CHAPTER FIVE
Mitch and Adam rounded the corner and stopped abruptly.
They hadn’t been speaking, which was just as well since what they witnessed left them speechless.
Before them, laid out on the pavement, was what appeared to be a well-dressed dog walker.
Long, shiny, brown hair covered her face, but the view farther south was almost entirely uncovered.
She was face down, which gave them a privileged view of a tight, round ass and a couple of tanned, toned legs still in a pair of black, sky-high, hooker heels.
Hot! They watched, fascinated, as she struggled to get up.
Adam finally snapped out of his stupor enough to lamely assist her.
He reached down and picked up the big dog’s leash. The other three weren’t going anywhere.
“This your dog?” Mitch said, breaking the awkward silence.
She had finally righted herself, gathered the other dogs, and was slowly making her way over to them, limping slightly. “Yes, officers. I’m so sorry, I—”
“Do you know it’s illegal not to have your dog on a leash?”
“Well, I…yes, of course, I know that. Obviously, he’s on a leash, he just got away from me.”
“And I’m sure you have a way to pick that up?” He glanced down at Maggie’s empty hands, then tilted his head toward the pile of waste Tanner had left in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Again, Tanner?” she muttered. She explained that the pet shop was only a few doors down and claimed she could be there and back in a jiffy. Mitch pulled out his ticket book and grabbed a pen from his breast pocket.
Adam intervened. “Hey, why don’t you run and get whatever you need to take care of that. We’ll wait here and make sure no one steps in it.”
The fancy dog walker snatched up all four leashes and hobbled off toward the shop as fast as her four-inch heels would allow. As Mitch watched her walk away, he noticed her ass looked just as great vertically as it did horizontally. After a few seconds of admiring the view, he turned back to Adam.
“What the hell, dude? I was going to write her up.” He scowled.
“Yes, I can see that. Don’t you think you’re overreacting? The dog just got away from her, and she’s coming right back to pick up the crap.”
“Don’t care. Perhaps you let dogs run around and shit wherever they want in Boston, but here, in civilized New York City, we frown on that kind of thing.”
“What’s the matter with you? She’s cute. You should try flirting, or smiling, or just anything other than being a dick,” Adam said.
“Being a dick works for me, and I like clean sidewalks.”
“Oh, brother. Look, here she comes. Put your pen away and quit being an asshole.”
Mitch knew he should do exactly that but didn’t want the new guy thinking he could boss him around. Instead, he doubled down. As soon as she returned, he began asking for her information. “Name?”
“Margaret.” She stared incredulously at him.
“Full name?” he glared back with equal determination.
“Margaret. Tucker.”
Getting the rest of her information was like pulling teeth. Date of birth, address, phone number. She stared in disbelief as he filled it all in.
“Seriously? You’re seriously going to write me up for this?”
“Yeah, dude. Seriously?” Adam piled on.
It was too late to change his mind now. He ripped off the Notice of Infraction and handed it to her. “Get this shit off my sidewalk.” He turned and started walking away.
“Oh, yes, sir. Right away, sir.” Her reply dripped with sarcasm—sassy little thing.
As he walked away, he heard Adam apologizing. “Sorry, Margaret. Officer MacDonald’s having a bad day. If you mark the box to contest the infraction and send it to the court, I’m sure the judge will throw it out. Good luck with those big dogs.”
***
Maggie watched as the two men walked away.
Not a bad view, she decided. Too bad the younger one had such a chip on his shoulder.
She glanced at the bottom of the ticket.
Officer MacDonald. Jimmy’s old partner’s name was MacDonald.
Everything she’d heard about Mitch MacDonald was great, though, so this must be some other guy.
There were thousands of NYC police officers, probably several dozen named MacDonald.
She definitely wouldn’t forget this guy.
She’d always had such a high opinion of police officers. Jimmy was tough with actual bad guys, but she couldn’t imagine him citing someone for something as silly as this. It figured that of all the cops in the city, she’d run into the biggest jerk of them all.
She picked up the poop and limped back to the shop to tend to her scraped-up hands and knees. Stephanie was anxiously awaiting her return. “So, what happened?”
“Oh my God. The biggest jerk in the world gave me a freaking ticket!”
“Because Tanner pooped on the sidewalk?”
“And because his leash was out of my hand for like five seconds.” She recounted the whole story. “The worst part is, I’m pretty sure he saw me fall. Trying to get up in this tight skirt was not one of my most graceful moments. How embarrassing.”
“Maybe he has a short man complex,” Stephanie offered, trying to be helpful.
“No, he was really tall.”
“Ugly man syndrome?”
“Nope. As much as I hate to admit it, he was gorgeous. Nice butt, too.”
“Hm, I give up. Maybe he is just having a bad day like his partner said.”
Maggie didn’t care what the reason was. Officer Big Jerk was going to get a complaint first thing Monday morning.
She manned the cash register while Stephanie took a quick break and then got her things together, anxious to be on her way. “Thanks again for staying, Steph. See you next week.”
Limping out to the curb, she hailed a cab, and after giving the driver Jenny’s address, leaned her head back and tried to get a grip.
Her encounter with the police had left her frazzled.
She was usually an easygoing person. It took a lot to get her riled up, but her brief encounter with Officer Big Jerk had done it easily.
When she first looked up and saw him, his beauty had taken her breath away.
Besides the perfect nose, he had a strong jaw and straight white teeth.
His hat hid most of his hair, but she could tell it was a brownish-blond and cut short.
He had to be over six feet tall and was built like a swimmer—long and lean.
Even as he scratched out her ticket and her frustration was building, she couldn’t help but notice the muscles flexing in his forearm as he wrote.
She only got a glimpse of his eyes, but they were a Caribbean Sea green, framed by long lashes any woman would kill for.
They were mesmerizing but haunting. She sensed unhappiness and pain.
Then again, it was entirely possible she was reading into something that wasn’t there.
Maybe she’d lost her dang mind. Perhaps he was just a big jerk and had no feelings.
She was still thinking about him when the driver leaned back to announce their arrival.
She paid the cabbie and made her way up the front steps.
Jenny’s house was exactly what Maggie pictured for herself one day.
Though not huge or new, it was perfect. The neighborhood was mostly older homes, but they were meticulously kept up, and a lot of them recently renovated.
Jenny’s was a soothing yellow with bright red trim on the windows and door.
Brilliant flowers of every color imaginable spilled from pots lining the front steps and window boxes under each window, planted recently as a fragrant welcome to spring.
Two new fuchsia baskets hung on either side of the front door, and four more were spaced evenly over the spacious front porch.
A small white wicker table separated two wooden rocking chairs.
An American flag hung from the post on the porch, and the entryway doormat advised guests to “wipe their paws” upon entering.
She knocked as she entered and called out to the boys, “Aunt Maggie’s here, and I have brownies!
” She heard them before she saw them. Nine-year-old Toby came running, followed by his seven-year-old brother, Jack.
Toby was going through a growth spurt and appeared to have gotten taller since the last time she’d seen him.
“How tall are you now, Toby?”
“Almost as tall as you,” he said, laughing. “Take off those high shoes, and I might have already passed you.”
“I will gladly take off these shoes,” she said as she did just that. She hugged them both and handed Toby the pan of brownies. “Think you can get these to the kitchen without stopping for one?” she teased.
They headed toward the kitchen, the kids jabbering away. Their friend Freddy was getting a new dog. They had both signed up to play baseball and had practices starting soon. And, apparently, Uncle Mitch was bringing a friend to dinner.
“Aunt Maggie hurt her knees,” Toby announced to his mother as they entered the kitchen. “I have to practice first aid stuff for my Scout merit badge. Can I fix her up?”
“You’ll have to ask her,” Jenny replied, giving her a hug. “I’m so glad you could make it. Why are you so dressed up?”
“Can I, Aunt Maggie? Can I? I’m the best at bandaging.”
“Sure, I’ll let you practice on me. Do you have supplies?”
“Of course, I’m a Cub Scout!” With that, both boys ran off to collect the life-saving supplies they needed to tend to their aunt.
“And to answer your question,” she turned to Jenny, “I will tell you the most embarrassing, maddening story ever. But first, I must borrow some clothes. How about you open that wine while I do that? Trust me. You’ll need it.”
She changed into some shorts and a pair of Jenny’s flip-flops and then proceeded to tell Jenny the story of her day.
The boys came in just long enough to “treat” her before flying back outside.
She now sported a huge, white bandage on each knee, held in place by several strips of medical tape and oozing first aid ointment.
It was overkill, but she couldn’t hurt the boys’ feelings and left it all just as they had applied it.
Maggie was leaning against the counter frosting brownies while Jenny stirred mayonnaise into potato salad, both working on their second glass of wine.
“I’m sorry about your horrible day,” Jenny said. “Maybe Mitch can figure out who the jerk was and punch him for you.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said, “but I plan to complain to someone first chance I get. Officer Big Jerk’s supervisor is going to get an earful. Get this, though, the guy’s last name is MacDonald. Isn’t that your friend’s last name? Weird coincidence, huh?”
“Yeah, that is weird,” Jenny agreed tentatively, her hesitation speaking volumes.
Over the years, Jenny had relayed bits and pieces of what had happened with Mitch after Jimmy’s death.
He’d taken it extremely hard, blamed himself, and disappeared right after the shooting.
Once Maggie returned to North Carolina, Jenny had gone to get him and then worked constantly to let him know she didn’t blame him.
She knew Jenny still worried about him and hoped it was some other officer who had given her the ticket.