20. Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Zach
I t’s been a slow day today. Not that it usually isn’t, but things have started to pick up since tourists have started to trickle back into town.
I take another bite of the mouthwatering turkey panini Alina made me this morning. Part of the deal Mazie and I made for her to go to the café was for me to tag along as her chaperone, and Alina’s been making my lunch for me as a thank you, as well as Liv making my usual cappuccino. While I’ve told them it’s not necessary, I do appreciate having a meal that’s more than just a protein bar and a piece of fruit. And the coffee is always welcome.
Now seems like as good a time as any to have lunch. I’ve been sitting at this speed trap on the cusp of town for over an hour and have seen two cars.
As my phone vibrates in my pocket, I shove what I can of the sandwich in my mouth and hold it while I dig my cell out.
My brow crinkles as I see Mazie’s beautiful face light up the screen. Though I’ve told her a million times she can call me, even just to chat, she’s made herself very clear that she doesn’t want to bother me while I’m working.
“Hey, baby. What’s up?”
All I hear for a moment are heavy breaths, and I’m immediately on high alert, straightening in my seat.
“Mazie. Talk to me.”
“Home…broken…” She says the words through puffs of breath, and I can hear the hysteria in her voice.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“I’ll be right there.” I chuck the rest of my sandwich out the window and flip on the lights and siren, peeling out of the worn-down spot in the grass and kicking up gravel as I go.
Though I’ve been on the opposite side of town, I make it to Mazie’s in about five minutes. It helps that the limits to Juniper Grove aren’t that far apart.
I throw open my door and hop on the radio. “Dispatch, I’m responding to a possible 10-62 on Clover.”
“We didn’t get a call for that, Officer Benning.”
“Yeah, it was a personal call.” I’m not really supposed to do what I’m doing. All calls and responses are supposed to go through dispatch. But I wasn’t about to tell Mazie to call 911 when I’ve sworn to protect her.
When I get to the front door, it’s locked, so I have to dig my keys out. It’s one extra step I don’t want to have to take right now, but I understand why it’s locked. At this point, I’m pretty sure it’s just part of Mazie’s routine to lock it behind her.
The second I walk in, my heart drops to my feet as I take her in, curled up in a ball in the middle of the living room, rocking back and forth. Ignoring her normal shoe protocol, I walk right to her and squat down, pulling her against me.
“Shh. You’re okay. It’s okay. I’m here.” I rub my fingertips along her scalp and kiss the top of her head.
She doesn’t respond, but she turns and nuzzles her face into my chest. I wish I wasn’t wearing my uniform. There are pockets and gadgets and all sorts of things that aren’t soft or comfortable.
Taking her shoulders, I push her back and try to look at her, but her head is against her knees again.
It’s this very moment that I realize how strong Mazie is as I try to pry her arms away from her legs. They barely even loosen, and while I could certainly overpower her, I don’t want to hurt her. Instead, I sigh, drop my hands between my knees, and my chin to my chest.
“I’m going to look around.” I run my palm down her curls and stand, walking through the house to find what upset her.
I don’t have to go far before I find the culprit. The slider off her kitchen is completely smashed, shattered all over the floor. The glass crunches beneath my shoes as I walk closer, taking a look at the door frame. Whatever happened, the glass was smashed from the outside.
Leaving the room, I take a walk through the rest of the house, checking rooms, under beds, and behind shower curtains. But there isn’t a soul in the house besides me and Mazie. It makes me doubt that this was a break-and-enter at all because nothing else is disturbed. At the very least, something else would be amiss, overturned, or a mess. Not just the shattered glass and my girlfriend crumpled on the floor.
I head back into the kitchen to do a little more surveillance, taking a quick peek at Mazie.
It had to have been something hard for the glass to shatter like this. With a furrowed brow, I look around the area, crunching on glass as I try to walk carefully through the area.
That’s when I spot it. The white curve of a baseball. Bending to pick it up, I lift it and examine it like it’s a foreign substance and not the sort of thing I played with for hours and several years in little league.
And then I lift my gaze to look out into Mazie’s yard and my eyes land on the house behind hers. One corner of my mouth tips down as it comes into focus.
Before I can even handle that, I need to get Mazie put back together.
Not wanting to track shards of glass into the living room, I take my shoes off and leave them between the two rooms, hoping none made it this far from the crash.
I squat in front of Mazie again, holding the ball up in my fingers. “I found the offender. It’s not quite as scary as you might think.”
Slowly, she lifts her head from her legs, still hiding most of her face behind her arms, which are now crossed on top of her knees. Her brows crinkle and lines crease her forehead.
“While I haven’t confirmed anything, I’m pretty sure that asshole kid who lives behind you hit this ball straight through your door. Probably the force of the impact and how close it was caused it to shatter instead of just crack or punch a hole right through it.”
“He’s not an asshole.” Her voice comes out tiny and meek.
I raise one eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“He’s only fifteen. And not all that different from how you and Eli were when you were that age.”
“Except I’m pretty sure we never broke a window and didn’t take accountability.”
“Would you have?” It’s a good question. And I’m not sure I have an answer. If Jenna knew, she certainly would have made us not only apologize, but likely have found a way to at least financially contribute to replacing it. Had it been my mother to find out, I’m sure she would have tried to avoid it, as we wouldn’t have had the money to replace it.
I drop my head and lower the ball with a sigh before meeting her gaze again. “He’s still going to come apologize to you. Can you get up?”
She nods and reaches for my arm, pulling herself out of turtle mode and standing. Once she’s up straight, she falters a little, and I grab her around the waist to keep her upright.
“You okay?”
“Just a little tight and shaky from the anxiety. I’ll be fine.”
“Why don’t you sit, and I’ll go get the twerp.” With my hand on her lower back, I guide her toward the couch.
I grab my shoes from by the kitchen and walk over to the front door, inspecting the bottoms for any shards before slipping them back on. The screen’s open, and I’m halfway out, when Mazie’s voice reaches me.
“Zach?”
I turn to look at her.
“Be nice.”
A quick roll of my eyes and shake of my head, and I’m heading out the front door. The house is just around the block. Part of me considers taking the squad car, lights flashing and all, but it seems a bit extreme even to me.
I waste no time hopping up the three steps to the door and giving a loud knock.
Thankfully, the little punk opens the door. His face drains and his eyes widen when he sees me standing on his doorstep.
“Does this belong to you?” I hold out the ball.
He swallows roughly and gives a slight nod.
“Did you know that it went right through Ms. Baker’s door?”
His head drops and he nods.
This isn’t quite bringing me the satisfaction that I was hoping it would. The joy of seeing this boy uncomfortable and wriggling. Instead, he’s clearly remorseful.
“This is what’s going to happen now. You’re going to come over to Ms. Baker’s house with me, and you’re going to clean up the mess you made. Understand?”
One more nod, and he puts his shoes on and closes the front door behind him. I hand him the baseball, which he tosses onto the grass.
“What’s your name, kid?” While the town is tiny, I’m not as up as I should be on all the kid’s names. I know this boy’s parents are Shawn and Patty, but I couldn’t even begin to guess his name.
“Nathan,” he mumbles while looking at his feet. He raises his gaze to look at me, fear behind his eyes. “Am I in trouble? Did she call the police on me?”
I hook my thumbs into my duty belt. “Yes and no. You’re not in trouble, more than having to apologize and help clean up. And she didn’t exactly call the police so much as a friend who happens to be a police officer.”
“Is she mad? Miss Mazie is super nice, and I don’t want her to be mad at me. It was a mistake, and I was scared I’d get in trouble, so I didn’t say anything.”
“No, she’s not mad. You scared her more than anything. She thought somebody broke into her house.” I glance over in time to catch his head drooping further and his shoulders slumping. Without knowing much about him, I can tell he’s a good kid who made a mistake and didn’t know what to do.
When we get back to Mazie’s, he trails behind me like a dog who’s just been yelled at for crapping on the carpet. She looks much more put together and is sitting right where I left her on the couch.
“I think this young man has something to say to you.” I step aside so that Nathan can’t hide behind me anymore.
“I’m sorry, Miss Mazie. I didn’t mean to scare you. I knew it broke the window. I heard the glass, and I didn’t want to get in trouble, so I ran back into my house and just pretended it didn’t happen.”
A small smile pulls up the corners of her mouth, and she softens in forgiveness. She knows there was no malintent. “It’s okay, Nathan. Thank you for apologizing.”
“Nathan’s going to clean up his mess now. Right, buddy?”
He’s already nodding eagerly.
“What? Zach, no. He’s just a child. He shouldn’t be cleaning up broken glass.” She stands and walks toward us.
I put my hand out low to stop her. “I’ll be right there watching him. He’ll be okay. He has to learn at some point.”
“Shouldn’t that be a decision his parents get to make?”
“It’s okay, Miss Mazie. Dad had me clean up a glass I dropped last week. I’ll be careful.”
My eyebrows rise on my face as I turn back to her. “See? He’ll be careful.”
With a huff, she crosses her arms against her chest. “I still don’t like it.”
I give her a shrug and walk over to the kitchen closet where she keeps her cleaning items, pulling out the broom, dustpan, and vacuum.
She starts to follow me into the kitchen, and I turn around to stop her, pointing at her feet. “Put shoes on.”
As though I just gave directions to a child and not an adult, she rolls her eyes and opens the entryway closet, pulling out her house slippers. “Happy?”
“That I’m not going to have to take you to the hospital because you stepped on a shard of glass? Yeah, I am.”
Nathan takes the broom and dustpan and starts sweeping, getting the big pieces pulled in first.
Mazie comes to stand next to me, arms crossed like mine. With a sigh, her head leans against my shoulder.
I keep a careful eye on Nathan as he sweeps up the shards, dumps them into the trash, and comes back for more. He’s thoughtful with the process, going slowly and getting under both the table and the hutch I found the ball under.
Once he’s done, I exchange the broom for the vacuum. He looks around for a moment for an outlet before plugging it in. Either he’s been in this kitchen a few times, or his house is a similar model.
Though the vacuum mostly just drones, it does clank through a few pieces of glass.
And just to be sure we’ve gotten as much as possible, I dampen a napkin and hand it to him. I should give the kid credit, he doesn’t ask what to do next, just jumps right in to do it.
He tosses the paper towel into the trash and wipes his hands together.
“Thank you, Nathan. That was very helpful of you.” Mazie has to put a positive spin on it. Let’s ignore the fact that she was a mess when I showed up, having me ready to beat the hell out of whoever was causing her fear.
“I’m sorry again, Miss Mazie. I promise to be more careful next time.”
“Maybe keep your batting to the ballpark?” It’s not a suggestion I want to give. Eli and I played baseball in the yard all the time. But I can’t have him scaring Mazie again.
He bites his lower lip and nods. “Can I go home through the backyard?”
“Of course, Nathan. Tell your mom and dad I said hello.”
His face pales as he realizes he’s going to have to tell his parents what happened. When he turns around, he looks the door frame up and down before walking right through the opening, carefully avoiding any of the glass still attached, and runs through the yard.
I turn to look at Mazie and hold her upper arms. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nods resolutely but doesn’t give me a verbal answer.
“You know you can’t sleep here tonight. Right?”
Her whole body slumps. It’s not that she hates being at my apartment, but she certainly doesn’t like it as much as her own home. Who can blame her? She’s made this a comfortable place to live, and I often prefer to be at her house. It could be that it’s distinctly Mazie and every square inch smells like her and reminds me of her warmth, whereas my apartment has much more of a bachelor pad feel.
She turns to me with wide eyes. “You don’t have to work tonight. Right?” There’s true terror in her voice, the way it shakes. Though she’s stayed with me plenty over the years, she’s never been there on her own, and I’m pretty sure if I did have to work tonight, she’d end up at one of her sister’s places. Possibly out at Eli’s.
“I’m off at five.”
“Oh, thank God. What should I do until then?”
“You’re welcome to head over there and hang out until I’m done. But otherwise, my best suggestion would be to head back to Three Sticks with the girls.”
“This is exhausting. How long will I be put out for?”
I move my hands up to her shoulders and lean back to take a good look at the door. “I’m off tomorrow. Assuming the store has a door in stock, Eli and I can probably replace it then.” One thing I’ll always be thankful to Paul for. He didn’t just teach Eli how to be handy around the house. He took me under his wing and taught us together. While I’m no handyman, I can do my fair share of fixing and replacing.
Lowering my palm to her back, I guide her toward her room so she can throw some clothes in a bag.
“You wore shoes in my house.” She glances down at my feet and then back up.
“I’m hoping you’ll forgive me this once. In fact, if it will help, after I drop you off at Three Sticks, I’m going to come back to hang a tarp so nothing wild makes its way in, and I’ll also mop the floor for you.”
She pushes up on her toes and presses her lips to my cheek. “I appreciate that, but I’ll do it when everything is back to normal. I imagine you and Eli will be wearing your shoes while replacing the door anyway. No use mopping twice.”
There’s also something she’s not adding, which is that she needs to know that it’s done thoroughly and her way. It might bother me if it wasn’t just how Mazie is.
I lean against the doorframe as she gathers some clothes. There’s a tightness about her body and in her movements. Before she leaves the room, I grab her upper arm and pull her against me, swaying slightly. “Are you okay?”
She drops her bag with a loud thud and wraps her arms around my waist, squeezing tightly. “Yeah.”
The single word doesn’t bring a lot of confidence, but I know she’s processing everything that happened.
I help her into the passenger side of the squad car, closing the door gently once she pulls her feet in and give a quick radio to dispatch to let them know it's all clear. There’s a sadness about her and I can’t figure out how to get her to open up.
The five-minute drive to Three Sticks is spent in silence. I keep glancing in her direction, but her gaze is trained out the window. When we pull up in front of the café, I throw the car in park and sigh heavily, turning to look at her. “M. What’s wrong?”
“I just…I feel stupid and silly.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I beyond freaked out and called you in a panic that somebody had broken into the house, all because I saw the door shattered. Never did I even consider that it could have been something innocent. I mean, I know my backyard backs up to a teenage boy’s. Why didn’t I consider that possibility? I literally saw the door and crumpled to the floor.”
I loop a curl behind her ear. “It’s understandable after what you’ve been through. You know that.”
“My therapist has been trying for years to get me to have better coping abilities.” She looks down at her lap, where she weaves her fingers together. “I don’t know. I just feel weak. Like a failure.”
Reaching over, I take her chin in my fingers and turn her to face me. “You are neither of those things.” It’s like a needle pricking through my heart to hear her say such things about herself. Doesn’t she see how strong she is, just by all she’s gone through in her life?
Mazie clearly doesn’t see the important role she’s played in people’s lives. The way that she’s touched and brightened each and every one of our lives.
“Hey.” Though I still hold her chin, her gaze has drifted down, but now rises to meet mine. “You know I love you. Right?”
“Yeah, of course, I do, but—”
“No. M, I don’t mean in like a ‘hey, you’re my best friend and I love you’ sort of way. I mean that I’m irrevocably and completely head over heels in love with you.”
Her sapphire eyes dart between mine. “How could I know that? You’ve never told me.”
I lift one shoulder. “I don’t know. Part of me felt like I didn’t need to tell you. That there’s no way you couldn’t know.”
She’s silent for a moment, and I wait on bated breath to see if she’s going to say the four most amazing words I’ve ever heard. “I love you too.”
Leaning forward, I pull her toward me and press my lips to hers. There’s so much more I want from this moment but considering I’m in my squad car and technically still on duty, it will have to wait for tonight.
“Do you want a Coppuccino?”
“No. I’m alright. I’ll be back around five-fifteen to pick you up.”
She nods silently and climbs out of the car. I watch her walk up the steps to the front door of the café, where she pauses before opening the door and lifting one hand in my direction.
This isn’t her favorite place to be, but she’ll be safe here.
Now to just swing by my apartment and grab a tarp.