AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Yep. Definitely a cop shop.
Two deputies are sitting at their desks, and there’s a blue-haired octogenarian manning the receptionist desk.
“Hi. I was hoping to talk to Harlan,” I say after approaching the shrewd-looking woman.
But with electric-blue hair, how intimidating can she actually be?
She eyes me up and down before twisting her head and shouting over her shoulder. “Harlan, you have a visitor.”
A minute passes before a door to the right opens, and Harlan pokes his head around the corner.
“Jem?” He looks shocked to see me standing in his shop. I told Boone that I wanted to explore town a little bit more this morning and give him privacy for what’s sure to be a hard conversation with his dad out at the station, but I had ulterior motives for staying behind.
“Hey. Do you have a minute?” I ask.
“Yeah. Sure. Come on back.”
I smile at the receptionist and skirt around the desks. Harlan holds his office door open for me and closes it behind me once I’m in the room.
“I’m probably the last person that you expected to see, and I promise I’ll be quick.”
He waves me to a chair and I take a seat. “What can I do for you?” he asks after taking his own seat behind his desk.
“About last night,” I start.
“I’m sorry that you had to see that.”
I shake my head. “I’m not.”
Harlan’s head cocks to the side but he doesn’t say anything.
“Boone told you that I offered to be the buffer between him and you all, but I also came along because I wanted to be here for him. Even after you two were done arguing last night, I couldn’t help but think that you haven’t quite forgiven your brother for leaving and staying gone. Am I wrong?”
“Jem, that’s between him and me,” he says after a beat of silence.
I nod. “You’re right, it is. But I just wanted to shed a little more light on what Boone’s been doing in Felt. I doubt he’s told you any or even a little bit of it. Not only is he a ranger for the station, but he’s also in charge of a number of community initiatives. One of them is our food pantry program. He heads up the donation process when the shelves are getting a little low and keeps track of the inventory. He volunteers to deliver food from those pantries to the elderly or disabled so that they have food. He’ll check in on residents when they’re going through a rough time, and he’s almost always first to offer to help someone in need.” My throat burns and tears prickle at my eyes, but I hold them back.
I didn’t come here to cry. I came here to help mend the bridge between Boone and his oldest brother.
“I know my brother is a good man. Why are you telling me all of this?” he asks.
“Because he’s going to move home. You see it, I’ve seen it, and I don’t want your justifiable irritation at him being gone as long as he was to stop you guys from having a relationship again. Even though this is his home, he’s going to be missed in Felt, and he’ll need time to adjust. He wasn’t wasting his time or hiding in Felt; he was building a life there and supporting his community. I hope that you can look past your ire with him long enough to recognize that.”
“You care for him?”
I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.
“I thought you two just started seeing each other?”
“We’ve known each other a long time. And it’s not hard to care for Boone.” Having said my piece, I stand and run my hands down my thighs.
“Just give him a chance, okay? He’s trying to make amends.”
“If he moves home, what does that mean for you two?” he asks as I turn to leave his office.
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it yet.”
“But your life is in Felt?”
