Chapter 7
Knowing that there was a light at the end of the tunnel for her job, Rosie decided that working wasn’t so bad.
She didn’t want to work, not at all right now, especially not as a cop, but she thought that she was handling things a lot better than before she gave her notice.
The mayor was being extra nice to her, too, which she enjoyed.
Being the chief and the mayor of such a small town, they’d butted heads quite often.
Now it seemed like they were best of friends.
“I have two men on the way to be interviewed. One of them is coming out of retirement to take the job. He said that he could use the extra income and needed to get out of his house before his wife murdered him. I hope he was kidding.” Rosie said she was sure that he had been.
“The other interviewee is from Trinway. He’s been out of the academy for a couple of years but works in Columbus as an officer.
I don’t know if he can take the small-town-ness of the area, so we’ll have to keep an eye on him.
It might be too boring for him to be around this small town.
But if he grew up around here, maybe he’ll be all right. ”
She’d been given files on both men and was glad that he was going to be making her a part of the hiring process.
She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to have much say, but she was glad for the input.
Almost as soon as she opened the file on the younger man, she didn’t think he’d be a good fit.
Something about the way he looked in his picture turned her off from hiring him.
“Have you done background checks on them?” He told her that he thought that the academy had done that. “Both men haven’t had a recent check. I’d do it just for peace of mind. You never know what’s been going on in their lives since then.”
“I never thought of that, and appreciate you pointing it out. I’ll have them run tomorrow.
Unless you can do it now.” She said that she’d get right on it.
“Good. Good. That’ll save me some time in getting things set up for you.
The town wants to interview them both, and I see no reason for that not to happen.
We can have a town meeting and let them ask questions of the men that way. What do you think?”
“I think it could go either way. You might get someone like Mr. Henshaw there who will be asking them questions that have nothing to do with the jobs they’re applying for.
Or no one will show up.” He said he was kind of hoping for the second of the two answers.
“I would too. It could get out of hand quickly if there are so many people wanting answers. I’d play that by ear if I were you.
As I said, it could go either way with them asking questions, so you never know what’s going to be asked. ”
“I understand. And it’s funny you should bring up old Howard.
He is the one who wanted me to set up the meetings for them.
I think he believes that he should have final say in who we hire simply because he’s been around here the longest.” She thought that was funny, but apparently it wasn’t supposed to be.
“I’ll get back with you when the background checks come back. Just let me know.”
She said that she would and called them in.
Younger man McGee had to be called in twice, as they didn’t have anyone by that name from the police academy.
But she’d been spelling it wrong, so that had been the issue.
By the time she was off the phone with the company that did them for the city, she was exhausted again.
Happy for the reason, she took herself a little power nap and got on with her job.
Wylie came in to have lunch with her again.
It was nice because he was getting her to eat instead of her eating through her time.
Once she was finished with her burger and fries, she was tired again and thought that she could make it until the end of the day.
Things were going well so far, and she was just happy to be able to be quitting sometime soon.
Getting a domestic call always scared her.
She knew that they were already volatile about the situation, and when the police showed up, things went twice as bad.
Sending two of her men out on the call, she felt first guilty for sending them out, then relieved that she’d not have to be there if shots were fired.
It went as easily as it usually did with this couple, and was happy that they were getting a divorce.
They’d been at one another’s throats since she started working for the town.
And while it had been close before with them each having a gun, it made her nervous to go there since then.
By the time she was ready to go home, she’d filled out the required paperwork for her retirement.
The HR department said that she could keep her insurance policy for personal life, and she decided that, since it was so little each month, she’d keep it.
She didn’t know what the future would hold, but knew that insurance was the way to go if you could get it.
And she got to keep her group insurance for now, too.
Wylie had insurance through Meggie’s work.
She said that it started the day he’d been hired, and she was happy for that.
The medical insurance from her job was good, but she was sure that Meggie’s was better.
She had a lot more people working for her, and the insurance would be cheaper.
When the background checks came back, she called the mayor to tell him.
He asked her straight up if McGee’s had come back with anything negative on it.
“I’ve not read it over. I can if you want me to. I thought that the two of us were going over them together.” He said he was on his way but wanted a heads-up. “If you’re thinking that there is something wrong with him, then I’d not hire him. First impressions are what I always go by.”
“There’s a cockiness that he has that I don’t care for.
I also think, for some reason, he’s going to want to change a lot of things.
I don’t think the people in this town are ready for someone to come in and change things around.
Do you?” She said that they did have a lot of older people in their town who might be hurt by some changes.
“You’re very good at politics. You should run for my job when I’m up for reelection.
Maybe not. I don’t think I want to give up my job so quickly. I’m sort of established myself.”
“I have no desire to have your job, sir. I’m leaving because I want to spend time with Wylie.
We just bought a new home, and I’m excited to be able to make it a home.
No, I have no desire to have your job. I think I’ll have enough going on in my life to keep me busy.
” He asked about babies, and she was too startled to answer.
“They’ll be coming along too someday, and you’ll have your hands full with them.
I love being a grandda, and I’m betting your parents will be thrilled with the prospect of bouncing them on their knees as well.
” She said that her mother was excited to have grandbabies.
“Your daddy, too. He’s a good man, and I’m sure that he’s just busting at the seams until you tell him what you’re having.
Well, I’ll be there soon. Look them over before I get there, and tell me something is wrong with McGee.
I don’t know why, but I just don’t care for him. ”
She’d had the same feeling but didn’t voice her concern with the mayor.
It would matter to her being a citizen again in the town, and she didn’t want to have to clash heads with someone after retiring.
Rosie would if it came to that, but she didn’t want to.
It was hard enough leaving it to someone else.
She didn’t want to have to step in where she might not be wanted.
Both background checks came back good. She told the mayor as soon as he walked in, and she thought that he looked disappointed.
She did point out that he was the one hiring him, and he had the final decision, but that didn’t cheer him up much.
Rosie was glad that she was going to be out of it sooner than she thought and didn’t comment either way about the younger man.
After he left her, she put the checks into her file cabinet and locked the drawers.
There really wasn’t much in her office that she locked up, but she figured that she might as well put them away before it got around town about the two candidates for the job.
She especially didn’t want it to get around town who they were until it came time to interview them.
The mayor had decided to have a question-and-answer session for the people of the town and let them be in on the get-go for hiring the new chief of police.
Taking a nap before Wylie got home, he still had to wake her up when he got there.
She was all right with that. He woke her up in the most delicious way.
Having dinner with him and the cook, she enjoyed her pasta and was glad that there was lots of sauce and bread to go with it.
Her favorite thing to make while having spaghetti was garlic bread sandwiches.
Stuffed by the time dinner was over, she decided to have dessert in the living room with Wylie.
They’d been eating on a regular schedule now, and she was feeling better about it.
All those nights when they ate at eleven or beyond had played havoc with her stomach.