Page 60 of Under the Lights
All she wanted to do was finish her shift, run home to change, and meet Chase for lunch. She probably should have just told him to meet her at her place, but she’d gotten it in her head it would be nice to go out to a restaurant and have a real meal with him. Like a date. Only not a date, because they weren’t dating.
When she got within earshot, her stomach sank.
“Those men did us all a favor by coming back here to help out our kids,” the chief was saying. “We’re not going to repay that kindness by hassling them over stop signs that weren’t there before.”
“I also heard there was a break-in at the high school and no charges were pressed,” Judy added. “If laws are being circumvented because Officer McDonnell is having a personal—even intimate—relationship with the offender, that’s a problem.”
“It’spolice corruption,” Edna added, and Kelly heard the glee in her voice.
“Even if I was going to treat that accusation as credible, which I’m not,” the chief said, “this is not a conversation to have in the middle of the police station. My officers let our visitors off with warnings about the stop sign at my instruction, the same way we gave all of you warnings when they first went up. And as for the high school, that was a misunderstanding.”
The chief must have seen her approaching from behind the women through the corner of his eye, because he made a very subtlego awaygesture. Kelly reversed direction and ducked around a corner. She could still hear, but she couldn’t be seen.
“Now, Edna, you know we appreciate how you’ve looked out for this town. And Judy, I respect that, as a member of the board of selectmen, you’re making sure we’re doing our job. But I can assure you there’s no police corruption in Stewart Mills, nor has there ever been any inappropriate conduct from Officer McDonnell.”
“I’ll be watching her,” Edna promised.
She was always watching everybody, so that came as no surprise to Kelly, but she was more interested in what Judy Faring would say. If she and Edna could whip the town government into a frenzy over a nonexistent scandal, Kelly’s job could be in trouble.
Luckily, Judy wasn’t leaving without putting in her two cents. “It’s your reputation on the line here, Chief, so I’ll leave it in your hands. But if more citizens express concern, we might have to look into the situation more. In an official way.”
“I understand. But I’ll vouch for Kelly McDonnell both personally and professionally any day of the week, Judy.”
Kelly leaned her head back against the wall and, from her hiding place, watched the two women leave. What a mess. And the very thing she’d been trying to avoid all along.
“You can come out now.”
She turned the corner and walked to her desk, which her boss was leaning against. He looked more bemused than upset, which she took as a good sign.
“I’m really sorry about that, Chief.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. You haven’t done a damn thing wrong.” He cleared his throat. “I got caught up in the wife’s gossip and almost crossed a line I shouldn’t have, but this is ridiculous. Your personal life is your own business.”
“Thank you. And thank you for covering on the stop sign issue. And the school.”
He shrugged. “If you’d come to me and asked me how to handle it ahead of time, I would have told you to do what you did, so therefore it wasn’t really covering.”
“Hopefully Edna will let it go.” She winced. “You know she might call the FBI, right?”
“I’d expect nothing less from Edna Beecher. But trust me when I tell you she’s not going to get the satisfaction she’s looking for. She’s probably part of their training on how to identify credible reports.” They laughed together and then he shrugged. “Besides, Sanders and the other guys will probably all be gone by Monday and it’ll be a moot point.”
It was a good thing her boss chose to walk away, because emotion suddenly knotted in her throat, and she wasn’t sure she could have continued the conversation. Logically, she knew the guys—including Chase—would probably all be gone by Monday, but she hadn’t allowed herself to think too much about it. And now it wasn’t some random time in the future. Monday was right around the corner.
It was in the shower, preparing for her lunch with Chase, that it hit her.Maybe he would stay.
He liked being in Stewart Mills. She could tell. He’d rekindled old friendships, and he genuinely cared about the people, especially the teens he’d gotten to know through Eagles Fest activities. He wasn’t particularly close to his parents, and he wouldn’t be so far away that he’d never see his sister or her family.
She wouldn’t mind going home to Chase at the end of a long shift.
But even as the thought tried to take hold in her mind, she tried to squash it. Of course he liked being in Stewart Mills. It was like a vacation from the mess he’d left behind in New Jersey. She was his vacation fling. People liked going to Las Vegas or the Bahamas and having a couple of carefree, fun-filled weeks, but that didn’t mean they pulled up stakes and moved there.
And even if he did, he wasn’t in a stable place, and that scared her. His life was currently a mess, so he couldn’t really make life decisions with a clear head. What if it seemed like settling down in Stewart Mills with Kelly was a good idea, but once he had his feet back under him, he realized that wasn’t what he’d wanted, after all?
She’d married a man who came to that realization. Or more accurately, she’d been absolutely devastated by a man who’d realized too late that a life with her wasn’t what he really wanted. She was never putting herself in a position to be hurt like that again.
If and when she put her heart on the line a second time, it would be for a man who had a stable life and knew exactly what he wanted his future to be. Right now, the only man she could imagine might be Chase but, as the chief had said, by Monday he’d be gone. Eventually she’d get over him and find therightman for her.
But today was only Friday, so she grabbed her keys and went to meet Chase.
