Patricia Johns - The Deputy's Unexpected Family

“Is there another way, sir?” he asked hesitantly.

“Well...you could carry on doing patrol, keeping an eye on the bridal shop, and during the course of your stay here, you would record fifteen locations around town and your associations with them.”

“My associations...” Gabe frowned.

“Memories.” Chief Morgan leaned forward. “I want you to write down fifteen individual memories connected to fifteen individual locations in this community.”

“That’s rather personal, sir,” Gabe replied.

“It is.” The chief confirmed. “The thing is, Gabe, you’re one of ours. You were raised in Comfort Creek, and I know that you’re doing your very best to distance yourself from that fact. I have a feeling if you can make your peace with this town, and whatever it is that you hold against us, that your career will benefit.”

“With all due respect, sir—” Gabe began, but the chief held up his hand and started reading from a page in front of him.

“‘A bully. A twit. An overcompensating father making up for his pathetic son’s inadequacies. A coward hiding behind a badge’...and a few more turns of phrase that you probably don’t want to hear repeated.” The chief looked up.

“Yeah...” Those had been his words, pretty much exactly.

“Are you sure all of that was referring to your supervisor?” the chief asked.

“I stand by them, sir,” Gabe replied with a sigh.

The chief met his gaze for a moment and they regarded each other in silence. Then the chief shrugged. “Okay. So you prefer book work. I’m fine with that. I have your first binder set out downstairs.”

Gabe scrubbed a hand through his mahogany curls. It was in his nature to balk at authority, and if the chief wanted him to take a different path, his first instinct was to put up a fight. But quite honestly, if he had to look down the barrel of two weeks in the precinct basement doing book work, or two weeks trying to track down Harper Kemp’s robbers, he’d vastly prefer the latter.

“Sir, if it’s all the same, I’d rather take your second option.”

“Oh?” Chief Morgan raised his eyebrows. “All right then.” He pulled out a small notebook and slid it across the desk. “In that case, this is for you.”

Gabe picked it up and fanned the pages. It was empty.

“Thank you, sir.”

“I’ll leave you assigned to the bridal shop. We’re all going to be keeping an eye on it, and the other local businesses if we’re being targeted. I want you in plainclothes. We don’t want to be too obvious.”

“Will do.” Gabe rose to his feet and tucked the notebook into his pocket.

“Welcome back,” Chief Morgan said with a smile. “Wish it could have been more voluntary on your part, but we’re glad to see you all the same.”

“Thanks, sir.” Gabe headed for the door. It was going to be a long two weeks.

Chapter Three

Harper bent over a dustpan and swept up the last of the glittering glass particles. At least she hoped this was the last of it. Every time she swept, she seemed to come up with more glass. At the counter, Zoey was drawing a picture and chattering to herself. Heidi had already left a few minutes earlier, leaving Harper and Zoey alone in the store.

The dress, newly pinned up and marked for Heidi’s desired alterations, hung in the back room. Harper couldn’t bring herself to touch it yet. The thought of shears slicing through the lace...it was almost physically painful. She’d talked Heidi down to knee length, which was something. Heidi had always liked being different—the girl with short hair when everyone else wore theirs long, a tattoo on her calf she liked to show off in summer, and very likely the reason she insisted upon a short dress for the wedding.

Couldn’t Heidi, just once, blend in? Even if only for Chris!

A navy blue SUV rumbled to a stop outside. Harper paused and looked closer. Gabe got out, but he wasn’t in uniform this time. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt that tugged around his well-muscled biceps. Obviously, the police force kept him in shape, and she had to admit that Gabe had matured into a good-looking guy. A little less ruggedness would go a long way in making this more comfortable for her.

Harper met him at the door so she could unlock the deadbolt.

“Hi,” Gabe said as she opened the door. She stepped back and he came inside.

“What happened to the uniform?” she asked.

“I’m supposed to blend in.”

He didn’t really succeed. Gabe was tall, muscled, and even in plainclothes, he looked like a brick wall. And maybe she liked that. If those thieves were going to return, she’d rather have Gabe as their distraction. Maybe they’d think twice and just move on.

Harper felt a tug on her hand and she glanced down to see Zoey looking up at Gabe, wide-eyed. Harper glanced between them, noting the similarities in their faces—the chin, the slate gray eyes... Did Gabe see it?

“This is Zoey,” Harper said.

“Hi, Zoey.” Gabe gave her a nod. “I’m Officer Banks.”

That was formal, but what did Harper really expect? As far as he knew, this was his ex’s daughter. Not his business.

“I drew a picture,” Zoey said. She lifted it up for Gabe to see, and he took it from her fingers, regarded it for a moment.

“Very nice.” He handed it back.

“It’s for you,” Zoey said.

“Oh—” Gabe’s expression softened and he took the picture back. It wasn’t much more than a few scribbles. She was only four, after all. But he folded the paper in quarters and then tucked it into his back pocket. He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Zoey. I appreciate that.”

Zoey seemed to like that, because she danced back to the counter to draw another one. Gabe would likely leave this shop with a whole ream of paper filled with Zoey’s artwork, and right now he didn’t even know how precious that was.

“You aren’t used to kids, are you?” Harper asked as she leaned the broom into a corner.

“Not really,” Gabe admitted. “But I am used to dealing with criminals and general run-of-the-mill bad guys, which you’ll probably find more useful right about now.”

Harper smiled ruefully.

“But you seem to have risen to the challenge,” Gabe said.

“She was my goddaughter,” Harper replied. “I’ve been in her life since birth.”

“Seems like you’ve got it under control,” he said with a nod. “So how’ve you been...otherwise, I mean?”

“I’m good.” She glanced around. “I manage the store now. Dad had a hard time stepping down. This place was his heart and soul, you know? Anyway, he had a small stroke and that meant he had to slow down and recover.”

“And you have your chance to run the place.”

“Yeah. I’ve been waiting for this.”

Gabe strolled across the store, his gaze moving over the window, the racks of dresses... He reached out, looking like he might finger the fabric of a gown, but instead he pushed it back and knocked on the wall behind.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“Don’t know. Just looking.” He shot her a wry smile. “So your dad’s doing okay, though?”

“Yes, he’s almost completely recovered, and he’s settling into retirement with Mom. My sister’s getting married.”

“Yeah?” His gaze moved up to the ceiling, scanning from one side to the other. “Who’d she land?”

“Chris Holmes, of the Holmes Homes legacy.”

“Ah—so she’s marrying money.”

“She’s marrying a very decent man.” Harper corrected him. “You’ll probably see him around.”

“Hmm.” His gaze came back to Harper’s face and he raised his eyebrows. “So...you still dislike me as much as you used to?”

“That’s—” She felt the heat hit her face. “That was a long time ago, Gabe. I just thought that Andrea was expecting too much from you.”