Page 34 of Clumsy in Love

“That must have been tough on your relationship.”

Holly sighed. “It’s complicated.” That was the polite way of saying, “I don’t want to talk about it,” right?

“Why’d you come back? And stay?”

“Like I said,Ididn’t do anything wrong. All my friends are here. I already had a job lined up with the parks department.” She shrugged. “I wasn’t planning to live at home after graduation anyway, so I got myself a place and stayed.”

“That’s what you meant by people you loved leaving you?”

His intuitiveness was annoying. She kept her eyes glued to the road. “Maybe.”

“I’m sure the DA can work around it. Any other secrets though?”

“No. I’m a jilted bride with a jailbird dad. That’s the extent of my embarrassing baggage.”

“Believe me, I’ve heard worse.”

“What’s your family like?” Time to turn the tables.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Why not?” Her juicy-secret-’bout-to-come-out meter pinged.

“My folks have been married over thirty years, sickeningly in love, and more so every day. I have two sisters. They all live in Brooklyn. We’re pretty close.”

That wasn’t juicy at all. Her meter must need calibrating.

“What about you? Wife? Girlfriend?” Not that it mattered. Just a friendly get-to-know-you question.

“Neither.”

“So,noscurrilous family secrets?” Was that even possible? Everyone hadsomething.

“Well, it’s not a scandal, but I had a sister who was killed when she was sixteen.”

Holly slammed on the brakes and gasped. So, not juicy, just horrifying. “Killed? That’s terrible.” She looked over at him, dying for details but not wanting to pry.

“She went into the city with some friends. They were held up at gunpoint, and for some reason, one of the robbers shot off a round for fun as they fled. It struck my sister in the throat, and she died within seconds.”

“I’m so sorry, Cole. How old were you?”

“Ten. It’s what made me want to be a cop actually.”

Another call came over the radio, and she’d been so engrossed in the conversation that she jumped at the sound. “Bennett? You clear for a lockout at Parking Lot Two?”

“On my way,” Holly said.

“Keys locked in the car,” Cole said. “Now you’re talkin’ my language. Maybe there’s a kid or a dog inside, and we’ll get to bust out the windows.”

“Easy, boy,” she said but couldn’t help but smile.

They ran from call to call, grabbing lunch at a BBQ shack near the park, and finally quit at seven. She stopped by the office to turn in her radio and switch out her keys.

“I’m beat,” she said as they got into her truck. “We can go to town for dinner or grab a pizza and take it back to Jen’s.”

“We should stop by your place again,” Cole said. “Just a quick look around. Then pizza sounds good.”

“That’s fine. I need more clothes anyway.”

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