Hope Flames: Hope Book 1

by Jaci Burton

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Sure you do. You’re just playing the man card. Even guys want to talk about it with other guys. We just like to pretend we can man up and deal.”

  Luke gave Carter a look. “You never talked about it. You and Molly.”

  There was that look again, that shadow that always crossed Carter’s face whenever Molly’s name was mentioned. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t a man back then, and that’s ancient history. So let’s man up, and after the game we’ll go out for a beer and you can tell me about Emma.”

  Luke nodded. When the game was done, they showered and dressed, and Carter met him at No Hope At All, a bar run by Logan’s best friend, Bash, and one of their favorite places to play pool.

  “You wanna rack ’em?” Carter asked.

  “Definitely.”

  They played the first game in virtual silence, shooting the appropriate balls into the appropriate pockets and drinking a few beers. By the second game, Luke knew Carter was going to ask.

  “So what happened with you and Emma?”

  “She had a problem with an ex-boyfriend who came back in her life.”

  “Someone she still liked?”

  “No. Someone she had a restraining order on.”

  Carter’s brows lifted. “Oh. Bad news. So what happened?”

  “I interceded, and I don’t think she cared much for that. She’s got an independent streak, and I think she wanted to handle it herself.”

  Beer in hand, pool cue in the other, Carter nodded. “Women are a damn mystery sometimes.”

  Luke took his shot, then took a long swallow of beer. “Tell me about it. Anyway, I think the whole ex-coming-back thing just freaked her out, and she asked for some distance. So I’m giving it to her.”

  “But you’re still watching over her because of the crazy ex-boyfriend, right?”

  “Yeah. He’s out on bail, and I don’t trust that he’ll leave her alone.”

  “I hope he does. And I hope that the two of you figure it out.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” Carter took a swallow. “Not all of us get second chances with people we love. Don’t let her get away if she’s the one you want.”

  Luke wasn’t sure if Carter, who usually wasn’t one to get profound, had just told Luke what he needed to hear, or if what Carter had told him was what he’d wished had happened with Molly all those years ago.

  Either way, he was right. He wasn’t about to let Emma go. Things between them had been perfect before Vaughn showed up. And he knew she was scared, but just because someone pushed you away didn’t mean you had to go away.

  He’d walked away from one relationship. It had been the right thing to do because it was what they both wanted.

  Deep down he knew neither he nor Emma wanted their relationship to end. So he was going to make sure it didn’t. He just had to make sure it was on Emma’s terms. Because he wasn’t going to be like Vaughn and make her come around to his way of thinking, or try to overpower her. Emma had to choose him and come to him of her own free will.

  He just had to be there for her when she was ready.

  And in the meantime, linger nearby and keep her safe.

  When he got out to his truck, he decided to give Boomer some exercise, so he drove by his apartment, got Boomer, and they went to the park for a walk. It was late, but Boomer, like his owner, didn’t keep regular hours.

  They walked for a bit and Luke cleared his head, then they got back into the truck and he drove past Emma’s house.

  It appeared he wasn’t the only one up late. Emma was outside walking the dogs. Too late for him to back up the street so she wouldn’t notice him.

  He pulled over to the curb and rolled down the window as she came over.

  “Hey, Luke,” she said. “What brings you by here?”

  “Just . . . driving past. You’re outside late tonight.”

  She shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep, so I thought a walk would help.”

  “Yeah. I took Boomer to the park for a walk.”

  She laughed. “It does help, you know. So . . . again, what brings you by here? Checking on me?”

  Since her house wasn’t on his way home, he had to admit it. “Old habits die hard, Emma.”

  “Well . . . thanks for that. I’m sure we’ll be okay, but I do appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He was about to lean away to put his truck back in gear, but Emma lingered next to the vehicle for a moment.

  “So . . . how are things going?” she asked.

  “Fine.”

  “Staying busy?”

  “Yeah. How about you?”

  “Oh yes. Lots of work at the clinic lately.”

  This was incredibly awkward. They’d always been able to talk. Things between them had been so easy before. He hated this.

  His cell rang. He thought about ignoring it, but saw it was the station. “Excuse me, Emma.” He picked up the phone, unable to believe what he was hearing.

  “I’ll be there right now.” He hung up and looked at Emma. “Someone’s breaking into Dorson’s Pharmacy. I’ve gotta go.”

  “Go, hurry,” she said. “Be careful.”

  He nodded and slammed on the gas. Though he wasn’t on duty, he wanted to be there in case they caught the sonofabitch. And since Dorson’s was only a couple of blocks away, he should be able to make it in time.

  He flipped on his scanner.

  “On foot, the corner of Fifth and Scanlon,” the dispatcher relayed.

  Huh. Luke was on Scanlon, right at Fourth street. He turned right toward Fifth and saw a dark-clad figure hopping a fence. He picked up his phone and dialed it in. “I’ve got this guy. On foot, I’m in pursuit with Boomer, though I’m not in uniform, so don’t shoot me.”

  He kept his phone on, pulled out his gun, and slid his badge on, then parked.

  “Let’s go, Boomer.” He gave the command to Boomer that they were in pursuit. Boomer took off and easily jumped the fence. Luke ran like hell after the guy, hurdling the fence the suspect had just leaped over. When Luke caught sight of him, he dug in, increasing his speed.

  Not this time, asshole. He wasn’t getting away. “He’s running through backyards on Sunshine Street, just west of Fourth,” Luke said to his dispatcher. “I’m still in pursuit on foot.”

  The suspect tripped over something and fell, slowing him down.

  Boomer was on him. He heard the growls and the howls of pain from the suspect.

  Luke had him now. He leaped over the last fence and saw the suspect down, Boomer holding him by the arm.

  Luke gave the command to release the suspect, then notified dispatch that he’d caught the perp. He gave their location so dispatch could notify the rest of the team in pursuit.

  “Sonofabitch. Your dog bit me,” the suspect said.

  “Cry me a river. You’re done, dickhead,” Luke said, grabbing the guy and pulling his arms behind him. He heard the sirens and the slamming of doors. “We’re back here!” he hollered.

  Several uniforms ran back, and Luke got off the suspect so the uniforms could cuff him. Winded, he leaned over and laid his hands on his knees to suck in some oxygen.

  “Good job, Boomer,” Luke said, giving him lavish praise. Boomer ate it up. It wasn’t often they could do a chase like this, but Luke loved being the one to take this bastard down.

  “Need a ride back to your truck, old man?” Evan asked, patting him on the back.

  “Fuck off,” Luke said, laughing and coughing. “And yeah, a ride would be great. My legs feel like Jell-o right now. This kid can run like an Olympic sprinter.”

  They pulled the hoodie off the suspect. Bright yellow hair. Though he wasn’t a kid. Early twenties, maybe. Fit the description Emma had given from the night she’d seen him. And he had a backpack filled with drugs that he’d just ripped off from Dorson’s Pharmacy.

  After they processed the scene, Luke drove to the precinct to give his statement.


  “Good damn job, McCormack,” his captain said, patting him on the back.

  “Thanks. But Boomer took him down. I just got lucky spotting him when I was driving down the street.”

  “Great job, Boomer,” the captain said, scratching Boomer’s head.

  Boomer loved the kudos he got from all the cops. Luke was glad the asshole was off the streets. Now they could figure out who the hell he was and find his drug stash.

  After Luke finished at the precinct, he went to his apartment.

  “Boomer,” he said, petting his dog and crouching down to give him a good ear scratch. “You did so good tonight. I’m so proud of you.”

  Boomer knew he’d done well. Luke could see the pride in the way he held his ears erect and the way he sat.

  After a treat and some water, the two of them went to bed. Luke, at least, was exhausted.

  The next day Luke went in to work follow-up on the case. They’d interviewed the suspect, who of course had lawyered up, but they’d fingerprinted him, and one Bobby Tinter had a record that went all the way back to his juvvie days. Drugs, breaking and entering, auto theft—he was a real prize. He was also connected to some very big drug rings out of state, which was likely why he was hitting the pharmacies.

  They hadn’t pinned him earlier because he had an Arkansas address. Turned out Bobby was staying with a cousin in the Hope area. Luke figured Bobby had conned his cousin into letting him stay there, and then targeted a small town like Hope to make inroads into the drug ring by organizing several hits on businesses that carried drugs on their premises. With no one to connect him to the burglaries, he would shimmy out of town in a month or so with the booty and work his way up the ladder of the organization.

  Too bad he’d gotten caught. There were stashes of drugs in the cousin’s house, though the cousin had clammed up and said he had no idea what Bobby had been doing.

  Ah, family loyalty. Whether the cousin had been in on it or not remained to be seen until they investigated further. Either way, Bobby was going away for a long time. Luke was satisfied they had a solid case against him.

  It was great to at least get something resolved.

  Now if he could get his personal life settled, he’d be happy.

  Though he didn’t think that situation was going to tie itself up with a bow and resolve itself as easily as Bobby had last night.

  Some things required more work.

  But some things were worth it.

  Emma was. He just had to figure out how to make that work, how to get past her fears and the awkwardness that had settled between them.

  And again, his hands were tied because it wasn’t his call to make.

  So right now, there was nothing he could do.

  Except wait. And for a guy who was a man of action, that was damn hard to do.

  On his break he went to Bert’s for some coffee and something to eat.

  “Hey, hero,” Anita said, sliding a cup of coffee in front of him. “We heard you solved the burglary case.”

  Bert himself came out to pat him on the back.

  “I didn’t do it. Boomer took him down.”

  “I’ll have to make Boomer a special treat, then,” Bert said.

  “A special cinnamon roll, just for you.” Anita grinned as she placed the whopper of a roll in front of him.

  He was going to be miserable in his cruiser for the rest of the day after eating that cinnamon roll.

  And didn’t it just figure that Emma stopped in just as everyone asked him to tell them about the bust last night.

  “Hey,” Emma said. “I heard you caught the guy. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. Boomer did most of the heavy work.”

  She laughed. “Good for Boomer. But I have a feeling you did your part, too.”

  At that point, he wasn’t sure if everyone in the diner was more interested in the story about chasing down and busting the suspect or watching the way he and Emma circled each other.

  “So? Tell us how it all went down?” someone asked. “Did Boomer leap fences? Did you leap fences? I heard it all took place in backyards.”

  After taking a sip of coffee, Luke told his story, giving Boomer all the credit. “Then I just showed up, called Boomer off, and the rest of Hope’s finest came in and cuffed him.”

  A round of applause followed. “He was a shifty fellow and hard to catch,” Bert said, giving Luke a paper bag. “That’s for Boomer.”

  “Thanks. He’ll appreciate it.”

  Everyone went back to their own tables, except Emma, who took a seat at his. “I know you must be really happy to have caught the guy.”

  She looked so cute in her scrubs, her hair pulled into a high ponytail. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, which only frustrated him more because of where they currently were in their non-relationship.

  “Yeah. It’s a big relief for the entire department.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay, and that Boomer’s okay. Did the guy have a weapon on him?”

  “He had a gun in his backpack, but he never pulled it during the pursuit. I think he was too busy running.”

  “Thank God. You’re like the town hero today.”

  Luke laughed and took another swallow of coffee. “I think Boomer’s the town hero this morning. And he’s eating up all the attention.”

  “Deservedly so.” She looked down at her phone. “I should get back to work. Congratulations again, Luke.”

  “Thanks, Em.” She didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave, so he asked, “Are you doing all right?”

  “Yes, I’m . . . fine. Thanks for asking. I guess I’ll see you around.”

  “I’m sure you will.”

  She stood.

  “Em?”

  She looked down at him. “Yes?”

  “If you need anything. Call me.”

  There was a sadness in her eyes. “I’ll do that.”

  He really hated watching her walk away.

  But he didn’t know what to do about it.

  Chapter 29

  “OH, EMMA, WHY didn’t you tell us this had happened?”

  “That’s it. I’m moving into your house tonight,” her father said.

  She’d resisted having this conversation for days. She knew telling her parents about Vaughn would worry her mother and kick her father’s protective instincts into overdrive.

  “Dad. You’re not moving into my house. And I didn’t tell you right when it happened precisely for this reason. Because, Mom, your ulcer would start acting up and you’d stop sleeping, and, Dad, you’d want to camp outside my door.”

  Her dad ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, dammit. What do you expect me to do? He threatened you before. Hell, he did worse than that. I told you what I’d do to that sonofabitch if he ever came near you again.”

  She sighed and placed her hand on her father’s arm. “I know, Dad. And I appreciate it. But he’s been arrested for violating the restraining order. He’s going to have to go to court and answer for that.”

  “And you think that’s going to stop him?” Her mother’s tone had gone high-pitched, and Emma knew hysteria wasn’t too far behind that.

  “It’s going to deter him because if he comes anywhere near me again, they’re going to revoke his bail and he stays in jail.”

  Her dad pursed his lips and glared at her, though she knew it wasn’t her he was mad at. “I don’t like this, Emma. Why don’t you come stay with us until this is over.”

  “No. I’m not going to run from him again. I’m not going to let him drive me out of my house. I’m staying put. I’m going to get up every morning and go to work just like I always do, and I’m going to go home and sleep in my bed every night just like I always do.”

  “What about Luke?” her mother asked.

  Just the mention of his name caused her stomach to clench. “What about him?”

  “Is he still staying at your place?”

  Good Lord. Did everyone know about her personal life, including her parents?
You simply could not have a private life in a small town. “No. I sent him home.”

  “Why?” her dad asked, then frowned. “What did he do?”

  “He didn’t do anything. I just . . . needed my space.”

  “What does that mean? Did he hurt you as well, Emma?”

  She rolled her eyes. “No, Mom. Luke didn’t hurt me. He’s damn near perfect, if you want to know the truth. I just need to be by myself right now.”

  And be lonely. And miserable. And wish every night that Luke were still there with me.

  Sometimes taking an independent stand sucked.

  Her dad pushed back from the dinner table. “One guy’s a certifiable nutcase, and the other’s perfect so she throws him out. Sometimes my daughter makes no gosh darn sense.”

  She wanted to go after her father, to explain about Luke, but her mother stopped her.

  “He’s upset,” her mom said, her hand on Emma’s arm. “And worried about you. So am I.”

  “I’m going to be fine. And Luke’s not with me right now because I have to be able to take care of myself.”

  “He’s a cop, Emma. He could be there to help watch over you.”

  “I had someone watching over me once, Mom. Vaughn watched over me a little too well.”

  Her mother leaned back in the chair. “And because of what happened before, you’re afraid of putting your heart in Luke’s care.”

  Emma didn’t say anything.

  “You’re in love with Luke.”

  “Yes. I think so. It’s not a very good time for me to be in love.”

  Her mother laughed. “Honey, there’s no such thing as a perfect time to fall in love. Love is often messy and complicated. And now you have this horrible man reentering your life at a time when you just got your life back on track. I understand you want to be independent right now, but don’t fight so hard for that independence that you sacrifice your safety—or a chance at happiness with someone you love.”

  Was that what she was doing?

  “You have a stubborn streak like your father. And often you can’t see the forest for the trees.”

  “What does that even mean?”