Chapter 28
Luke
The morning sun slanted gold across the grass. Booth frames were half-assembled. Folding tables stacked near the gazebo.
Crystal Lake setting up for the fall festival.
Eleanor Matthews stood near the gazebo steps, clipboard tucked under her arm, issuing instructions with serene authority.
“Officer Bennett,” she called warmly when she spotted him. “Just the man I was hoping to see.”
“Ma’am,” he said.
She gestured toward the half-built stage. “We were just discussing the marshal processional. You’ll start at the corner of Main and Alder, walk ahead of the high school band, pause here for photographs.”
Walk ahead.
Be seen.
Luke nodded.
The gazebo behind her was already draped in deep red bunting. Someone had hung a banner that read CRYSTAL LAKE FALL FESTIVAL in looping gold script.
“You’ve been such a steady presence for this town,” she said. “People notice that.”
People always noticed in Crystal Lake.
Who you dated. Who you didn’t. Who stood beside you in public. Who didn’t.
Eleanor fixed her gaze on him. “You know, we have always expected you to follow your mother’s example and join the town council.”
“There’ll be a seat opening next spring,” she continued casually. “We’d love to have you.”
Luke looked out over the green.
Volunteers stringing lights, measuring booth spacing.
Grace would be here Saturday morning, pitching in.
She always volunteered. She helped with the messy jobs, the unglamorous ones. The ones no one photographed.
She loved this town.
“You’ve got the name,” Eleanor added gently. “The temperament. The right look.”
It always came down to optics.
Luke thought about seeing Grace in secret.
About Mercer’s comments in the squad room. The times he didn’t speak up.
He knew optics, but did he know responsibility?
“You’d be very good at it,” Eleanor said.
Luke inhaled slowly.
He could see the future they were offering.
Festival marshal today. Councilman tomorrow. Mayor someday.
Handed to him because of his last name.
Grace Hart did more for this town every year than he ever had in all his years wearing this uniform.
She organized literacy nights. Ran food drive collections. Spent weekends repainting playground benches.
She loved Crystal Lake.
And he had treated her like something that might stain him.
Luke looked back at Eleanor.
“I appreciate you thinking of me,” he said evenly. “But I don’t think I’m the right man.”
Luke might have the family legacy but it was Grace who understood what this town needed from the inside out.
“Well. Think about it. We like our leaders rooted.”
Luke glanced toward Main Street.
He knew exactly where Grace’s classroom windows faced.
He knew exactly what time the final bell rang.
He knew exactly where he intended to be when it did.
His plans had always felt inevitable. Join the police. Sit on the town council.
A clear path. A Bennett path.
“My priorities have changed,” he said at last. “There’s…there’s someone.”
Eleanor studied him for a moment. "She must be something special."
Luke's throat felt tight.
She is, he thought. She's everything.
He wanted to drive her to school every morning and pick her up every afternoon. He wanted to fix the sagging porch railing on her house and repaint the shutters. He wanted to sit across from her at breakfast and listen to her talk about her students.
He wanted to be the man she called when she was scared.
The man she turned to when she was happy.
The man who got to stand beside her and be proud.
And if that meant the promotion didn't happen—if it meant his parents were disappointed, if it meant Mercer made jokes, if it meant the entire department thought he'd lost his mind—
Luke didn't care.
He'd already lost the only thing that mattered.
And he was going to get her back.
Eleanor was still watching him, waiting for an answer.
"That seat's not mine to take," Luke said.
Luke looked out over the volunteers hauling folding tables. Someone untangling a string of lights with the focused patience of someone who'd done it a hundred times before.
Grace would be one of those people on Saturday. Just showing up and doing what needed doing because she loved this town more than it had ever loved her back.
He thought about the way parents talked about her at school pickup. The way her kids looked at her. He thought about the teachers' lounge, and Hannah's bakery, and every corner of Crystal Lake where Grace Hart had quietly, stubbornly built trust out of nothing.
"I've got a more important job right now," Luke said. His voice was certain.
Respect flickered across her face. “Good for you.”
Sitting on the town council wasn’t for him. But Grace Hart? She would be perfect in the role.
And if she wanted it—when she wanted it—he'd make sure it happened.
Luke glanced at his watch. Four hours until school let out.
He knew the building was secure. He knew there were protocols, cameras, locked doors. He’d reviewed the specs himself. And still, his mind kept circling back to the way she’d looked—shaken, furious, trying to pretend she wasn’t rattled.
He would have to teach her a few basics. Nothing extreme. Just enough to give her options.
Luke straightened, the restless energy easing just enough to let him breathe.
He had patrol to finish. Reports to file.
And then he had Grace to pick up.
The thought settled warm and certain in his chest.
That was the job that mattered now.