Eve cleared her throat. “We agreed you’d only be eyes on the crowd today, Dee. Especially since you’re still on limited duty, and whoever this is seems to have issues with female cops.”
Delia flushed, her pale cheeks almost the same red as her hair, but Colin grinned. “I knew I liked you, Poe.” He slung his arm over Delia’s shoulder but winced when she pinched his side. “Come on, brat. My son needs food, anyway.”
“Daughter.”
His eyes remained cop-sharp as they continued to scan the crowd. “We’ll see.”
Delia allowed him to pull her along, but called out over her shoulder. “Keep me posted.”
Eve watched them walk away, then sighed. “I’d feel better if she was off altogether, but you can’t take the cop out of the woman.”
“I’d imagine not.” I was going to ask her if she was ever able to be just Eve, but we were hit with another wave of people stopping by. The traffic was steady for almost an hour, and I decided the next time we had a break, I’d see about grabbing some lunch for both of us, then trying to find Lila so I could introduce her to Eve.
“Miz Poe?”
Eve turned slowly toward the young man who’d come around the side of the truck. He was tall and slender, with brown skin, straight black hair and dark eyes. I recognized him from the photo Eve had shown me.
“Isaiah,” Eve said, her voice even.
He frowned at her, but didn’t seem angry. Maybe . . . lost? “Why’d you let them bring me in like that? You could’ve just asked me.”
She held her hand out toward the truck, pointing to where he’d just come from. Out of the way of foot traffic, out of the public eye. “Let’s go talk. Talia, keep an eye on things for me, okay?”
My heart jammed my throat. “Will do.”
And they walked out of my sight.
Someone must’ve called for backup, because it didn’t take long for two officers to make their way to the command truck and our booth. I recognized OFC Ramirez of the embarrassing first-day-of-work metal-detector incident. When he looked around, I silently pointed back toward the sidewalk where Eve and Isaiah had gone, and he motioned for me to stay where I was.
I did.
The other officer, one I didn’t recognize, stayed with me as Ramirez headed behind the truck. Blonde and petite, OFC Anderson didn’t look like she could stop a child, but after working with the police department for the last several weeks, I knew better than to be misled by appearances.
“Any issues yet?” I asked her.
Anderson shook her head. “Nothing that fits the warning.” She helped me with the people coming by, and it felt like hours until Eve reappeared in the break between the truck and the next booth, still on the sidewalk.
Isaiah Yee was at her side, talking and gesturing with his hands. Ramirez had a small notebook out and was jotting things in it. He spoke into the radio on his shoulder, then wrote something else down. Eve made a reply I couldn’t hear, and Ramirez nodded and came back our way.
Eve put her hand on Isaiah’s arm and talked to him, leaning close. The conversation looked intense, and when he shrugged her arm off and stalked away, her shoulders slumped for a long moment before she purposely straightened as though drawing on the mantle of command. My heart twisted for her, and I wondered who she vented to, who held her close when the stresses of work got to be too much.
Everyone needed someone.
Back at our booth, she took over from Anderson, who went back out to patrol, and began handing out fliers like nothing had happened.
“Eve?”
She shook her head infinitesimally. “Not right now, okay?”
“Sure.” She was the boss, so she was in charge, and she didn’t owe me any explanations about an active case—or her feelings. For the next hour, I helped with fingerprints while she spoke with people who stopped by for information and just to talk to a cop. Finally, two officers came to relieve us so we could grab food. I hesitated. “Want to walk with me?”
She rubbed her hand over her forehead and winced.
My stomach flip-flopped, but I covered it with a faint smile. “Okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I started to walk away when Eve called out.
“Wait, Talia.”
I waited. When she caught up, she directed us up to the sidewalk, behind the booths, where the foot traffic was far less and we could walk side by side.
She spoke first. “Isaiah said he didn’t send the emails, but after Dee interviewed him, he asked around. It was one of the homeless men who use the computers at the library. Apparently the notes were meant as a warning. He heard a guy talking about how he wants to teach female cops a lesson. No real specifics. I’ll find a way to meet with him without letting him know Isaiah told us.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Yes and no. Good it’s unlikely Isaiah is involved. Bad he feels like I betrayed him. Also bad that we’re back to square one.” She grimaced. “And I hesitated about leaving with you because I didn’t want to draw attention to you by virtue of walking with a female cop, even if the threat is an unknown one at this time.”
I rolled my eyes and pointed at my police department shirt. “Uh, Eve? If anyone’s been checking things out, they’ve already seen me with cops, male and female.”
She lifted a shoulder. “True.”
“And you have to eat. But you hate to eat alone.”
A smile quirked the corner of her mouth. “Also true. Someone has been paying attention.”
Hopefully she didn’t realize just how much attention, because that would be awkward. “I work for a cop, you know. I’ve learned things.”
This time, she gave an out-and-out laugh. “All right, Ms. Smart-ass. We’ll go find some food.”
We headed back into the street and walked in companionable silence, talking only to discuss our options, debating between Indian, Mexican, Irish, standard American hamburgers and hot dogs, Jamaican, Chinese, Italian, and Greek.
I decided on jerk chicken from the Jamaican place, and Eve went for a gyro. We carried our food to an open spot near one of the stages and settled onto the curb, watching the people go by. “Looks like a good crowd,” I said.
Eve nodded. “And behaving themselves too. Only one arrest? That has to be a record. Of course, we still have a few hours to go.”
We ate a few bites in silence. I looked around for Lila or Noah, which reminded me . . . “Earlier today, when I told you about Noah resembling Seth, it seemed like you understood how I felt. Personally, I mean.” I hesitated when she slid a raised-brow glance my way. “Ugh, never mind. I’m being nosy, and it’s none of my business. It’s a fault of mine.”
“I’ve been known to be nosy myself. Hazard of the job.” She studied me for a moment before staring down at the ground, which was so unlike the Eve I’d grown to know that warning bells went off in my head. “My son looks a lot like his father did at that age. And sometimes it’s startling and painful even though Trey’s been gone for over twenty years. So yeah. I get it.”
My heart stuttered at the unexpected revelation. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s been a really long time. He was a Marine killed in a helicopter crash while deployed.” She lifted a shoulder, let it drop. “I don’t talk about him much.”
Oh, no. “I shouldn’t have brought it up. Especially today, with everything else going on.” I wished I’d kept my mouth shut. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m the one who started in with the questions earlier, anyway.” Her smile was faint, but a genuine thread of amusement underlined her words. “And hey, now that you know? Please smack me in the head whenever I start freaking out because I haven’t heard from Derrick. Deal?”
I laughed, as I’m sure she’d intended. “Deal.”
She took another bite of her almost-gone gyro, and some of the tzatziki sauce got smeared on her cheek. She kept eating, as though she hadn’t noticed.
I’m not sure what the hell got into me, but I lif
ted my hand toward her face. “You have something here,” I said, wiping at it with my thumb.
She froze, and so did I.
I dropped my hand, let out a strangled sound, and, setting my food on the ground beside me, bent over to hide my flaming face.
“Talia?”
I kept my head in my lap. “Don’t ask. I don’t . . . I’m sorry. Motherly instinct?” Liar liar, my conscience taunted, but I shushed it.
She didn’t respond, and I turned my head slightly, my breath catching. Surely that wasn’t disappointment in her eyes? “It’s fine,” she said, her voice far milder than it usually was, as though she had to work at keeping it level. “You just surprised me.”
“Me too,” I muttered under my breath. I picked my food back up and focused on stuffing my mouth, hoping to keep my foot out of it.
Er, again.
Luckily, the public kept me from making a fool of myself. Eve had a steady stream of people stopping to talk with her. She seemed to know many of them, though not all. And when they talked, she listened. Not casually, but deeply, as though their thoughts were important to her. She’d made an indelible mark as the head of Community Relations, and it showed.
I ate and watched and listened and enjoyed, at the same time keeping my eyes opened for Lila. Up on the stage, teens were performing a number from Hamilton and on the ground behind the stage, I saw a flash of a blonde ponytail hanging down over a dark-green T-shirt, which was the color Noah used for the company. She disappeared from my sight, then came out on the other side with her ever-present backpack slung over her shoulder. When she got to the front of the stage, she glanced left and right and then started off in the opposite direction from where we were sitting.
“Lila!”
At her name, she turned. She looked around but didn’t seem to see me, so I stood, waving. Her face lit up, and my heart went to mush. Nothing like knowing one of your babies was happy to see you.
I gave her a tight hug and she squeezed back. “How’s your day going?”
“I’ve been hit on three times, and two of those times, the guys also told me women shouldn’t do electrical work. I told them to fuck off.” She wrinkled her nose. “So, yeah, that happened. How’s your day going?”
I tugged her ponytail. “Language, please.”
Lila rolled her eyes. “Mom. Even you say fuck.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. “I’m your mother.”
“I’m almost twenty-four. And I pay my own bills. Pretty sure I’m old enough.”
A soft snort behind me had me looking over my shoulder.
Eve rose and joined us. “I see the snarky apple doesn’t fall far from the snarky tree.”
I grinned. She wasn’t wrong, either. “Eve, this is my daughter Lila. Lila, this is my boss, Lieutenant Eve Poe.”
“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Poe.” Lila’s eyes twinkled and I knew I was in trouble. She rocked back on her heels and smiled. “So, what embarrassing thing should I tell you about my mother?” She tapped a finger on her cheek. “Oh, I know. There was this one time when—”
“Lila!”
Eve laughed. “Nice to meet you too. And while I’d love to hear all the details, I’m going to be a mean boss. Your mom and I need to get back to the booth, and if I’m not mistaken, that’s your boss headed this way.”
Lila gave in with a sunny grin. “I’m sure I’ll get another chance. You should come over for Shabbat dinner one Friday. Mom’s a really good cook, and she makes the best challah.”
“I’d enjoy that,” Eve said.
My stomach flipped, even as my mind whirled off into places it had no business going. Eve in my house? And once Lila went home? Then what? As I’d done ruthlessly over and over these past several weeks, I shoved the thoughts back.
I squeezed my girl again. “What time are you done?”
“Two. I’m going to meet Tee and Yas and we’ll grab some food before the restaurants pack everything up. Then I think we’re headed to the movies. I’ll text you later. Love you, Mom.”
“Love you too, baby.”
My mind wavered between thoughts of my daughter and of the woman by my side as Eve and I headed back to the booth and relieved the officers who’d covered for us. She disappeared inside the command truck, then came to the door with the second half of the giveaways we’d held back. I took them with a murmured thanks, and she ducked back inside. I filled the table again, and handed things out as people came by.
Eve was in the truck for about ten minutes, and I could hear the low murmur of her voice. It sounded like she was on the phone, and I assumed she was either filling someone in about what she’d learned or getting more information.
When she came out, she looked pensive and somewhat remote. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the discussion we’d had about Derrick’s father, the fact that I’d touched her when I shouldn’t have, or if it was something work related, but for the rest of the afternoon, there was an awkward silence in the lull between people stopping by our booth, and I didn’t like it. In the morning as we’d set up, we’d talked about everything under the sun. Our kids. The changes over the last twenty years in the city we called home. The latest twists in the television show we both loved.
Everything but the tension that seemed to simmer between us.
It didn’t feel one-sided, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see. I still didn’t know if Eve was in a relationship. I didn’t think so, because we’d talked about family enough. I knew she had two sisters and a brother she’d said was spoiled rotten because he was the baby and the only boy. Her parents were in their seventies, both in good health and now living in South Carolina, near her oldest sister and family. Her younger sister and her brother still lived here, and she saw them often.
But, other than the fact that she’d said “it’s no wonder I only date women,” I couldn’t remember hearing her talk about someone special in her life.
The burgeoning feelings I had for Eve reminded me of when I’d first met Seth. A fluttering in my stomach. A desire to spend time with her, to learn more about what made her tick. Their differences aside, the feelings I had for each affected me in the same way, a way that solidified my understanding of my own sexuality and what attracted me to someone. It wasn’t their gender, but that indefinable something that drew me like a magnet.
I loved the way Eve truly liked and cared about other people. A high school principal, Seth had been the same. When he’d talked about his teachers and students, it had been obvious how much they meant to him. Family had been important to him too. The girls and I had been his world, but he’d stayed close with his brother, the two of them thick as thieves. Eve was also close to her family. I knew how hard it was to have her son overseas in a war zone, and she depended on her sisters and brother to help keep her sane.
Other than that, they were very different people. Clearly, you liked who you liked and it truly was indefinable. But I no longer had any doubts that I could feel the same sexual feelings for a woman as I did for a man.
For this woman, at least.
I’d made a grave mistake earlier, touching her cheek, feeling the softness of her skin. Now that I knew how silky it was, I wanted to revel in the sensations, to rub my own cheek against hers. I wanted my lips on hers, and I wanted to taste the salt on her skin along her jaw and her neck.
The problem was I still didn’t know if she felt the same way. Or if a relationship would even be allowed, given our work dynamic as boss and subordinate.
Annnd . . . I really needed to stop thinking about that, because the ache between my thighs—and in my heart—was growing.
The street festival officially finished at five, but by four thirty, traffic had dwindled down to almost nothing. We started packing things up, taking down the canopy and the tables and stowing them inside the truck. We worked in near silence until we were done.
“Good job today,” Eve said, though her usual smile was missing. “I’m driving the truck
back to the station, so you’re free to head out. And come in late tomorrow, since we were here all day. The work will wait.”
My heart sank at her remoteness. “Thanks.” I grabbed my backpack and my sweatshirt out of the storage locker and turned to go. I was at the door, my foot ready to go down onto one step when I glanced over my shoulder.
That look was back on Eve’s face, but as soon as I turned to her she wiped it off. I’d seen it, though. Part pensive, part longing, part something I couldn’t name. “Are you okay?”
She waved me off. “Just tired. Thanks again. Be careful going home.”
I frowned but let the obvious lie slide. I wanted to make her tell me, so I could ease whatever was bothering her, and wasn’t that a kick? And I wanted to ask the question that was eating at me, but I couldn’t do it. Didn’t have the chutzpah to bare my soul and potentially make working at the job I’d come to love uncomfortable and awkward—for both of us. Instead, I nodded. “Have a good night, Eve.”
At home, I took a shower to wash off the sweat of the day, groaning out loud when I realized my two washes hadn’t completely cleared the dye from the shirt. The tops of my breasts bore a slash of blueberry, as did the insides of my arms.
Lovely.
I fell face-first onto my bed, buck naked, and dozed for about forty-five minutes. When I woke, I threw on one of Seth’s now threadbare T-shirts over panties, then went to the kitchen and fixed myself a plate of fruit, cheese, and crackers. I curled up on the sofa in the family room with a glass of wine in one hand and the television remote in the other. I was an episode behind in the show Eve and I both watched and loved to debate, and I’d begged her not to spoil it for me. She’d teasingly given me a week to catch up.
About twenty minutes into it, I got up to get a glass of water and saw the message light blinking on my cell phone. I thumbed it awake and saw a text from Lila—running late to the movie, will catch up with you tomorrow—and a call from a local number I didn’t recognize. I’d been getting spam calls for the last few months, so I ignored it and went back to watch the rest of the episode.
Twice in a Lifetime Page 5
