Page 45 of Under the Lights
“I guess that answers that question,” Jen said. “Was there a wall involved?”
Kelly couldn’t hold back her grin as she nodded. “But I’m not saying anything else.”
“That was Saturday night. It’s Tuesday. Have you two been filling in the blanks?”
“No. I’ve barely even seen him, actually. He’s been running around with the other alumni players.” Thankfully staying on the right side of the law so far.
“The guys have been hanging out with the kids a lot,” Jen said. “Offering advice on football and life and stuff in general, I guess.”
“It’s good for them.” Kelly sat back down and dumped another bucket between her legs. “The kids, I mean. Though it gives the men something to do, too.”
Not that Chase needed anything to do. He seemed to be so busy she’d barely seen him and, other than a couple of text exchanges, they’d hardly spoken. Not that she was pining for him. But if they were going to have a hot, sexy fling while he was in town, she’d like a little more flinging before he left.
They worked in silence for a while, the excitement of having so much money to sort fading over the course of the actual sorting until, finally, they were done. They made multiple trips back down to Jen’s car and she left for the bank, promising to text them the official total once they’d sorted the deposit and called her with the amount.
Gretchen went back upstairs with Kelly, since she’d left her sweatshirt on the back of the kitchen chair. “Does Jen seem off to you?”
“What do you mean?”
Gretchen shrugged. “I don’t know. She just didn’t seem like herself, and she hardly said anything the whole time.”
“Probably just tired.” They all were.
“I know what Jen tired looks like and I know it sounds weird, but she wouldn’t look at Sam when we ran into them on the way over here.”
That got Kelly’s attention. “Sam Leavitt? Come on. He’s so far from her type it’s not even funny. Maybe something’s going on with the school administration or something, because there’s no way there’s anything going on between Jen and Sam.”
It was a crazy thought. They both knew Jen’s type—a cashmere sweater, some Shakespeare for fun—and Sam wasn’t it. Not that Chase was Kelly’s type, either, but that was different. They were just having a fling. She knew Jen was looking for a keeper.
“I have ice cream,” she said as Gretchen pulled on her sweatshirt. “You want some?”
“I should get home to Gram. I’ve been leaving her alone too much lately because of this Eagles Fest thing, and I told her we’d have a nice lunch together.”
Kelly sighed. “I’m on duty soon, so maybe I shouldn’t have ice cream for lunch.”
A few hours later, she was at her desk doing paperwork when the chief loomed over her. She leaned back in her chair, not liking the uncertainty on his face. He was a man who liked being in charge and, even when he had no clue, he moved through his life with utter confidence in himself.
“Hi, Chief.”
“McDonnell. You did a good job in the dunk tank the other night.”
All she’d done was repeatedly fall into frigid water, but she’d take whatever praise she could get. “Thank you. All for a good cause.”
“Yes.” He was actually fidgeting with a button on his shirt, and Kelly got nervous. She silently prayed she wasn’t about to be a victim of deeper budget cuts. “There’s been some talk about... so I heard Chase Sanders walked you home.”
Kelly didn’t like where that was going at all. “Yes, sir. I was cold enough so that he was concerned about my fine motor skills and wanted to be sure I got home okay.”
“Oh. And that’s it?”
Oh, hell no.“Are you asking me about a personal relationship, sir?”
“No!” His face flushed and he shook his head so hard she was surprised his hat didn’t fly off. “Absolutely not. That would be inappropriate. I was just... making small talk. Like I said, good job in the dunk tank.”
“Thank you, Chief.” She looked at the clock over his head. “If that’s all, sir, I should head out on patrol.”
“Of course. Uh... be careful out there.”
She refrained from rolling her eyes at her chief’s back, but just barely. While respect was important to her and she was a police officer in a small, old-fashioned town, she wasn’t going to let her boss cross that line.
