Leg Up

by Annabelle Hunter

  Brecken watched the interaction with his same confused expression, mouth open like he was going to say something, then closed when John shook his head. I was clearly missing something, but I had passed my level of caring. Let them be cryptic and keep secrets. I was done. My morning was ruined, my coffee was cold, and I just wanted to leave. I ignored them and stormed past, the keys in my hand jiggling with each step. I made it as far as the steps when John called out after me.

  “Lark?” Stopping was the only concession I was willing to give to show him I was listening. “Those are my keys. That’s why they have a picture of my wife on one of the key chains. Not to mention the BBPD key chain.”

  Jumping Junipers.

  Unwilling to concede my ground, I held them out behind me, keeping my face toward my path. I felt Brecken’s heat as he moved behind me and took the keys, their weight leaving my hand as I heard them travel through the air to be caught with another jingle. Brecken’s nearness pulled at me and I tried to ignore the lure. The fact I knew it was Brecken told me this ‘date’ was a horrible idea. I didn’t need any help to be even more into this man.

  I let him push past me, hyper-focused on how his arm brushed mine and what he meant by it. Did that indicate he might be interested? Or was it just an accident? Or was I obsessing? Sweet cheese and crackers. My money was on that last option.

  Brecken stopped when he got a few steps in front of me and I forgot to breathe, my breath stuck in my chest. Was he going to ask me out, like, for real?

  “Are you coming or not?” Okay. The romance was dead. I could return to real life.

  “I don’t know, are you leading?” One brow rose as he assessed my statement. Yeah, yeah. It was stupid. I knew that. Instead of trying again, I walked toward him, gesturing for him to lead. He didn’t say anything, which I was grateful for, and in silence we walked to his car where he popped open his trunk and helped me put my stuff in. I followed, trying to subdue the butterflies that popped up in my belly. It had been a while since any man helped me put something, well, anywhere.

  We made impressive time to Dough & Nut, and when we walked in, Olivia, one of the co-owners, met us at the register with a huge smile. Olivia was older, maybe in her late fifties, and had been baking since she was younger than me. She had married and had children young, raising them between getting up every day early to run her bakery. Her first husband died of cancer when her kids were still young, and it was tragic, until a few years later James Harrison moved his nuts business into the space next door. One year of fighting turned into twenty years of wedded bliss. On the day they got married, they took out the wall that separated the two shops together. It was one of the most romantic stories I’d heard. The photo of them taking a sledgehammer to the wall hangs behind the register, her in her wedding dress and him in his tux. Sigh. Life goals.

  “Lark! How’s your house doing? I heard about your troubles.” She came out from behind the counter to give me a big hug, one I desperately needed.

  “I’m fine. Brecken and John will find them soon. I have faith.” Dude. That came out like a heroine in a romance novel… no. I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. I was going to. I turned to Brecken, grabbing his arm and fluttering my eyelashes up at him. “In fact, Brecken might catch them all by himself, he’s such an amazing detective. Have you met Brecken yet? Most handsome man in the Sheriff's department. I just know they’ll use him on recruitment posters if they haven’t already.” His blush told me I struck gold with that guess. Also, I needed to go look up the photos. If there was a calendar with him sans shirt, I was buying it. Supporting our local sheriff’s department was important. Very, very important. Was it hot in here? Must be the ovens.

  “No.” She spoke slowly, giving me a long look before turning to Brecken. “Has anyone mentioned you look just like Captain America?” I had forgotten her husband was a huge Marvel fan. Brecken grew even redder. This was fun.

  “No. No one.”

  Ha! Liar. There was no way people hadn’t said it to his face before.

  “Brecken here is a hero,” I said, with more eye-flutters in his direction after a wink at Olivia.

  “No, no I’m not. She would have been fine had I not been there. One of the other guys would have gotten to her.” Oh ho! I liked the sound of that story.

  “Don’t be so humble.” I leaned into his arm like I had seen others do (cough, cough, Lindsey) and pressed it to my chest as I doubled down in my smile. His eyes widened, and he looked around for what I assumed was an exit. Not today. Gripping his arm harder to make it clear there was none, I turned to Olivia. “He is so humble. You just can’t let him go without him telling you the whole story.” He turned to me with panic on his face. I was a horrible person. Horrible, horrible person. “It’s a great story.”

  “It really isn’t,” he protested. “I was just in the right place at the right time.”

  “And—” That got me a glare.

  “And I was off duty getting some food at Pier 39 when she had just slipped into the water, so I—”

  “Oh no! She fell into the bay?” Olivia’s eyes widened as she moved closer to hear the rest of the story.

  “Well, yes, but—”

  “Can you imagine how scary that was?” Olivia asked me. Brecken looked flustered and red. I was having too much fun with this. It was better than the donut.

  “She’s fine. I checked in with her owner—”

  “Her what?!” we both cried in stereo. He grinned. Yeah. He might have won that round after all.

  “Her owner. He said that she hurt her paw when she went in, but nothing a few days’ rest didn’t cure, and she still likes to run off any chance she gets, so no fears.”

  A dog. He was telling the story about a dog. Goodness gracious. I couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out as he continued to tell Olivia the story.

  “Then the video went viral and everyone wanted to talk to the cop that saved the pit bull. She was wrapped up around me with her paws around my neck like a person. I should have known it was going to get silly.”

  Oh my God. I had seen that photo! I just hadn’t paid too much attention to the cop. Until now. Brecken Wilson was a man that jumped into the Bay to rescue a drowning pit bull. There went my heart. I had no chance of resisting this man.

  Hailey.

  Him leaving.

  Heart break.

  Okay. No, I was right before. No relationships. I was devoted to Hailey first and foremost. I had already learned that broken hearts hurt my ability to take care of my child. I didn’t need a second lesson.

  “I need coffee.” I needed out of here. Between Olivia, with her stupid romantic love story, and Brecken’s stupid dog rescue story, I was losing control.

  “I thought you wanted a donut?” Brecken asked. I dropped my hold on his arm and moved towards the door.

  “Nope. Now I need coffee. Now.” I admit I was running, but he was the full package. Gorgeous, brave, smart, and he rescued dogs. Every woman had their weakness. I had just met mine. Now I needed a full retreat. Maybe some aversive shock treatment.

  Brecken just followed in my wake as I walked—okay, speed walked—my way to Tops. Since it was the middle of the day, there were only two other people in the store. One walked out as we walked in, so I went straight to the register, leaving Brecken near the door. Laura was talking to the other person, a redhead who was tiny. Impressively tiny. The kind of girl everyday men liked to date so that they could feel like a ‘real man’ and pick them up. Other than bodybuilders, no one picked up five-foot-eleven-inch horse trainers. Even ‘waif-y’ ones. We got the short end of that stick.

  Neither looked up as I waited, and I was about to interrupt when I heard a phrase I was starting to be very sensitive about.

  “—at the wrong house!” Laura jerked her hands up then caught herself and lowered them. “What was I supposed to do?”

  “Well, that wasn’t it!” the tiny girl replied as she waved her hands in front of her.

  “Shh! We can�
��t have anyone—” Laura looked around, starting with the windows and jerked back when she saw Brecken sitting at one of the tables, typing in his phone. “Oh my god! Get out of here. You shouldn’t have risked—” She saw me in earshot and cut herself off. “Lark!” She shoved the girl towards the back door as she approached me, her smile making me recoil slightly. I saw all the right movements; the upturn of the corners of her mouth, the rising of her cheeks, exposed teeth, but none of it was welcoming. Nor did it reach her eyes. More of a show-of-teeth warning from a cautious dog. The warmth I normally saw was missing, and instead I saw panic. Maybe it’s the body parts making me suspicious, but I feel like the redhead is important.

  “You okay? Who were you arguing with?” I asked, trying to seem less interested than I was.

  “One of my vendors. They sent a shipment to the wrong store and won’t overnight my supplies. Nothing for you to worry about,” she replied calmly, waving her hand in dismissal, but her eyes never left the register. Yeah, I was pretty sure that was a lie. But it could have been true. “What can I get you? And are you here with that hunk?” This time her smile slowly crept into her eyes. “He looks just like—”

  “Captain America. We know. He denies it.” I watched for the redhead while Laura checked out Brecken. I couldn’t catch sight of her, so she must have gone out the back door. Too bad.

  “Nose is wrong. But remarkable, nonetheless.” She turned her gaze back to me, and the woman I had known over the past year was there again. “Now, tell me why the two of you are here together.” She leaned in, excited to hear gossip firsthand.

  “We’re… on a date,” I said, deciding that it was better Laura not know Brecken was a cop just yet. “But I don’t want Lindsey to know, so—”

  “Got it. I hate talking to her anyway. What can I get you? Mocha?”

  “Yes. And—” I glanced over at Brecken. “Another mocha for the gentleman.” She nodded and took my money with a wink.

  “You go, girl. It’s about time you dated someone.” She smiled at me, and I decided to be bold. Maybe if I asked about her love life we could migrate over to Bryan’s.

  “What about you? You got a man in the wings?”

  “God no!” Her smile got more strained as she looked down. “The men in this town are cheating pigs who don’t deserve to be talked with, much less date.”

  Okay, then. She was definitely a woman scorned.

  “Oh. I can’t say I would know.” Wow. That was lame.

  “Yeah, you were smart. Turned all the guys down flat. Found yourself a man from out of town.”

  Two guys! I turned down two guys! They were acting like there was a slew of guys at my door.

  “It was more that. Brecken… wouldn’t take no for an answer.” This got her smile to soften in that dreamy quality you see when people watch a romantic movie.

  “How romantic.”

  Sure. Romantic. Right. That’s how the rest of the people would see it. Before someone found out he was a cop. And that this wasn’t a date, but a protection detail. And that it was John who hadn’t taken no for an answer.

  “Yeah, he’s persistent.”

  “Where did you meet him?”

  I paused. “We met at my barn. John introduced us.”

  “Wait. Is he the cop from the Sheriff's department?”

  Wow. That was fast.

  “Lindsey?”

  “Yep. For once he is as handsome as she reported.” Darn. I was hoping she would panic more when she found out he was a cop. Maybe the redhead really was a vendor. So much for me finding the big break.

  “Yeah. He is pretty. I’m going to go sit down now.”

  “Perfect. I’ll bring you out your drinks.”

  “Thanks.” I headed towards the table Brecken had chosen, still thinking about the redhead.

  “Did you see the girl arguing with Laura?” I asked as I sat down.

  “Laura?”

  “The owner.”

  He thought, pursing his lips as he tried to recall her. “The redhead?”

  “Yep.”

  “Tiny. Cute.” Ignoring the intense dislike of him calling her cute. “She went out the back and drove a red mustang. The cheap one. Not a Shelby or anything cool.”

  “Wow. Cute, huh?” Okay, that sounded a little bitter. Not a date. Not a date. For Brecken’s part he just lifted his eyebrows at me in question, and then went back to studying his phone. “I don’t suppose you caught the license plate on her car?”

  “Nope.” He looked up at me. “Should I have?”

  “Maybe.” I looked back at Laura, who was making our drinks and glancing over at us every few seconds. I couldn’t tell if it was because Brecken was cute or because he was a cop. I shot him a glare he missed because he was back to typing on his phone. It would make my life more convenient if he was a little less hot. I looked back at Laura, whose head was hidden behind the espresso machine. She was acting guilty as all get-out.

  Could she have killed Bryan for the drugs? Did she want to be a drug dealer? I studied her more closely. While not as tiny as the redhead, Laura was still pretty small, maybe five-foot-six at the max. Lightly built and in shape, she qualified as pretty but not a head-turner, even in this town. She came out from behind the machine and gave me a smile as she brought the drinks over. No. There was no way Laura could have murdered him. I was just imagining things. Dang. The body was making me suspicious of everyone. I needed to calm down.

  Right after my coffee.

  Chapter 13

  Armed with mochas and time, Brecken and I both left Tops, only to stop when we got to the street.

  “So, what do you do for fun around here?”

  I was the single mother of a seven-year-old. I didn’t have fun. But I found myself biting my lip when, suddenly, I was unwilling to admit it.

  “I don’t really know. I usually have Hailey. Unless you’re looking for a tour of all the sites that appeal to a seven-year-old, I got nothing.”

  “I think we can find something.” We both scanned the street. This side was all food joints. Places where they were willing to pay for the ocean view. The other side of the street started with the grocery store, then the liquor store, which was tempting, but diminished control meant diminished ability to remember why I shouldn’t kiss the handsome man in front of me. The handsome man who was leaving. But I knew I was just fooling myself. Ever since the dog story I wanted more. But more hurt, and I wasn’t ready to be hurt more than I already had been.

  After the liquor store of bad decisions came the kitsch. Antiques, doilies, and Barrow Bay keychains combined to make a tourist trap many towns would envy. Nothing that would appeal to a street-hardened cop, though. The shops ended with the yoga studio and then a children’s indoor playground and daycare.

  “Nope. Nothing.” I turned back to him as I spoke, hoping he had better luck.

  “Me neither. Maybe at the resort?”

  “Are you into spa treatments?” Desperate times demanded desperate suggestions.

  He winced.

  “I could be, I guess. I’m going to blame you if John asks about it, though. Just be prepared for that,” Brecken replied with a sigh.

  I thought about it. I could go for a massage.

  “Spa it is. Let me call in to tell them we’re coming and to reserve a table for lunch.”

  “You sure we need to?”

  “Call for reservations at the restaurant or the massage?” After the week I’d had, I was willing to dip into my savings.

  “Both, but I guess the massages make sense. Why are we eating at the resort, though?”

  “You have any better ideas? Because I could really go for eating at their five-star restaurant today. There’s an afternoon yoga class after lunch, if you want.” I snickered at his pained look before I relented. “But if not, there are some nice trails along the beach that the resort keeps up. That’ll entertain us for a while.” Plus, I wanted to see when their night manager came on duty. I would love to talk with her. I wa
s ready to see if ‘scorned lover’ might be motive enough.

  “Fine. Whatever. Massages it is,” he muttered.

  We walked back to his car slowly, rambling from shop window to shop window, burning time. I had called to make appointments and we had about a half-hour to kill before they had two openings. When we got back to my house, the police team had left, but there was a car I didn’t recognize sitting down the block. As I slipped into Brecken’s car, I used the mirror to see the two men sitting in the front seats.

  “Your people are a little obvious.”

  “My people?”

  “Half a block down in the blue sedan.” He looked. Then turned on his car without answering. “I’m guessing I wasn’t supposed to notice them?” The way his jaw clenched told me I was right.

  “You would be surprised what people don’t notice when they aren't being terrorized by a crazy body-cutting killer,” Brecken responded. “They’re hidden enough.”

  Right. I felt the same way I did when male mechanics patted me on the head and told me they knew more about trucks then I did. They never did. My phone beeped with a text message.

  Gran: The girls can’t wait to see you tonight at the Sewing Club. We want to hear all about your date. Also, those are cops sitting outside Nancy’s house, right? She just texted me and she is too scared to go ask.

  I couldn’t help myself. I started giggling.

  “Umm, Brecken? Do you have that cop’s number? The owner of the house is freaking out because they’ve been sitting out there a while. You might want them to go tell her who they are.”

  “They’re on a stakeout. We don’t go around introducing ourselves while we try to hide from the bad guys.”

  “Well, this time you might want to consider it.”

  I turned back to my phone.

  Me: Nancy got rid of her gun last year, right? When she realized that her eyesight just wasn’t good enough to shoot straight anymore?