Frustration expanded her chest, and she took an extra moment to school the emotion out of her voice. “I don’t know if it’s a friend weekend, Jess,” she said. She hated it when he asked her things like this in front of other people, which was exactly why he’d done it.
“You’re going with your friend.”
“To plan her wedding. Dixie will be there. If you bring a friend, what’s she to do?”
Jess slurped up a spoonful of soup, but Janey knew the conversation wasn’t over. She dug into her cheese and soup, the scent of beef broth making her mouth water. “This smells great, Adam.”
“Mine’s good too,” Jess said.
Adam had a spoonful of beef stew poised, but he stuck a piece of bread into the broth first and took a bite. He nodded, still chewing.
“Dixie’s a girl,” Jess said as if Janey didn’t know.
“And she’s only a year younger than you, and you’ve always been best friends.”
Jess’s spoon clinked against the bowl. “Well, me and Thayne are best friends now.”
Adam’s elbow bumped Janey’s, and she cut him a glance. But he didn’t look up at her, didn’t say anything.
“I’ll need to talk to Gretchen and make sure it’s okay with her.”
“Mom—”
“There are only a certain number of beds, Jess. Food to be bought and meals planned. Activities for a certain number of guests. It’s in a week. We can’t just bring extra people without talking to the host. It would be rude.” She gave him a look that said, So drop it, and Jess focused back on his soup, a disgruntled look on his face.
Janey took a deep breath, trying to surface through the awkward tension that now existed in the kitchen. She tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. So she scooped another bite of the delicious soup into her mouth.
“Maybe you two would like to go see my latest project.”
Janey twisted toward him. “A secret project, huh?”
“What is it?” Jess asked.
“Finish up and I’ll show you.” He threw a smile to the both of them before taking another bite of his stew. Adam asked Jess something about skateboarding, and Jess said, “Yeah, my trucks are pretty stiff.”
Janey had no idea what that meant, but Adam seemed to, and they talked for a minute or two about Jess’s preferred method of travel. Even though she’d bought him a bike for his birthday, he usually only rode it down to the beach and back, preferring the skateboard for going to school or Main Street.
Adam finished first and got up to clear his bowls. Jess helped, saying, “The best one was that chicken one.”
“Even with the rice?” Adam asked, peering down at the boy.
“I like that wild rice.” He made a face. “I don’t like the onions. My mom always makes me eat them too.”
“Oh, come on,” Janey said. “When’s the last time I made you eat anything?”
“You put them in the meatballs,” he said. “They’re actually the best thing she cooks.” He looked at Adam now. “When she makes anything.”
“Hey.” Janey stood, though she’d only had a few bites of the other soups. Her French onion bowl was empty, and she handed it to her son. “I work all day. If I don’t want to cook, it’s okay. We’re still alive, aren’t we?” She put her hands on her hips and gave Jess a smile that didn’t reach further than her lips.
She couldn’t believe he was bringing up her lack of cooking in front of Adam. She couldn’t believe she cared to hide all her flaws until later in her relationship with him, because that indicated that she wanted a relationship.
“Only because I know how to open cans.” Jess smirked at her, because he knew she wouldn’t reprimand him in front of Adam.
“Well, then maybe you should start cooking for her,” Adam said, one eyebrow cocked. “Pretty much all I did here was open some cans and mix some stuff together.”
“She won’t let me use a knife,” Jess said as if Janey wasn’t standing right there.
“Really?” Adam tossed her a glance. “Well, you come over any time, Jess. I’ll teach you how to use a knife.”
“Your mom won’t let me either.”
Adam chuckled and started for the back door. “We can’t really blame them,” he said as he opened the door and the dogs streaked out ahead of him. “Knives are dangerous.” He walked onto the back deck and down the steps, Jess practically tripping over his feet as he hastened to follow.
He started peppering Adam with questions like, “Do you have any horses? This yard is huge, so you could totally have some horses,” and “Do you ever go out to the wishing well anymore? Drew said your dad built it for you when you wanted to make the football team.”
Adam spoke to him, his voice too deep for Janey to understand discernable sounds and form them into words. Jess laughed as Adam led them toward a shed in the corner of his backyard. There wasn’t anything too remarkable about it. Made of wood and roughly the size of a three-car garage, the shed had been painted blue in the distant past. Bits of the paint still clung to the wood, but she flicked one chip off with her fingernail.
“No way!” Jess’s whoops from inside the shed made Janey increase her pace. “Mom, you gotta see this!” He appeared in the doorway and then ducked back inside.
Janey entered the shed too and found it filled with sunlight. A light had also been turned on, but Janey didn’t need it to see the huge motorcycle sitting in the front third of the shed. Jess jumped around it, exclaiming about horsepower and brand names Janey had at least heard of.
“What is all this?” she asked, tucking her hands into her back pockets and trying to take in the beast before her. There were lots of little parts on the dropcloth that had been spread over the ground.
“I’m rebuilding the engine,” Adam said. “In my spare time.”
Her gaze flew to his. “You have spare time?”
His dark-as-coal eyes glittered at her as he stared straight into hers. “Here and there.” He waved her closer. “Come see.”
Janey wasn’t sure what there was to see, but she wanted to be closer to Adam, so she stepped over to him, the heat from his body brushing against her forearm as she pointed to a particularly large piece and asked, “What’s that?”
Adam started telling her about a carburetor and while she didn’t understand hardly a word he said, she loved listening to the rumbly sound of his voice as he talked, as he pointed out parts, as he shared with her something she hadn’t known about him and that meant a great deal to him.
“I like solving puzzles and problems,” he said. “Putting things together.” He added a shrug that couldn’t have been any sexier. “This satisfies part of that craving, I guess.”
“Does it run?” Jess asked, at least the tenth question out of his mouth.
“Not yet.” Adam smiled at him. “But you can come help me work on it any time you want.”
“Yeah!” Jess pumped his fist in the air, and Janey felt like she’d just entered a deliciously warm hot tub as she watched Adam interact with her son. By the time she left in her Jeep, she was warm and woozy from head to toe and hoping the next weekend at the beach wouldn’t leave her burned.
Chapter Eight
Adam had so much leftover soup that he took it into the crew working that Sunday. He didn’t normally go in on weekends, but he stayed and talked with some of the boys, as well as his Deputy Lieutenant—the man in charge when Adam was gone.
“So you’re good for this Friday, right?” he asked Milo.
“What’s this weekend?” He paused in shoveling his mouth full of more beef stew.
“I have to go help my brother plan his wedding, remember?” Around and around the Rubix cube went. A new one, one with only black and white squares that needed to be lined up and squared off. He wasn’t really trying to solve it at the moment, but his hands needed something to do, so the cube got twisted.
He supposed that was why he’d bought the black Harley Davidson from an older gentleman in Bell Hill
and started trying to fix it up one weekend at a time. It was something to keep his idle hands busy. Between a mechanic manual and the Internet, Adam had made some real progress on the motorcycle.
“Oh, right,” Milo said. “We’ll be fine.”
“I just need you to go over the procedures for public safety if a weapon is presented in the park.”
Milo patted a stack of folders on the corner of his desk. “Right here.”
Adam had no idea what was in the colorful assortment of folders. He didn’t much care, as long as his officers got the training they needed before the Fall Festival in only five weeks.
Five weeks.
He drew in a deep breath. Drew’s wedding planning weekend wasn’t exactly convenient for Adam. He supposed no time would be, as Hawthorne Harbor seemed to have something going on every weekend. If it wasn’t the biggest lavender festival in the world, it was a farmer’s market. And if not the Fall Festival, then the Festival of Trees, which happened from the Friday following Thanksgiving and lasted all the way through Three King’s Day in January.
“I’ll do the tourist influx training on Wednesday,” he said, more to himself than to Milo. The other man nodded anyway and turned toward the soups on Sarah’s desk, where Adam had placed them. “Is there any more of that chicken and wild rice?”
Adam shook his head, a chuckle escaping his lips. He was glad he could provide lunch for the weekend crew, as he didn’t get in to see them all that often. He was also surprised the chicken and wild rice soup had been such a hit. From twelve-year-old boys to fifty-year-old men, the soup seemed to be a winner.
He looked into the pot after Milo had ladled himself another bowl. Was it a winning recipe? Maybe he should try reducing the size of the carrots. He’d noticed that Janey had left most of hers in the bowl, but maybe she just didn’t like cooked carrots.
Adam riddled through the recipe the same way he poured over puzzles and problems. He liked trying to put together flavors and increments of ingredients, the same way he twisted the Rubix cube until it was perfect.
He knocked on the desktop and said, “All right. I’m gonna head out. Help me with these pots?”
Milo slurped up one more bite of soup and stood to help Adam carry his dishes out to the cruiser. Adam tinkered in the shed before taking Gypsy and Fable down to the beach for an evening run.
He somehow made it through the day—and two more—before texting Janey. Hey, what are you doing for lunch tomorrow?
With Jess at school, maybe Adam could sneak a quick date with her midweek. He stared at the sportscasters on the TV as they went over the same two college football teams as that morning. How they could sit and talk about the same things over and over, he wasn’t sure.
Working tomorrow, she texted back.
Adam abandoned his feigned interest in the TV and focused on his phone. I thought you said you didn’t work Wednesdays. His heart bobbed around in his chest like it wasn’t anchored properly.
I usually don’t. But I’m taking the whole weekend off. Working this Wednesday and next.
His hopes of seeing her before the weekend withered.
What about tomorrow night for dinner? she messaged, bringing them right back to life.
Bringing Jess? I can cook and take him out to the shed.
He has a youth activity. They’re going out to the apple orchards, so there should be time for dinner.
Adam grinned like he might take up a new career as a clown. “Sure,” he said as he typed. “Dinner tomorrow.”
With the date set, he relaxed back into the couch. With a jolt, he sat straight up again. If he went out with Janey here in town, everyone would know about it. The very walls of every restaurant in Hawthorne Harbor had eyes, and it wouldn’t take long for the news of him dining with Janey Germaine to get around the gossip circles in town.
So what? He didn’t care if people knew they’d gone out. But she might. And he usually waited until a relationship was well-seated before taking it public. Because he was a public figure, whether he—or Janey—liked it.
Worry pulled his eyebrows into a frown, and he did the only thing he could think of: He called Janey.
“Hey,” she said, adding a giggle to the word that made him breathless.
“Hey.” He cleared his throat. “This is going to sound weird, but hear me out, okay?”
Scuffling came through the line and she said, “Just a sec.” He could hear her breathing and a few seconds later, she said, “Okay, I’m alone now.”
So they were keeping their relationship on the down-low. He nodded though she couldn’t see him. It made sense. She had a son. He had every eye in town on him.
“So it’s about why you just made sure you were alone.”
“I just—I’ve never dated anyone before. I don’t know how Jess will take it.”
Adam’s eyebrows practically flew off his forehead. “We’re dating?”
“Um.” Her giggle had turned nervous. “We went to dinner, and now we’re going again. I said it was a date. So yeah.” Her voice took on some strength. “I’d say we’re dating.”
“But you don’t want to tell Jess about it yet.”
“Right.”
“Then we can’t go to dinner in town tomorrow.” At least some of the pressure was off of him.
“Why not?”
“Why not?” He chuckled. “Janey, I realize that we grew up together and you might not see me the way everyone else does.” Wow, he really hoped she didn’t see him the way everyone else in Hawthorne Harbor did. “But I’m the Chief of Police, and I’ve been single forever, and who I go to dinner with can quickly become the topic of a lot of gossip.”
“Ohhh.” She drew the word out as she exhaled. “I see.”
He wanted to offer to cook, but at the same time, he didn’t. He wanted to go out with her. “What about if we drive over to Forks?” he asked.
“That’s quite the drive.”
“Forty-five minutes, tops.”
She snorted and laughed. “Are you planning to use the siren to get us there in forty-five minutes? Because that’s an hour-long drive, easy.”
“Sure. I can use the siren if you’d like.” He sifted through more possibilities in his mind. “We could go to this great place I know in Bell Hill.”
“Bell Hill is more reasonable,” she agreed.
“Great, so I’ll come get you around six-thirty, and we’ll head over to Bell Hill.” It was only twenty minutes to the slightly bigger town, and Adam had spent some time there after his girlfriend two or three ago had broken up with him.
“Jess is leaving at six-thirty,” Janey said. “So like, six-forty.”
Adam agreed and got off the line before he said something too soft, that might reveal too much. He wasn’t sure who he was hiding from. Himself? Janey? His feelings for her weren’t secret anymore, something he was actually very happy about. But he still didn’t want to come on too strong, too soon.
After all, he’d told her a little bit about himself and his love of puzzles and putting things together. He hadn’t told her about his promise to Matt, or that he’d only had eyes for her for over two decades.
“And you don’t need to,” he told himself as he picked up the remote control and turned off the TV. “Not right now. Save it for when things are actually serious.” He hoped with everything in him that he could continue the relationship with her until it reached serious status. Otherwise, the last twenty-one years of his life would’ve been a complete waste.
“Specialty macaroni and cheese?” Janey gazed at the trifold sign standing on the sidewalk outside of Cheese, the joint Adam had just parked in front of.
“They have everything cheese you can think of,” he said. “Cheese and crackers. Cheesy dips with chips. And yes, mac and cheese.” He beamed at her as he opened the door and ushered her in.
Just the salty, savory scent of the shop made his mouth water and his pulse calm. He’d waited at the end of her street until he saw Jess skateboard in the
opposite direction. Then he’d eased into the driveway and collected Janey for their date.
The drive had happened in a blink, and he wasn’t even sure what he’d said. She wore a simple T-shirt the color of plums and a pair of denim shorts that barely reached her knees, and he couldn’t seem to get a proper breath because of her floral, fruity scent.
“Grilled cheese sandwiches,” she said, her whole face lighting up.
“The one made with a waffle will change your world,” he said. “It’s so good.”
“Three cheeses embedded inside a crispy, savory waffle.” She scanned the menu. “Yeah, that’s what I want.”
“With soup or without?”
“Which soup? Oh. The tomato bisque? Is it good?”
“I mean, it’s not as good as what I make, but it’s decent.”
She pushed against his bicep playfully, and Adam’s whole body felt like he’d been hooked up to a live wire. “Not as good as what you make. Come on.” She peered up at him. “Do you make tomato bisque?”
He laughed and slung his arm around her shoulders, claiming her as his in front of everyone in the shop. “Only once, and it wasn’t that great.”
“So no bisque for the festival.”
“No way. It wouldn’t win anyway.”
“No?”
“No. The cook-off is too hoity-toity for mere bisque.”
“Then why do you want to win so bad?”
He lifted one shoulder and stepped up to the counter to order. “Street cred.” He rattled off what he wanted and added Janey’s waffle grilled cheese and tomato bisque. Without thinking, he stepped back while the cashier ran his card, threading his fingers through Janey’s again and sweeping a kiss across her temple.
She froze, and he stiffened too, cursing himself for doing something that felt so natural to him, but that he knew—he knew—would freak her out.
He stepped away from her in the pretense of taking his debit card and putting it back in his wallet. Maybe if he played the kiss off as nothing, she would too. He flashed her a smile and took the number the cashier handed him.
“Where do you want to sit?”