Always The Hero

Matt flicked his thumb across the stack of divorce papers as anger simmered low and hot. “And what’s that?”

“That I’m a drag on the department.” Ozzy flinched as if speaking the words out loud hurt. “Word is he’s planning on instituting physical fitness requirements for all of us in the department. Like what they do over in Durante.”

“I bet Luke will have a thing or two to say about that.” When Ozzy didn’t respond, Matt prodded deeper. “Is that what all this diet stuff’s been about, Oz? You worried about keeping your job?”

“No.”

“Oz.” Matt used the same tone with the younger deputy that he had with new recruits. Granted, Ozzy wasn’t about to walk into a war zone, but sometimes the same medicine worked on different ailments. “What’s going on?”

Oz shook his head. “It’s not a big deal, Matt. You know how Gil is.”

“Yes, I do.” One of the reasons Matt wasn’t overly fond of their mayor. If it wasn’t for Ozzy’s tech know-how and efficient computer skills, they’d still be typing on Selectric typewriters and stuffing the wooden filing cabinets to the point of overflowing. “I’ll tell you something right now, Oz. If you’re looking to lose weight to appease anyone other than yourself, it won’t work in the long run. Short term, maybe.”

“I know. At least I’m feeling better.” Oz shrugged in that casual way he had of trying not to call attention to himself. “And I’m up to a mile-and-a-half run in the mornings. Well, I can do that much without wanting to puke. Mostly.” He looked at the carrot in his hand. “I’m getting really sick of these things, though.”

Personally, Matt was surprised the deputy hadn’t turned orange. “Don’t let anyone else determine how you live your life, Oz. You want to lose weight, you do it for yourself. Not because some jerk like Gil Hamilton’s bullied you into it.”

“Word,” Jasper muttered.

“I hear you.” Ozzy nodded. “And I know you’re right. Anytime I think about quitting, I remember that day Charlie got trapped in the caves down at the beach. I should have been able to help Fletcher more than I did. They both could have drowned.”

It wasn’t the first time Ozzy had made mention of the near-catastrophic event. There also wasn’t any mistaking the hint of self-loathing and disappointment that came with letting the people you care about down; or worse, believing you had. That day had been rough on all of them; the idea that eight-year-old Charlie might never have made it out of those caves if it hadn’t been for her now stepfather’s actions and the support of most of the town still made his gut clench.

“No one believes you let anyone down.” Matt chose his words carefully. “Not Luke, not Fletcher and not me, who by the way, took three times as long getting down the beach as you did.” He slapped his hand against his prosthesis. “If we don’t blame you, there’s no reason to blame yourself.”

“Yeah, well.” Ozzy shook off Matt’s attempt to placate him and returned his bag of carrots to the mini fridge under the coffee station. “I’m not going to let anything like that happen again. I want Luke to know he can count on me for whatever might happen. That all of you can. And if the mayor does institute physical tests, I’ll be ready for them.”

“As long as you’re doing it for yourself, too.”

“Funny how times change.” Ozzy looked genuinely surprised. “You know, back in high school, word got around my mother had put me on a diet. Some of the guys on the football team loaded my locker with those cream-filled sponge cakes. Ruined my first edition copy of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

There was little Matt loathed more than bullies. “Any of those jerks carry a gun and get a patrol car with spinning flashing lights?”

Ozzy grinned. “Nope.”

“Then you win. Speaking of winning.” Matt gestured to the clock on the wall. “Patrol started five minutes ago.”

“Oh! Geez.” Ozzy spun around, checked his belt for his weapon and phone, dived for his jacket and stumbled to the door. “Thanks, Matt. I’ll see you later. Oh.” He poked his head back in the office. “If you want something to look forward to tonight, Abby told me Lori is going to be representing the Flutterby Inn at the town meeting. You know, in case you want to say hi or something.”

Matt wadded up a piece of paper, chucked it at him and yelled, “Be grateful I don’t have a Twinkie!”

But Ozzy had made his point. Just the mention of Lori was enough to take the sting out of Matt’s obligation for tonight. There was something about just laying eyes on Lori that made his day better. He’d been careful with her, slowly building up their casual friendship despite his desire for more. Lunch. Coffee. A couple of small town events. He couldn’t let himself get too interested, too tempted, as long as he was still officially married, and the truth was, he was both—interested and tempted. He enjoyed the time he spent with her, felt the dormant fire inside of him light up when she looked at him, smiled at him. Laughed at his stupid jokes. It took a special woman to get his sense of humor. Which was why, in the last few weeks, since soon after Holly and Luke’s wedding, he’d been avoiding her.

Matt Knight was all about doing right by people. Especially those he cared about. But there wasn’t any moving forward, not with his life, not with Lori, as long as he was still anchored to the past.

The phone rang. Before Matt could reach for the receiver, Jasper answered. “It’s for you, Matt. A Chris Walters?”

“That’s Kyle’s caseworker,” Matt said as he picked up his extension. “Chris? Kyle okay?”

“Doing well, actually.” The social worker’s encouraging words belied the tension in his voice. “We’re still on track for an early release. For now at least.”

“What’s that mean?” Matt squeezed the receiver so hard his fingers tingled. “What’s going on?”

“The judge in charge of Kyle’s case is retiring. His replacement is reviewing all the cases ahead of time and, well, since we’re jumping beyond fosterage to adoption, she has some concerns about your living situation.”

“What’s wrong with my living situation?” Matt asked. “I’ve got a room ready for him, he’ll have a part-time job with the sheriff’s department, and most importantly he’ll have more stability than he’s known in years.”

“I’m on your side, remember? You don’t have to convince me. She’s not denying your petition, Matt, but she has suggested a female influence in the house wouldn’t be a bad thing for Kyle. And given your marital status...”

“That’s about to be resolved.” Matt looked down at the papers on his desk. “I filed the divorce papers and am getting ready to sign them as we speak.”

“Okay. We’ll have to see how that plays with the judge.”

“Given Kyle’s last female influence was too hopped-up on prescription meds to give him a second thought, I wouldn’t think this would be any judge’s first concern.” Matt hated to speak ill of Kyle’s mother, but the truth was the truth.

“It’s a concern, Matt. And the judge only suggested it would be in your and Kyle’s best interest if there was someone in your life to help bring a bit of balance. Even if it’s just a girlfriend, which brings me to what we talked about before. She’s going to want to call Lori as a character witness.”

“Lori? How does she know about Lori?” The last time his heart had pounded this hard he’d been dodging bullets.

“Because I listed her in my report. You said you were dating her, that you thought it was getting serious. Are you telling me something’s changed?”

Changed? Other than Matt all but ignoring her the last few weeks while he got his head on straight and cleared the emotional deck? “No, nothing’s changed,” Matt blurted before his brain could catch up with the panic seizing his chest. He’d made a promise to Kyle, and Matt Knight never made a promise he couldn’t keep. “We’ve been seeing each other for a while, off and on.” Most recently off. All the more reason to remedy that. “She’s completely on board with me taking Kyle in.”

“So you’re okay with her listed as a character witness? She’ll back up your statement should the judge want to call her in during Kyle’s hearing?”

“Yeah, of course.” Matt swallowed the lie. Well, it wasn’t a lie exactly. Lori did know about Kyle but Matt’s current relationship with her might be a bit, well, up in the air. “Have they set a date yet for the hearing?”

“Um, yeah. Hang on, I’ve got that right...” The sound of shuffling papers scraped against Matt’s ear. “Three weeks from Monday. Looks like the judge has us penciled in for two in the afternoon.”

Matt scribbled the date on his calendar, noting that was the same day as the big welcome dinner that opened the Butterfly Festival. That would take some juggling given it was all hands on deck in town for the department. “I’ll be there.” Somehow. “I thought I’d come up and see him in a couple of weeks. Need to figure out my days off.”

“You’re on the visitor’s list for anytime,” Chris said. “I’m glad you told me about Lori. This will go a long way with this judge in approving Kyle’s placement.”

“I hope so.” With Kyle’s troubled past, the only other placement option for him would be a group foster home or to extend his stint in the detention center he currently resided in. “Let me know if there are any more changes.”

“You got it.”

Matt hung up. Why was it, even when he had the best of intentions, he ended up messing things up? At least now he had even more of a reason to apologize to Lori. As much as he wanted her back in his life, he needed her. Kyle needed her. Unease settled in his gut like a stone. He hated lying. To anyone. But especially to Lori Bradley.

“Everything okay?” Jasper asked. “Is Kyle still getting out?”

“He sure is.” He picked up his pen, clicked it open and scratched his name.

A few seconds later, he set the sealed envelope on the counter, where it would go out in the afternoon mail.

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_c5d51a95-2859-57d0-b17b-4a15cec35d2f)

“LORI, THANK GOODNESS!”