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"That's supposed to put my mind at ease?"
A few minutes into our wait, one of Will's coworkers, Theresa, spotted us.
"Hey, girls. Waiting for Will? He's been in the captain's office for a while."
"Is he in trouble?" I asked.
She leaned in conspiratorially. "Not at all. Our captain wants to promote him."
"Now look at that!" Val exclaimed. "We didn't know."
Just then, Will stepped through the door at the far end of the room, waving at us and striding in our direction. Theresa took off with a wink. Val and I exchanged a glance. Yep, teasing was officially on the table.
"Sorry I kept you waiting. Captain wouldn't shut up," he said, kissing us each on the cheeks and pushing the elevator button.
"No problem. We've heard some interesting rumors," Val said.
"Which you failed to mention this morning," I continued. Will was glancing from Val to me, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Or Friday at dinner. I don't remember him mentioning he's going to be promoted,” Val said.
"Hey, maybe promotion is a bad word and we don't know it."
Will was grinning openly now. "You two going to ride my ass during the entire lunch?"
"Maybe," I conceded as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.
We walked inside the elevator, and Will waited until the doors closed to speak.
"Captain's trying to persuade me. I don't think it's for me."
"Why not?" Val asked.
"I don’t like deskwork, and the promotion would come with a lot of handshaking and paperwork."
The elevator opened, and we all remained silent as we walked through the station.
When we stepped out in the blinding sun, Will continued. “I like the work in the field, catching criminals, so they’re not a danger to anyone anymore. It still eats at me that the culprit in Mom and Dad's hit and run was never caught."
Val straightened up, expelling a breath. I'd always known this was what partially motivated Will to join the police force.
No one spoke on the way to the Mexican restaurant we'd chosen as our lunch spot. I had no idea what to say, and by the looks of it, neither did Val, which was worrying. My older sister always knew what to say.
We sat in a corner of the restaurant, and a waiter took our order right away. I wanted chili con carne. Will and Val went for beef burritos.
"How was the school event today?" she asked after the waiter left.
"Same as usual," Will replied. "By the way, I overheard a conversation between Milo and another kid. Milo asked him how it felt to have a dad and said that his had left when he was little because he didn't love him and his mother."
"What?" Val and I asked at the same time. I never badmouthed Jeff in front of him. Never. Whenever he asked about his father, I was vague on why he wasn't part of our lives.
"He must have heard us talk," my sister muttered, mirroring my thoughts. Damn it! How had I been so careless? What was going through my boy's mind? Or heart? I had half of my chili con carne left, but I all of a sudden lost my appetite.
"Jeff has sent me a couple of e-mails," I said. I shared everything with my siblings. They'd always been my rock, and I valued their advice.
"You mean beyond the yearly booty call?" Val asked through gritted teeth.
"Yes. I ignored the first e-mails, but then he said he had rights and wanted to do this amicably.”
