Page 36 of Whispers of You
Chris waved me off. “I get it. I just want you to know that I’m there for you if you ever need to talk. Or not talk. I’m also good with takeout and beer.”
The corner of my mouth lifted. “Only if it’s a pepperoni and pineapple from Wildfire.”
Chris’s face screwed up. “That’s just wrong, and you know it.”
“Don’t judge my culinary choices.”
“You mean your culinarycrimes.”
I only grinned wider. “You’ve never even tried it.”
He shuddered. “I’ll get you your pizza crime. I’ll stick with meat lovers.”
“Fine.”
“How about tonight?”
I pulled my phone out to check my calendar and froze. In big letters wasFamily Dinner at the Hartleys’. I was over there at least once a month but had made these plans with Grae last week—before everything had changed.
“You got plans?” Chris prodded.
“Uh, yeah.”
“With who?”
“Grae,” I said, still staring at my phone. Maybe she’d meet me in town instead.
Chris nodded. “Later this week then. Tell G hi.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Wren.”
My head snapped up at Lawson’s voice. Chris had left, and I hadn’t even realized it. I’d still been staring at that tiny calendar square on my phone like it was a cobra poised to strike.
I shoved my cell into my desk drawer so the damn thing couldn’t taunt me. “Can you come to my office for a minute?”
Dread pooled in my stomach. “No one else is on duty. Abel went to lunch and—”
“I’m back,” he grumbled, sliding into the cubicle next to mine. “Go talk to Lawson so he isn’t hovering over me.”
“I love you, too, Abel,” Lawson said with a chuckle.
“Holler if you need me,” I told Abel as I rose from my chair.
“Who do you think you’re talking to, missy? I was the only dispatcher on duty for almost a decade.”
His indignant response had my lips curving. “Of course. And you walked to school in four feet of snow, uphill both ways.”
“Damn straight. Now, get out of my space and let me focus.”
I shook my head and followed Lawson toward his office. But the moment we stepped inside, and he’d shut the door, any flickers of amusement fled.
“Have a seat,” Lawson said as he moved to his chair.
I worried the side of my lip as I followed his order. “Am I about to get fired?”
Lawson’s eyes flared. “I sure as hell hope not because you’re the best dispatcher I have.”
