Chapter Twelve
Declan
“Sheriff.”
I looked back at the mayor. Allison Hoffman was a damn good mayor. Her husband was a jackass. We had a standing lunch meeting once a week at The Diner, to go over anything in town coming up. Putting together a plan for any events, troubleshooting issues that had arisen, and discussing the town budget and how it would be affected by everything.
You know, town shit.
This had been going on since Allie had been elected, four years ago. And for four years, her husband, Chad Hoffman had been giving us shit about it. We met at The Diner because it was public. Everyone could see us. Neither of us wanted a hint of impropriety.
Multiple town residents stopped by our table to say hello, offer suggestions, and pass on some gossip they might be concerned about. There was nothing suspicious or untoward about our meeting.
Ever.
I almost wondered if he would prefer we met in private in her office or mine. Then he could actually make accusations, rather than just allude to them.
For the past twenty minutes, we had gotten nothing accomplished. Allie had spent that time complaining about her husband and his narcissistic tendencies.
“Why are you still with him?” I asked, shaking my head.
“I’m not,” she replied quietly.
I sat there stunned. Had she really done it? Had she kicked him out? I tried not to get my hopes up too high. Allie deserved better than what she had been living with.
“You really did it?”
“I really did it.” She nodded.
I sat there, watching her. Looking for any sign that she might be hurting. Allie was a friend. I didn’t want to pile on to her pain, but as I watched her shuffle through her papers, I recognized what she was feeling.
She was pissed.
I reached over, placing my hand on her arm, putting a pause on her shuffling, and asked, “What did he do?”
“I am not telling you that,” she scoffed.
“Allie—”
“Nope, not your battle to fight, Dec. It’s mine. I can take out my own trash,” she informed me icily.
Nodding, I let it drop, for now. I would see about having Nav do some digging for me and find out what Chad did to make her finally kick him out. I assumed he cheated, which wouldn’t surprise me. But I needed to know if it was worse than that.
“How are the kids dealing with it?” I asked, knowing that a broken home at any age wasn’t easy.
“Wilder seems fine. He and Chad constantly butted heads. Chad always saw him as a dumb jock. Never mind that Wilder’s IQ is in the one-forty to one-fifty range. But because Chad was never good at sports, they never had anything to bond over.”
“What the hell did you ever see in him?” I asked.
Ignoring my question, she continued, “Tenley is Tenley. She’s too busy with school to concern herself with her father’s drama.” She waved her hand in the air. “I suppose that’s a good thing. Though what does it say about him, that both of his children can see what he’s really like and want nothing to do with him?”
Leaning forward and crossing her arms on the table, she looked at me and asked, “What does it say about me that I married him in the first place? What does that say about me leading this town when my marriage has fallen apart?”
“Allie, you are not to blame for what he did. The guy’s an asshole.”
“I wish I could say he changed. That he didn’t use to be this way, but the truth is, this is exactly how he has always been.”
“And yet, you raised two amazing kids that have half his DNA. That speaks volumes about you as a person, and a mayor.”
Allison Hoffman grew up in Diamond Creek. She was born here; she graduated here. She even went to college not far from here. She was a beautiful woman in her forties, who raised two of the nicest, smartest kids I’d ever met.
Wilder was eighteen and a senior in high school, and despite being captain of the football team, he was a straight A student.
Tenley was twenty-one and in college, studying to be a doctor.
She had every reason to be proud of both of her children.
“Yea, well, I guess we’ll see what happens with the next election. Unless the town council asks me to step down once they hear I am getting divorced.”
We heard a gasp above us and looked up to find Joellen standing there with a tray holding the food we ordered.
“You’re getting divorced?” she asked the mayor.
“I am,” she sighed.
“Well, hal-le-fucking-lu-jah! It’s about dawn time!” Joellen shouted. “Don’t you worry about the council. The only person who might have something to say is Beatrice, and all she’ll do is spread it around town saying things like ‘I never liked that boy, walking around like his shit don’t stink.’ No one in this town is going to be mad you put that man on the curb.”
Allie and I both laughed at Joellen’s imitation of Beatrice Allen. The woman was in her seventies and known as the crankiest resident of Diamond Creek. Knowing even she would be happy Allie was getting divorced, said quite a lot about the character of Chad Hoffman.
I dug into my plate, savoring the tender meatloaf sandwich, when Allie changed the subject.
“So, I hear we have a new resident in town,” Allie said, picking at her food.
“Who told you?”
Sweeping her hand around the room. “Good news... small town. You know how it goes,” she dismissed.
I didn’t believe for a minute that she learned this tidbit from the local gossip.
“Who?” I asked again, with a bit more force.
“Sam,” she sighed.
“Jesus Christ,” I cursed. “Should the mayor really be hobnobbing with the local MC?”
“Screw you, Declan. That is your brother’s club, and they do a lot for this town.”
“Did Sam also tell you who she was and where she was from?”
“She did.” Nodding, Allie eyed me critically. We’ve gotten close over the last four years, and I count her as a friend. But this beating around the bush shit was exhausting. When she opened her mouth to speak again, I thought she was going to ask an actual question.
I was wrong.
“Sam said there seemed to be some tension. That maybe it was unwarranted,” she hedged.
“Just ask me what you want to know, Allie,” I snapped, leaning back in my chair.
“Do you like her?” she asked, resting her chin in her hands with her elbows on the table. She really was beautiful, with her chestnut hair and blue eyes. If she wasn’t married, I might have given it a shot when I first moved here.
Now though, she was my boss, and what I felt was nothing but platonic friendship.
“What are we in middle school, doing our homework after school and talking about our crushes?” I realized the moment I mentioned the word crush, it was the wrong analogy.
“So you do like her?” She smiled.
“No,” I said. “I haven’t seen her since I was twelve years old. I didn’t even know who she was until I ran her plate. I don’t know who she is now, other than she is connected to the Mob. Which we do not need here in Diamond Creek,” I reminded her, pointing at her with my fork.
“Did you have a crush on her when you were kids?” She was persistent, I’d give her that.
I stared at the mayor, my mouth hanging open.
“I am not discussing this with you.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Come on, Declan.”
“I’ll remember this when your divorce is final and you start dating again.”
“Pfttt. I will not be dating. Once was enough for me.”
“Sure you will...”
“Sit anywhere you like, honey.”
I heard Julie, the waitress, call out to the person that had come in. Surprised I hadn’t heard the jingle over the door, I looked up and there she stood.
Maureen Murphy.
My eyes locked with hers and my irritation soared. I hadn’t seen her since Thanksgiving, seeing as how my brother banned me from the clubhouse. He hadn’t spoken to me since.
I wasn’t worried about King. He would get over his tantrum in time. Though, I still wasn’t prepared to tell him the truth, which meant Maureen needed to leave.
“Is that her?” Allie asked, following my line of sight. “She’s pretty,” she mumbled, looking over at Maureen, who had taken a seat at the counter.
She wasn’t just pretty, she was a knockout. I remembered what she looked like as a kid. I had just started to notice girls when we moved away. I had noticed how pretty she was then. Now though, the years had blessed her.
Her hair was pulled up on her head, like it was the morning in church, when I opened my big mouth and asked her if she’d fucked my brother. I wasn’t proud of my actions that day. My only explanation was that my head was all over the place after learning who she was.
Then her connection to Blade, and by extension my daughter, had thrown me into a tailspin.
My eyes went to her denim encased legs. That was all I could see. The heavy coat she wore covered her body. A body I had felt against mine.
Twice.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the way her body felt, bent over the front of her car, or the table in the clubhouse. Both times, I could have restrained her without curling my body over hers. The truth was, I wanted to feel her under me.
“Who leaves a city like Boston to move here, in the middle of nowhere?” Allie mused, pulling me back from my thoughts.
Someone running from something. I needed to remember that. I didn’t buy her explanation of just wanting out. There was more going on; I just didn’t know what it was yet.
Allie stood from the table. “I should go over and welcome our newest resident.”
“Allie,” I warned. She just smiled and walked over to where Maureen was sitting.
I studied them both as they sat together, talking. Allie was friendly to everyone. She had the kind of personality that instilled trust and respect. I had no doubt she would have Maureen eating out of the palm of her hand in no time.
Maybe she could find out why she was really here.
Turning away, I tried ignoring the two women so I could finish my meal. When I heard Maureen laugh, I looked up, and both women were staring in my direction.
I heard a ding from Allie’s phone that sat on the table. When I looked over, I saw her hand Maureen back her phone. Allie stood and walked back to the table I was sitting at. I watched her casually pick up her fork and start eating her food. I looked back at Maureen, but her back was to me as she sat on the stool, looking at her phone.
Turning back at Allie, I furrowed my eyebrows.
“You wanna tell me what happened over there?”
She looked up at me and smiled. “Nope.”
“Allie,” I growled.
“Eat your lunch, Sheriff. We still have a lot to go over.”
I sat there, dumbfounded. “You really aren’t going to tell me anything?”
Setting her fork on her plate, she sat back and studied me.
“Are we in middle school, doing our homework after school and talking about our crushes?”
She threw my words back at me and it pissed me off. She was right, though. I hadn’t wanted to talk about Maureen and my feelings for her with Allie. I needed to show her the same respect, and not hound her about what they talked about.
“Fine.” Against my better judgment, I let it drop. Allie clearly wouldn’t be any help. The fucking girl code extended to women you just met, I guessed.
We finished our lunch, then continued going over town issues. Maureen stood from her stool, putting some money on the counter, and walked to our table. My irritation at her being in my town didn’t stop me from letting my eyes trail down her body.
“It was nice talking with you, Mayor. I hope we can do it again.”
“You can count on it. In fact, some of the other ladies in town have a book club that meets once a month. I’ll text you the time and place,” Allie said.
“That sounds fun,” Maureen replied, then shot her gaze to me. With a tip of her head, she said, “Sheriff.”
“Maureen.” My voice was tight in response. I was surprised she acknowledged me at all, to be honest.
She walked out of The Diner, my eyes glued to her plump ass. Watching it sway from side to side.
Allie laughed across from me and said, “You are so screwed.”
Don’t I know it.