Page 69 of Refuge for Ailsa

“Are you staying with me?”

Tavish smiled. “Nowhere else I’d be.”

* * *

He went backto the waiting room to give her mom and dad a chance to visit with her. As he swat there talking to Donovan and Maureen, the door opened and a familiar face stepped in. Tavish rose and greeted the man with a handshake. “Hello, Josh. Thanks for coming by.”

His captain smiled. “You’re welcome. I hear she’s gonna be okay.”

“Yeah, that’s what they’re saying. Got a bad cut on her foot that’s going to take some work, but otherwise, she’s doing okay.”

“Good. Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something if you’ve got a minute.”

“Sure. Her parents are back there with her. Have a seat. Want some coffee or something?”

“I’ll take a cup. Thanks.”

Tavish headed to the coffee maker in the waiting room, poured them both a cup, and made his way back. “I remembered you like it black, right?”

“You remembered correctly.” The captain took a sip, then set his cup on the table. “So how serious are you about this girl?”

“Very, sir. I’ve already asked her dad if I could propose to her, but I’m waiting a while. We need to get to know each other better, but I think we both know where this is going.”

“I see. Did you know that KellyLarson is retiring?” Kelly had been with KDFWR years before Tavish hired on.

“No. I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah. Decided last week. And he was working a straight weekday day shift. No weekends, no nights or evenings. I talked to a few of the other guys, and they suggested that I offer it to you.”

“Oh, captain, that’s great, but they’ve all been there longer than me and?”

“Has nothing to do with that. I even asked Robin, and she said she was happy right where she was. That surprised me, seeing as how I think she and Cynthia are adopting a little one, but she said what she has is ideal. She works evenings and Cynthia works straight days. That means a kid will be covered all the time, and they manage to make plenty of time to be together despite their schedules. So the shift is yours if you want it.”

“Sir, I don’t quite know what to say…”

“Say yes. That’s if you want to.”

“Yes. I want to. I need to. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. That doesn’t mean you’ll never work an evening or weekend again to fill in for somebody. It just means that’s not your regular schedule.”

“Thank you, sir. This will be really good for us.”

“I think so too. I’ve got you covered until Friday. Will that be long enough?”

“I think so. If it’s not, her mom will come and stay, or my sister will. One way or another, she’ll be fine.”

“Okay, then. You’ll work evenings until the second week of August. That’s when Kelly is leaving. Then we’ll transition you, so know that it’s coming.”

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate how kind you’ve been about all of this.”

“I heard what that crazy woman did to her. I swear to god, if somebody did that to my wife, I don’t know what I’d do to them, but it wouldn’t be pretty.”

“Yes, sir. You have no idea what kind of murderous thoughts I have pretty much all day every day.”

“I can only imagine.” The captain emptied his cup of coffee. “Let me know if anything changes but otherwise, I’ll expect you to be on patrol Friday.”

“Yes, sir. You can count on it. Thanks again for coming by.”

---