stacy Finz
“What? It’s a nice Zen way to start your day. You know, stopping to smell the roses.”
“I’m saluting you right now with my middle finger.” Colt hung up.
By the time he made it into the office he was thirty minutes late and in desperate need of a shower.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Carrie Jo said as he came in the door.
“Don’t start with me.” He scowled.
“Heard about the fight at Old Glory. What do you think the bride’s doing today?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. Any messages?”
“Nope. You want coffee?”
“I’m not going to Tart Me Up, Carrie Jo!”
“My, my, aren’t we testy today?” She stood up and kissed him on the cheek, then wrinkled her nose. “Eww, you need a bath. I’ll go to Tart Me Up. I suggest you head to the locker room. You have an extra uniform in your office?”
“I’ll get it.” He grabbed the dry-cleaning bag from his closet and marched to the shower.
Twenty minutes later, he emerged feeling human again. Colt fired up his computer and quickly scanned Dutch’s and Bobby’s reports.
Carrie Jo came in his office, carrying a large cup of coffee. “Rachel Johnson was soooooo disappointed that it was me instead of you. Why don’t you ask that lovely woman out on a date? Oh yeah, I forgot. You’re too busy not dating Delaney Scott.”
“Thanks for the coffee, Carrie Jo. Now go away.”
She sat in the chair next to his desk and peeked at his computer. “What are you doing?”
“Police work. What are you doing, besides bothering me?” He looked up from his computer and she stuck her tongue out at him. “Real mature.”
“What’s got you in such a foul mood today? Could it be that you haven’t gotten laid since Lisa left?”
“Boundaries, Carrie Jo. Boundaries.”
“Oh my God, you haven’t, have you?”
“What do you think?” He cocked his brows as if daring her to argue with him. Of course he’d gotten laid, just not as often as he would have liked given his self-imposed twenty-mile rule or the fact that he liked his sex to be more meaningful than a quick roll in the hay. “TJ coerced me into taking a group of senior citizens on a sunrise hike in the state park before coming to work. As if I don’t have enough to do.”
“At least it was good exercise, right?”
He shot her a look. “If you consider a forty-minute mile in the hot sun exercise. Two of the participants had walkers.”
She giggled. “Oops. Well, it must’ve been nice getting out in nature.”
“No, it robbed me of my morning run, which you and I should be doing together.”
“Uh-uh. You’re too hard on me. I have to do it at my own pace.”
Colt didn’t want to push it, otherwise she would accuse him of thinking she was fat. Which he didn’t. He thought she was great the way she was.
Jack knocked and let himself in. “Heard about the bar brawl. Those yahoos planning to pay Boden restitution?”
“Sounds like it,” Colt said. “I was hoping for a quiet summer.”
“Good thing summer’s almost over.” Not really. In northern California summer bled into September—and sometimes even October—weather-wise. The tourists would at least go home and Glory Junction wouldn’t get its next wave of them until the first snow. “Speaking of, you think we should take the new kayak out for a test run, see if the thing even holds water. Get it? Holds water?”
Jack was the only one who laughed at his own stupid pun. Colt didn’t miss the fact that Jack seemed to ham it up around Carrie Jo. He didn’t think Miss Former Homecoming Queen would look twice at Jack, which was a shame. Jack might not be the slickest or the handsomest, but he was one of the best men Colt knew. Steady and solid. The kind of guy you’d want at your side in a bad situation. Besides, they’d both been burned by love. Carrie Jo’s husband had been catting around on her for years, and Jack’s longtime girlfriend had dumped him right around the time Lisa had left town.
The police station had not been a fun place during those dark days.
“Yup,” Colt responded. “Let’s try for lunch if all stays quiet.”
“You want to come, Carrie Jo?” Jack asked.
“Nope, I’m going to CrossFit with Foster.”
Colt doubted that would last but wanted to stay supportive.
“I’ll do CrossFit with you guys,” Jack said. “Is it every Thursday?”
“And Tuesday. But don’t try to show me up, Jack.” Carrie Jo smiled at him and Jack turned red.
“I won’t.”
Colt wanted to tell him to get a grip. “Are you going to CrossFit or are we taking the kayak out?”
“We’ll take the kayak out and I’ll go to CrossFit on Tuesday,” Jack said.
“All right. Let’s hope the next few hours are noneventful.”
Jack and Carrie Jo left his office and Colt tried to get some work done. At around ten, he figured it was late enough to call Delaney. He got her voice mail and left a message.
Carrie Jo buzzed in. “Your mother is on line two.”
Why she didn’t call his cell, he’d never know. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hannah says Sunday is the best night to hold the dinner for Josh. Monday they’re heading to San Francisco so they’ll have a day before the surgery.”
“Okay. You want me to bring anything?”
“TJ says you’re seeing your next-door neighbor. Why don’t you bring her?”
I’m going to kill you, TJ. “TJ doesn’t know what he’s talking about. We’re neighbors . . . friends. That’s all.”
“Well, you could still bring her if you’d like. Deb and Foster are coming too, and if Jack and Carrie Jo want to come there’s always room at the table.”
“You sure Josh wants such a big crowd?” Mary Garner could get carried away. She liked to entertain, but maybe they should wait until after Josh’s operation to start celebrating.
“If Josh wasn’t okay with it, Hannah wouldn’t have invited Deb and Foster. It’ll be fine, dear. Come around five.”
“All right. I’ll bring beer.”
He signed off and texted TJ. “Hey, asshole, quit meddling in my business.” Colt found an emoji of a giant middle finger, tacked that onto the message, and hit the send button.
That’s when Win barged into his office. “Carrie Jo said you weren’t busy.”
Carrie Jo is about to get fired. “You don’t even knock?”
“Why? Were you having a little special time with your right hand?”
Colt looked up at the ceiling and counted to ten before he throttled his brother. “What do you need, Win?”
“How do you know I didn’t come over to spend some quality time with my big brother, huh?” He sat on the love seat, stretched out, and made himself right at home.
“What do you need, Win?”
“Can you fill in for me Sunday? I’ve got a white-water rafting group but want to go to Tahoe for the day.”
“What’s in Tahoe?”
“A lake.”
Colt picked up an old baseball cap on his desk and sailed it across the room to land on a hook on the wall. “We’ve got a lake here.”
Win nodded. “Can you take my group?”
Colt guessed there was a girl involved. When it came to Win there was always a girl involved. “Do you guys not get that I have a full-time job? Do you not get that I have only one day off a week?”
“Isn’t that illegal?” Win got up, took the hat off the hook, and put it on his head.
“Aren’t you going to Josh’s dinner?”
“I’ll be back in time.”
“Get TJ to take your group. He needs to get out of the office and remember what it’s like to do some actual work for a change.” The truth was no one worked harder than TJ. Colt’s brother was a certified workaholic.
“He can’t do it. I already asked him. You’re my last resort.”
“What about Dad? Maybe Chip could use some extra ca
sh. He’s still sober, right?”
“Yeah, Josh would love that.” Chip was Hannah’s first husband and Josh’s ex best friend. “Come on, Colt. Can’t you help me out? I’ll return the favor, I promise.”
“You planning to fill in as police chief? Because in case you forgot, that’s my real job.”
“Sure, I’ll fill in as police chief,” Win said. “Seriously, I’m desperate here.”
“Fine. But you owe me big-time.”
“I’m good for it.” Win lay long ways on the couch, hanging his feet off the end. “TJ says you and your neighbor are an item now.”
“TJ’s wrong.”
“According to him, you told her about Lisa.”
Colt clenched his fists. Why the hell had Delaney told TJ that? “So? The whole town knows about Lisa.”
“Did you tell Delaney what Lisa did?”
“We’re not talking about that, Win. We’re never talking about that.”
“Then I gather you didn’t tell her.”
“If you still want me to take your group out on Sunday, you better drop it.”
Win sat up. “Relax. Is Delaney going to let us carry her cargo pants and shorts?”
“I doubt it. It would be a pretty big step down, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know about that.” Win shrugged. “She’d just be branching out into a new market.”
“If she wanted to branch out into adventure wear, she could sell to REI or make a deal with Patagonia or North Face, not a small tour company that doesn’t even have a retail division.”
“I don’t know,” Win said. “I think TJ is on to something.”
Yeah, his brother was on to a lot of things, including being a big mouth and a shit stirrer.
Colt flicked his chin at Win. “You thinking of leaving anytime soon so I can get some work done?”
“All right, I can take a hint. Thanks for Sunday.” He got to his feet.
“Win, whatever you’re doing in Tahoe, don’t lose track of the time and miss Josh’s dinner.” It would be just like his irresponsible brother to screw up. “It’s important that we’re all there ... for Josh.”
“I won’t miss it. Catch you later.”
With Win gone, Colt settled in and worked steadily until lunchtime, when he and Jack took the kayak out on the river. The boat was a recreational kayak as opposed to a downriver kayak used for racing. It was too broad for fast and nimble maneuvering and lousy for traveling in a straight line. Racing kayaks were typically long and skinny with a bow shaped like a narrow V for speed.
Unfortunately, they were stuck with what they had and would have to make the best of it.
“We’re not going to win this, are we?” Jack said. Like Colt, Jack was competitive.
“Not unless Josh and TJ come down with a stomach flu.”
Josh’s doctors had said he could race after the surgery, since kayaking required mostly upper body strength, which Colt’s brother had in spades.
Jack scratched his chin. “I guess it wouldn’t be right to wish that upon them.”
“I’m not above it. With this piece of crap, I don’t know if we can even beat Deb. Don’t underestimate her, she’s a damn good kayaker. I’m pretty sure we can take Rachel and her crew, even in this. So at least we won’t come in dead last.”
“That’s little consolation.”
Yup, they were screwed.
Colt finished out his day, went home, and managed to get a run in to make up for his lost morning. Three miles. Afterward he got in a shower and ate cereal for supper, staring out the window. Delaney’s Tesla was nowhere in sight. He washed his bowl, went upstairs to get his guitar, came back down, and ran through a few songs. It was slow going at first because he was rusty as hell. Eventually, though, he fell into a comfortable groove, playing a number of the band’s standards. With Colt’s schedule there wouldn’t be time for the band to practice before the show. In the past, they’d always been able to pick up where they’d left off without much rehearsing.
Since Lisa had left, he and the rhythm guitarist traded off on lead vocals. While he didn’t consider himself much of a singer, he got the job done. It had been more than a year since he’d written a song. He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to do it again. These days, his only inspiration was his black-haired, blue-eyed neighbor. No way could he do better than Steve Earle’s “Galway Girl.”
Colt strummed the chorus and belted out the lyrics, thinking of Delaney. Pretty Delaney.
Halfway through the tune, he heard her drive up the easement. He peered through his window and saw her get out of the car with a load of packages.
Setting down his guitar, he went to the back door and called, “You need help?”
“Sure.”
He slipped on a pair of huarache sandals, hiked up her driveway, and grabbed an armful of bags from her car.
“Did you buy out a store?”
“It’s more stuff for the Grease costumes.”
He helped her haul the bags into her house, carried them upstairs, and left them in her studio.
“You get my call?” he asked.
“I did. I tried to call you back around lunchtime, but there was no answer. I figured you must be busy.”
He hadn’t checked his cell. “Jack and I took the department’s new kayak out for a test run.”
“How was it?”
He shrugged. “Not the best. You go to Reno?”
“Yep. While I was there I went to a sporting goods store and checked out some of the pants you told me about. I could only get so much detail from the pictures on the Internet, so I bought a couple of pairs.”
He stood back and scrutinized her. “Are you serious about this ... about making adventure clothes?”
“You mean as part of my collection? No. But once I get a bee in my bonnet to perfect something, I don’t give up. Plus, I might be willing to design a prototype for Garner Adventure. I still have to talk to my people but haven’t ruled anything out.”
“Really?” She was singing a different tune than she had before, and Colt wondered at the sudden change. “Why’s that? Not that TJ won’t be into it.”
“Crazy, but I’m having fun making them. I guess they’ve given me purpose, which I haven’t had since the divorce.”
“If you’re having fun, then by all means do it. But don’t feel like you have to do my brother a favor. And as far as I’m concerned, you’ve already perfected the pants. The ones you sent over last night rock the house. And I think I can speak with authority when I say that, because I’ve tried them all.”
“Seriously?” Her face glowed from the praise. “You’re not just saying that to make me feel good?”
“Delaney, if all I wanted to do was make you feel good, I could do that with my hands and my mouth and my . . .”
“You’re flirting again,” she said. But from the way her nipples puckered through her top, it was plain that he’d turned her on. Either that or she was cold in eighty-degree weather.
Regardless, the woman knew how to work a simple cotton T-shirt, that was for sure. Jeans ... yeah, those too.
“You want a glass of beer? I got some of that fancy stuff you like,” Delaney offered.
“You did?” Fancy. That was funny.
“You know, to return the favor of the other night. The wine we had on your porch.”
“Sure,” he said, even though he knew it wasn’t prudent to stay.
She moved into the kitchen and he followed her like Mary’s little lamb. You’re pitiful, Garner. Absolutely pitiful.
“So other than taking the kayak out, how was your day?”
“Well, it started with me taking eight geriatrics on a nature hike and went downhill from there.”
“Really? The hike sounds nice.”
“Perhaps not as bad as having terminal cancer. My family doesn’t seem to understand that I have a full-time job. They’re constantly hitting me up to sub in, which I wouldn’t mind occasionally. But it’s become a regular th
ing. I only get one day off a week.”
“Why is that?” she asked while pouring his beer into a chilled pilsner glass.
“We’re short staffed and I’m a control freak.”
She bent over to hand him his beer and he could see down her shirt. Nice lacy bra. God, he was such a dick.
“Can’t you hire more people?”
“Thanks to the mayor, I don’t have the budget. But Jack and I have written a proposal and plan to bring it up at the next city council meeting.” Which was sure to piss off old Pond Scum.
“I would hope so. Working six days a week and being on call all hours of the night is crazy. You need help, Colt.”
“Want to sit on the deck?” Maybe the mountain breeze would cool his ardor, because he was seriously thinking about carrying her into the nearest bedroom. Ever since that kiss, he’d been hot to sleep with her, despite his misgivings.
“Sounds great. I’ll just throw together some nibbles.”
He took her arm. “We don’t need nibbles.”
“Okay. Let me at least pour myself a glass of wine.”
He watched her reach up into the cupboard for a goblet and nearly lost his mind as her shirt inched up in the back, showing an expanse of creamy skin. For a second he fantasized about what it would feel like to press his lips there.
“You ready?” With glass in hand, she led the way.
It was definitely a few degrees cooler outside, but it wasn’t helping. Colt waited for Delaney to choose a seat among the wrought-iron patio furniture and took one as far away as he could without being conspicuous about it. He had to get a grip.
“You close to finishing the costumes?” he asked, for the sake of something to say.
“I am. Just needed to come up with a few things for some of the minor characters, but Danny’s and Sandy’s are all set.”
“It was nice of you to take it on.”
“I actually enjoyed it and it was easy. The 1950s don’t require much. Shakespeare would’ve required more of a challenge.”
“Rita will be happy. I don’t know why she doesn’t run for mayor; she does everything else in this town.”
“Hopefully, I’ll still be here to see the performance.”
He froze. “It’s the last week in October. You planning to leave before then?”
“The plan was for me to stay long enough to get a collection going and to buy a new place in Los Angeles. I do have a business to run and it’s there, not here.”