Another Solution (Crowley County Series Book 4)

by T. E. Killian

  “Well, sounds like you boys had a little excitement out here. Sorry I missed it.”

  Jason laughed. Floyd could make almost anything sound funny.

  “Yeah, I think some of those farm boys got nothing better to do than fight even without much of a reason. But then let something like this happen and they’re ready to tear each other’s heads off. And of course, when we try to stop them, they always turn on us.”

  Floyd snorted. “They didn’t hurt Gibson did they?”

  Jason shook his head. “Nah, they didn’t even touch him before I got here and we Tased them both.”

  “That’s good. I’ll keep those boys overnight and if they’re good, then I won’t even send them in to see the judge in the morning.”

  Jason had been thinking about Karen all morning and now, he had a question for Floyd. He thought about it for a bit before he finally had it phrased the way he wanted it.

  “Floyd? When did you know it was the right time to talk about marriage to Sue Ann?”

  Floyd turned in the seat to look directly at Jason. With a twinkle in his eye, he said, “That serious huh?”

  When Jason didn’t respond but kept staring at him, Floyd said, “Never did.”

  Jason didn’t like that answer, but knowing Floyd as well as he did, he knew there was more to the story. He’d just have to be patient and wait for it.

  Sure enough, Floyd snorted and said, “Sue Ann’s not a bit like Karen. Karen seems to be a sensitive woman. Now Sue Ann on the other hand may be as emotional as any other woman may be but sensitive, she’s not. She always says what she means and never holds anything back. Why that woman told me every step of the way how to act and what to say.”

  Jason laughed so hard tears came to his eyes. “Floyd, I’ve known you for most of my life and that picture just won’t come to my mind.”

  Floyd snorted again. “How much time have you ever spent around Sue Ann?”

  Jason had to admit that he didn’t know her very well. “But I know you better than I know most anyone else and I just can’t see any woman doing that to you.”

  “Well she did and still does for that matter.” Floyd took off his hat and rubbed his hand through his hair. “And you know what? I don’t think I’d want it any other way either.”

  When Jason could finally stop laughing, he turned back to Floyd and said, “That may be all well and good but it doesn’t help me the least little bit with Karen.”

  Floyd grew serious and seemed to be thinking for a moment. “Well, Boy, what I’d say you need to do then is get to know that little girl a whole lot better before you start thinking about approaching her with anything serious. You understand me?”

  “Yes, Floyd, I think I do, more than you can imagine.”

  They talked a little more before Floyd left Jason to his thoughts which were only slightly less confused than before.

  As Jason drove back to the station, he began to formulate a plan in his mind. Floyd was right. He needed to get to know Karen a lot better. The better he knew her the better he would know how to act around her.

  As he thought about it though, he felt sure that Karen was beginning to like him a lot too. After all, they had kissed at her door every night this week so far.

  All the way back to the station, he kept trying to think of something he could do that wouldn’t chase Karen off but still give her the message that he would like to make their relationship more serious when she was ready.

  Just as he pulled into the compound behind the station, he got an idea. Now he knew what he needed to do next.

  * * *

  Karen rushed home after work thankful that Ben hadn’t bothered her anymore today which had allowed her to regain most of her good mood. She turned the oven on for the bread, started the water for the pasta, and checked the sauce.

  When she tasted it, she smiled. No matter what else her mother was, she was a good cook and this was her mom’s recipe for marinara sauce. She knew Jason would love it. He seemed to love any kind of Italian food.

  She’d heard many times that if you thought too much about someone you didn’t want to talk to, they would either call or show up when you didn’t want them to. That thought popped into her mind when her phone rang.

  That old saying was confirmed when she heard her mother’s voice on the other end. “Karen, Hon, you haven’t called me all week and I was wondering when I might get to see you again. Do you think you could come over this weekend? You know your sister is going to be here and Larry would love to see you too.”

  Karen had to grit her teeth to keep from blurting out what she thought about all of that. It was just like her mother though, to throw so much at her at once so that if she agreed with any of it her mother would take it for agreement to all of it.

  She chose her words carefully. “I’m sorry Mom. I have things to do Saturday during the day and I have a date for the evening.”

  “Well, that wouldn’t stop you from coming for Sunday dinner would it?”

  “I’m sorry again Mom but I already have plans for Sunday dinner here in Crowleyville.”

  After several more minutes of her mom trying to get around her objections, she was finally able to get off the phone.

  At least she had been able to keep the phone to her ear and stir the sauce, pour the pasta into the colander, and take the bread out of the oven while listening to her mother.

  She barely had time to take a breath to try to get back her good mood one more time before Jason arrived.

  He was right on time too, ringing her doorbell at exactly six. She didn’t think to take her apron off to answer the door and was surprised at the way Jason looked at it then up to her face.

  It took her a moment to realize he had an arrangement of cut flowers in his hand, which he held out to her.

  “I know how you like flowers and since you’re going to so much trouble to cook for me, seemed like the least I could do was bring you these.”

  She was blushing now. “Thank you Jason. They’re beautiful. Come on in.”

  She led the way into her kitchen where she propped the flowers up in the sink until she could pull a vase out of the cabinet. Once she arranged the flowers, which were several different colors of carnations with greenery scattered throughout, she placed the vase in the center of her table.

  She then turned to see Jason leaning against the doorway into the living room just watching her.

  She tried not to smile but couldn’t help it. “Are you staring at me again?”

  She could tell that he was thinking fast. “No, not staring just admiring.”

  She laughed then. “Is there any difference?”

  He came off the wall and moved nearer. “Oh yes there is. Staring is rude. Admiring is very nice and not rude at all.”

  She laughed again, this time at his logic.

  Neither spoke again until they were well into their meal, which Jason repeatedly praised as one of the best he’d ever had.

  Even then, the conversation was light. Jason told her about the fight he had helped break up and the way he told it made her laugh especially when he threw in his observations about the farm boys.

  “You really like Floyd don’t you Jason?”

  “I sure do.” He seemed to think for a moment. “Even before he saved my life.”

  “He saved your life? When? How?”

  She noticed that he seemed a little uncomfortable telling the story. She couldn’t help comparing that to the way Larry had always bragged about things he had done as a police officer.

  “Well, it was back before he became the sheriff, when we were both detectives. We were trying to solve a string of burglaries and we finally figured out their pattern and were at the next place when they arrived.”

  He paused to take a drink of water. “Everything hit at once as soon as they showed up. And to make a long story short, Floyd shot a guy just as he was about to pull the trigger on me.”

  He leaned back in his chair and said, “End of story.”
<
br />   She again marveled at his modesty.

  She was so deep in thought that his voice startled her. “Karen?”

  That pulled her out of her thoughts and she turned her eyes back on him. He had said her name different this time.

  “I really like you Karen and I’m so glad you decided to give me a chance.”

  Before she could stop it, she blurted out. “Why do you like me Jason? Is it the way I look?”

  He seemed to be stumped for a moment then he grinned and said, “I would be lying if I didn’t say that’s what drew me to you that first day.”

  He reached out and laid his hand on top of hers. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever been around.”

  She was just about to take issue with all that when he said, “But that isn’t why I like you Karen. I’ll admit that that’s all I saw for a little while. But then as I kept bringing Mike in to PT and watching you work with him and others, I found out that you are beautiful inside as well as outside.”

  She couldn’t help it. Tears filled her eyes and she had to jump up to pull a tissue from a box on the counter. She kept her back to him while she dried her eyes.

  When she turned back to face Jason, it was to a worried expression on a pale face. She quickly reassured him. “No, Jason, you didn’t say anything wrong. In fact, that is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  She was afraid to say anything else just then, but something pushed her into saying. “I like you too Jason and I’m also glad that we’ve started seeing each other.”

  * * *

  Jason could hardly believe his ears. Karen had said she liked him. Not only that but she’d also said she was glad they’d started seeing each other.

  He looked across the table and into her eyes. Wow! Her bright blue eyes sure sparkled next to all that beautiful black hair that framed her face and was also hanging down her back. He loved her hair.

  “Jason?” He heard a soft giggle. “Are you okay?”

  He shook his head to clear it and realized she was laughing at him.

  “Sure am. I’m better than I think I’ve ever been and it’s all because of you Karen.”

  She was blushing now and he loved to see her blush.

  Karen suddenly jumped up and started carrying dishes to the sink. Jason jumped up also and began to help her.

  “No, Jason, that’s all right. I can get these.”

  He laughed. “You’ve met my granny, Karen. What do you think she’d say to me if I didn’t help you?”

  Before she could answer, he said, “And don’t say she’ll never know because I know for a fact that’s one of the questions she’s going to ask me about tonight.”

  Karen giggled and said, “Well, in that case, I wouldn’t want to get you into trouble with Miss Hattie. Go right ahead and help. In fact, if you want, you can do it all.”

  He knew from the merriment in her eyes that she was kidding and he loved it. This was the most relaxed he’d seen her and he was thoroughly enjoying it.

  “Oh no, it’ll be much more fun if we do it together.”

  Once they finished cleaning the kitchen and putting everything in the dishwasher, they stood in front of the sink and stared at each other. Jason held out his hand and Karen took it. He pulled her gently toward him and they embraced for a moment and then pulled their heads back enough to share a brief kiss.

  Karen broke away quickly and said, “How about a game of Scrabble?”

  Jason laughed at the obvious ploy to lighten things up. That was okay though. He knew she felt about him the same way he felt about her. As Floyd said, he would just have to be careful not to push her but wait on her instead.

  “Okay. But I got to warn you I’m pretty good at this.”

  “Me too.” And she giggled as she set the box on the table and began setting the game up.

  An hour later, after each won one game, Jason looked at his watch and said, “I don’t have to work tomorrow but I do have to get up early to go on our fishing trip. And you do have to work tomorrow.”

  They both stood as Jason watched Karen put the game back into its box.

  Shortly afterward, Karen walked him to the door and they kissed again briefly. Before he was tempted to make it longer, he opened the door and left.

  As he was walking to his townhouse on the other side of the complex, he noticed a man was walking toward him.

  When they met on the sidewalk, Jason said, “Good evening.”

  As they passed, the other man stopped, turned, and said, “Are you Jason?”

  Jason took as good a look as he could at the man and was sure he’d never met him before. He was one of those small wiry types who usually went out for wrestling in high school. He couldn’t make out much else.

  “Yes, my name is Jason. Do I know you?”

  He could tell that the other guy was grinning now. “No, but we both know a certain woman.”

  That had Jason’s attention now. But he knew from his experience as a cop that the guy had something to tell him and anything Jason said right now wouldn’t matter anyway. So he waited.

  “I have a message for you from a friend of mine.”

  Jason continued to wait. He could see that he was getting to the little guy some. The guy probably wanted him to squirm a little. Well that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Well, you see, this friend of mine used to be engaged to this woman and now he wants her back.”

  Jason waited causing the guy to squirm a little this time. Good. He had decided he didn’t like him anyway.

  “Now before you start flashing your badge and all that, I know you’re a cop. And I’m not threatening you in any way.”

  He paused probably for emphasis. “But my friend just wants me to tell you that he would like it if you would stay away from his woman.”

  Jason was seeing red now. He had put all the pieces together and he didn’t like the results. He had to mentally count to twenty before he was certain he was calm enough to answer the guy.

  “Okay, you can tell your friend that you delivered his message. Okay?”

  The little guy seemed surprised and Jason was sure it was because he was taking the whole thing so calmly.

  The other guy started to walk away when Jason said, “But you tell your friend for me that if he ever hurts Karen Bierstadt again, he’ll answer to me.”

  The guy had turned back to face Jason and his mouth dropped open.

  “You got that?”

  The other guy only nodded and hurried off down the sidewalk.

  When Jason entered his townhouse, he turned the light on and almost fell into his recliner. He had to do some thinking.

  Did he tell Karen? No. He didn’t think so. He was sure that it would only upset her. Did he tell Floyd? No, at least not yet. If anything else happened, he’d be having a talk with Floyd for sure.

  Well, where did that leave him? He really didn’t want to go on that fishing trip now. All he could do was to pray that Karen would be safe while he was gone.

  He went to bed early for all the good it did him. He couldn’t sleep. He just tossed and turned all night long.

  Over coffee in the morning, he almost laughed at himself. He’d put up a convincing front to the messenger last night, but he wasn’t calm at all about the whole thing.

  He was worried about Karen. But what could he do about it?

  Chapter Five

  The last two days had been great, just to be able to get away on the lake, fish, and not be bothered by anything bigger than a mosquito. But Jason was ready to get back. Now, he just wanted to get home and relax for a few hours before he needed to get ready for his date with Karen.

  Karen! He had been so worried about her that he had called her several times yesterday and already today too. He had to know that she was okay. After the third call, he knew she was beginning to suspect something. So he decided that he was going to have to tell her about the warning he’d been given Thursday night.

  He couldn’t stop think
ing about tonight though. He and Karen had their first formal date set for tonight. Sure, they’d been together for supper every night this past week but that was so informal. This was going to be formal with steaks and a movie.

  He smiled to himself as he turned down the lane to his granny’s farm. Any time he was gone for any length of time, he always had to report in to her so she could see for herself that he was okay. A phone call would never do. He had to do it in person.

  The farm had been in the Walker family for over a hundred years. And he knew that being the only child of an only child, he would inherit the farm when Hattie Walker died.

  He probably wouldn’t have to do much when that happened though. All the farmland was leased out. But of course he was far from ready for it to happen yet. He wanted to keep Granny around as long as possible. Knowing she was a strong Christian though would make it easier to take when it did happen.

  When he stepped out of his pickup, Sandy met him and stood up to place his paws on Jason’s chest as he’d done for so many years.

  Granny was sitting in one of a matched pair of rockers on the front porch. He walked up the steps and lowered himself into his gramps’ rocker.

  She hadn’t said a word as he approached and he knew not to say anything until she was ready to speak to him. He should know her fairly well. He’d lived with her all his life until he’d moved out to be on his own.

  As usual, there were two glasses of iced tea on a table between them. He would never know how his granny knew exactly when he was coming. The ice hadn’t even begun melt yet. So he took one and drank some as he knew he was expected to do.

  “How’s my future granddaughter doing?”

  Jason had to laugh. Granny was always saying things like that to surprise him. It didn’t matter how well he knew her, she could still surprise him that way.

  He didn’t even pretend not to know who she was talking about. “Karen’s doing just fine Granny. She said for me to tell you hi the next time I talked to you.”

  “Good.” She took a drink of her own iced tea. “Shows good character being concerned about others that way especially her elders.”