Chapter Sixteen
Jade
Penny was perched in Brian’s lap when I came back into the living room with my backpack slung over my shoulder.
My hair was still damp from my shower, and I decided to let it air dry before I pulled it into a ponytail.
My backpack had my swimsuit and towel, a pair of yoga pants, denim shorts, two t-shirts, underwear, and pajamas, plus my toiletries and the latest Cassie-Ann L.
Miller’s romance novel that I’d been dying to get started on.
I’d pick up some snacks on my way out of town.
“Do you need any help packing?”
He smiled as he ran his hand from the cat’s head to the tip of her tail, making her arch her back with the movement.
“You’re starting to give me a complex.”
I set my bag down on the recliner. “Oh, stop it. I’ve already told you that you’re welcome here as long as you like.”
He nodded toward my backpack. “Where are you going?”
“I’m off to the beach. My BFF in Charleston invited me to stay at her place while she’s working.”
“Okay, now it makes sense why you want to get me out of here.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Um, you’re the one who said ninety minutes. I’m just trying to adhere to the schedule you gave.”
He used his crutches to help him stand and replied with a grin, “Yeah, I know. I’m just giving you shit. My bag’s by the door.”
With the crutches under his armpits, he gingerly tried putting weight on his right leg. After only a few steps, he put both crutches in one hand and walked toward the garage unassisted, pausing only to say, “Bye, Penny. Thanks for keeping your butt out of my face.”
“That you know of,” I murmured as I followed him to my car.
****
Brian
As we pulled out of her driveway, I cast one last look at Jade’s quaint little bungalow as the garage door came down.
“Your place is really homey,” I mused as she put the car in drive.
She glanced over at me. “Is that code for small and in dire need of updating?”
“No! Not at all. It’s cozy. Comfortable.”
Kind of how I’d felt spending time there with her.
“I like it. And I like the fact that it’s mine. I don’t have to worry about a landlord upping my rent or telling me what color I can paint the walls. Not that I’ve really had time to do any painting.”
“You work a lot, huh?”
“Probably not as much as you do, but yeah. I’ve been at the hospital for five years and have only taken time off when Shawn was killed and when Conor was born.”
“Same.”
“You’re going to be using some of your PTO now though, huh?”
“Yeah, well, maybe. I’ll be on paid administrative leave until they finish their investigation of the shooting.”
“Are you worried about that?”
“Not at all. Getting shot is pretty solid justification for shooting someone.”
“So, the investigation won’t take very long.”
“No, probably not. But I’m sure I can ride a desk until I’m cleared for unrestricted duty.”
She took her eyes off the road briefly to study me.
“I can’t imagine you sitting behind a desk. I think you’d go stir-crazy.”
Before I could confirm her observation, we reached my street. Which now, instead of reporters lining the sides, was empty; blocked off by two cop cars on either end with their lights flashing.
My dad had said he was going to get the reporters off the street and keep them out. I guess this was how he’d decided to go about it.
Jade pulled up next to one of the cruisers, and Ella Rhodes smiled and enthusiastically waved us through.
The petite blonde was the department’s newest hire—aside from Adam.
Except unlike Adam, she’d had zero experience other than the scenarios she’d been through at the academy.
Like me, she’d been hired right after she turned twenty-one.
Her twenty-second birthday was next month.
In other words, she was just a baby. Still, what she lacked in experience, she made up for in eagerness, something Angus appreciated.
“I’m sure Mrs. Hildebrand is losing her mind right now,” Jade said as she slowly crept past the police cars and the elderly woman’s house on the right. She was outside watering her flowers with a scowl on her face.
“Yeah, between the reporters and now the cops, I’m sure someone is going to get an earful.”
Hopefully that someone wasn’t me.
Jade pulled into my driveway, and Adam was waiting by the Prius when I got out. He grabbed my duffle bag from the backseat, the one he’d packed and brought to me in the hospital. He attempted to grab Jade’s backpack, but I stopped him.
“That’s not mine.”
He nodded and reached for the crutches, then tried to hand them to me. I shook my head, and said, “I’m good.”
Jade came around to the passenger side and pointed toward the house next door that Adam was renting.
“Is my nephew inside?”
“He is. You have perfect timing. He just woke up.”
A smile spread across her face, and my heart skipped a beat. I wondered what it’d be like to be the cause of a smile that genuine.
I’d probably never know.
She turned toward Adam’s house, then paused and looked back at me. “Are you going to be okay here?”
“I think so.”
“Well, if you need a place to hideout, Lainey has a key to my house. You’re welcome to go back. I’m sure Penny would love it if you did.”
But not you?
Of course, I kept that to myself.
“Thanks. I think Angus has the media under control for now. I appreciate you letting me crash last night.”
“It was fun.”
“It was. Let’s do it again sometime.”
She gave me a tiny wave and headed next door.
I kept my eyes trained on her until she made it inside, which was obviously a mistake because when I glanced at Adam, he had a huge grin plastered on his face.
“Uh oh. I think someone’s in looove.”
I shuffled past him toward my house. “What are you talking about? She doesn’t even like me.”
He held the screen door for me while I unlocked the wooden one.
“Not her, dumbass. You.”
I pushed the door open but didn’t walk through. Instead, I stared back at my friend and barked out a laugh.
“Are you crazy? She’s way out of my league.”
I stepped past the threshold with Adam right behind me.
“Well, that’s true. But Lainey’s out of my league, and yet, here we are. She’s staying at my house and sleeping in my bed.”
“And I’m happy for you. I’m glad you finally pulled your head out of your ass.”
“Well, I had a little help—between you, Alan, and Hugh.”
“Whatever it takes.” I plunked down in a chair at the kitchen table. “Speaking of Alan… I haven’t had a chance to thank him. He never came to see me at the hospital.”
Adam narrowed his eyes at me. “I know what you’re doing, and I’m not letting you off that easy. But to answer your question, Alan is back in Lancastle. But he said to tell you that you’re welcome to recuperate at his beach cottage on the Cape. Or go stay anytime you want.”
“Is he coming back soon?”
He laughed. “Maybe to visit, even though Angus offered him a job. But I don’t think he’s interested in becoming a cop. His construction business is booming.”
“I don’t know… his skills were pretty sharp for someone’s who’s supposedly retired.”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing.”
“You don’t think he’s doing contract work, do you?”
Adam shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past him. But we didn’t really get a chance to talk alone while he was here, so I don’t know for sure.”
“No,” a grin spread across my face. “You were too busy trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes about what was really going on between you and Lainey.”
He returned the smirk. “It appears you might need some pointers.”
“Fuck off. There’s nothing going on between me and Jade.”
He patted my shoulder. “And whose fault is that? You’re obviously crushing on her.”
“I’m not crushing on her, and it’s no one’s ‘fault.’ We’re just friends.”
“Friends. Right. Got it.”
“Good. Now help me check the tire pressure on my truck.”
He cocked his head. “Why?”
“I’m going to Alan’s place on the Cape.”