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His smile grew and he did that little shake of his head again, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing or thinking.
He nodded. “You know, I heard all about you when the news hit that you’d asked to be transferred to the station. You’re nothing like what I expected.”
Now it was her turn to raise her eyebrows. “What did you expect?”
“An arrogant, demanding woman who likely had to fight her way to the top and maybe didn’t know how to let that go now,” he said, and quickly continued when he saw her jaw drop open. “Before you have a go at me for being sexist, I say that only because I was raised by a single mother who had done just that. It made her tough, and she never seemed to be able to get that chip off her shoulder, so to speak. Not with me—as a mother I couldn’t have asked for more. She was kind and loving and affectionate. But at work, she was tough as nails.”
Bethenny understood that. Sometimes she felt the same. “What did your mother do?”
“She was in charge of a state prison. As I said, tough as nails,” he said, smiling proudly. “She was in a man’s world, and she ruled it.”
Bethenny smiled. “Single mothers always amaze me,” she said. “They are some of the strongest, most resilient people you’ll ever come across. I was raised by one too.”
He gave her a smile that told her he understood. They knew little about each other, but that was a bond they shared along with their careers.
“What happened at your home?” she asked gently. He’d brushed over it quickly, and although she was almost certainly overstepping the boundaries, he was a big boy and could choose not to answer if he wanted to. “Home invasion?” she offered.
“No, it wasn’t a home invasion gone wrong. Eden’s case is still unsolved, but I’ve always thought it was retaliation for a previous case I worked on...” he said. She thought he was going to say more, but Mitch’s voice came through her radio, cutting through their conversation.
BETHENNY
“Bethenny, come in,” Mitch said through her radio.
“Copy,” she responded.
“A team is on the way. You made the right call,” he admitted.
That was one of the things Bethenny had always liked about Mitch: he didn’t have an ego, and he readily admitted when he made mistakes. In fact, she thought that was one of the reasons he’d become such a great leader.
“Thanks, Mitch. We’re on our way to the pickup point. We’ll meet the team there,” she responded.
“See you soon,” he said before the radio went quiet.
“You made the right call?” Lachlan asked with raised eyebrows. “He told you to go home last night, didn’t he?”
Bethenny gave a strained smile. “They did think you’d gone over the cliff.”
“Why didn’t you believe that too?” he asked, seeming to watch her carefully.
“Honestly, gut instinct. I didn’t feel like I could leave, so I didn’t. My gut has failed me in the past, but more often than not it’s right. I just...” She sighed, not sure how to explain it. “I just couldn’t leave. I felt like something was calling me back to the woods.”
He nodded, but she wasn’t sure if that meant he understood, or if he simply accepted her explanation. “What are you doing tonight?”
She raised an eyebrow. “It’s Monday night, so nothing.”
He grinned. “Let me take you to dinner. It’s not a date,” he added quickly, as if to highlight that for her. “But please let me say thank you, and get to know Detective Bethenny Monroe a little more.”
She chewed on her lip, thinking it through, noting his aversion to dating. “Sure. You tell me when and where, and I’ll meet you there.”
He nodded, seeming pleased with that arrangement.
Bethenny almost barked out a laugh. What an odd pairing this was—two dating-averse people going on a date.God must be laughing, Bethenny thought.
They reached the clearing, and Bethenny sat on a large tree that likely fell over in the storm.
Lachlan came to sit beside her, his eyes back on the woods.
“Do you think there’s more in there?” he asked, sounding like he was miles away even though he was sitting right next to her.
