Making Home with You

by Claire Raye

  “Who she is,” I spit out, walking around my desk so I’m standing beside her now. “Is none of your business, Carla,” I add, my jaw tight. “And if you don’t mind, I’d really appreciate it if you could keep your mouth shut about whatever it is you think you know about me.”

  “Don’t be like that, Finn,” she says, smiling as she steps closer and puts a hand on my arm.

  “What the hell are you doing, Carla?” I ask, shaking her hand off.

  “What do you mean?” she asks, as though she has no idea what I’m referring to. “I was only…”

  “No,” I say, cutting her off. “Stop,” I add. “Stop with the shit. You and I are never going to be anything more than two people who went to high school together. Stop thinking that’s ever going to change and stop sticking your nose into business that doesn’t concern you,” I say. “My personal life and who it involves has nothing to do with you.”

  “I…”

  I shake my head. “Just go, Carla,” I say, pointing at my door. “Officer Corcoran will contact you if he has any updates.”

  Carla stares at me, her mouth open as though she isn’t sure what to make of my sudden outburst. To be honest, neither am I. It’s probably the most unprofessional I’ve ever been in my entire career, but regardless, it needed to be said.

  It’s one thing for her to stick her nose into my business, that I can mostly handle. But when she starts bringing Sarah into the equation, I won’t tolerate it.

  “Goodbye,” I say, steering her toward the door. Carla wordlessly walks out and I exhale as I close my office door behind her, knowing there’s a good chance most of the station overheard that whole conversation, which I fear is only going to add to my problems.

  Walking back to my desk, I pull out my phone, hitting redial as I sit down. Sarah picks up on the third ring.

  “Hey,” she says, the sound of her voice instantly making me feel better.

  “Hi,” I reply. “Sorry I missed your call, was dealing with a work thing.”

  “No worries,” she says. “I hope I’m not disturbing you?”

  I exhale, scrubbing a hand down my face. “Not at all.”

  “Is everything okay?” she asks, concern in her voice. “You sound distracted or something.”

  I take a deep breath, wondering if telling Sarah about my morning is a good idea. “Yeah I’m fine,” I say, knowing she doesn’t need to be burdened with this shit. “Just the usual bullshit of living in a small town.”

  “Ugh, trust me,” Sarah replies. “I know all about that.”

  I chuckle at her tone. “Guess that’ll change when you move to Boston,” I say, even as a part of me hopes that doesn’t happen. Even though it’s not far, I know it would still make things between us difficult. I saw it with Ryan and Erin, and I know it would be the same with us, especially with my job.

  But at the same time, I can’t ask her to stay. I know how important this job is to her, how hard she’s worked to get to this point.

  Besides, why the hell would she want to finally escape her own small town, just to trade it for another?

  “Yeah,” Sarah says, her voice sounding strange. “Anyway, the reason I called,” she continues, “is I’m about to head back to Erin and Ryan’s, but I wanted to know if you had dinner plans tonight?”

  “No,” I say. “Although I’m hoping I can see you tonight.”

  Sarah laughs and I can’t help but smile. “Well,” she says. “I was wondering if I could take you out?” she continues. “A night on the town now that we don’t have to hide what we’re doing.”

  I chuckle. “A night on the town?” I ask. “In this place?”

  “Yeah,” she says. “Why not? Be nice to get the official tour now that I’ll be spending a lot more time here.”

  “Really?” I ask, forcing myself not to get too excited.

  “Really,” Sarah repeats.

  “But what about Boston?” I ask, confused.

  “Well,” she says, pausing as though she’s considering her words. “I thought I might take Erin’s advice and commute for a bit,” she says. “Make sure I really like the job before I consider permanently moving there.”

  “Makes sense,” I say.

  “And,” she continues, almost sounding embarrassed. “I kinda have a good reason to hang around here, too.”

  I smile. “Oh, you do, huh?” I ask. “And what would that be?”

  Sarah giggles and it’s adorable. “Oh, you know,” she says, teasingly. “Some gorgeous police chief I’m hooking up with.”

  Now it’s me who’s laughing. “Well, if that’s what’s keeping you around,” I say. “Best you be at my place tonight.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “I’ll be home by six,” I tell her before we say our goodbyes.

  The rest of the day goes smoothly. I don’t hear from Carla again and while Sam is no closer to finding out who vandalized her shop, I’m hoping it’s the end of her bothering me with her bullshit.

  I end up clocking off early, so by the time Sarah shows up, I’m home, showered, changed, and ready to take her out.

  “Hey,” she says, smiling up at me when I open the front door.

  “Mmmm,” I say, pulling her close and planting a hard kiss on her lips. When I pull back, I spy the overnight bag in her hand and I grin, taking it from her. “Staying the night?”

  Sarah bites her bottom lip. “If that’s okay?”

  I pull her inside, closing the front door and backing her up against it. “It’s definitely okay,” I say, dropping her bag and sliding my arms around her waist. “Stay the whole weekend,” I add before kissing her again, deeper this time.

  Sarah groans, her hands slipping around my waist and pulling me closer.

  “I thought you wanted a night on the town,” I murmur.

  “Mmmm,” she says, smiling against my mouth.

  I chuckle. “Come on,” I say, stepping backward. Sarah stares up at me, a look on her face that says she isn’t happy I stopped things. “I promise we’ll finish this later,” I tell her, grabbing her hand and leading her outside to my car.

  “You better,” she mutters.

  We end up at O’Loughlin’s, partly because it’s one of the few places that’s open in the winter months and partly because ever since Ryan came on board, the food has improved considerably. It had been a good move getting him involved and I know as soon as summer hits and the tourists arrive, we’ll be raking it in.

  I hold open the door, ushering Sarah inside. The place is half full and I immediately feel every set of eyes on us as I step in behind her, my hand resting on her hip.

  “Oh, so I guess this explains why you never showed up last night,” comes my brother’s voice as we head over to the bar and take a seat, Beck’s eyes flicking from me to Sarah and back again.

  “Hey,” I say to him. “Sorry about that, had other plans.”

  “Clearly,” he says, raising an eyebrow at me.

  “So, yeah, Sarah and I are…well, you know,” I say, shrugging as I glance at Sarah.

  She smiles back at me before turning to Beck. “Dating,” she adds.

  Beck smiles at her, giving a nod as he says, “So Ryan finally knows, huh?”

  Sarah rolls her eyes. “Shit, you guys knew too?” she asks.

  Beck laughs. “You do know Erin and Kels are best friends, right?” he says. “And that Erin has a big mouth.”

  “God, is there anyone who didn’t know?” I ask.

  Beck glances around the room. “Not anymore,” he says, grinning. “You guys eating?”

  I nod, just as Kelsey walks up, smiling at us. “Hi,” she says, kissing me on the cheek before hugging Sarah. “Where were you last night?” she asks me.

  Sarah glances at me again, a questioning look on her face. “Family dinner,” I tell her, before looking at Kelsey. “Sorry, had other plans.”

  Kelsey gives me a wry smile. “So next time, bring your plan
s with you,” she says, glancing at Sarah.

  “Okay, okay, message received,” I say, standing. “We’re going to grab a table and have some dinner.”

  Sarah stands and I put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “Do you guys want to join us?” she asks.

  “No, we’ll leave you to it,” Kelsey says. “But come to family dinner next week, okay?”

  Sarah glances up at me as though to ask if that’s okay. I smile, give her a small nod because it’s exactly what I want to happen. For so many years family dinner was just me, Kelsey and Pop. When Beck came back, things changed to include him and it was a great way for us to reconnect after all those years he spent in Boston. I know Pop appreciates it and truth be told, so do I. But the idea of Sarah being a part of it too, somehow it just feels right.

  “We’ll be there,” I say, kissing the top of Sarah’s head.

  We both turn and head toward a booth in the new dining area. Everyone in the pub watches us and although it feels awkward as fuck, I don’t let go of Sarah until we reach the table.

  She sits down across from me, a strange look on her face. I smile at her, lifting her hand to press a kiss to her palm. “You okay?” I ask.

  “Everyone’s looking at us,” she whispers, her eyes flicking around the room.

  I chuckle. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Why?” she asks, straightening a little as one of the wait staff brings us some menus. I nod my thanks, order a couple of beers for us, before turning to Sarah again.

  “They’re just not used to seeing me do this,” I tell her.

  “What?” she asks. “Eat?”

  I laugh. “No, eat with a woman. A date.”

  Sarah looks at me with a shocked expression on her face. “You’ve never done this before?” she asks.

  I shrug. “Nope, not really.”

  “Why?”

  I put the menu down and look right at her. “Never met someone I wanted to do this with, I guess,” I say, trying to act as though this isn’t a big deal.

  Sarah says nothing, just stares back at me, her eyes wide as she takes in my words. Just when I think I should say something, anything to break the silence, she smiles, leans closer and says, “Well, I’m glad I’m the one to pop your dating cherry.”

  I burst out laughing, my fingers threading with hers as I lift her hand to my mouth again, this time nibbling on her fingertips as I whisper, “God, Sarah, where the fuck have you been all my life?”

  Sarah blushes, her smile shy as she looks across at me. Even though I can still feel everyone looking at us, I wouldn’t trade this moment for anything. Not with the way Sarah’s now looking at me.

  By the time our meal arrives, it seems like most people in the pub have grown tired of watching us. We eat our meal, chatting and laughing and once again I’m struck with how easy it is just to be with Sarah. How easily I could get used to doing this all the time. Forever even.

  When we finally finish, we say our goodbyes to Beck and Kelsey, before heading out to the car.

  “So,” I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “Where to now?”

  Sarah turns, slipping her arms around my waist as she stares up at me. “Wanna go parking?” she asks.

  I smile, lean down and press a soft kiss to her lips. “Going for the full dating experience, huh?” I whisper against her mouth.

  She nibbles at my bottom lip as her hands slide down to my ass and gently squeeze. “Yep,” she murmurs. “And besides, didn’t you start something you need to finish?”

  I grin, pulling her closer as I kiss her again, my tongue slipping into her mouth. “Yes, boss,” I say, pulling back and swatting her on the ass. Sarah giggles and I can’t help giving her another smack as I open the car door for her, my heart pounding in my chest because of all the things I know are going to happen now.

  But when I turn and walk around to the driver’s side, I freeze, my hand clenching my keys so hard I feel them dig into my palm.

  Swallowing hard, I force myself to look away, to not even acknowledge Carla as she stands beside her car watching us, a hard look on her face.

  Chapter Nine

  Sarah

  My alarm sounds, chiming quietly in the black room and I roll over and tap the screen to silence it. The last thing I want to do is wake anyone else up at this hour. It’s really early, too early for someone who has spent the last six months working at a bar, but in order to make it into Boston on time, the five a.m. wakeup call is necessary.

  Erin and I rode the train into Boston on Sunday, following the path I would take just to ease some of my anxiety. The only difference was we didn’t take the commuter that leaves at 5:48 a.m.

  That time plays over and over again in my head as I shower; new job nervousness of what if I miss my train, what if I have the time wrong, what if I’m late, what if I just fuck it all up in general…

  I’m not normally this person, the one who is filled with anxiety, but spending six months living with your parents as an adult knocks you down a few notches.

  I go through the motions of getting ready but remember very little of it. My head is a foggy mess when I step into the kitchen and find Erin and Ryan waiting for me.

  Both look sleepy, but with smiles on their faces as Erin hands me a travel mug filled with coffee and Ryan a brown bag with my lunch in it.

  “Ham and Swiss on seeded rye with no mayo,” he says, beaming like I should congratulate him on the fact that he remembered my favorite sandwich. Regardless, what they’ve done is beyond sweet, but I’m never not going to give Ryan shit.

  “I’m shocked you remembered my favorite sandwich. I figured you’d sleep through this milestone like you’ve done with everything else important in my life.”

  “Miss one fucking graduation because of a hangover and you never let me live it down,” Ryan responds, feigning annoyance.

  “Thanks for getting up so early to see me off. It really does mean a lot to me,” I say, trying not to be awkward, but I can feel my face grow hot.

  “Of course,” Erin adds, “You’re like our trial run before we have our kid. Packing lunches, getting up early.” She laughs and I give her a little smile.

  I hug both of them and Ryan stops me before I walk away, handing me a business card, and when I glance down at it I let out an annoyed huff.

  “Ryan, seriously?”

  “You know, just in case,” he says, shrugging his shoulders casually. “It’s my old partner Joe. It’s a good thing to be in with a cop. You never know when you might need him.”

  “I am in good with a cop,” I say, pointedly, “And I’m not going to need it. Not everything is the worst case scenario.”

  “Whatever,” Ryan says, basically ignoring my comment about Finn.

  They both send me off with a good luck as I grab my bag, slipping my heels into it since the snow is still lingering. The last thing I need is to be hoofing it from the train on the slushy sidewalk in heels. I might be new to this whole commuter thing, but I’m certainly not new to the New England winters.

  Just as I’m stepping out the door, I see Finn leaning up against my car. The headlights from his SUV brightening the darkness of the early morning.

  I feel a lump form in my throat, and I swallow hard. Between Erin and Ryan waking up early, and now Finn waiting for me, I feel like I’m going to start crying like a giant baby right here, right now.

  “What are you doing here?” I call to him as I walk down the driveway toward my car.

  “Did you really think I’d let you go off to your first day without wishing you good luck?” He’s dressed in his uniform, like he’s already ready for his day to start too. He’s obviously very dedicated to his job, but seeing him standing here shows his dedication in everything he does.

  When I reach him, he pulls me into his arms, his lips pressing gently against mine and I feel it everywhere. Goosebumps rise up on my skin and I press closer to him, feelin
g the warmth of his body, his heated breath tickling my neck as he murmurs, “Can I drive you to the station? Pick you up and take you to dinner tonight?”

  I nod my head, not certain I can speak as I wonder how I found myself here. Just a few short days ago I was single, living with my parents and jobless. It’s like a dream…somehow I went from total chaos to totally perfect in no time flat.

  We pull up to the station in just a few minutes and I quickly note the time it took to get here and how much time I have left until the train arrives. My anxiety seems to be growing by the minute. I have no idea why I’m so nervous; generally I’m a pretty go-with-the-flow kinda girl. I guess knowing that if I fuck this up at all I’m back in Eddington and that is not a possibility anymore.

  “Why don’t you text me when you’re getting on the train and I’ll meet you here to pick you up,” Finn says, giving me a smile.

  I nod my head in response and Finn shakes his head slightly, adding, “Don’t be nervous, Sarah. You’ll be great.”

  Finn kisses me goodbye and before I know it, the train is leaving the station; twelve stops, seventy-eight minutes from Rockport to Boston and another fifteen minutes walking distance to the office. This has now become my life.

  What I estimated as a fifteen-minute walk was more like twenty with the wet and sometimes slick sidewalks and the hordes of people, but I still make it just before a half past seven.

  I pull open the lobby door and find it far emptier than I expected, although I was told the office doesn’t open until eight, but the man I am working for generally arrives earlier. I figured if he arrives early then I should too.

  As I step in, stomping some of the water and snow from my boots, I step onto the marble tile and feel myself slip. But before my ass hits the floor, someone standing behind me steadies me.