Tiny Blessings

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Jace got to work early Friday morning to make up for the time he’d lost the previous day. He wasn’t in the office ten minutes when he got called out on a disturbing the peace. Ordinarily, he’d send one of his deputies. But he knew both parties involved. One of them used to be his best friend and the other one still was.

“Be nice,” Annabeth warned him on his way out.

“I always am.”

She let out a snort.

“I heard that.”

It took him less than five minutes to get to Brett’s workshop, a double-sized metal garage a few miles out of town. In the driveway sat Mitch’s tricked-out, jacked-up pickup truck, the kind that made a man look like he was trying to compensate for his shortcomings.

Jace took a few seconds to collect himself. He wanted to be professional, but Mitch brought the mean out in him. Four years ago his former best friend did something unforgivable to Brett and spread a nasty rumor about Jace to cover it up. It had nearly cost Jace’s reelection bid for sheriff, but the toll on Brett was worse. Much worse.

The moment Jace hopped out of his duty vehicle he could hear shouting coming from Brett’s workshop. No wonder someone had called the cops. He crossed the gravel driveway and pulled open the door to find Brett pinning Mitch against the wall with his wheelchair. They were so busy going at it, neither of them noticed Jace.

He let out a shrill whistle, startling both men into silence. “We’ve gotten three calls complaining about you two. What the hell is wrong with you!? You’re grown men, for God’s sake.”

Mitch at least had the decency to look contrite. Brett not so much.

“Back up, Brett.”

Brett put his chair in reverse but continued to stare daggers at Mitch.

“What’s going on here?” Jace looked from Brett to Mitch. “Brett?”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

Jace turned his gaze on Mitch. “Start talking.”

“I came here to ask him”—Mitch bobbed his head at Brett—“to be the best man at my wedding and the sumbitch threw a goddamn cabinet door at me.”

Jace didn’t know what surprised him more, that Mitch had asked Brett to be his best man or that Brett, a usually peaceful guy, had thrown a cabinet door at Mitch. That’s when he noticed Mitch’s arm was bleeding.

“You,” he pointed at Brett, “stay over there. And you, over there. If I come back and find you at it again, I’ll arrest you both.” He went to his vehicle to get a first-aid kit.

When he returned both men were in their respective corners, glaring at each other. Jace threw Mitch the kit. He’d be damned before he doctored Mitch’s arm. Let him do it himself.

“Now let me get this straight. Brett threw a cabinet door at you because you asked him to be your best man.” Jace had heard through the grapevine that Mitch was getting married, but he was pretty sure there was more to this story. Like, for example, Brett hated Mitch’s guts, so why the hell would Mitch ask him to be his best man?

“That’s right,” Mitch said. “The damn thing is made out of MDF, weighs a ton. He could’ve killed me.”

“You look alive and well to me.” Jace turned to Brett. “Is what he’s saying true?”

“Nope, my cabinets doors are made from one-hundred percent walnut.”

Jace rolled his eyes. “Brett, did you or did you not throw a cabinet door at Mitch?”

“I did.”

“Was it in self-defense?” He was trying to throw Brett a lifeline here.

“It was not. Let’s stop pussyfooting around here. We all know why I threw a cabinet door at Mitch. I should’ve done it four years ago when he was sleeping with my wife. But I’d say now is as good a time as any. What kind of home-wrecking douchebag comes waltzing in here and asks me to stand up for him at his marriage when he destroyed mine?”

Jace thought it was a legitimate question. Unfortunately, as the law, he couldn’t take sides.

“Mitch, do you want to press charges?” He didn’t want to have to haul Brett in, but he would if he had to.

Mitch was thinking about it. Jace knew that because Mitch rarely thought about anything. And when he did he had a tell. His left eye would twitch, like it was doing now.

“No,” Mitch finally said. “I want him to be my best man.”

Brett spun around in his chair. “Can you believe this guy? Get him out of here, Jace. Get him out of here before I throw more than a cabinet door at him.”

“Let’s go, Mitch.” Jace walked him to his truck. “What the hell were you thinking, man?”

“I was thinking this has gone on long enough. Look, I made some mistakes, some really bad mistakes, but Cheryl has made me a better person. A better man.”

Jace presumed Cheryl was the bride-to-be. Whoever she was, she ought to run as fast as her legs would carry her as far away from Mitch as she could go.

“Brett made it crystal clear that he’s not ready to forgive and forget, so it would be best if you didn’t show up here anymore.”

“You too, Jace.”

“Come again?” Brett didn’t have a problem with Jace. He could come here as often and as much as he liked.

“This has gone on too long. The three of us used to be thick as thieves. And now look at us.”

“Mitch, have you lost your ever-loving mind?” Jace shook his head, wondering if Mitch had indeed suffered brain damage. “Your best friend in there went to war, got blown up by an IED, and you welcomed him back by screwing his wife while you were engaged to Aubrey. Then what did you do? When Aubrey found out and dumped you, you exacted your revenge by telling everyone that she and I were the ones having an affair. And if that wasn’t bad enough, you plotted to steal Brett’s wife’s family’s cattle ranch, so you could develop it. Can you now understand why Brett might not want to be your best man?” Jace slapped the side of his own head because he couldn’t believe he even had to spell it out.

“And I’ve been paying the price ever since. I want my friends back. You know how many times I picked up the phone to call you, how many times I thought about coming over to your house and begging your forgiveness? You know how badly I want you to stand up for me too? The most important day of my life and neither of my best friends will be there.”

“And whose fault is that? Go home, Mitch!” Jace turned on his heel.

“Mary Ann’s in town,” Mitch called to Jace’s back. “She’s renting the Stoddard cottage on Miners Road.”

Jace stopped in his tracks, frozen. “What about it?”

“I thought you should know.”

He waited for Mitch to drive off and went back inside. “He’s gone,” he told Brett.

“The guy’s got a set of balls on him, I’ll say that for him.”

“He always did.” Jace hopped up on one of Brett’s work counters and took in the workshop. Brett kept his tools neat as a pin. “What do you have over there?” In the corner of the room was an entire kitchen minus the sink, appliances, and countertops.

“It’s for a house in Nevada City. A couple from the Bay Area bought it and then promptly gutted it.”

Jace got down to take a closer look. “Nice.” Brett did beautiful work. A few years ago, after he came back from Afghanistan, he took a course through the VA to learn a trade and joined his uncle in the cabinetry business.

Jace let out a breath. “Mary Ann is in town. According to Mitch, she’s renting the Stoddards’ place out on Miners Road.”

“Damn. When did that happen?”

“I don’t know.” Jace told him about the incident at Grady’s school. “Until now I wasn’t completely sure it was her. But Mitch confirmed it.”

“I wouldn’t believe anything that knucklehead says. If he told me it was raining outside, I’d go out and look.”

“Except it’s too much of a coincidence. She’s here, Brett. She’s here and she’s going to make trouble for me, Charlie, and the boys.”

“Why do you think she didn’t call you first and at least give you a heads-up? It doesn’t seem like Mary Ann.”

Jace pinned Brett with a look. “It seems exactly like her. She’s always done whatever the hell she wants with no regard for anyone but herself. If she cared, she wouldn’t have walked out on her children and ignored them for six years.”

“How are you planning to play this?”

“I’ve got full custody of Grady. Let her try to fight that because I’ll crush her. As for Travis, he’s an adult now. He’ll have to make his own decisions, but it’s killing me. It’s freaking killing me.”

“You’re not gonna like what I have to say, but she is their mother, Jace. She may be a lousy mother, but she’s their own flesh and blood.”

“Are you telling me I should let her back into their lives only so she can walk out again? Because she’ll do it at the first sign of a shiny dime that draws her attention elsewhere. Maybe it’ll be cooking school in Paris or a job working as a safari guide in Africa. Who the hell knows with her?”

“I don’t like it any more than you do, Jace. But maybe Grady should have some choice in this. He’s fourteen, not the baby he was when she left.”

Jace didn’t want to talk about it any longer. The whole thing made him sick to his stomach.

“What’s going on with you and Jill?” Jace leaned against the wall.

“She’s seeing a guy in Roseville. A pool contractor she met online.” Brett shook his head. “He seems decent enough. Has two kids of his own about the same age as ours.”

“And you’re okay with it?” Jace asked.

“It’s not like I have a choice, but yeah. We’re over, Jace. There’s no coming back from her and Mitch. From me . . .” He trailed off, but Jace understood what wasn’t being said. Jill hadn’t supported Brett when he’d come home from war a different man from when he’d left.

“How about you?” Jace cocked a brow. He knew Brett had started dating.

“Nah. I’m in no rush.”

“It’ll happen when it happens. And when it does, ooh doggy, it’ll knock you right between your eyes.” He grinned, remembering how he fell for Charlie. “Who would’ve guessed about Mitch? He’s a better man now my ass.”

Brett threw his head back and laughed. “Between you and me, I kind of feel sorry for the guy. He doesn’t have any friends anymore. He went from being town hero to pariah.”

“Nah,” Jace said. “You’ve always been our town hero, Brett, not Mitch. I’ve got to get back to the station. Do me a favor, stay out of trouble. No more throwing cabinets at people.”

Brett followed Jace to the door. “Let me know how this Mary Ann thing shakes out. Take it easy, okay?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Jace decided to swing by the Stoddard cottage. He told himself it was on the way to his office, which it wasn’t. But he was anxious to see if Mitch’s information checked out. At some point he’d have to confront Mary Ann, but he wanted to consult with his attorney first. In the meantime he’d do some reconnaissance.

He took the exit to Miners Road, a residential area just outside of Dry Creek. The burbs, he and his cousins liked to joke. Despite a farm supply store and a new strip mall with a sandwich shop, a laundromat, and a dollar store, there wasn’t a whole lot out here besides homes. It was a hodgepodge of new construction—lots of two-story minimansions with swimming pools—and older homes that were a little worse for wear.

But it was only a matter of time before Mitch and his development company bought up the eyesores, tore them down, and built shiny new ones.

Dry Creek, like every small town in California, was experiencing a growth spurt. Folks from the cities were coming to retire because the real estate prices were better here than wine or ski country. And young people who could work from home enjoyed the bucolic charm, the good schools, and the relatively low cost of living that Dry Creek had to offer. Located only an hour away from Sacramento and three from the Bay Area, it was close enough to “civilization” that it wasn’t too much of a compromise.

Not everyone in Mill County liked the influx—Grandpa Dalton would’ve hated it—and it sure didn’t make Jace’s job any easier. But it was what it was.

In the self-interest department, the changing demographics had certainly been a boon for Dry Creek Village. The new residents, accustomed to all the amenities of city life, loved eating at Gina’s steak house, buying farm-fresh groceries, including the ranch’s beef, at Dalton Market, and furnishing their new homes with pieces they bought at Refind.

Jace had no reason to complain.

He hung a right on East Creek Lane and a left on Miners. It was a nice-looking street. Two years ago some of the residents petitioned the city to turn the vacant lot behind one side of the street into a soccer field and a small park. The city went for it and, with the help of volunteers and private donations, they had their park a year later.

The Stoddards’ property backed up to the park. After Dick Stoddard’s wife died of cervical cancer a few years ago, he moved to Folsom to be closer to his daughter. But he couldn’t bear to sell the cottage, where he and his wife had raised their two children. So, he rented it out. Last Jace heard, an elderly couple from Arizona was leasing it. But that must’ve changed if Mary Ann was living there now.

At the last minute he turned the corner and parked his marked vehicle near the soccer field on Juniper, then walked around the block to Miners. He stayed on the opposite side of the street from the cottage, passing the neatly trimmed front yards and well-kept houses.

He knew almost everyone who lived here, many of whom were the parents of kids he’d gone to school with or his former classmates, who’d inherited their family homes.

As he got closer to the Stoddards’ place, he climbed up onto Christy Wheeler’s front porch. Christy and her partner, Tammy, were both sheriff’s deputies, so he knew they were at work. And even if they weren’t, they wouldn’t mind Jace making himself at home. He’d known Christy his whole life. Her grandfather had been one of Grandpa Dalton’s best friends.

Christy and Tammy’s wide deck was a perfect vantage point for spying. He could see the cottage perfectly from here, but it was just far enough away that someone across the street wouldn’t be able to identify him. Just a guy with a cowboy hat, sitting in a rocking chair. Pretty par for the course around here.

Sure enough, there was a white compact car in the driveway. Jace zoomed in with his phone camera and snapped a picture, then sent it to his watch commander to run the plate. He suspected the car was a rental, which meant he’d have to do some fancy footwork to get the rental company to give up the driver. It wasn’t like this was official police business.

Then again, he really didn’t have to corroborate that it was Mary Ann because he knew it was. There was a time when he could sense her presence with his eyes closed.

He’d been no more than a kid himself when he’d fallen for her. And the more he loved her, the more she’d acted like a caged animal ready to bolt the minute the door opened. Then they got pregnant with Travis and she was stuck. Stuck with him is what she’d said. Stuck with Dry Creek Ranch and living in a nothing town.

Next came Grady and she was jumping out of her skin, so filled with wanderlust that she spent half her days glued to the Travel Channel.

Everything he did to try to make her happy only made it worse. Joining the Mill County Sheriff’s Department so he could be closer to home instead of commuting to Roseville, where he’d been a police officer. Hiring Mitch to draw up plans for a house so she’d have her own domain instead of living with Grandpa Dalton.

Loving her until he thought he’d go crazy with it.

She’d called his love suffocating. A fortress built to keep her in. So she scaled the walls, ran as fast as she could go, and put an ocean between them.

And now she was back. For how long he couldn’t say. But long enough to do some serious damage.

He sat there for a while. Why? He didn’t know. He supposed the cop in him wouldn’t be satisfied until he got indisputable proof that it was really her.

His phone rang, disrupting the silence.

“Hey, Annabeth, everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. I just wanted to make sure you’re planning to be in the office this afternoon.”

“Why?” Annabeth could be a pain in the ass sometimes, micromanaging him like she was his boss instead of it being the other way around. But his job was unpredictable. Because it was a small department he often went out on calls himself. This was all to say who knew where he’d be this afternoon?

“Uh, you have a deadline with the city council to get that proposal in for the new body cameras.”

What the hell was she talking about? “That’s not until next week.”

“Uh . . . oh, for goodness’ sake. Just be here.” With that she clicked off.

He shook his head because there was never a dull moment around this place; then he got up to leave. Jace was halfway to his vehicle when a call came in on his radio. It was a burglary in progress at the Dry Creek Market. He looked at his watch. Lunchtime at the middle school, which meant another kid lifting a candy bar.

He put his light bar on his roof, turned on his siren, and took off.