Page 110 of Fallen Hearts

What a fool I’d been, to think I’d ever loved a woman before Pia.

By the time I ate, showered and hit the sack, it was well after 1a.m. Too late to text her. Since learning how to fall asleep anywhere, anytime… whether it was at the barracks or lying on the ground in the middle of a mission, a few hours of shut-eye necessary to function… I’d never had trouble falling asleep.

Until now.

Onea.m. turned into 2a.m.

Fuck it.

I turned on the lamp. My bedroom in this apartment was anything but homey, though I’d never minded before. I walked over to my dresser. Picking up a small shoebox, I started going through the few items of my father’s I’d brought with me.

I picked up the ring. A modest diamond. Nothing to write home about, especially in this day and age. Except… it was my mother’s. So to me, it was the most valuable piece of jewelry in the world.

Turning it around and around in my hand, I remembered the day my father gave it to me.

“I know it’s not much, but if you want it…”

We’d been sitting at the same kitchen island Dad and I had had many conversations around. I’d taken it from him, the pact firmly in place. One my dad knew about and thought had been ridiculous.

“It’s everything,” I’d said. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I withheld my true thoughts at the time, which were along the lines of, “I won’t be needing it.”

Placing the ring back in the box, I pulled out an old polaroid. It was one of the only pictures I had of the three of us. Dad said he and my mother were too busy working to stop for pictures. I suspected it had more to do with how sick my mother was for so many years. Either way, I stared at the outdated picture for so long, my eyes began to blur.

They’d been so happy.

High school sweethearts with an inn, and a son, and a dream for the future that cancer stole. Instead, it had been Dad and me for all those years.

Putting the picture back into the box, I closed the lid.

And sat there for God knew how long. Sleep eluded me until it was absolutely necessary, unless I wanted to get myself killed by being anything less than 100 percent alert on the job tomorrow.

My last thought before dozing off was about that very job. The one I’d taken to help people. But in reality, if I were honest, being a cop was as much about helping myself as others. I had no control over my mother’s illness. No control over the course of my life.

But if I could control the outcome for others… do some good…

My father’s job, being the innkeeper of Heritage Hill, might not be the same as saving people’s lives. But wasn’t making people happy a worthy occupation too?

The only answer that came to me was the silent darkness of sleep.

40

PIA

Walking into the Big Easy, I didn’t see Maggie anywhere. Since we’d decided not to include a kitchen upgrade in phase one of the renovations, now that we were over budget, getting local restaurants to partner with for events into the following year had become a priority. I could work with caterers easily enough, but I wanted partners. If we were going to put Cedar Falls on the map in a big way, make it stand out among the many cute towns dotting each of the Finger Lakes, doing it as a community just made sense.

“Hi, can I help you?” a woman from behind the hostess stand asked.

“Yes, I have a dinner reservation. But I also wondered if Maggie was around?”

“Sorry, she’s off tonight.”

“I didn’t realize she took days off,” I said just as Delaney joined me.

“She doesn’t usually but her son and his wife are in town for the weekend.”

“Oh, nice.” I’d seen the pretty, long-blonde-haired waitress before but didn’t know her name. For all intents and purposes, even though Heritage Hill wasn’t technically mine, I was a business owner. Getting to know everyone and anyone in this town was high on my priority list. I stuck out my hand. “Pia Russo. I manage Heritage Hill.”

“Gaia Love,” she said, pushing up the dark-framed glasses that made her look like a sexy librarian.

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