The Good Race: Book One of the Grayson Falls series

by A. M. Mahler

  The police station, he’d discovered, was in an old Victorian house—like the hospital—and disguised to blend in, but for the lighted sign out front. Ivy grew up the front of the building, and it looked like no police station he’d ever seen before. It was at the end of a row of stores, and next to it was Liberty Diner. The hospital was on the outskirts of downtown, with Jackie’s farm behind it.

  There was a grist mill on the lower falls, two banks, two gas stations, one auto body shop, and one school that housed kindergarten through twelfth grade. Jackie was the only doctor in town. There was also a dentist, a barber, a women’s salon, and Sophie’s General Store. The town had exactly one traffic light, one pizza parlor that looked to do a decent business, a small movie theater, a bowling alley, a library, a fire department, a small supermarket, and a pharmacy. There were numerous produce stands lined along the streets in grassy areas, a sports complex that had a football field, a baseball field, a soccer field, and basketball courts that were mostly used by the school, though Danny discovered there was also a town softball league.

  He noted two bars—one was a bar and grille that looked promising; the other looked like he should keep his eye on it. The Grayson Falls Gazette was printed out of the basement of the library and had two reporters, a photographer, and an editor, all who worked part-time. What Grayson Falls didn’t have was big-box chain stores. The closest Target or Wal-Mart was two towns over. It did, however, boast an Amtrak station that attracted travelers and commuters from the area, which occasionally drew more people to the few restaurants in town.

  The town had a plethora of charm, and it couldn’t have been more quintessential New England if Norman Rockwell had drawn it himself. The streets were lined with black lampposts that looked like the old, gas-lit ones. One of the farms was also an apple orchard and pumpkin patch that put on a fall festival each year and sold Christmas trees in the winter. It was everything Americana should be, Danny decided.

  Lakes and parks, he found in the more rural parts of town. The Grayson Falls Hotel, which was a three-story building with weathered shingles and white trim, stood in the center of town and really had more of a bed-and-breakfast feel to it than a hotel.

  During one of his expeditions into town, he stopped at the general store to see if Sophie was around. Sure enough, she was manning the cash register. When he walked in, she was helping a customer, so he poked around the store for a bit. Dark and creaky wood floors gave a homey feeling to the space. It was two stories and both floors were open plan.

  Sophie carried a little bit of everything from tools, books, light dry goods and weather-appropriate apparel to Grayson Falls souvenirs, newspapers, flavored coffee, bagels, donuts, and other breakfast pastries. Then there was the maple syrup, fresh jams and jellies, fishing and hiking gear, and games. It sure was an eclectic mix of goods, all of which could be enjoyed at charming café tables or plush leather sofas by the fire.

  Sophie was a petite young woman with brown curly hair and green eyes. As he listened to her help a customer, Danny could hear that she still held a hint of her Virginia accent. He knew from the time when he saw her in Boston that she had also attended college at Dartmouth, and had bought the general store when she graduated with a master’s degree in business. She’d been in Grayson Falls for nearly four years now.

  “Danny McKenzie, as I live and breathe,” she greeted him when her customer left the store.

  He smiled, walked up to the counter, and leaned on his elbows. “Hey, Soph. How’s your life?”

  “Slightly less exciting than yours, I hear. It’s nice to see you’re on the road to recovery. Jackie shook like a leaf when she was telling me what happened to you, poor thing.”

  “What do you hear from your cousin, Brooke?”

  “She and I don’t really talk much, to be honest. She married some Yalie and just sits around being rich. She has her nose so high in the air, she could drown in a rainstorm. I swear, that girl’s never worked a day in her life.”

  He chuckled at Sophie’s description. He’d never had much use for Brooke in school and the feeling had been entirely mutual. She had also taken an instant dislike to Jackie, which had immediately raised Jackie’s stock in his book.

  “Sounds like the girl I remember.”

  “What about you, Officer Sweet Cheeks? You’ve been citified for a time now. You thinking of becoming a country mouse?”

  “It seems that way,” he said, straightening up. “Though what the hell I’m going to do around here to fill my time is beyond me.”

  “There is a police force here, you know, and Chief Millhouse is looking to retire. I bet they could use a hotshot like you.”

  “I was going to stop in there and let them know I was around and carrying a gun.”

  “Such a good boy,” she cooed, reaching over to tap his cheek.

  “It’s like a Trent reunion up here between you, me, Jackie, and Willis.”

  He took note as her eyes suddenly went wide. “Ryan Willis? Jackie’s brother?”

  “Yeah,” Danny confirmed. “That a problem?”

  “No,” she said quickly. “No problem at all. I haven’t seen him in, well, probably since he graduated from Trent. I guess with Jackie here, it would make sense he’d be visiting from time to time.”

  “He says he’s moving up here,” Danny replied and watched as her eyes grew even wider. He wondered what was going on. Had Sophie carried a torch for his old rival? “Jackie’s got two barns on the property, and Ryan is looking to convert one of them to some kind of garage for his cars. She said he’s also going to build a house on the corner of her property.”

  “Move here?”

  “Yeah. Hey, are you okay? I always thought you two got along pretty well in school.”

  “We did,” Sophie nodded jerkily. “We did when he knew I was alive.”

  “Like that, was it?”

  “Well, I’m over him now…I think.”

  “Listen, Soph, you ever need someone to get your back, I’m your guy. Got that?”

  “There’s the knight in shining armor I remember.”

  “Tarnished armor.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” she smiled. “You always took such good care of Jackie. It was so sweet to watch. Big, bad Danny McKenzie folding like a cheap suit for shy, little Jackie Reilly.”

  “She saved my life. Figuratively, and now literally.”

  “You make my heart go pitter-pat, you really do. Now, get out of here. I have work do.”

  Danny noticed her hands shook when she shooed him away. She was clearly rattled by the news that Ryan Willis would be moving to Grayson Falls soon. He didn’t recall anything going on between them before. Ryan had been hot and heavy with her cousin now and then, but he couldn’t remember anything happening between Sophie and Ryan.

  “Listen,” he said as he headed for the door. “Turns out I’m a pretty good cook. Swing by the house tomorrow night. We’ll eat, drink, and catch up some more.”

  “All right. Thanks. See you then.”

  He walked back out to his truck and pondered what had just transpired. It was an interesting development.

  What the hell is happening to you, dude? Getting caught up in small-town love lives already?

  He forced his mind on to other matters. He caught a glimpse of a heavyset police officer walking into the station. He looked like an older man, and Danny wondered if it was Chief Millhouse. He sighed heavily when he reached his truck. He really should go down there and introduce himself. He still wasn’t sure small-town police work was for him, but it was a professional courtesy to let the locals know you were in town and carrying a gun.

  He turned toward his truck and stopped, indecision rolling through him. Then he turned back around and marched right across the street and into the station. The inside boasted everything he was used to—bright lights, ringing phones, the smell of stale coffee and cleaning products. Obviously, it wasn’t as busy as what he was used to, but still, it felt familiar.

  A
woman looking to be in her forties with a bad dye job was manning the front desk. Her face lit up as he approached. She gave him the once-over and found him acceptable prey. “Hi, sweetie,” she greeted, snapping on her gum. “Anything I can help you with?”

  “I just wanted to see if—” Danny began, but he was cut off by the entrance of the man he saw outside.

  “Norrie, let him on back!”

  “Yes, Chief.” She smiled winningly at Danny as she waved him by.

  He opened up the waist-high wooden gate that separated the waiting area from the first bank of desks and computers.

  “I was wondering when I was going to see you make your way in here, Detective,” Chief Millhouse said.

  Danny raised his eyebrows.

  “Oh, don’t look so surprised, boy. I know everything that happens in my town, especially when a hotshot from the NYPD comes in, lead fresh out of his chest, blowing into town too fast in an Aston Martin with the new doc.”

  Danny closed his eyes and dropped his head. He shook it back and forth with a soft chuckle. He’d told her to watch her driving.

  “Oh, yeah, we got her on our radar. But when I traced the plates, I gave her a pass. Figure she’s going to be stitching us all up at one point or another. Best not to piss her off at the get-go.”

  “She’d have it coming,” Danny chuckled.

  “That’s no welcome to town.” He motioned for Danny to follow him to an office. Once inside, he pushed the door shut and squeezed himself behind the desk.

  “It’s not a good first impression, either.”

  “A stickler for the rules, are you, Detective?”

  “I didn’t use to be.”

  “Ah!” The chief laughed. “We got ourselves a reformed delinquent! They tend to make the best cops.”

  “I wasn’t quite a delinquent. I never got pinched.”

  “All the same, Detective,” the chief smiled. “Pull up that chair and let’s have us a little visit.”

  Fifteen

  IT WAS A strange day all around, Danny thought, as he drove along the windy dirt road leading up to the house. He had stopped thinking of it as Jackie’s house and now just thought of it as the house. He wondered when he would start to think of it as their house. He supposed once that happened, he would no longer be able to deny that New Hampshire was his new home.

  As he approached, he frowned as he noticed an unfamiliar car parked in front of the house. He pulled up to the shiny red Corvette Stingray. Taking note of the license plate, FLYNLO, he sighed and sent up a plea for patience.

  Willis.

  He had promised her he’d do his best to get along with her brother. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jackie, which meant his old nemesis was also part of the package. He reminded himself that they both loved the same woman—albeit in different ways. If that was the only common ground they shared, it was, at the very least, a start. It annoyed him a bit that Ryan clearly had a key, but as he tromped up the front steps, he told himself that this was the kind of thing he’d need to get used to. Ryan came with Jackie, and that was that.

  He opened the door and stepped into the house. Ryan was kicked back on the sofa, surfing channels. He looked over when Danny came in.

  “No sports channels?”

  “I know,” Danny replied. “It’s maddening. She promised me she’d add them when I made a full recovery and could handle the stress.”

  “You look fit enough to me,” Ryan said, tipping his beer to Danny.

  “This is what I’m saying.” Danny dropped down onto the couch. “I can’t find her username and password to order them. I’ve been going nuts trying to locate them over the last few weeks. She must keep them at the hospital or something.”

  “My sister’s pretty stubborn when she wants to be.”

  “No shit,” Danny agreed. “So, is this the big move?”

  Ryan shut the TV off and tossed the remote onto the table. “No. I’m meeting with a contractor and architect to go over the plans for the house and barn conversion.”

  “How long are you in town for?”

  “Trying to get rid of me already?” Ryan countered.

  “No. It seems I’m stuck with you. I’m just curious.”

  “Maybe a week or so. I need to get the lay of the land. I didn’t see too much of the town before I decided to make the move here. I just wanted a change and Jackie’s setup sounded perfect. Besides, I didn’t like the idea of her living so far away. I’ve gotten kind of attached to her. I’m used to having her around, and I probably could’ve been a big enough pain in the ass to get her stay in New York, but she wouldn’t have been happy there. She’s been looking for something else.” Ryan paused, then met Danny’s eyes. “Hopefully, she’s found it now. Anyway, I’m portable enough. I need space. This has it.”

  “I ran into an old friend today,” Danny began. He was interested to gauge Ryan’s reaction.

  “Oh, yeah? Who’s that?”

  “Sophie Van Stewart.”

  He had the satisfaction of watching Ryan bobble his beer. “You didn’t know she lived here?”

  “No idea.”

  “She owns the general store.”

  “No kidding. Good for her. It’ll be great to see her again,” Ryan took a deep breath and another long pull of his beer. He was going kill his sister. Sophie Van Stewart? Beautiful, shy, sweet little Sophie? The one girl in school he deemed off-limits to himself? Sophie had been as sweet as the day was long. All that Southern charm had turned Ryan into a goner.

  Ryan Willis enjoyed women—women of all shapes, sizes, and styles. At Trent, he’d enjoyed many, but something about Sophie had screamed, “Not this one. Not now.” She didn’t deserve to be just another conquest in a long line of girls that couldn’t get him to commit.

  But that’s not who he was now. Would she notice? If she did, would she even care? She had to remember him. They were in the same social circle—though once Jackie came, Sophie had hung out with her and Danny more.

  “She’s coming here tomorrow for dinner,” Danny continued.

  “Great!” Ryan tried not to sound overly enthusiastic but knew he’d fallen short when Danny merely lifted an eyebrow.

  The two men fell into a semi-awkward silence until Danny turned the television back on and found a movie with plenty of explosions and naked breasts that they could agree on. They didn’t discuss Ryan’s moving plans or their joint quest of learning more about Jimmy Reilly’s death. But as it grew dark outside and Danny considered their dinner options, he noticed Jackie was running a little late. It made him think of something he’d wanted to talk to Ryan about outside of her presence.

  “Jackie told me you and your old pal Cooper had a falling out. She mentioned you reconnected, but that it wasn’t for long,” Danny began.

  “Yeah,” Ryan replied. He heaved himself off the couch and went into the kitchen, returning with two fresh beers.

  “I was wondering what happened. You two seemed pretty tight in school.”

  “You happened,” Ryan replied, settling back down.

  “How so?”

  “Well, you and Jackie happened,” Ryan clarified.

  “I’m not following you.”

  “When Jackie came to Trent, I issued an edict that she was off-limits. She was going through a rough time, a huge transition in her life. She’d never been to an actual school before. She’d had tutors all her life. Jimmy sheltered her, which is damn near impressive given the environment we grew up in. The last thing I wanted for her was some guy who just wanted to score. She didn’t need that. Plus, she was my sister, and no brother on the planet would let his friends near his sister.

  “But then she met you, and I clearly couldn’t stop it. And it turned out that she needed you to open up, to heal. She was comfortable with you, hanging out in the background. I couldn’t help her with that. I was living life in the fast lane and Jackie hates that. You’ll remember I didn’t warm up to you two easily, but eventually, I accepted it. Cooper s
eemed to take it personally, though. He started making a lot of comments that pissed me off, trying to manipulate me into some kind of fight with you. He said I should have been defending my sister’s honor, not letting her get pawed by the likes of you. And couldn’t I see that you were only after one thing?”

  “I wasn’t,” Danny said. “I wouldn’t have done anything that she wasn’t ready for. That’s not what she meant to me.”

  “I guess I knew that.” Ryan took another pull of his beer before continuing. “Cooper used to look at her weird.”

  “I remember. She didn’t like it. She thought it was creepy.”

  “So, prom night comes, and you’re a no-show. I told you that he and I went over to your dorm to beat the shit out of you. Well, when we got there, I learned what happened and realized that you didn’t blow her off. As far as I was concerned, that was the end of it. But Cooper, man, he just couldn’t see it that way. He was convinced you bailed on purpose, that you knew it was coming, that you had been stringing her along all year.

  “He wanted to find you. He wanted to track you down and teach you a lesson. He was so blinded by rage, he was also pissed at me. According to him, if I hadn’t allowed you two to hook up, none of this would have happened. He just didn’t get that Jackie made her own choices. How could I control her? I could only look out for her. I could guide her through unfamiliar territory, but she was her own person.

  “Cooper couldn’t see any of that. I started to think that if you two ever met in a dark alley, he might legitimately try to kill you. It was weird. I went back to our room and stayed with Jackie, but that was the end of my friendship with him. He tried to make up for it, but the damage had been done, and his true colors were waving bright. I think he tried to get back on my good side so he could have a crack at Jackie once you were out of the way, but she didn’t want anything to do with him. She kept clear of him, and I started walking her wherever she needed to go if it wasn’t a high-travel time on campus.

  “Cooper was a huge fan of Jimmy. It had always been in good fun between us because Jimmy and my dad were such big rivals. Jimmy was a good enough dude, and I didn’t have any problem with him myself. Jackie and I had always got on well, but I put on the show for Cooper. It was what was expected of me. Sometimes I wonder if he took Jimmy’s death too hard. They never met, but Jimmy was like a role model for him. Cooper’s parents were pretty cold. His dad’s the CEO of the Eden Tower Hotels and Eden Chemicals. His mother’s a socialite—gives parties, flits around the world. His parents hated that he was into racing. Couldn’t stand that he was so obsessed by a low-class pastime. He had to tell them he was studying it for a sociology project in order for it to be remotely acceptable.”