by Ryan, Joya
Branch took off his hat and scratched his head. “Did you want to file a complaint?”
Mia frowned. Either the Sheriff was confused or Mia was in the twilight zone because she couldn’t believe how this was playing out.
“Ah, yeah, I would like to file a complaint. My brother is in there with stiches in his face!”
Branch looked at his feet and his bushy brows drew together like he was trying to solve calculus. “Well, you have to come to the station for that,” he huffed, put his hat back on and walked away as if eager to get out of the conversation.
“Sheriff?” she called again, but he didn’t stop, just kept marching down the hospital hallway like she was mute.
Mia stood in shock as to what just happened. Kyle wasn’t defending himself, and the Sheriff just basically told them to piss off. Nothing was happening. Nothing was being solved and the people who did this to her brother were going to get away with it.
She sat next to Kyle and did the one thing she had never done. She begged.
“Kyle, please. Talk to me, honey.” Kyle looked on the brink of tears himself and met her eyes.
“I can’t, Mia.”
~
Tate stood in the court house ballroom alone. Mia was supposed to show up an hour ago and if he already didn’t feel like an idiot, he did now. He walked out on Abby last night and wanted to tell Mia how he felt. He tried texting her again, but no response. Now with it getting dark outside, he decided to cut his losses and go home.
Making a quick stop by the station to grab his jacket and check to see what went on today, he walked around the front desk.
“Hey, Gail,” he said to the receptionist.
“Hey, Deputy.”
“Busy night?”
She shook her head. “Just had a call a couple hours ago about a potential bullying case but that’s it.”
Tate frowned. “Branch took it?”
She nodded. “Yeah, high school kid ended up in the hospital.”
“Jesus,” Tate growled.
They were cracking down on bullying and he couldn’t stand the thought of another kid suffering. The Sheriff didn’t seem to share in his opinions. He usually said, “kids will be kids,” and didn’t take it seriously. One thing that would change if Tate was sheriff. Which again made his gut hurt with guilt. But the kids who were being bullied needed to be heard and taken seriously, and that was more important than his feelings about Branch or this election situation.
“Who was the kid?”
Gail flipped through a few papers on her desk and looked at the report. “Kyle Blake.”
Tate’s eyes went wide and he grabbed the report. “Where’s the rest of it?”
Gail just shook her head. “This is all there is. I guess Branch said there wasn’t an issue.”
Slapping the paper down, Tate ran out of the station, got in his car, and headed straight toward Mia’s.
~
“Is he okay? Is Kyle okay?” Tate said, not even waiting until Mia had the door opened to ask.
She folded her lips together and nodded. “Yeah, he just went to sleep.”
She let Tate in and went to the kitchen counter to put some prescription medication away. Tate followed her and caught a glimpse of the label. It was pain medication for Kyle. Poor kid must be hurting.
“What the hell happened?” Tate said.
“He ah…” Mia shook her head.
The day looked like it was weighing heavy on her. Her normally shimmering eyes were stark and she looked so tired. So sad. Seeing her like that made Tate’s entire body surge with some animalistic need to maim anyone who caused her or Kyle pain.
“He got beat up,” she whispered. “A few stiches by his eyes and a couple bruised ribs. And all he keeps saying is how he has to play in Friday’s game.” She ran her hand against her forehead and that’s when Tate saw the water line her eyes. “And he won’t tell me who did this to him.”
Tate pulled her into his arms and hugged her. He had to focus on not squeezing too tightly because everything in him was screaming to hold her. Take her pain.
Her small hands fisted his shirt and she sobbed. “Who would do this to him?”
Tate shook his head. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”
He stroked her hair and felt her tears dampen his shirt. He clenched his teeth. So much raw anger flooding him to make these people pay.
“Come here.” He guided her to the couch and sat her down. Cupping her face, he ran his thumbs under her eyes.
“I don’t know what’s going on with him. If he’s in some kind of trouble…I don’t know.”
“We’ll figure it out. I saw that Branch showed up but the report didn’t say much.”
She scoffed. “That’s because he didn’t stay longer than thirty seconds. He basically accused Kyle of bringing this on himself and left.”
Tate frowned. It was hard to think any Sheriff would say or do such a thing, but unfortunately, Tate knew that the Sheriff was struggling in his own way and wasn’t the man he used to be.
The way Mia looked, the way those tears fell down her cheeks made Tate want to physically do something. He felt like a caged animal. He didn’t have any more answers than she did and yet, she was hurting. He couldn’t have that. No, he needed to fix it.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this,” Tate said. “I promise.”
She looked at him like he was some kind of damn hero and her chin trembled as another tear fell.
“Hey, now,” he whispered and wiped her cheekbone. “Don’t do that. I can handle you fighting, screaming and cursing…but not crying.”
She gave a watery smile and Tate’s chest just lurched even more.
“You’ll help him?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Thank you,” she said and let out a heavy breath as if the entire world had just lifted a little off her shoulders. And if Tate was responsible for just an ounce of that relief, he’d call it a win.
She leaned against him and he sat back, letting her curl up and rest her head against his chest. Holding her tightly, he sat there, trying to figure out what to do next.
When her breathing became steady and Tate looked down to see her puffy eyes close and her hand rest on his chest while her face was nuzzled against his heart, he knew the damn thing was beating solely to bring her comfort.
He relaxed and stared at the ceiling, holding Mia, until finally his own eyes drifted shut.
~
Mia opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by big warm muscles and yummy smelling man. She had fallen asleep on Tate and he had held her all night.
“Oh!” she gasped when she saw Kyle standing over them.
“Well, good morning,” Kyle said.
Mia sat up and Tate opened his eyes.
“Hey,” Tate said in a sleep roughened voice that, if possible, sounded sexier than his normal authoritative tone. He sat up and checked his watch.
“How are you feeling?” Mia asked Kyle.
“Pretty good,” Kyle said. “Just getting ready for school.”
“Great.” Tate clapped his knees and adjusted his shoulders. “I’ll give you a ride.”
Mia looked at him. “Really?”
“Yeah. I’m going to be headed to the same place anyway.”
“What? You’re going to my high school?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah.” Tate smiled and Mia didn’t miss the twinkle in his eye. “I’m just going to hang out at your school today. You know…chill.”
Kyle’s face went a little hard and Mia smiled.
“In uniform?”
“Yep,” Tate said. “Just want to make sure everyone is safe.”
Kyle mumbled something under his breath and headed toward his room, but Mia could tell there was a little ease in his step.
“Thank you,” Mia said as Tate stood and stretched. Man, even in the morning with rumpled hair and sleepy eyes the Deputy looked amazing.
“You don’t have to thank me, Mia.”
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She grabbed his hand and squeezed a little. “No, I do. Because,” she glanced over her shoulder toward Kyle’s bedroom, “he’s everything to me.”
Tate nodded and something in his eyes shifted. Like he truly believed her. “I know.”
He kissed her forehead and grabbed his keys off the coffee table and yelled for Kyle. She watched them both leave and for the first time in a long time, felt protected.
Chapter Ten
It was a long day. Tate forgot how exhausting high school could be. But so far, Kyle was okay and Tate didn’t see anyone giving him trouble.
He popped into the station to check on the toy drive bin. Usually there were always a few that came unwrapped so Tate would take them home, wrap them up and bring them back.
“Hey, Deputy West, glad I caught you,” Malcom McAdams said from across the parking and hustled up to Tate before he opened the station door.
“Mr. McAdams, how can I help you?”
“Well, I gotta say I’m not too pleased with how things are going.” Tate frowned but Malcom just continued. “My daughter has been talking non-stop about you until recently. I wanted to get behind you, West, most of the station already supports you, but I worry.”
“What is it you worry about?” Tate said, feeling like he was on the brink of getting a speech about morals. Abby likely was not happy about how the other night turned out and it wouldn’t surprise Tate if the grapevine was already talking.
“I worry that if you can’t even keep up with all the moving parts of this event, how can you keep up with a town?”
“Excuse me?”
Malcom patted Tate’s back. “The coats aren’t coming in. I guess the paperwork got mixed up and Mia was supposed to get all that squared away. Now my Abby is scrambling and upset and said that in the past you two were the ones who headed this up. You all used to work so well together I thought?”
“The event hasn’t been much to speak of until this year, Captain. It’s on a totally different scale and Mia is heading this all up. I’m sure she can—”
“All I know is that there are no coats. Which is the whole reason this charity started in the first place. And the only difference this year is Mia.”
A fact Tate was sure Abby was pointing out to her father often.
“She didn’t file the paperwork,” Malcom said, hammering his point home that the blame for lack of coats needed to fall somewhere, and Mia was where he wanted it to land.
“That can’t be right,” Tate said.
His mind raced to figure out how to fix this. Mia was on top of things. Hell, she rarely went anywhere without that damn clipboard since she got this job. Yes, in the past he and Abby worked on this event but it wasn’t anything close to the caliber of what Mia was trying to pull off. Which was why he’d gone along with this whole thing.
“Maybe you’re focusing too much on your love life when you should be thinking about the town.”
Tate’s jaw hurt from the force he used to keep it closed. Obviously, Malcom had heard his share of gossip or was just pissed on behalf of his daughter, but either way, “My love life is my business, sir.” Tate said firmly. “But I assure you that I’ll handle this coat situation.”
“Be sure you do, and Deputy, this wouldn’t sit well with potential voters.” Tate looked at the chief and knew that his endorsement was on the line, right along with the faith he was trying to get from half the town.
“Good luck to you, Deputy.”
~
Mia opened the front door, surprised anyone was knocking because Kyle should be at football practice.
“Hey!” She smiled when she saw Tate on her stoop. “How did today go? Kyle okay?”
“Fine,” he said but it sounded more like he bit the air than spoke. “The coats aren’t coming, Mia. You didn’t send in the papers in time to the coat factory and they’ve donated to another organization now.”
“What?” Her eyebrows shot up. “No coats? But we have people already signed up who need them and—”
“No shit,” he snapped. “This is why I asked you to take a step back and let me handle this.”
“I wasn’t the one who was in charge of that. Abby said she was going to turn the paperwork in.”
“You’re the coordinator, Mia. You’re in charge of all of this. That’s the job description. And I talked to Abby and she said you were going to do it.”
Mia shook her head. Would Abby really throw her under the bus like this? All because she forgot and wanted Mia to take the blame. She couldn’t possibly make these families go without the coats they were counting on because of a personal beef she had with Mia, could she? Whatever the reason didn’t matter. The paperwork wasn’t filed and the coats weren’t coming.
“Do you believe Abby over me?”
Tate looked at her for a long moment and she could almost see him try to reason out logic.
“Abby and I have overseen this event for the past three years and this has never happened before.”
“I see,” Mia said. It wasn’t a direct answer, but it answered her question enough. “So naturally it must be my fault.”
“This is a fucking mess, Mia.” Tate ran a palm over his mouth and scowled so hard, she almost didn’t recognize him. “You know how much I have riding on this event. I need it to go well. And the damn fire chief came to me to give me shit about this. I may have lost his endorsement.”
“God forbid,” she snapped back.
She knew Tate was fighting for something bigger. To help the community. And get the majority of the town behind him as Sheriff. But damn it, he was being a jerk right now and Mia was tired of getting the crap end of the deal. This one time, she could defend herself.
“I’m sorry that my daddy isn’t fire chief and that I don’t have a fancy degree or wear pearls but the paperwork was Abby’s responsibility. I specifically asked her about that and she told me she’d take care of it.”
“But the point is that the coats aren’t coming and this is falling apart.”
“You’re right.” Mia threw her hands in the air. “But blaming me isn’t helping your cause.”
And once again, Tate didn’t bother to ask her side. If the shit stained shoe fits, it must be Mia’s because Abby’s feet would never step in such a mess.
Mia grabbed her phone and her purse and walked past Tate out of her own house and slammed the door.
“Where are you going?” he called after her.
“Instead of standing here yelling about it, I’m going to fix this.”
Once again, Tatum West did a total one-eighty. This morning he was sweet and supportive but now he was taking out an issue on her that wasn’t her doing. But he had one thing right. She was the coordinator. And if she wanted the community event planning job full time, this was her problem now. Abby obviously had her own agenda and Mia would be damned if she took away those coats, or Mia’s future.
~
“Oh my gosh, he’s precious,” Mia said, leaning over a little to see Paul’s cell phone screen. A big gummy smile of a three month old baby boy stared back.
“Yeah, he’s getting big,” Paul said.
“And how’s your wife?”
“She’s great. Been doing a lot of designs from home and managing things really well.”
“That’s amazing. She’s superwoman to tackle all that.” Mia threaded her fingers on the table. “I really appreciate you meeting me here. This was the closest middle point between Sweet Hill and Seattle.”
When Paul agreed to meet today, she had texted Kyle to make sure he could find a ride home after practice today.
“I’m happy to, Mia. You said it was pretty important. After all the saving you’ve done for me I hope I can repay you.”
Mia smiled. “Saving” Paul had become a fairly regular habit, at least every time he had to take a meeting with potential clients at Mia’s club. It never ceased to amaze her how a lot of men conducted business there. And when potential clients wanted to go to the club and
see the fun side of Seattle, Paul had no choice but to take the meeting wherever they wanted. At least he was able to pitch them his and his wife’s business plan.
The man loved his wife and that was obvious. Plus, a couple years of securing investors led to a very prominent fashion line his wife, Tara, designed. Paul handled all the back end of the business, allowing his wife the time to design their new lines.
“Not me, but people in my home town. Every year we collect coats for families who can’t afford them, and this year our normal donor fell through.”
“So you have no coats?”
“Yep, no coats.” Mia smiled. “You and Tara wouldn’t happen to have any last season’s coats sitting around that need a good home?”
Paul nodded. “We do. But how many are we talking?”
“Last year they collected about two hundred. But with this winter being especially brutal, I’d like to double that.”
Paul smiled. “Of course you do. You always were one to go big or go home.”
“I really want to have a great showing,” Mia admitted.
He pulled out his tablet and started swiping. “What sizes?”
Mia perked up. “Um, anything from kids sizes to adults, both male and female.”
Paul nodded and clicked a few more things, swiped again, then smiled.
“We can donate one hundred adult coats, half mens and half womens…” another swipe, “and two hundred children and youth coats from size six-months to sixteen husky.”
Mia’s eyes went wide. “Are you serious?”
Paul put down his tablet. “Yup, and if you can give me a day or two, I can see what I can do about the other hundred. I am sure some of the other boutiques in Seattle would love to pitch in.”
“Paul!” She got up and hugged him. “Thank you so much! And thank Tara!”
“You are very welcome. We’re happy to help. I’ll have them shipped out tonight.”
And just like that, Mia felt like she was truly capable of making good things happen.
~
It was past dinner time as Mia walked to her front door, pulling her keys out, she was anxious to hear about Kyle’s day. Hers had been long. It started with a snuggle in the morning, a fight in the afternoon, but at least it ended on a high note. When she approached the door, the last thing she thought she’d find was a dressed down Deputy sitting on her stoop.
