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Nodding, he drops the packet and rests one hand on his cup, wrapping the other around the opposite side, dwarfing the tiny vessel. “Boring as heck, mostly, but the morning did get kind of interesting.”
“What happened this morning?” I’m sure any of his stories are more interesting than mine. What, I’m going to tell him how many short stacks I served today?
“I was riding along with some of the local agents on a bust. One of the suspects bolted, and somehow I’m the guy that caught up first.” He seems to be massaging his knee under the table. He clucks his tongue. “Stupid.”
“How so?”
He sits all the way back. “Hollie, that kind of nonsense is for the kids. I’m going to be paying for that dive for at least the next week.”
I feel a lip twitch. “I guess that explains the rip in your slacks.”
“Yep. Guess, it’s a good thing I didn’t go down rear first.” His eyebrows bobble.
Giggling, I glance out the window.
Giggling?
Arching as if more than his knee hurts, he presses into the booth. “I’m telling you, I’m too old for that mess.”
“You’re hardly old, John.” While he embodies maturity and authority, the only physical hint of age is the tiniest hint of silver at his temples, threads that contrast sharply with his dark hair or else they’d probably be lost. He’s solid, strong. Fit.
Sipping more cold water, I watch a car pull into a slot near our window, momentarily caught in the glare of headlights.
“You should see the newbies when they come into the job. I swear, some of ’em don’t even shave yet. Every one of them thinks they’re going to save the world, too.” A heaviness burdens the otherwise light remark.
I sigh. “It’s never that simple, is it?”
“Nope. Life cuts us all down.”
Oh, he is in a dark mood. He’s not incorrect, however.
Staring into his cup, he taps the handle. “I spend my forty hours under fluorescent lights these days.”
“But in the beginning?” Honestly, what he does for a living is fascinating.
“In the beginning, I worked undercover.”
“Really?” I lean toward the table. That’s always seemed more like a job reserved for TV action heroes rather than real people. “That must have been exciting.”
Only his eyes come up. “It was a high like no other.”
But?
“But, it also cost me my marriage.”
His marriage. Somehow the word catches me off guard. I can picture it, though. Him in a marriage. Him, well, sorry…saving the world.
Given the radioactive waves sluicing off him, I bypass nosing for details—though he must have stories to tell.
The waitress arrives again and takes our orders, breakfast for dinner for both of us. Picking up the menus, she returns to the kitchen.
“Jacob has talked about going into law enforcement.”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe you could talk to him about it. I think he’d like that.”
He nods slowly. “Sure. I could do that.”
