Page 62 of Blue Norther
John laughed. “You do that.”
I nodded as I turned, walking across the lot to my vehicle. I hoped the DA brought every charge possible against his sorry ass. He deserved to get the max sentence for the shit he pulled and the harm he inflicted. My patrol vehicle sat parked on the edge of the lot, right where I left it. I’d hopefully be able to grab the victim’s statement and head home to Vi without too much of a delay.
Leaves from the tree next to my cruiser had landed all over the windshield, and I took a second to clear them. The crunching of the leaves had to have masked the sound of someone walking up behind me, because one second I was thinking of Vi and our cupcakes, and the next, I was falling to the ground.
Violet
The smell of the supper I was cooking filled the entire house and felt like a warm hug in my chest. I was working hard to distract myself from Colt’s words playing over and over in my head. The last thing I needed was Hayes asking me why I was so damn flushed again. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t keep accepting my excuse that the extra weight from the baby was making me hot.
Thankfully, the girls were also helping keep my mind occupied.
Jessie:
It doesn’t have to be anything big. Think of it more like a coming home party than a baby shower!
Birdie:
I mean, there will be baby presents. Lots of baby presents. I got some really cute fabric at Thread and Needle this week, and I’ve got the cutest pattern for baby overalls!!
Jessie:
We just want to celebrate you and Colt and the baby.
I bit the inside of my cheek. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to celebrate the baby. Or the fact that I was back in Silver Springs. Or the fact that Colt and I seemed to have found our way back to each other. I just…
Sizzling interrupted my thoughts as I pushed away from the counter I was resting my hip against, grabbing the wooden spoon to stir the potatoes. The girls had kept me giggling all damn afternoon with their texts, mostly about trying to get me to cave about a baby shower. It would be wonderful to celebrate the baby, but part of my heart still felt like I was tempting fate.
Right as I plunged the spoon down into the pot for another frivolous stir, the timer for the oven went off. My eyes lifted to look at the clock on the stove. Thirty minutes later than the last few days. Colt must be having a rough shift turnover meeting.
“I don’t know what I did to get Violet babysitting duty on meatloaf night, but I’m just going to quietly count my blessings.” Hayes got down off the stool at the breakfast bar and walked over to the stove. “I’ll grab it out of the oven.”
“You don’t have to?—”
He just looked at me, slowly shaking his head back and forth as he slipped on the oven mitt.
“Fine, fine. Have at it.”
I laughed as I walked to the fridge and grabbed everything I would need to make the mashed potatoes. On the counter, I heard one of our phones buzzing.
“Is that?—”
“It’s mine,” Hayes replied. He grabbed the phone, answering it with a smile on his face. “Hey, Beau. What’s up?”
I brought the ingredients over to the counter and started opening Colt’s cabinets. I’d seen the electric beaters a few days ago, but for some reason they were hiding on me now.
“Yeah, one sec.” Hayes pulled the phone away from his ear and looked over at me. “I’m gonna step outside for one minute. You need anything, holler.”
“The alarm is set. Just reset it before you go.”
“Right. Thanks.”
I flipped the switch for the hot burner to off, drained the water from the potatoes, and went to work adding the milk, butter, and chives to the pan. Just as I snapped the second beater into place, Hayes knocked on the door.
My eyes dropped to the handle.Of course he locked it on his way out. I opened the door, the alarm chirping until he was back inside. The cold air that had come in with him hit me, and my body shivered.
“God, it’s really getting cold out.”
“Vi.”
