More Than One Night. Heatherly Bell

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Chapter Five

      “This coffee tastes like death! You know how picky I am about my coffee. Can’t you do any better than this?” Jill pushed the foam cup of black sludge across Ryan’s desk.

      He had been hunched over her search and rescue plan for the past few minutes, reading. “Shh, woman. You don’t want to anger her.”

      She followed his gaze to his deputy admin, Renata Dooley, a woman one did not mess with. She was German, and at six feet tall the largest woman Jill had ever known. She took shit from no one and she’d worked for the Sheriff’s office for approximately forever.

      “She makes the coffee?” Jill whispered. “It’s horrible.”

      “Yeah, well, that’s not her job.” Ryan tapped the paper in front of him. “Did you put this plan together?”

      “Yes, um, why?”

      “It’s just so...detailed. You thought of everything.”

      “I had a little help.”

      Sam, frankly, had kicked ass on this plan. This morning when she’d woken on the office cot yet again, drool dried on her cheek, she had a blanket covering her that she didn’t remember putting there. Her Kindle not on the floor where it usually landed, but placed carefully on her desk. And the plan on her desk, complete and perfect.

      “Yeah?”

      “One of my guys is a former Marine. He’s very detail-oriented.”

      Ryan didn’t know the half of it.

      “A Marine?” He winced. “Christ, Jill. All of these men were checked out by the agency, right? References, backgrounds, everything?”

      “Yes, Ryan.” She’d been over this with him before.

      Her big brother had always been over-the-top protective. Not entirely his fault. Their parents had put in long hours on the job and even if he was only four years older, Ryan had practically raised her.

      He set the papers down. “This is good. I’m satisfied. I’m sure the city council will be, too.”

      “What do they have to do with it?”

      “They want me to bring it to the next meeting.”

      She knew well that Ryan hated the politics of being Sheriff, but he’d accepted the nomination because he cared about the town of Fortune.

      “Boy, they just can’t stay out of my business, can they?”

      “You should have expected this. Small-town growth restrictions,” Ryan said.

      “But this is going to be so special for our town. No one in the Bay Area has anything like this park.”

      “Exactly. It’s going to bring a lot of traffic our way. And you know how the city council feels about traffic.”

      Holy wow, did she know. She regularly got an earful. “It’s also going to bring in sales tax dollars. And anyway, they don’t seem to mind the traffic when it’s a new housing development.”

      “You’ll get no argument from me. I personally can’t wait to try out the zip line or go wakeboarding. First, I need some time off.”

      “Speaking of time off, do you know if Mom or Dad are going to make the grand opening?”

      “They haven’t told you?”

      “No.”

      Ryan rubbed his forehead. “Dad’s speaking at a medical conference next month. The opportunity came up and he and Mom are going to make a trip of it. Paris.”

      “Oh.”

      “I can’t believe they didn’t tell you yet.”

      “Well, it’s Paris. I probably wouldn’t come to my grand opening, either. No big deal.” She stood.

      “It is a big deal.”

      “Not really. It’s not like I’ve written an academic paper.” Or won the Medal of Honor.

      “You know I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it.”

      She grinned. “And you’ll bring a date?”

      “Stop busting my chops. You know I have no time to date.”

      “Make time.”

      “Look who’s talking. You haven’t had a date in what? Three years?”

      Don’t remind me. “Yes, but I’m not the one depriving some child-to-be of your dimples.”

      “For the love of God, not you, too. It’s enough that Mom’s on my case about settling down.”

      “Speaking as your little sister, who wants to be an aunt someday, I just want you to be happy.”

      “And speaking as your big brother, who doesn’t mind waiting to be an uncle, I just want you to be safe.”

      “Oh, I will be.”

      She bussed her brother’s cheek and was out the door.

      Back in the safety and quiet of her sedan, Jill took her cell phone out and dialed her mother. Always best to get the unpleasantness out of the way fast. Unlike Mom, Jill had learned the hard way that there was no point in avoiding their difficult relationship.

      “Hi, honey,” Mom answered on the third ring. “I’ve been meaning to—”

      “I just heard you can’t attend the grand opening because of Paris.”

      “Your father was invited to lecture at a medical conference.”

      “Mom, I told you guys about this months ago.”

      “I know, and I’m so sorry to miss your...your...”

      “Grand opening.”

      Jill sighed. She was used to it by now. Mom, a brilliant woman, had СКАЧАТЬ