Page 25 of Redemption

She shifts in her seat. "Well, I have to admit, that does kinda warm up my bitter heart. Knowing that he does it to piss me off, means it's not going to piss me off as much. But I'll still play along."

"Good," Karina holds her chip in between her teeth. "It'd break his heart."

"So...." Whitney leans in. "Does he make you call him Chief in the bedroom?"

The group dissolves into giggles, and while I don't want to hear this about my father-in-law, I'm really happy these are my friends.

The group is splittingup as we're done eating, and Karina has pulled me to the side. "You and Caleb are good? I've been worried."

"We're good. The few days away is what we needed. Thank you for watching the kids."

"You know I'd do whatever is needed to help y'all. Mason and I were afraid."

I blow out a breath, pushing my hair back off my forehead. "I know, I was too. You know how he is though, he has to process himself before he can let anyone else in. Obviously I should've remembered that from when we were dating, but we've been a team so long, I didn't recognize it."

"He's a lot like Mase. They're strong and silent until they can't be anymore. I love you, Ruby. If y'all need anything else, let me know."

"I will." I reach forward, wrapping my arms around her, hugging her tightly. "Be safe getting home."

Karina wags her eyebrows at me. "I just texted the Chief and told him I had a drink, and now I'm driving. Chances are he'll be waiting to see if he can pull me over."

"Oh my God," I laugh. "Have fun, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Never..." she giggles.

And as I watch her drive away, I hope like fuck that Caleb and I have that type of marriage when we get to be their age.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CALEB

"I takeit things are worked out between you and Ruby?" Dad asks as we sit on the back porch, nursing beers.

"Yeah." I give him a smile, grateful that he's present enough in my life to ask. "It was exactly what we needed. Could've done with a few more days."

He chuckles, inhaling deeply. "Couldn't we all?"

Molly is throwing a softball back and forth with one of her teammates, while Darren and Levi are working on Levi's jump shot.

"He's getting better at that," Dad says as he nods his head toward where Levi and Darren are playing.

"Yeah, he's hopefully going to make the middle school team this year." There have been a couple times where Levi's not been the best player on the court, but he's got more heart than anyone else I've seen play.

Dad takes another drink from his bottle. "He's worked hard enough for it."

Ain't that the damn truth? If it were up to me, he'd make it on effort alone, but I'm not the coach, and no one asked my advice. "How are things going with you?"

He sighs heavily, raking a hand through his hair. "Being chief of police isn't all that it's fucking cracked up to be."

I raise an eyebrow, curious. Obviously, I've heard murmurs here and there. At a place like a police station, there's always gossip. "What's been going on?"

He leans back, staring out at the horizon. "It’s a mix of everything, really. Staffing issues, budget cuts—you name it. The department's spread pretty thin, and it's hard to stay on top of things. I've got officers pulling double shifts just to keep up with the basics. You probably know that, you're pulling more hours than you really want to. I just don't think anyone realizes how close it is."

“Yeah," I nod my head, rubbing my hand along the chair I'm sitting in. "I'm working a fuck-ton more than I want. The money's nice, but I could tell that things weren't on the up and up like you hoped they would be once you took over. What you're dealing with? That sounds rough."

"It is," he admits. "And then there's the community. You know how it is. Half of them feel we're not doing enough, and the other half think we’re overstepping. It's a delicate balance, and I'm just not sure I'm the man to bridge the gap."

I nod, feeling the weight of his words. “Seems like an impossible situation, but if anyone can bridge the gap, it's you, dad. You were fucking made for this. I think you know that.”

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