Chapter Twenty-Nine
S omehow he knew even before he got out of the car that Emily was there. Not that it was unusual—she had, after all, made a point of being around when summer school let out. But still, it was as if there was something in the air, in the atmosphere around her that he could sense.
She was leaning against her vehicle, the official one, and he realized it was running and all the windows were up. No doubt because of the extreme heat today, she probably had the A/C cranked up for Lobo.
She was watching the school, but when he closed the door of the ranch truck she looked over. When she saw him, she smiled so widely it made his throat want to tighten up until he had to work a little to get the deep breath he needed to steady himself.
He was already walking toward her before he’d consciously decided to. It was as if that smile was some kind of magnet.
Good thing magnets don’t pull toward titanium, or I’d probably be running.
He was almost there when it hit him that he should probably have thought of something to say. But he hadn’t, so he went with the first—and no doubt stupid—thing that came to him.
“That black uniform must be hot.” Well it is, on her. Just not that kind of hot.
She was still smiling, so maybe it wasn’t quite as stupid as he’d feared. “The boss is thinking of switching us to white shirts for summer, at least.” Her mouth quirked even higher on one side. “Shorts are apparently out of the question.”
“Too bad,” he said, imagining those long legs of hers out to admire. He winced inwardly, wondering if she’d be offended, but now she was laughing.
“You say that now, but our jailer weighs almost as much as Jeremy’s Pie, and you don’t want to see that.”
He burst out laughing himself then, and relaxed. A little, anyway.
“Jeremy mention any more problems with other kids?” she asked after a minute or two.
“No. He says it’s going okay, except he wishes there wouldn’t be so much homework.”
“I seem to remember wishing that a time or two myself,” she said.
“I didn’t mind that much,” he said, looking over as the school’s front doors swung open and kids started to emerge. “Gave me an excuse to hide out in the library.”
He hadn’t really thought about what he was saying, but when the words were out he wished he hadn’t.
The last thing he wanted to do was share more of his miserable past with her.
She—and anybody in Last Stand who read The Defender already knew more than he’d ever shared before, and he was trying not to regret pouring his guts out to Lily Highwater.
“I’m glad I didn’t need an excuse,” Emily said. “I was there half the time anyway. And not usually studying.”
She said it so casually, acknowledging but not dwelling on what he’d said, and he was grateful for that. “What were you reading?”
She was still scanning the exiting students, as he was, but answered cheerfully. “Anything not reality-based. The Neverending Story , the Narnia books, Percy Jackson, and I lived in the Harry Potter–verse for a long time.”
He shifted his gaze, staring at her now. “But now you’re in the most reality-based job in the world?”
“I always figured the stories set in those wild worlds made me want to help fix mine.”
For a moment all he could do was stare, the school forgotten for the moment. Then words broke from him, against his will. “My dad used to say if we weren’t willing to do our bit to fix the world, then we had no right to complain about it.”
She met his gaze then, and held it. “I think your dad and I would have agreed, then.”
“Uncle T! Officer Emily!”
They both spun around to see Jeremy coming toward them. But at a fast walk, not his usual run. Apparently it was too hot for that.
“Would you hold this for Dad?” he asked when he got there, holding out a rather damply crunched piece of paper.
“Whoa, buddy! Is that a perfect score I see on that math test?”
Jeremy grinned up at him. “Yeah. That’s why I want Dad to see it.”
“Good for you,” Emily said, sounding delighted.
“Here, let me take that backpack, too,” Tucker said, reaching out.
The boy shrugged it off eagerly. “Thanks. It’s hot.”
“I know, buddy,” Tucker said. “So I was thinking maybe we’d stop for an ice cream before we headed home.”
Jeremy perked up at that. “Yeah!”
“Nic said there’s a new place in town, so all we have to do is find it.”
“It’s just up Hickory a couple of blocks,” Emily said. “Behind the pie shop.”
“I knew you’d know,” Jeremy crowed.
“Kinda my job,” she said to him in a quite audible whisper that made the boy laugh.
“I gotta say hi to Lobo,” he said.
“Absolutely. He’s about to come through that glass, wanting to see you.”
Jeremy grinned, and when Emily opened the back door to the vehicle, he scrambled up to greet the big black dog who yipped in obvious delight to see his friend.
Tucker found himself blinking rapidly, and he looked away so Jeremy wouldn’t see him.
“It must feel good to see him happy again,” Emily said softly.
Somehow he wasn’t surprised that she so quickly understood. But he was thankful she’d saved him from having to explain.
“Hey!” Jeremy yelped from inside as he stroked the dog’s head. “He’s got a badge on!”
Emily laughed. “Yes, he does. And a custom-made one at that, courtesy of Logan Fox.”
“Logan made it for him?” Tucker asked, leaning in to see the carefully crafted metal badge with the Last Stand city logo.
She nodded. “The chief talked to him about it at the survival party, and he delivered it yesterday. See how nicely it fits over his collar?”
“Leave it to Logan,” he said.
“He and Aunt Tris are probably gonna get married,” Jeremy announced casually. “But after Dad and Nic do.”
Tucker shifted his gaze from the cleverly wrought metal to Jeremy. “Did Tris tell you that?”
The boy shrugged. “Nope. I’m just hoping.”
Tucker smiled, reached out and tousled his hair. “Me, too, buddy. I’ve never seen her so happy.”
“Does Lobo like ice cream?” Jeremy asked, one of his usual quick changes.
“Don’t know about that,” Emily said, “but I do know he loves whipped cream. Even though it gets all over his nose.”
Jeremy laughed delightedly. “Let’s go!” He looked at Tucker. “Can we go in this car, since it’s already nice ’n’ cool?”
“I…don’t know,” Tucker said, feeling a bit awkward at the boy’s assumption that of course they would all be going. Together. “Emily is working—”
“She’s also overdue for a lunch break. Pile in, everyone.”
And so they were off, in the indeed much cooler car. “Truck’s A/C needs some work,” he muttered as he shut the passenger door.
It was barely two minutes later that they were pulling into the small parking area outside the new shop. Emily picked up the microphone on the police radio, keyed it and said, “K9 One, code seven at Hickory and Yellow Rose.”
“K9 One, ten-four,” came the answer back through the radio.
“Who’s that talking?” Jeremy asked.
“The dispatcher,” Emily said. “Who has to not only keep track of everything going on in town, but all the officers, too. And everything they might need, from backup to an ambulance.”
“Wow, that sounds hard.”
“It’s a tough job. Tougher than mine, in a lot of ways. But the chief hires good people.”
“Yes, he does,” Tucker said, and when she glanced at him he held her gaze, letting her see how much he meant it. It was crazy, it went against everything he’d vowed to never, ever do, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
He really liked Emily Stratton. No, he more than just liked her.
A lot more.
“They let Lobo come inside?” Jeremy asked as they all headed into the new shop.
“They do.”
“’Cuz he’s a police dog?”
Emily nodded, then bent slightly to whisper, as if it were a secret, “And because the lady who runs the place is a big dog lover.”
Jeremy seemed to delight in the way she did that, sharing pretend secrets with him. He understood, because he knew he would too, if she shared some secrets with him. Except he’d want real ones.
And it was going to take more than ice cream to cool him down after the ideas that thought planted.