by Natalie Ann
“Are you concerned I might get a cold?” Sidney asked.
“Among other things.”
What did he mean by that? She was cold, so she climbed in her car and turned it on, letting the hot air hit her. It didn’t take long before she saw Mac walk back to Mrs. Grady’s car and hand her some papers, then watched as the old lady sped out of the parking lot again. Mac’s head dropped down like he expected the woman to do it, but wasn’t about to go chasing after her on foot.
When he was next to Sidney’s car, she shut it off and got out. She still needed to do her shopping on top of it.
“All set?”
“Yeah. She got a ticket for failing to stop. I had to make sure she still had insurance. I can only imagine what her premiums are.”
“If she’s dropped I’m sure she’ll still get out there and drive.”
“I hope not,” he said. “Thankfully it’s always around town and not on bigger faster roads, but I do worry she will hit some pedestrian.”
“And you want to do something about it but can’t?” she asked. The urge to reach her hand out and lay it on his arm was massive and she wondered what kind of power he must wield for her to feel that when she was annoyed with him.
“I did what I could,” he said. “How have you been?”
The wind picked up and started to blow her hair around and in front of her face. He reached out and moved it out of the way for her. A sweet move on his part and he almost looked embarrassed by it. “Just working,” she said. “Grocery time for me. You?”
“Same.” He looked around the parking lot. “I was going to stop into the bar over the weekend but then realized you were probably busy. So though I wanted to pick up where we left off, I didn’t think Friday or Saturday night in the bar gave us the best environment.”
Made sense. “Probably not.”
“So then, I’m going to go out on a limb and see if you’d like to get dinner. I know you work nights so that only leaves tonight and tomorrow. Maybe we could do lunch if you don’t sleep in?”
“It’s eleven now. I’m up by nine most days, as I like to keep to a schedule. Lunch could usually work but maybe not so much with you. So then, tonight is good or tomorrow.”
She wasn’t letting the opportunity pass where it could be days again. They started this thing and she damn well wanted to see where it was going.
“Dinner tonight it is,” he said. “Are we meeting or do you trust me enough to pick you up?”
“Since you’re the chief of police and related to men that are either married to or dating my best friends, I think I can trust you.” The wind blew hard that time, almost forcing her to take a step back. “And I’m sure you can figure out my address based on the piece of paper I gave you earlier.”
“I’m a pretty smart man. Six work?”
“It does. If you’re held up, my number is on that report too.”
“It is,” he said. “I’ll see you at six, Sidney.”
“Until then, Mac,” she said back and walked away to do her shopping. That went better than she thought.
Thirty minutes later she was walking in the side door with her arms full of six bags and ready to keel over from the weight of it all, but she didn’t want to make more than one trip nor did she want Amanda to go out and help.
“You were a lot longer than I thought you’d be. Mad rush at the store?” Amanda asked. She was in the kitchen stirring something in a pot. Smelled like chicken noodle soup. Damn, she missed things like this when she moved out after college. But she couldn’t go home. It’d never be the same. She stayed as long as she could have.
“I was involved in a little fender bender. I’m fine though.”
“Oh my God,” Amanda said, coming forward. “Let me look you over.”
Sidney laughed. “I’m fine, Mom. Some little old lady didn’t stop and clipped the back of my car with the big caddy she was driving. I got more damage than her. After talking with Mac I get the feeling she has that vehicle for the number of people she hits. It’s like a tank.”
“Mac, huh?”
“I didn’t expect him to show up, but he did. Then in the wind we were standing like two fools talking. He said he’d wanted to stop in and see me this weekend but figured the timing was off with it being busy.”
“He would have been right,” Amanda said. “And I get the feeling he isn’t the type of guy to pull someone away from their job or want a lot of eyes on him.”
“No. I should have realized that. Anyway, he’s picking me up for dinner at six.”
“Oh you go, girl. What are you going to tell Bri? She will be all over you on what to wear and who you are with.”
“Crap. I didn’t think of that. There’s no hiding it. Besides, it’s not like she can get jealous like she did with Hunter and Drew. Mac isn’t like them.”
“Meaning what?” Amanda asked. “And want some soup once we put these away?”
“Yes, please,” she said, unloading the groceries. “And I mean he isn’t rich. Not like Drew or Hunter. That’s important to Bri.”
The two of them put everything away, Amanda stopping her from bringing her toiletries upstairs by saying, “Sometimes Bri just wants a hot man to roll in the sheets with. She’s going to be damn jealous no matter how you look at it. She means well or thinks she’s funny, but she’s really more immature.”
“I know. I feel bad saying things like this, but we know it’s the truth. I’ll be ready for her,” she said and walked upstairs, then told herself she had a few hours to get ready internally too.
Her first date since she’d been on the island.
The first man she even wanted to date.
She wasn’t skittish from Rod, but she was selective.
And Mac had been in her mind convincing her to give it a chance.
At one point in life she played the gambler. She never thought she had much to lose after losing the most important thing.
But getting burned made her slow down.
Now she was ready to speed up and she wondered if it was her sister Anne whispering in her ear and goading her on like she had when they were kids.
Anne liked to push and experience. Sidney liked to sit back and watch.
It was time to be that person that could be pushed to experience again.
5
First Date
Mac pulled up to Sidney’s house and saw three cars in the driveway. He knew she had two roommates but was kind of hoping they all wouldn’t be there.
Amanda seemed nice enough from when he’d met her at Kayla’s wedding. The other roommate, he couldn’t remember her name, just her face and body. She was in a slinky dress at the wedding, throwing back shots and dancing with multiple men. Sometimes several at once.
If she went home with one of them, he wouldn’t be surprised, but he knew she wasn’t his type of girl.
He got out and walked to the front door to ring the bell, but it was opened before his finger could hit the button. “Hey, Amanda.”
“Mac. Good to see you. Come on in.”
She was a pretty girl. Hometown sweet came to mind when he saw her. “You too. Is Sidney ready?”
“She’ll be down in a minute. Bri is up there ragging on her to change.”
“I’m not ragging,” Bri yelled from the top of the stairs and then came bounding down them. “I just told her that she had jeans that looked much better than what she had on and then I found them and told her to change. I stood right there to watch and make sure she did. I’m Bri, by the way. We haven’t officially met.”
“Mac,” he said back, shaking her hand. Bri’s dark hair was in a ponytail and she had leggings on with a short shirt not covering much. She had curves in all the right places and obviously knew how to put them on display. He was doing his damnedest to look the other way.
“Bri, why don’t you go in the kitchen and check on dinner for me,” Amanda said. “You wanted lasagna so you should make sure it’s not overcooked.”
“You just
want to be the mom of the house and tell Mac to get Sidney back by curfew. Don’t worry, I was the devil on her shoulder telling her to do everything I would tonight.”
“Go,” Amanda said shooing her out of the room. “I’m so sorry. Sometimes people don’t act their age.”
“Or they do and you don’t,” he said back.
“That is probably right. I’m more down to earth. Bri is out for fun. I’m sure you can see that. And you did well looking at the wall. I told her that was inappropriate to put that on with someone coming over, but she’s all about getting attention.”
“I’ve been around the block a time or two,” he said. He knew women like Bri. He’d dated women like her. The ones that wanted to be pampered and cherished. He didn’t have it in him to do it and probably never would.
“I’m sure you have. And no, I’m not giving you a curfew. I wouldn’t dream of it. I wanted Bri out of here to apologize for her.”
“No need to apologize for other people’s behavior.”
“She does that a lot,” Sidney said as she walked down the stairs. He felt the urge to roll his tongue back in his mouth like a dog panting after chasing a rabbit in the woods.
“Look at you,” he said.
“Now if I were Sidney’s mother and some man came to the door and looked at my daughter like that I might follow along rather than say what the curfew is. But Sidney’s a big girl so I’m just going to tell you two to have fun.”
Mac watched Amanda go to the back of the house, then turned to Sidney who’d come down the stairs to stand in front of him...right in his personal space. He wanted to yank her in and slant his mouth over hers but knew that might be pushing his luck for a man that just made a first date with her.
“She means well. I love her. I hope you weren’t offended by my roommates.”
“Of course not,” he said.
“Good because every woman wants a reaction like I just got so I should thank Bri.”
“Those jeans do look pretty sweet on you.”
“I’m glad. They are the ones I had on originally. I changed back into them. Bri thinks she knows everything but she really doesn’t.”
“I can only imagine what the ones she picked out looked like,” he said.
“Those are for another date,” she said winking.
Damn. “So they are sexier than these?”
“I guess we’ll have to see how tonight goes and if you get to see them another time or not.”
“Talk about pressure. I think I’m up for it.”
“Then let’s go to dinner,” she said, “and pick up where we left off last Wednesday.”
They got in his SUV and drove to the restaurant. Once they were seated and food and drinks ordered, he asked, “So...what brought you to Amore Island? Other than it wasn’t for love.”
Sidney had thought for a few days about what she was going to tell Mac when this came up because she knew damn well it would again. In the end she was going to keep to as much of the truth as possible.
“I wanted a change. After college I knew Montana wasn’t where I wanted to be but wasn’t sure where I wanted to be either.”
“You haven’t been here long, so where before here?”
“General talk or concerned I’m hiding something?”
“Are you hiding something?”
“Aren’t we all?” she asked and tilted her head.
“I suppose you are right.”
“In this case, it’s nothing scandalous or criminal. I moved around a little. Thought I wanted some warmer weather and went to Houston. I was there for about two years and realized it wasn’t for me.”
“Too much of a big city feel?”
“Yes. So I moved to Myrtle Beach. I said it’d be nice to be by the water and still be in a tourist area. I guess when it came down to it I knew that is where the money was in bartending.”
“Yet you ended up on a small island in the northeast.”
“I did. The summers were hotter than I wanted there. I moved to Boston and from there to here. Boston though a big city wasn’t that bad, but I missed the small area vibe. I guess you can’t take the country out of the girl.”
“You sure the hell don’t look like any country chick I know.”
“I’ve worked hard at that,” she said. That year aboard, she’d shed as much of the naive country hick as she could. It was a lesson that she shouldn’t have tried to be someone she wasn’t though.
“So you saw a job here and applied after living in Boston?” he asked.
“That’s it.” Which was the truth. “I was fine living there, but a few people were in the bar talking about the island one night. I looked it up to see what the hype was about. It pulled me in, you could say, and I was lucky enough to not only get the job but also find a place to live.”
“That is normally the harder part,” he said.
“I never really wanted to have roommates, but it wasn’t always a choice. I got lucky with Amanda. Kayla is a doll too, but she didn’t stay long. She comes and visits a lot. Normally on Mondays because she knows Amanda and I have the day off.”
“So you got to have a girls’ day today?” he asked.
“I did.”
Kayla had come over and been excited to know about Sidney’s date with Mac tonight. They talked and laughed like girlfriends do. The three of them got along great. She’d never been a jealous person when it came to her friends, but she had to say she was hoping she and Mac hit it off. How nice would it be if the three of them were dating men in the same family, however distant they may be.
“And do you like it here?”
“I wouldn’t have stayed if I didn’t. It’s a beautiful place to live. How many people get the luxury of saying they live on an island?”
Though just as many had said it was a great place to visit but not live. She could see both sides to it. But life in the slow lane was where it was at for her.
Sure, this time of year it was slow and the money was thin, but she put away for rainy days and then used this time to push and work on her children’s books. The fact she had the house to herself during the week allowed her that freedom to work toward her dream.
“Not many. Though I can tell you there are plenty that grew up here who couldn’t wait to get off of it.”
“But not you?” she asked.
“There was a part of me that wanted to see the world. I knew I would when I enlisted. But I couldn’t get back here fast enough either.”
“I can’t say I feel that way about going back to Montana, but I could understand wanting to come back here.”
She talked to her parents a few times a year. They texted more often. Things just were never the same with Anne gone. She blamed her parents for Anne’s death. She couldn’t even look back and say it was a teen’s emotions rather than facts. To this day, she still held them partially responsible.
She knew it wasn’t logical, but when you lose your twin, you lose a part of yourself on top of it. She’d never get it back and wasn’t even trying.
At this point in her life, she just had to find a way to be happy and she hoped that Mac could bring her a little joy.
“That was me. I’ve been back about seven years.”
She leaned back when their drinks came. The service was a bit slow but maybe she was judgmental because McKay’s was pretty fast. “And since you’ve been back, all work and no play?” she asked, picking up her beer and taking a sip, her eyes never leaving his over the rim of her glass.
“Just like we all have things to hide, we all have time to play and time to work.”
She laughed. “I like you, Mac. You’re honest and upfront, but you’ve got a personality that I didn’t expect. A surprisingly pleasant one.”
He started to cough on his beer. “Pleasant?”
“Probably not a word most use to describe you.”
“No,” he said.
“So now you know where I’m from and how I ended up here. Where I went to school and what I studi
ed. What I do for a living too. I know the same about you. I’d say we are moving right along the checklist.”
“We are,” he said. “Does that mean we don’t have anything else to talk about?”
“I’d be pretty bummed if that was the case. So tell me, did your work get any better from last week? Budget woes still causing you to drink?”
He snorted. “Budget woes are always going to cause me to drink, but not as much as that day. I’d ask how your week has been, but considering your little run-in with Mrs. Grady, the answer is probably not great.”
“I’ve had worse things happen in my life than a dent in my car. I’ll get it fixed and it’ll be fine. I already called and made an appointment with Bond’s Auto repair. I spoke with Carter. I’m assuming a relation of yours?”
“First cousin. He does good work.”
“I’m glad. I was more frustrated that Mrs. Grady wanted to just pretend it didn’t happen. I’ve got a thing about right and wrong. Her wanting that brushed off is wrong every day of the week.”’
“Then we share that trait. Right and wrong kind of rules my world. If everyone had that sense of responsibility my job would be much easier.”
“Speaking of jobs. Do you normally respond to accidents?” She’d been shocked he’d showed up on the scene. She’d think maybe if she’d given her name and he heard it he might have come, but she hadn’t.
“Nope. I had no one else around to send. I’ve got four full-time officers, two captains, a detective, and two part-time officers. Normally I’ve got three staff on daily, sometimes four depending the days, not including me obviously. Everyone was dealing with something else. Or so they said.”
“I sense some of the wrong in your tone,” she said grinning.
“I suppose. I’ve got a captain that has one foot out the door. I wish the other foot would join, but he’s holding on for some reason.”
“Ah. Riding out the gravy train?” she asked.