Page 46 of Under the Lights
Unfortunately, she couldn’t shut down the rest of the town. But still, it was only conjecture, since she knew neither Jen nor Gretchen would talk about her. So what if she and Chase had left the street fair at the same time and neither had been seen again? There were credible reasons why that would happen that did not involve their having sex up against her wall.
She’d been driving the roads of Stewart Mills for nearly an hour, with no more excitement than clearing the road of an empty box that had probably blown out of somebody’s truck, when her cell phone’s text chime dinged. After parking in one of her favorite spots, she pulled it out of its holster.
I’m going crazy.
It was from Chase and, though she waited a few seconds, no more information seemed forthcoming.Dammit, Chase, I’m a police officer, not a doctor.
Very funny. I want to see you again.
You’ll see me at the spaghetti dinner tomorrow.
There was a long pause before her phone chimed again.Unless you’re naked, that doesn’t count.
She laughed, the sound loud in her empty SUV.When scooping dangly pasta out of boiling water, naked is not recommended.
What about after?
Cleanup and I’m covering late shift.
Call in sick.
Sure, because calling in sick to have sex with Chase the day after her boss was having concerns about her having sex with Chase was a brilliant idea.No.
I’m going to explode.
Hand lotion.There was an image that could get a girl through a long, lonely night.
Tried. It’s all that scent your mom uses. I need therapy now.
And now so do I.
A car was coming, and Kelly looked up from her phone in time to see a minivan, driven by a tall, thin guy who looked vaguely familiar, run the stop sign.
Gotta go. John Briscoe has arrived.
—
Since their last trip to the Stewart Mills House of Pizza hadn’t ended well and he had his wife and kids with him, the guys joined John Briscoe at his parents’ home for a reunion and cookout. They had a huge backyard and a football, so it was inevitable they ended up tossing it around for a while.
Chase had to admit, it felt pretty good. Football was something he’d been good at and, more importantly, it had taught him that the harder he worked, the better he got. It was a lesson that had gotten him through school, then college and into business. The business hadn’t ended so well, but that wasn’t entirely his fault.
They’d spent countless hours every week on the field, practicing under Coach’s watchful eye. They’d been clumsy at first, dropping balls left and right, but they’d learned. Day after day of Sam handing the football off to him until they weren’t sloppy anymore. Chase, getting hit from every direction over and over until he learned how to tuck the ball and protect it while he ran.
Briscoe had run sideline routes until he could be fully extended to bring in the catch while still keeping both of his feet inbounds. Scrimmages had pitted Deck and Alex, along with many others, against each other. They’d hit and they’d hit until they could play it strong and clean at the same time.
Coach had given them everything, both on the sidelines and at home, and they’d given him a championship.
“How are things going?” Sam asked Chase when they took a break to have seconds on fruit salad and some cold drinks.
“Pretty good, I guess.” He shrugged. “It’s weird. I’ll have been here two weeks tomorrow and, in some ways, I feel like I never left and I’m just here. Like sometimes I have to remind myself I have a life—such as it is—waiting for me in New Jersey.”
“You could stay. Just go home and pack your shit and bring it back.”
“And do what? Stewart Mills isn’t exactly having a building boom.”
Sam shrugged. “There’s stuff within a reasonable commute to the south, and there’s been some activity to the north, from what I’ve heard. Or don’t build houses. Do something else.”
“Just like that, huh?” Chase knew Sam had switched jobs many times over the years, doing whatever suited him at the time.
