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Casey opened his mouth, but Jared shot him a warning look. Whatever he was about to say, he thought better of it and took her hand with a nod.
“Casey, wait in the hallway for me. I’ll be there in a moment.”
Once Casey was out of earshot, Jared faced Principal Hastings. “I understand that Casey has had some problems since my father was diagnosed with cancer, but that does not give you the right to terrorize him with this flimsy charge.”
“Officer Cross, I am very sorry for the misunderstanding, but I assure you, I had good reason to believe the student in question.”
“What reason? Because he’s a Shipman?” The principal’s eyes widened. “Yeah, I know who accused my brother. You made a mistake, fine. That doesn’t change the fact that Casey is a good kid going through a hard time and instead of understanding that, all you saw was a troubled, foster kid and an easy target.” Jared shook his head. “You’re just lucky you got me instead of my mom or things could have been a lot worse. Have a nice day, ma’am.”
Jared walked out and saw a sullen, dark haired
kid sitting in a chair outside the office. Casey stood behind the kid in the glass hallway pointing and mouthing, That’s him!
Jared stopped alongside him. “You’re Lane?”
Lane looked up with a belligerent expression on his pudgy face. “Yeah? Who are you?”
“I’m Casey’s brother, Officer Cross, with Snowy Springs PD.”
“Okay. And?”
“Stealing a school laptop? That’s a felony. Hope they don’t press charges. Good luck.”
The kid paled and Jared pushed through the doors, grinning.
“What did you say to him?”
“I wished him luck.”
Eighteen
On Thursday, Anna Beth sat at the kitchen table, staring at her laptop while Mitten’s slept on her shoulder. She’d barely written a sentence in the past two days. If something didn’t come to her soon, her laptop may end up soaring across the room.
All because a certain peace officer didn’t know how to use a freaking phone!
Not that she cared anymore. Things were crazy busy and she had lots of things to do. Give Mittens her medicine. Hang with her aunt. Write her screenplay -- that wasn’t going so well -- but she’d bought all the ingredients to check another item off Ian's list. Bake and donate five dozen Christmas cookies, which worked out great because the holiday festival could use more sugary treats. She could bake the cookies Friday, then donate them for snacks at the tree lighting ceremony Saturday. She didn’t need to give Jared Cross a second thought.
The only crimp in her plan were the couples who would no doubt be enjoying the activities at the festival. Sharing hot chocolate, Christmas lights and kisses beneath the mistletoe. Up until this morning, she’d held out hope Jared would ask her to go with him, even if they kept things platonic.
That didn’t look like it was going to happen. Jared had only sent her a few short texts over the last few days, which hurt more than she cared to admit. She'd really thought they were connecting, and she’d let herself get caught up in it, despite her brain repeatedly telling her to keep her lips to herself.
Smart brain. Dumb lips.
“I see you’re getting a lot done today.”
Sarah’s statement startled Anna Beth so badly, she knocked over the iced coffee she’d made, which scared Mittens who took off down her back, digging sharp claws into her skin.
“Ow! Shit.”
“I’m so sorry! Did she hurt you?”
Anna Beth quickly picked up her laptop and moved it to the counter before the drifting rivers of mocha reached it. “I’m fine, really. I’m just having a hard time concentrating.”
After cleaning up the spilled coffee, she pulled down the back of her shirt and turned. “Any blood?”
“Not that I can see. Want me to clean them anyway?”
Anna Beth shook her head. “Nah, I’m okay.”
