Chapter Two –Backup Plan
Chapter Two
Cooper
BACKUP PLAN
Performed by Bailey Zimmerman, Luke Combs
I wasn’t sure what emotion had the upper hand as I stalked up the river rock path to my neighbor’s porch. Frustration. Disappointment. Anger. Or just pure exhaustion.
Getting the call from the middle school about Luca skipping class for the second time this week had definitely kicked my fury up a notch. We’d made a deal. A good deal. And he’d reneged…again.
What the hell was I going to do with him?
Dad might have ideas, but I wasn’t going to lay this at his feet as he tried to recover.
I wouldn’t lay it at Mom’s either, because she’d feel obligated to tell Dad.
Those two never kept secrets from each other.
They were a team. A unit. Two parts of a loving whole that I’d once hoped to have in my life and fallen short of in the worst way.
After leaving work to hunt Luca down, walking into an empty home had woven my anger with worry—at least until I’d seen his skateboard missing. The only place in Rivers he could be was the park. It was illegal for him to skate there, but he rode the rails and benches anyway.
I had one foot back in my sheriff’s rig when my gaze was snagged by Luca’s skateboard lying on Andie Nealy’s path. No sign of Luca, but his board and helmet had been tossed aside. My kid didn’t leave his deck anywhere. Not when he’d spent nearly a year perfecting it with custom parts.
Stepping onto Andie’s porch, the first thing I saw was the broken windowpane, and my stomach fell. Damnit. Luca had already screwed things up with our neighbor. Our breathtakingly lovely neighbor.
I rang her bell and then followed it up with a knock.
When she yanked the door open and her gray eyes flashed at me with a brewing storm, my chest squeezed even tighter.
I scanned her from top to bottom, a habit I couldn’t seem to break when it came to this woman.
The first time I’d met her, she’d stopped me dead, sending a shock straight through me.
Something about her smooth, copper locks flashing with fiery highlights, hourglass curves, and perfect heart-shaped face was reminiscent of the Golden-Age-of-Hollywood actresses I’d spent my college years obsessing over.
Today, like nearly every time I’d seen her, she had her burnished strands wrapped tight in a fancy bun that made her look part librarian, part seductress. The flush on her cheeks emphasized the scattering of cinnamon-like freckles that spread over a pert nose.
She had on a sleeveless teal button-down, that somehow revealed nothing and everything at the same time, and a gray skirt that clung to every curve. The professional outfit was a uniform she wore seven days a week, only swapping out the skirt for tailored dress pants on occasion.
The only out-of-the-norm thing about her today was her bare feet. I hadn’t once seen Andie without some kind of heeled dress shoe. Not the stupidly expensive ones that had filled Eden’s closet, but still fancy enough.
The sight of those naked toes, painted with a barely-there color that almost blended in with her snowy skin, did something to my chest. My stomach. My fucking groin. It felt intimate, as if I’d walked in on her undressing.
And my body liked that too damn much.
I didn’t have time for attraction. Or sex. Or anything when it came to women. And certainly not with a neighbor I couldn’t leave in a hotel room with a thanks for the good time and a see you again…never.
“Sheriff.” The way Andie carved disgust into that single word crawled up my spine like a specter breathing down my neck. Hadn’t I heard that same tone one too many times from my ex? Except, her scathing name for me had been “Lawman.”
“Miss Nealy,” I acknowledged, gritting my teeth to keep from reacting. I nodded my head toward the skateboard lying on her walk and then directed my gaze at the broken glass. “I see Luca is here.”
Pushing into my space, she slammed the door behind her, and I had to take a step back to keep our bodies from colliding. The air between us snapped and crackled in a way that was unhealthy for me…and for her.
When she stabbed me in the chest with a delicate finger, slightly crooked from what must have been a long-ago break, the electricity zapped me all the way to the bone.
“I don’t care who you are, who you know, or what kind of badge you wear. I will absolutely be calling child protective services and letting them know what happened. Do you understand me?”
Each word she spoke was coated with barely contained rage and disgust.
My mind reeled, trying to catch up. “Because of a broken window? I’ll pay for it. I’ll even install it—”
“You seriously think I care about some broken glass?” she stormed.
Her tone and the absolute look of repugnance in her gaze retriggered memories of Eden using the same tone. My already taut emotions, strained by worry over Luca’s rebellion, cracked a bit more, and I found myself stepping forward and eliminating the space I’d just given her.
The way my body flared at the brush of our hands and arms amped up my irritation another notch until my anger matched hers.
Except, mine was all self-directed. Not only for losing my cool when I rarely did but at my libido for not giving two shits about what it had done to my heart and soul the last time I’d had this same reaction to a woman.
“Look, lady, I’m sorry he broke your window. He’s adjusting to some pretty serious changes in his life. I’ve apologized, even if he hasn’t. Now open the door and give me my son.”
She used both hands to shove me, but I didn’t budge. And when I looked into those large eyes and saw a similar mix of fury and attraction sizzling in them, it did nothing to help my situation.
“I know the signs, Sheriff.” Her scathing tone deepened. “I know them like the back of my hand. I won’t stand by and let you abuse him.”
My mouth literally dropped open. All the anger, all the attraction, washed completely away as realization hit me dead center.
“You think I did that to Luca? That I gave him the black eye?”
Taking in my stunned reaction, her anger faltered. In its place, an emotionless mask emerged.
“Did Luca actually tell you I hit him?”
She scoffed, “We’ve had one brief conversation. Abused kids don’t open up to strangers after exchanging a few sentences. But I know real fear when I see it. Just saying your name scared him.”
Pained knowledge carved through her words, experience backed with anguish she didn’t show in her face but I glimpsed in her eyes anyway.
Fuck. I should have run a background check on all my neighbors here just as I had in LA. But this was Swift Rivers. I hadn’t thought I needed to, which was stupid, considering I’d had a hand in stopping violence and mayhem here just over a year ago.
The front door opened, and I had to grab her elbow to prevent her from falling backward into my son. The touch scorched me, burning up my arm and all the way to my heart.
Luca’s eyes bounced from me to Andie and back.
I easily read the series of expressions that coursed over my son’s face.
Chagrin. A hint of fear. And then something worse.
A slyness that usually preceded something coming from his mouth that was sure to both put me in my place and take advantage of the situation.
“Please don’t be mad at Andie, Dad. She didn’t do anything. She was just being nice.”
Instead of letting my son out the door, Andie spread her arms wide, palms on opposite doorjambs, blocking the path. “If you’re afraid to go home with him, Luca, you can stay here. I’ll call for help.”
I dragged a hand over my face and blew out an exasperated breath. “I haven’t laid a hand on Luca. Not even when he knew he deserved it. Why don’t you tell Ms. Nealy how you actually got that shiner?”
Andie turned her head, and she caught the sheepish look on Luca’s face before he could hide it.
“Wait. What?”
Luca tucked his hands into his pockets, shoulders slanting forward. I hated that look almost as much as I hated his rebellion. I didn’t want him to feel like the weight of the world had landed on his shoulders. I just wanted him to be a kid. Wild and free and learning new tricks on his board.
I tossed a thumb over my shoulder to the skateboard. “He was riding the rails outside City Hall and crashed face-first into a post. Cameras caught it all. I’d be happy to let you watch it if you don’t believe me.”
Neither Luca nor Andie said anything, so I continued. “He was supposed to be at school that day too, instead of skipping class yet again.”
Andie turned and leaned against the open door so she could dart a confused frown at Luca.
I looked straight into my son’s mutinous eyes and sighed. “Pick up your gear and head home. We’ll talk about how you reneged on our deal when I get there.”
Luca brushed by Andie, muttering his excuses before scurrying down the walk, swooping down to pick up his board and helmet, and then jogging toward our porch.
I crossed my arms over my chest and widened my stance. The cop in me came out as I asked, “How’d he break the window?”
She rubbed her twisted finger as if it ached. “A slingshot?” She glanced up to the branch above the porch, where I caught sight of Luca’s hacky sack nestled in the leaves. “He said he was trying to retrieve that.”
“I’ll get a ladder and get it out of your way. And we’ll pay for the damage. If you get the pane ordered, he and I can repair it.”
“You have experience replacing antique windows in hundred-year-old doors?” she asked dryly.
“I have experience building a lot of things. I won’t screw it up. And it’ll be good for Luca to have a hand in repairing it.”