NY State Trooper- The Complete Box Set

by Jen Talty

  Reese checked his phone. Still nothing from Stacey, who was currently looking into what caused the tire to blow out.

  “How old are the tires?”

  “Less than a year.” Patty had adjusted the hospital bed to a sitting position. Her legs were slightly bent, two pillows tucked beneath her back, one under knees. Reese had heard about the accident over the radio. He’d been on patrol when Lacy called in 9-1-1, and Jared had forwarded the information to him. As he raced to the hospital, fifteen minutes after Patty, he realized that while he wanted the baby to be unharmed, he wanted Patty to be okay even more. He wanted the woman he loved to be all right. If she were good, he could survive anything.

  Now they were awaiting her OB/GYN. Patty had been given a clean bill of health, but they had yet to confirm the health of the baby.

  “Rotate them regularly? Check the pressure?”

  “Three months ago. Not lately.”

  Reese poked his head out of the curtain, hoping to expedite the needed tests, but it didn’t seem to be working. “Did you see anything suspicious?” He checked his Apple Watch for any information from Frank, Stacey, or Jared. So far, nothing.

  “I’m really scared.” She rested on hand over her stomach, rubbing gently.

  He sat on the edge of the bed. “There have been too many strange things going on for me not to be concerned that this wasn’t just an accident.”

  “I should be scared, then.”

  “I really don’t want to frighten you,” he said. “But I’d be avoiding the truth by omission if I said otherwise.”

  “Thanks for being honest.” She smiled faintly, still rubbing her stomach.

  “Have you felt any movement yet?” He placed his hand tentatively over hers. “You’ve never told me when the baby is due.”

  “You never asked.” She smiled at him. “Based on my last period, around November twenty-first, but they said a sonogram will be able to give us a more accurate date.”

  “So, you’ve been to the doctor?”

  “Just for a blood test. Not to see the doctor.” She shook her head. “My first appointment is next week. You can come. Actually, I’d like it if you did.”

  “Just tell me when, and I’ll be there. Do you think we’ll be able to hear the heartbeat?”

  “I think we’ll be able to hear it today,” a woman’s voice said. Reese looked up to see a woman no older than him, wearing scrubs.

  “Hey, Doctor Noonan.” Patty laced her fingers through Reese’s, squeezing tightly.

  “How are you feeling?” The doctor stood on the opposite side of the bed, glancing at Patty then flipping through pages in the patient chart.

  Reese wasn’t sure if he should continue to sit, or stand. Introduce himself? Leave? Ask questions? Before he could finish contemplating his next move, Patty tapped his shoulder.

  “Reese, you okay?”

  “Um, yeah, why?”

  “Because I’ve introduced you to my doctor twice, and you’ve been sitting there, staring at nothing, saying nothing.”

  “Oh,” he said. “Reese McGinn. Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Dr. Noonan said. “So, as I started to tell Patty, I’m going to check the baby’s heartbeat using this device.” She held something in her hands. “Normally, we can hear the heartbeat at about ten weeks, and Patty is right about the eleven to twelve-week mark, if our calculations are correct.”

  “What if you don’t hear anything?”

  “Let’s not worry about that right now,” the doctor said. “Dad, do you mind moving for a moment?”

  Reese looked around the room, half expecting to see Patty’s father. “Oh, you mean me.”

  Dr. Noonan smiled. “You might as well get used to the title.”

  Reese hadn’t even thought about being called ‘Dad.’ He was still getting used to the idea that he was going to be one, not actually have someone, anyone, call him by that name. When he rose, Patty didn’t let go of his hand, so he stood at her side, giving her support. Or maybe she was giving him support. His heart beat so fast and hard, he figured it could be heard a mile away without any listening device.

  “I’m going to put some gel on your belly. It might be a little cold.”

  Reese watched the doctor squeeze the gel, then rub it around with a little handheld thing, and the device picked up a thumping sound. A very loud and strong thumping sound. It mimicked what he felt in his chest, but was even faster.

  “Baby sounds good,” Dr. Noolan said.

  “What a relief.” Patty looked up at Reese, her eyes moist with tears, but her smile so big and so happy. “Reese?”

  “Yeah,” he managed.

  “You’re hurting my hand,” Patty said.

  “Oh.” He quickly let go. “That was…that was…”

  “Your baby,” Dr. Noonan said. “I think all is well, but since I like to err on the side of caution, I’m going to order a sonogram before I let you go today. It shouldn’t take long. They won’t be able to say anything to you, but I’ll be back to discharge you and will fill you in on the results.”

  “Should we be worried?” Reese asked.

  “I’m sure all is fine, but you were in a car accident, so I think it’s best we take a look,” Dr. Noonan said. “Perhaps Dad might need to sit down, and we should get him some water.”

  Reese heard all the words. They registered in his brain. But for the life of him, the room wouldn’t stop swaying. His vision blurred, and he couldn’t utter a single word, so he let the doctor lead him to a chair, and he sipped the water she handed him. He had no idea how long he sat there. He suspected only a minute or so, but it felt like hours. “I’m fine,” he said.

  “Are you sure?” Patty asked. “You look a little pale.”

  “I’m fine,” he said with more authority as he pulled himself out of the shock of being called Dad. Since hearing the word, then his child’s heartbeat, a rush of emotions had flooded his brain, a combination of his past and his present colliding. Something that never had a chance, and the sadness that tore through his heart for so many years slowly gave way to the promise of a future he once thought he could never have.

  “That was pretty cool.” He stood, adjusting his belt, then placed his hands on his hips in the best manly and authoritative-cop stance he could muster.

  Patty smiled again. “Reese McGinn,” she said, “you’re starting to be a bit of a sap.”

  “Funny girl.” He moved back to her bedside to give her a wet, sloppy kiss, but, his cell phone rang out.

  “I’ve got to take this,” he said. “It’s Stacey.”

  Patty nodded.

  Reese stepped into the hallway just as he heard the doctor tell Patty that hospital transport would be by shortly to take her to the sonogram.

  “What did you find out?” Reese asked, skipping the formalities.

  “Bullet hole,” Stacey said.

  “Got the bullet?” Reese asked.

  “Sent on to ballistics, but suspect it was from a military-grade sniper rifle.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. Why Patty? Why now? The only person giving us any trouble is Holland.”

  “I know,” Stacey admitted, “but Frank found an eye-witness who says they saw something where Patty’s tire blew. Figured you’d want to be there for questioning.”

  “I’m leaving now.” He hated to leave, but her safety depended on him finding out why someone would want to hurt her. That was his job, both as a trooper and as the man who loved her.

  Reese stood at the door of the master bedroom, where Patty was most likely sound asleep. The house was quiet. His grandmother was tucked away in her new suite. Lacy and Andy had returned to Harmon Hill. Reese’s hand trembled as he gripped the door handle. There had been an emotional shift between him and Patty, but he wasn’t quite sure what it meant for her. He knew what it meant for him.

  The connection he felt to her was far more than having a child. Life without Patty would be no life at all. He prayed to a God he never beli
eved in that she felt the same way.

  He wanted to feel it was wrong of him to sneak into her room, but it felt right. More than right… It felt natural. Normal. She’d also mentioned it was a big bed. His heart had been with her for a long time. It just took his brain a while to catch on. Running from it because he’d gotten burned had once seemed like a great way to protect himself, but it had only made him lonely. And he’d been a very lonely man for the last seven years.

  Not anymore.

  Patty had the curtains open, and the moon cast a gleam across the bed and the polished hardwood floor. The only other pieces of furniture were a dresser and a small nightstand, but he could picture a big sleigh bed. Maybe dark cherry. Matching dressers, bed tables, vanity. A small bassinet for the baby. Maybe even a dog at the edge of the bed. A big, cuddly Golden Retriever. It was almost too much to dream for.

  Patty lay on her side, her back to him, hugging a pillow. He slipped out of his uniform, then put his gun in the top drawer of the dresser. He left his shirt and pants on the floor then tucked himself under the sheets, pulling her close.

  “I was hoping you’d visit me tonight.”

  He twitched, her voice startling him. “I want you to be safe.”

  “I have mixed feelings about you.”

  “I’m not surprised,” he said.

  “I feel safe with you, though.” She pulled his arm tighter around her midsection.

  “How are you holding up?”

  “Okay.” She rolled over and faced him, slipping her knee between his legs. “Want to see a picture of the baby?”

  “You have one?”

  “Doctor Noonan brought it to me once the sonogram checked out.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay.”

  “I understand.” She sat up, then turned on the lamp next to the bed and handed him a picture. “See that?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Baby,” she said. “Doing just fine. The doctor adjusted the due date to November nineteenth, but all is well in babyland.”

  “We’re having a baby.” The words still sounded surreal rolling off his lips. With everything going on, he hadn’t really allowed himself to embrace it. Now, he never wanted to let it go.

  “Why is this happening to us?” She looked up at him with big, doe-like eyes. “Why does someone always want to hurt me? First, the whole thing last year with Lacy and being at the wrong place at the wrong time. And then Terry. The rats. And I know the tire was hit with a bullet.”

  “I wish I had an answer.” He reached around her to put the picture back on the nightstand, turned off the lights, then settled them back down under the sheets. They lay facing each other, gazing into each other’s eyes. It wasn’t sexual. Or even romantic.

  Just comfortable.

  “I know it’s Holland, but I can’t prove it. Yet.”

  “So, why me?” Patty had tucked both her hands up under her cheek.

  “It’s not you,” Reese said. “I think it’s both of us. I think I’m the reason this is happening to you. All I want is to keep you safe.” He ran his fingers up and down her arm, enjoying her soft skin. Everything about her was perfect. “We’ll find a way to nail Holland.”

  “Maybe it’s not him. Maybe it’s your wife.”

  His breath hitched. Bringing up Jessica was like putting a knife through his heart. “Doubtful,” he said. “From what Nana and the PI gathered on Jessica, she worked one con after the next. Her parents disowned her. That says a lot. Besides, she really not smart enough to pull this off.”

  “It’s also kind of sad.”

  “I have a hard time feeling sorry for her,” Reese said. “Brad, my PI, is talking with her last known employer, and has a lead on her last roommate, and some guy she swindled for a couple grand a few months ago.”

  Patty let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry. I can handle everything else but the marriage thing. Actually, its not so much the marriage, but the kind of woman you married.”

  “I—”

  She pressed her finger against his lips. “You didn’t know. I get that. But until you’re divorced, it’s hard for us to move forward.”

  “We’ll get there. I promise.” He kissed her nose. “I want so much to say things to you, but I don’t want them to be just words, at just any moment.”

  “I feel the same,” she said. “Let’s just get some sleep. We both need it.”

  He tucked his own hands under his head and closed his eyes, but sleep didn’t come. All he could think about was that he lay in bed with the woman he loved, and he was pretty sure she felt the same way.

  He blinked a few more times, then noticed she was staring at him. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  He smiled. “You want me.”

  “You’re impossible.”

  “But adorable.”

  “Yes, you are,” she said. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

  “I’m really scared.”

  “About what?” she asked.

  He reached for her, and she let him wrap his arms around her and rested her head on his chest. “Honestly, everything. All the bad things going on. The baby. Mostly about how much I have hurt you.”

  “I forgive you.”

  “I do love you, Patty. Baby, or no baby. I love you, and I want to show you in a million different ways,” he said. “It might have taken a baby to open my heart, but I loved you long before I knew I loved you.”

  “You can be very romantic and sweet,” she said. “I want to believe you. I want to tell you how I feel, but I know we wouldn’t be in this bed together had I not gotten pregnant. I think you can understand my trepidation.”

  “Of course I understand it.” He also understood her words didn’t match her body’s reaction to him as he gently caressed her exposed skin. She inched closer, their legs intertwined as she ran her fingers through his chest hair, an intimate act that only lovers shared. “I wish I hadn’t walked away when you broke up with me. I was hurt and shocked, but what was I to say? You were as much a part of our so-called deal as I was.”

  “You could have said you didn’t want to break up.”

  “And would you have listened? Would you have wanted to give us a chance?”

  “I don’t know. You never asked,” she said. “That’s key. You gave up.”

  “Well then, so did you.”

  “I guess I can’t argue that.”

  He pressed his thumb under her chin and tilted her head, looking directly into her beautiful eyes. Eyes he wanted to get lost in forever. “I love you,” he said. “I know you think I’m being honorable and just doing it because of the baby. I admit, the baby made me realize how I really felt, but the truth is, if I had left here, I would have been even more lonely and lost than I was when I got here. Worse, because when I moved here, I didn’t know I was lonely, but leaving you... Well, there wouldn’t be much to live for after that.”

  “I do believe,” she said. “I feel so cared for by you, but you have always been so distant, it’s hard to trust that this new emotional, loving Reese is going to last.”

  “This is the real me,” he said, before ravishing her mouth, not giving her the chance to deny him anything. She could stop him. No doubt about that. He’d get out of that bed and walk away if that was what she really wanted.

  Her body, however, screamed for him. Her tongue dove deep into his mouth, matching his passion as she pulled him closer. Her legs wrapped so tightly around him that if it weren’t love, she’d have strangled him. She stroked his arms, thighs, ass, every inch of him. She was desperate for him, and he for her. But he couldn’t allow himself to give all of himself unless she admitted how she really felt.

  He pushed her a few inches away. “Say it.”

  “No.”

  “Say it,” he demanded. “I love you, and I know you feel the same way, but I need you to say it.”

  She struggled with her clothing, doing her best to rip it off her body, as well as remove his boxers. It was impossible t
o resist. He stopped pushing her away, then suckled her breast, teasing her with his fingers. They stared at each other, their breathing labored, their bodies covered in sweat that glowed under the moonlight.

  “Say it.”

  “I don’t want to.” She placed his hand over her breast, pushing her nipple between his fingers.

  He squeezed, then released. “I love you.” He rolled on top of her. “Tell me,” he demanded. “And mean it.”

  “Oh, for crying out loud,” she said. “I love you, okay? Now can we please just get to the good stuff?”

  “Say it and mean it,” he said softly.

  When she looked deep into his eyes, he didn’t really need the words. His heart raced with anticipation. He felt her love. His world would be complete.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  His body shuddered as he let out a small groan, dipping his forehead to hers. “I love you back.” He entered her slowly. He locked gazes with her, and he wasn’t going to let her turn away or close her eyes. She would see with every stroke of his body, with every sensation he could give her that she was safe with him, and always and forever, he’d belong to her.

  He was in love for the very first time in his life.

  Patty perched herself on the new oversized recliner Nana bought for the living room, and watched the first of the sun’s rays appear across the bright blue waters of Lake George.

  “Comfortable?” Nana’s voice rang out from behind Patty.

  “Very much, thank you.”

  “Did you sleep well?” Nana stood in front of the large picture window facing the water.

  “I did.” Patty blushed. Being in Reese’s arms, feeling every part of his love without any reservation had helped lull her into a deep sleep where wild dreams of their life together gently glided across her mind. She could see it so clearly. It felt so right and so good, she had no desire to wake up.

  “No cramping? Headache? Anything at all from the accident?” Nana asked, her voice full of concern.

  “I’m feeling good,” Patty assured her.

  “Can I get you something?”

  “Tea would be nice.”

  “Let me cook you a good breakfast,” Nana said.