by Alicia Scott
Outside, the press gathered eagerly. Local citizens were also out in force. Sandra recognized many of her hot-line volunteers seated prominently in their folding chairs. Smithy Jones was also present with his wife Bess. Sandra waved at them both merrily. Smithy’s patrol block—Main Street—officially boasted the highest drop in crime the city had ever seen. He’d recently taken over four more blocks and other community volunteers were now training with him. Sandra also liked to start her rookie officers with Smithy’s community policing team. More than one cop had grudgingly confessed he learned more from one week with Smithy Jones than one year at the academy.
In the front row, of course, sat the guests of honor. Toby Watkins’s mother, doing better these days, and his sister, Opal, who had finally scheduled an appointment with Dr. Morgan. Mayor Peterson was also present, of course. He never missed an opportunity for good press. So were Sandra’s parents. She had finagled them a seat next to Mike’s parents. She and Mike had a bet over who would draw first blood. So far, Mike’s mom was winning, but Sandra’s mom was beginning to come up to speed.
Mike and Sandra didn’t request that their families mix often. Mostly, they’d found a nice balance by asking their parents over to their house from time to time; that way they could control the atmosphere and the guest list. Plus Sandra and Mike had a new home perfect for entertaining—a nice, sprawling rancher set out on three acres of land. Beautiful back deck, big yard for barbecues. They sported a European country look now, each piece of furniture picked out together for the start of their new life. Lots of old wood and painted pine. It was sophisticated enough for Sandra and comfortable enough for Mike.
She thought it was the first place they’d had both of them considered home.
There’d been other adjustments as well. Right after the beatings, Sandra and Mike had both spent a lot of time at the hospital, Mike with Koontz and Sandra with Vee. That had ended up being good for them. Mike needed quality time alone with his partner, and Sandra also preferred her own interests. She discovered that the less she begrudged Mike time alone with his cop friends, the more open and sharing he became when they finally had time together. They talked more now. They relaxed and laughed outside of the bedroom.
Sandra thought they appreciated and respected each other more. Two months ago, they’d even gone running off all by themselves and had a second wedding. Just the two of them and some little old lady they’d dragged in off the street to be a witness. It was the most wonderfully romantic moment of Sandra’s life. And not a bad wedding night…
Things were definitely going well these days. Sandra rested her hand lightly on her stomach. Then she saw the time and hastily returned to her seat. Mike was already there, grinning.
“Think he can get through it without breaking into a sweat?” he asked.
“Not a chance.”
“Department pool is giving only one-to-one odds that he cracks.”
“Department pool is smart.”
The mayor stepped up to the microphone and they obediently quieted down. Mike took Sandra’s hand. She squeezed his fingers. She knew he was secretly proud of his partner and Koontz deserved it. The gruff detective was now the number-one proponent of community policing in the department. He’d also spent a number of his weekends working on the community center. Somehow or another, he was never that far away from Toby Watkins. Recently he had even joined the Big Brother program. Twenty guesses on who he’d chosen to be his little brother. The two were good for each other.
The mayor gave his spiel. He talked about the “momentous” events of last spring, when the city had almost gone to war. He recapped Vee’s letters, the shooting, and then Vee’s life on the run. Standing beside Koontz in front of the crowd, the fourteen-year-old wiggled self-consciously. Then the mayor started talking about the capture of Detective Rusty Koontz, who had worked heroically to stem the riots. Koontz, beaten within an inch of his life, held hostage by five drunken teens.
Koontz turned bright red and looked as if he wished the ground would swallow him whole. Vee punched him playfully in the arm, happy to have the spotlight off him, and the crowd laughed.
Mayor Peterson revved up for the grand finale. Everyone coming together to find the captured detective and the kid named Vee. African-Americans working with Caucasians, civilians working with cops, old working with young. The power of community.
Everyone nodded. Most had become involved in various efforts and they liked to feel good about it.
Finally, the conclusion. For his heroic efforts in aiding Detective Koontz, Toby Watkins received a limited sentence for shooting at police officers. In addition to community services, Toby took weekly anger management classes and reported to a juvenile parole officer to make sure he stayed on track. Now, in order to reach out to other youths, Alexandria was officially opening this new community center, named the Toby H. Watkins Building. East side’s children would now have a safe place to hang out after school. They could blow off steam playing games and sports. They could receive tutoring or join mentoring programs. The community center was even trying to get its hands on a number of computers. Soon east-side kids could be exploring the Internet.
The potential was boundless, the way it should be for children. And now, Mayor Peterson officially declared the building open.
Together, Koontz and Vee held up the oversize scissors. At the last minute, however, Koontz backed up and let Toby do the honors alone.
Vee snipped the yellow ribbon. Lightbulbs flashed and everyone cheered.
“Koontz did well,” Mike said approvingly, clapping away.
“He wimped out.”
“He was showing respect for Toby.”
“He was scared out of his mind.”
“Ha. My kid’s better than yours,” Mike teased.
“In your dreams.” But Sandra was laughing, too. She drew down her husband’s head for a kiss that lingered, then grew. Second chances, Sandra thought, had never tasted so sweet.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1804-8
MARRYING MIKE… AGAIN
Copyright © 2000 by Lisa Baumgartner
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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* The Guiness Gang
† Maximillian’s Children
Table of Contents
Letter to Reader
Dedication
Books by Alicia Scott
About the Author
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
Copyright
Archive.
