Teresa Southwick - How To Land Her Lawman

“Then you should be very popular, Dad.”

Adam laughed. “It’s healing well.”

“How’s the wife and kids,” Hank asked.

“Great. Couldn’t be better.” The doctor smiled broadly. “C.J. is loving Cabot Dixon’s summer camp and has decided he’s going to be a cowboy when he grows up. Or Robin Hood. He’s been taking archery classes with Kate Scott, actually Dixon now. They got married,” he explained to Will. “And C.J. can’t make up his mind whether he likes riding horses better than shooting a bow and arrow.”

Hank laughed. “And that little girl of yours?”

“Beautiful. Just like her mom.” His voice grew marginally softer when he mentioned the two women in his life. “Although I could do without the terrible twos. If she’s as good at everything else as she is at that, she’ll be incredibly successful in her chosen field.”

“Yeah, I remember that stage,” Hank said wryly. “My wife handled it and that’s why Kim and Will grew up so well.”

Will marveled at how his father got people to talk, to open up. He considered it part of his job to know the citizens of his town and the man was a master. That was very different from Will’s work in Chicago. There was no way law enforcement could spend the time to get to know everyone.

Adam met his gaze. “How is it being back?”

Will figured he should be used to that question by now but it seemed every day in Blackwater Lake made his feelings a little less clear. So all he said was, “Good.” Best to leave it at that and change the subject. “So my dad is doing okay?”

“Pretty remarkable actually. Pulse, heart rate, breath sounds, blood pressure are all where we want them. Anything you think I should know?” Adam asked.

“No. I’m feeling good,” the patient said.

“I’m going to order some blood work.”

“Heaven forbid I should get out of here without someone sticking me with a needle,” his dad joked.

“Man up, Hank. You should be used to it by now,” the doc said.

“Not really.”

Adam glanced through the chart. “You’re still exercising and watching your diet?”

His dad’s expression was wry. “Have you met my daughter, Kim? You know, the pretty, bossy one?”

“Okay. Point taken. I’m betting that skill was sharpened by working with teenagers.” Adam laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes. So keep it up. At this pace you’ll be ready to go back to work when your medical leave is over at the end of summer.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

“I want to see you again in six weeks. You can make an appointment with the receptionist on the way out.” He shook hands with both of them again. “Take care.”

Twenty minutes later they were in Will’s SUV and headed home. After leaving the clinic his dad had grown unusually quiet, a stark difference from the gregarious man who was keeping up with the personal life of someone who lived in his town. The checkup couldn’t have gone better. So what was the deal? Will was a police officer and trained detective but without clues he was unable to draw a conclusion.

And then there was this dandy technique that cops used to find out stuff. It was called interrogation. “What’s going on, Dad? You’re pretty quiet over there. The doc gave you high marks and said you’ll be back to work soon.”

“Yeah.” The flat tone was a clue.

“Is this about work?”

“In a way. I’ve been thinking about retiring. I knew it was creeping up on me but didn’t give it a lot of thought until the heart attack and surgery. Now...”

“What?”

“It’s been on my mind. And you know that pretty, bossy sister of yours? She’s been relentless about me slowing down. Taking it easy. Traveling.”

“You’ve always wanted to,” Will reminded him. “I remember you talking about it when Kim and I were kids.”

“Not so much after your mom died.”

Will felt a jab of guilt again that he hadn’t been around much after the funeral. “I know that was a hard time for you.”

“It was. And I’ll always love her. But I’m not grieving the loss anymore.” A big sigh came from the passenger seat. “Since Josie—”

“The widow who rents a room from Maggie Potter. I met her when you were in the hospital.” Nice woman, he thought.

“Yeah. She stayed in Copper Hill to be there for your sister until I was out of the woods.”

“I liked her.”

“Kim does, too. And if she didn’t—”

Will laughed. “It wouldn’t be pretty.”

“No kidding.”

“You should take a trip,” Will said. “With Josie.”

“I’d like that, but I feel a responsibility to the folks here in Blackwater Lake. Can’t just turn their welfare over to a rookie deputy, no matter how smart and eager he is. Not with the hotel and condos getting closer to opening every day.”

“Yeah, I can see where you’re coming from.”

Will knew this was his dad hinting for him to make this temporary sheriff thing permanent. He remembered what that kid at the photo shoot had said about his hurry to get to the big city. In fact Will had told April he understood where the kid was coming from. But it felt like forever since he’d been obsessed with excitement, getting away from this town to do something more important.

“I know you do, Will. And I always knew you wanted me to be proud of your accomplishments. You have no idea how proud I am of you, the man you’ve become.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“And you’re older now. Age has a way of making you look at things differently. This town really has a lot to offer a man.”

Just like that an image of sassy April Kennedy popped into his mind. She wasn’t that skinny little girl anymore, but had grown into a beautiful, confident, accomplished woman. So many of his good memories were wrapped up in her, but she was the girl he’d left behind. It hadn’t worked out for them and no matter what Will accomplished in his career the failure in his personal life would always bother him.

“Blackwater Lake was a good place to grow up. Tim is thriving here.”

“Yes, he is. He’s a great kid.” There was grandfatherly pride in his voice, but there was something flat in the tone.

Will glanced over to the passenger seat and saw the look of resignation on his dad’s face. He should have known the man wouldn’t miss the way Will had deliberately changed the subject. There was no point in taking the idea any further. He would be going back to Chicago at the end of the summer.

That was just the way it was.

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