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Chapter29
Two years later
“You all good there, Chief?”
Luke looked to the doorway of his office.
“Sure, Bobby. What’s up?”
“Just letting you know I’m heading out.”
“See you tomorrow.” Luke raised a hand, then looked down at the papers on his desk. There was a stack of things that needed his attention. He didn’t mind; it took his mind off the fact that in two weeks Quinn would be home for good.
“You got any of that sludge you call coffee?” Jack wandered in.
“What the hell are you doing here? I thought you had lessons today.”
“Had to run into town, so thought I’d call in on my second-to-littlest bro.”
“Never gets old.” Luke smiled.
“You got time for lunch? Seeing as it’s your birthday, Joe told me to bring you to A.S. He’s making burgers. Or Nixon is,” he corrected.
Since he’d arrived in Ryker Falls, Nixon had blossomed with the love and support they’d shown him. He was still in school but also working a few evening hours at A.S. and The Chocolate Place.
Luke looked at his watch. “I can leave for an hour, then I need to get back to this paperwork.”
“Let’s go then.”
He grabbed his phone, let Bonny the dispatcher know where he was heading, and walked out into the sunshine with his brother.
“Heard from Quinn?”
“Yeah. She’s got two weeks to go, then she’s joining the Air National Guard,” Luke said.
He missed her. It was a continual ache in his chest when she was gone. Luke knew this happened all the time to those who served in the military, but he didn’t have to like it. Of course, he never told his girl how he felt. She was serving their country, and he couldn’t be prouder. But he still missed her.
He’d flown out to be with her often, and she’d come home, but it was still hell being parted from her.
“So how’s the chief thing going?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, okay. Stuff to learn, and it’s different, you know. Kinda weird that you have to be one of the guys but not, if that makes sense. It’s a line to walk.”
“Perfect sense.”
“So where is my present?”
“Later. I need to buy it first,” Jack said.
“You’ve had a year, and you’re leaving it until today?” Luke tsked.
“I knitted you a sweater, but I like it so much I kept it.”
“You are such an asshole.”
“But loveable.”
The town was unusually quiet for a summer day in Ryker Falls. Even the shops were empty. Since that night he’d found Quinn broken in the bottom of that well, so much had changed.
