The Deputy's Unexpected Family

Gabe paused, wondering how much he should say. The chief was regarding him with a look of sincere curiosity on his face.

“Between you and me, sir?” Gabe said. “The perp wasn’t a complete unknown to my supervisor. He had gone to high school with my supervisor’s son. The perp was a troublemaker from way back, but my supervisor’s son wasn’t exactly an innocent lamb, either. He’s been let off with a warning for numerous infractions over the years because of his father’s position. This one seemed...personal, I guess. And that wasn’t fair. My supervisor’s son is already off to college and he’ll have a bright future despite his youthful mistakes because he got special treatment. The perp? At least he was trying to provide for his child. And by the way, I paid for the merchandise and recommended a warehouse that was hiring.”

“Do you think he’ll take you up on the sound advice?” Chief Morgan asked.

Gabe shrugged. “No idea. I wanted him to have the chance.”

Chief Morgan nodded and made a few notes on his pad. “You were a bit of an underdog here in Comfort Creek when you were a kid, too, weren’t you?”

“A bit,” Gabe admitted.

“And do you think your issues with authority stem from that?”

Issues with authority... Okay, maybe he had a few. “No.”

Chief Morgan laughed softly. “Tell me about your teenage years here in Comfort Creek.”

“Not much to tell, sir.”

Frankly, Gabe wasn’t interested in talking about his personal history. He wasn’t a problem to be fixed, and as the chief had pointed out, he had a pretty solid service record.

“I knew your grandmother,” the chief added. “She was a good woman. I’m sorry for your loss.”

His grandmother... She’d been the one to raise Gabe, and while he’d loved her, he’d hated her in equal measure. She’d been a bully, too, but she’d hidden it better. No one would believe that Imogen Banks, pillar of the church and knitter of baby booties, could have been a mean and spiteful woman in private. But she was, and her constant flow of cutting words had torn Gabe to shreds. Her passing didn’t leave the hole in his heart that most people assumed.

“Thanks.” It was the expected response, and he always provided it.

“So getting down to business, then,” the chief went on. “I’m going to let you choose between two options. The first option is book work. In the basement, we have all sorts of binders with step-by-step lessons about dealing with our feelings in constructive manners. Or, we could do this another way.”

Was there really a way to avoid the humiliating book work? He leaned forward and immediately regretted it. He didn’t want to show weakness—an old habit that died hard.

“Is there another way, sir?” he asked hesitantly.

“Well...you could carry on doing patrol, keeping an eye on the bridal shop, and during the course of your stay here, you would record fifteen locations around town and your associations with them.”

“My associations...” Gabe frowned.

“Memories.” Chief Morgan leaned forward. “I want you to write down fifteen individual memories connected to fifteen individual locations in this community.”

“That’s rather personal, sir,” Gabe replied.

“It is.” The chief confirmed. “The thing is, Gabe, you’re one of ours. You were raised in Comfort Creek, and I know that you’re doing your very best to distance yourself from that fact. I have a feeling if you can make your peace with this town, and whatever it is that you hold against us, that your career will benefit.”

“With all due respect, sir—” Gabe began, but the chief held up his hand and started reading from a page in front of him.

“‘A bully. A twit. An overcompensating father making up for his pathetic son’s inadequacies. A coward hiding behind a badge’...and a few more turns of phrase that you probably don’t want to hear repeated.” The chief looked up.

“Yeah...” Those had been his words, pretty much exactly.

“Are you sure all of that was referring to your supervisor?” the chief asked.

“I stand by them, sir,” Gabe replied with a sigh.

The chief met his gaze for a moment and they regarded each other in silence. Then the chief shrugged. “Okay. So you prefer book work. I’m fine with that. I have your first binder set out downstairs.”

Gabe scrubbed a hand through his mahogany curls. It was in his nature to balk at authority, and if the chief wanted him to take a different path, his first instinct was to put up a fight. But quite honestly, if he had to look down the barrel of two weeks in the precinct basement doing book work, or two weeks trying to track down Harper Kemp’s robbers, he’d vastly prefer the latter.

“Sir, if it’s all the same, I’d rather take your second option.”

“Oh?” Chief Morgan raised his eyebrows. “All right then.” He pulled out a small notebook and slid it across the desk. “In that case, this is for you.”

Gabe picked it up and fanned the pages. It was empty.

“Thank you, sir.”

“I’ll leave you assigned to the bridal shop. We’re all going to be keeping an eye on it, and the other local businesses if we’re being targeted. I want you in plainclothes. We don’t want to be too obvious.”

“Will do.” Gabe rose to his feet and tucked the notebook into his pocket.

“Welcome back,” Chief Morgan said with a smile. “Wish it could have been more voluntary on your part, but we’re glad to see you all the same.”

“Thanks, sir.” Gabe headed for the door. It was going to be a long two weeks.

Chapter Three (#u5c67eb0d-8160-5d8c-ba05-113fbbf0da0d)

Harper bent over a dustpan and swept up the last of the glittering glass particles. At least she hoped this was the last of it. Every time she swept, she seemed to come up with more glass. At the counter, Zoey was drawing a picture and chattering to herself. Heidi had already left a few minutes earlier, leaving Harper and Zoey alone in the store.

The dress, newly pinned up and marked for Heidi’s desired alterations, hung in the back room. Harper couldn’t bring herself to touch it yet. The thought of shears slicing through the lace...it was almost physically painful. She’d talked Heidi down to knee length, which was something. Heidi had always liked being different—the girl with short hair when everyone else wore theirs long, a tattoo on her calf she liked to show off in summer, and very likely the reason she insisted upon a short dress for the wedding.

Couldn’t Heidi, just once, blend in? Even if only for Chris!

A navy blue SUV rumbled to a stop outside. Harper paused and looked closer. Gabe got out, but he wasn’t in uniform this time. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt that tugged around his well-muscled biceps. Obviously, the police force kept him in shape, and she had to admit that Gabe had matured into a good-looking guy. A little less ruggedness would go a long way in making this more comfortable for her.

Harper met him at the door so she could unlock the deadbolt.

“Hi,” Gabe said as she opened the door. She stepped back and he came inside.

“What happened to the uniform?” she asked.

“I’m supposed to blend in.”

He didn’t really succeed. Gabe was tall, muscled, and even in plainclothes, he looked like a brick wall. And maybe she liked that. If those thieves were going to return, she’d rather have Gabe as their distraction. Maybe they’d think twice and just move on.

Harper felt a tug on her hand and she glanced down to see Zoey looking up at Gabe, wide-eyed. Harper glanced between them, noting the similarities in their faces—the chin, the slate gray eyes... Did Gabe see it?

“This is Zoey,” Harper said.

“Hi, Zoey.” Gabe gave her a nod. “I’m Officer Banks.”