by E. M. Shea
“That is a seriously flawed comparison.” Unable to hide her annoyance, Dani looked at her watch. “Well, as much I’ve enjoyed this conversation, I have to go.”
“Is that code word for you’re pissing me off, Margaret?”
“No. You are pissing me off, but I do have to leave. I’m meeting with a client at the Women’s Center, and I should be back in a couple of hours.”
Margaret stood up from the chair. “What do I say when Sean’s dad asks to set up a meeting with his dear son? Leland said he would be calling at some point today.”
Dani grabbed her briefcase, then thought for a second. “Tell him you’ll text me while I’m on the road, but you don’t expect to hear back right away because I’m not an idiot enough to text while driving.”
Margaret squished her face. “Ouch.”
As Dani headed out into the hallway, Margaret followed close behind. “Love you, darling! Even though you hate me now.”
Without turning to look back, Dani raised her free arm in the air and waved her hand. “Love you, too.”
◆◆◆
Nick stood in front of the Southeastern Massachusetts Women’s Center main door and looked up at the three-story brick building. He had never been here before—never had any reason to—but now, he couldn’t help but think of Dani and how her face had lit up when talking about her pro bono work. When he had spoken to her yesterday on the phone, he had every intention of following through with his promise to make things right in light of what she had revealed about ex-Officer St. Germaine’s mishandling of Rose Hernandez’s calls to the department. What he hadn’t realized at the time was that his desire to do so would increase tenfold as the day went on, prompting him to call the center and ask if he could personally meet with Rose.
“Thank you for coming by,” Kristen said a short time later as she ushered him into her office. “Dani called me yesterday and said she spoke to you about Rose Hernandez and that you’d be following up with a report. I was surprised—pleasantly, I might add—when my assistant told me a little while ago that you’d be coming by in person.”
“I was a bit surprised myself,” Nick said in all honesty. “But the more I thought about things, the more I realized that I have a responsibility to fix a very unfortunate situation due to the actions of a former colleague. I do want you to know that myself and other officers at Cedarsville Police Department take domestic violence situations very seriously. Whatever I can do to speed things along for Rose, I’m ready to help.”
“I appreciate that. Dani explained the situation with the officer who had a substance abuse problem. It’s almost like an epidemic now. And it certainly has played a role both directly and indirectly in the lives of many of the women that come through the center. I’m sure you see it too in your line of work.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Have you worked with Dani before on cases?”
The question caught Nick by surprise. “No. We, uh, know each other from participating in a local charity event.” He inwardly winced, wondering if his answer sounded as awkward as it felt. Still, he was grateful that he had enough wits about him to say “charity event” instead of “auction date”.
Kristen’s eyes widened. “A charity event? How wonderful! I can totally see Dani doing something like that. She’s the type of person who’d give the shirt off her back.”
Nick gulped while doing his best to maintain a straight poker face. Because right how, he was grappling with the image of Dani shedding her shirt, and it most certainly wasn’t in the same context that Kristen had meant. No sirree!
“Speak of the devil!” Kristen exclaimed as she looked past Nick.
He slowly turned around, his head bobbing back as Dani instantly materialized within his line of vision. She stood in the doorway, a frozen expression on her face of … disbelief? Joy? Horror? He really couldn’t be sure.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she finally said once her gaping jaw fell back into place. “Sue said you were you’re in your office. I didn’t realize you were in a meeting.”
“No need to apologize,” Kristen said as she stood up from her chair. “Sergeant Bellamy stopped by to speak with Rose. We were just chatting—about you, actually.”
Dani’s face returned to its earlier masked expression. At least Nick now had his answer. Yep, it’s definitely the look of horror.
“Is that so,” Dani said with a stilted smile, clearly doing her best to appear casual when she no doubt felt anything but.
“Yes, he was telling me how you met at a charity event.”
“That is true.” She finally made eye contact with Nick. “How are you, Sergeant?”
Nick could almost feel her discomfort, in part because it matched his own. “Good, thank you.”
“I was just telling Nick how you’re the type of person who’d do anything in the name of charity,” Kristen continued.
Nick leaned back in his chair, slightly relaxing at the same time that Dani was visibly tensing up. Don’t be a jerk and make things worse, he inwardly advised. But then again—police work aside—he was never very good at taking orders.
“Ms. Welch said you’re the type to give the shirt off your back.” Nick pursed his lips together, forehead creased. “The world needs more people like you.”
“That’s nice of you to say,” Dani replied through a tense smile. “I guess you could say I was raised to think of others and not just myself. In fact, I always say there’s more to life than simple naked ambition.” Pause. “Don’t you think?”
As the word naked rolled out of Dani’s mouth, her eyebrows spiked upwards, and Nick could only hope that Kristen was oblivious to the emphasis.
“I couldn’t put it better myself,” he replied.
Kristen looked at Dani, then at Nick, then back to Dani. “Well, then.”
Nick stood up and looked at his watch, then turned to Kristen. “I do need to be back at the station in an hour, so I probably should meet with Rose now if that’s possible.”
“Yes, of course. She’s in one of our meeting rooms and is expecting you, actually. Take a left when you head out of my office, go to the end of the hall and then take a right. There’s another long hallway, and it’s the second to the last door on the right.”
“Great. It was nice to meet you,” Nick said as he held out his hand.
Kristen gently shook it and smiled. “You, too.”
Dani moved aside as he headed for the open doorway. She was wearing jeans and a snug black sweater, her chestnut hair pinned up in a messy—yet somehow still perfect—bun. He had never seen her dressed so casually, and couldn’t imagine that anyone could top her ability to look both down to earth and sophisticated at the same time. In the bright fluorescent office lights, her green eyes shone with specks of amber. “Good to see you again,” he said as he passed by.
She smiled—a bit apprehensively, but there was also something genuine about it. “Thanks for coming by to meet with Rose. I know she’s worried about how everything will turn out, and this should put her mind at ease.”
“Glad to help.”
Barely a minute later as he was about to round the first corner, Nick heard the pitter patter of rapidly approaching feet. He turned around and stopped as Dani jogged down the hallway.
“Hold on!” she called out, catching her breath when she finally caught up to him. “What was that all about back there?”
“Can you be more specific?”
“You know what I’m talking about. You made me feel very uncomfortable in front of Kristen with the whole shirt off thing.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “It’s just an expression and I’m sure she didn’t take it any other way. In fact, she’s the one who said it first.” He paused. “Now, if I had said how good you look with the shirt off your back, that would be another thing. And for that matter, what about you with the naked ambition? Real subtle, huh?”
Now it was Dani’s turn to roll her eyes. “Anyways, you never mentioned you were com
ing here when we talked yesterday.”
“That’s because it was kind of a last-minute decision. I thought just a few minutes ago you said you’re glad I decided to meet with Rose.”
“I am.”
Nick was growing exasperated. “Can you just make up your mind as to whether you hate me or actually like me? My brain is getting whiplash trying to keep up with it all.”
“It’s a moment-by-moment process.”
“You know, it’s really a shame.”
Dani viewed him through wary eyes. “What is?”
“That we can’t just put our differences aside in a situation like this, when we’re both working towards the same end.”
Dani opened her mouth as though she was about to protest his observation, then stopped. “You’re right,” she finally said quietly.
Nick leaned in and bent his ear forward with his hand. “I’m sorry. What did you say? I didn’t quite hear that.”
“Knock it off.”
He grinned, then impulsively grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. He could have stayed there forever once connected to the sweet softness of her mouth, but instead pulled away after several seconds. He made his point—and enjoyed doing so, thank you very much—and decided it was best to leave it at that.
And so, with not so much as another word or even the slightest gesture, he turned and continued on to the meeting room where Rose awaited.
◆◆◆
Dani looked up from a thick stack of paperwork as Kristen knocked on the door. She had headed straight to the communal office after Nick’s unexpected kiss, hoping that she could simultaneously take care of some center business while also squelching the desire that his lips had reignited. And now, one hour later, she had successfully read through several cases. Not so successful? Her hopes of shutting Nick out of her thoughts.
“I was just about to take a coffee break,” Kristen said as she popped her head in the doorway. “Care to join me?”
Dani knew she was due back at the office, but in light of what awaited thanks to Leland’s latest request—and with the confusion she felt over Nick—a diversion was more than welcomed. “Sure.”
“I just passed Rose in the hallway a few minutes ago,” Kristen said as they sat down at a quiet table in the back of the center cafeteria. “She looked so relieved.”
“That’s great to hear. It feels good to truly help in a situation like this.”
“I have to say, I was quite surprised that Sergeant Bellamy came by from the Cedarsville Police Department to try to help straighten things out. Usually, it’s a lot of back and forth on our end to get that kind of cooperation. But he seemed like he genuinely wanted to help.”
“He’s one of the good ones.” Dani quickly choked on her coffee, the unexpectedness of her own words catching in her throat. Where did that come from?
“Yes, he sure seems that way. And I know I’ve probably said this to you a million times, but thanks. In this case, for jumping right in and making some real headway with Rose’s situation. I’ve seen this sort of thing drag on for way too long, and it’s a relief to know she won’t have to constantly be looking over her shoulder and wondering if her ex-husband is about to stir up more trouble.”
“No need to thank me. I get a sense of satisfaction from the cases I take on here that I just don’t get from pretty much any of the work I do at Schulman Heinz.”
Kristen raised her eyebrows. “Interesting …”
Dani sensed she wanted to say more. “Are you surprised?”
“Yes. And no.”
Now it was Dani’s turn to do the eyebrow thing.
“I’ll start with the ‘no’,” Kristen began. “No, because I can see how much you genuinely want to make a difference for these women. It’s clear that you find the work you do here meaningful. And yes, because, well, I would assume you’re living a lawyer’s dream as far as your job at Schulman goes. It’s a well-know firm with big-name clients, and you’ve just been named a partner there.”
“You’re right on both counts,” Dani admitted. She turned to look wistfully at the streams of mid-afternoon sunshine filtering through nearby window blinds, then back at Kristen. “So why do I sometimes have second thoughts about the path I’m on, especially when I worked so hard to get to where I’m at?”
Kristen flashed a knowing smile. “That’s the great thing about paths. You can always hop onto another one if you decide it fits you better.”
Dani wished it could be that easy, that she could just snap her fingers and be headed in a new and better-fitting direction. But the truth was, she felt conflicted about what that direction should be. The thought of giving up everything that she had worked so hard for … that she had thought was the ultimate end goal … was just too overwhelming to even contemplate. And besides, shouldn’t she be looking at her current situation as having the best of both worlds? The work at Schulman, Heinz & Associates that verified she was at the top of her game as an attorney, and her pro bono contribution at the center that left her feeling fulfilled in a different yet more meaningful way.
“I wasn’t sure whether to even mention this to you,” Kristen began. “But the center just received a major federal grant, and I was planning to use it to bring a legal counselor on board. It would be a part-time position, most likely about twenty hours a week. It would pay close to the going hourly rate for an experienced attorney, but of course, that would probably fall short of what you’re earning at Schulman.” She paused. “Actually, given that you’re a partner now, it would probably fall very short.”
Dani had yet to reply to Kristen’s out-of-the-blue announcement, but her wide-eyed expression was apparently enough for Kristen to continue.
“But no eighty-hour work weeks, and you’d have enough flexibility that you could put up a shingle for your own law practice on the side.” She silently studied Dani as though attempting to gauge her interest. “Just something to keep in the back of your mind. I haven’t posted the position yet because I’m waiting for all the paperwork to go through. But once it does, I’ll be actively recruiting for the role.” Another brief span of silence. “Of course, if you decide you want it, it’s yours.”
Dani shook her head in slow motion as she attempted to process all that Kristen had just said. “Wow,” she finally declared. “I definitely didn’t see that coming.”
“I know. Neither did I, actually. The legal work that the center does on behalf on these women who’d have no means to get top representation otherwise—more and more, I’ve come to realize how critical it is to our mission as a whole. So when we received this grant a few weeks ago, there was no question in my mind that a good portion of it would go to bringing someone in here on a permanent basis.” She smiled softly. “I just hope that person is as good as you. Or even better, that it is you. Although I realize that’s probably wishful thinking on my part.”
Dani took a deep breath in lieu of providing a definitive answer. Kristin had to know it was a stretch of epic proportions to think that she would be willing to trade in a sky’s-the-limit partnership at Schulman for a part-time gig at the center. And yet … and yet. She couldn’t deny that there was something about the offer that was tugging at her insides.
“I’m flattered, Kristin, I truly am,” she finally managed to say. “I’m not sure I’m ready to make any major moves in my life right now, but I will admit that lately I feel I can relate to the notion that finally reaching a goal can make you question whether it’s truly what you wanted in the first place.”
Kristen nodded with a smile. “We’ve all been there. And I totally understand your hesitancy in doing an about-face on everything you’ve worked so hard for. I’m just glad that the center can benefit from your expertise—and especially your generosity in sharing it.”
“Happy to help,” Dani said warmly, turning to look out the window once more. Sunshine continued to peek through the blinds, giving her a partial view of what existed on the other side, making her crave more
. As her thoughts turned to Nick, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was a metaphor for other areas of her life as well.
Sunshine … and Nick. Together in the same sentence. Damn … life was getting stranger by the minute.
Chapter Sixteen
Nick glanced down at the ringing cellphone that lay on the passenger seat of his police SUV, spotting Phil McGuire’s name light up on the screen. Though it wasn’t too unusual to receive a call from the Boys Club director, it was typically in regard to an upcoming event or meetup at the center, and as far as Nick knew, there was nothing scheduled within the next couple of weeks. Still, he was always glad to hear from Phil and quickly reached for the phone.
“Hey, Phil, how’s it going?” His upbeat question was met with silence. Pulling the phone away from his ear, Nick visually confirmed that the call hadn’t dropped. That’s odd, he thought as he once again spoke into the phone. “Are you there, Phil?”
“I’m here, Nick. And, uh, I got a situation that I think you should be aware of.”
The graveness in Phil’s voice wilted Nick’s smile. “Everything okay?”
“Not exactly. I know you’re probably on duty, but when do you think you can come by?”
“I’m just driving on around on patrol—I can come by now.”
“Good. I’ll see you when you get here.”
Nick swung the Explorer around and sped off as though responding to an emergency. Everything about the call—from the seriousness in Phil’s voice to the request that he come by as soon as possible—told Nick that a dire situation of some sort was in fact waiting for him.
Fifteen minutes later, he pulled in the Boys Club parking lot, jumped out of the SUV and headed straight for Phil’s office. The door was open, so he immediately entered, surprised to see Colin sitting across from Phil’s desk.
“Hey, Bud,” Nick said, his initial smile fading as Colin turned to him with reddened eyes. He glanced at Phil, stone-faced as he stood up and came around the desk, and then back to Colin. “What’s going on?” he asked, not sure whom to even direct the question to.
