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Sage sighed, but she forced a smile and pulled him back under her arm. “Well, lucky for you that OSU is minutes away, even on a bus. It was one of the reasons why we moved out here, remember?”
The Ohio State University was one of the five biggest in the nation, and it was also a research university, which Adam had expressed an interest in. As well as engineering. And business. Sage frowned, wondering if the interest in OSU had been feigned in an effort just to get them out here next to Brian. She didn’t think so. There was a sparkle in Adam’s eyes when he talked about attending the huge school. Even at ten, he knew where he wanted to go.
It was daunting to Sage, because on a single cop’s wages, she could never have paid for his schooling if he didn’t receive scholarships. The accelerated learning school he was attending now had waived their tuition fee just to have him on their roster, and she was so thankful for that. After Adam’s dad had cleaned out their accounts and left, it had been a struggle to bounce back. She was still putting money away here and there, just in case she was hit with unexpected expenses when he went to school. Or if he needed it for a trip, which the scholarships generally didn’t cover. Or braces, which were in the very near future, according to their new dentist.
They’d gotten permission from OSU to start auditing classes after Christmas break, and they’d already offered Adam a full ride scholarship if everything went well. Which, she had no doubt that it would. Her son loved learning, and maybe at OSU he would finally be challenged.
They’d left everything safe behind in Wyoming, and they were plunging into a new life. Sage had decided years ago, when Tim had left, that she would fight to create the best life she could for her child. Sometimes it meant scraping pennies, but she’d done it. There was a child-support ruling against Adam’s father, but Tim never had the money to pay it. She couldn’t even remember how many tens of thousands he was behind. Sage had learned very soon after they’d gotten married that he wasn’t to be depended upon.
She was independent by nature and in a way, she thought that was one of the things that had driven them apart. Tim wanted someone to dote on him, like his own parents, and she wasn’t that kind of woman. She was too independent and hard-headed.
Brian didn’t seem to be the type to need that kind of attention, either. Her ears burned at what Adam had told him. Good gravy, what did he think of her? She knew what he probably thought of her. After flirting at the wedding and then that crazy kiss at the side of the road in Cheyenne, he had to think she was hard up and looking for sex. And no matter how much she defended herself, Adam had put her in a difficult position, parking her right beside the man. How had he even done that?
Her son was one of a kind and he constantly surprised her. And occasionally horrified her. If she didn’t make an effort to keep his brain busy, he came up with his own distractions.
Maybe if she got him into the college classes he would stay out of trouble. And he would finally be challenged.
Sage scrubbed a hand over her face. There was so much to do, and she had very little free time to do it. Since she was new on the department, she absolutely had to shine. And she was, but she also had to find time to squeeze in Ohio Criminal Justice classes for herself. The Ohio Revised Code was very different from Wyoming’s.
Overall, though, she was hopeful. Their life was in a state of flux, but they’d gotten used to dealing with anything thrown at the two of them.
Brian was a bit of a wrench in her plans, but it was okay. The thought of him made one side of her mouth kick up, and she wondered when she could see him again.
Thanks to Adam, she definitely owed him a dinner.
7
Brian loved his office. The Thornberry Park Office Center was a new development just north of East Broad St, near the Center of Science and Industry. It was a block from an on-ramp, and only about a mile to the Columbus Police Department downtown, where they did a lot of business. Plus, he could leave his office here and be in his own apartment on the north-west side within fifteen minutes, as long as he didn’t get tangled in traffic. The never-ending construction Brody had warned him about was no joke.
The office building, a renovated, repurposed warehouse, was a broad expanse of gleaming sealed-brown concrete, trendy black office chairs and natural lighting from the expansive glass front. The open-air stairs to the second-floor offices were black iron and natural wood, as well as the window treatments, and he appreciated the trendy, industrial feel to the place.
The clients seemed to appreciate it as well, because their office downstairs was always busy. When he’d first started a few months ago, they’d had a few regular heavy-duty clients, most notably the police department and the prosecutor’s office. Parker did a lot of translating for them, and it helped that his fiancée was one of the prosecutors. Now the company was picking up more random cases, people that were referred to them with difficult situations. They hadn’t even begun to advertise yet, and they already had more work than they could handle. Brian doubted they would ever have to advertise.
There were eight investigators in the office, not including their boss, Parker Quinn. There was a shared assistant to help the investigators out with clerical work, as well as a physical assistant for odd jobs. As with the main office, all the men hired were former military, and all had a disability of some type. Austin, the ‘gopher’, helped the guys out that had mobility issues, and he always seemed to be on his phone, running from place to place with the kind of energy Brian envied.
All eight of the investigators were rarely in the office at once, and some of them could do their jobs remotely. Post Covid, they were lucky to be able to do a lot of their job from home.
Brian had found that he worked better in the office, though. Every morning he got up and went to the gym, then headed to the office, and he loved the regularity. Even if his stumps were killing him by the end of the day and he wanted to kick his own ass for being so motivated.
A few weeks ago, they’d hired the downstairs front desk receptionist, and poor Morgan also seemed to be busy all the time. They had an assistant up here on the office floor for dictation and other jobs, Shiloh, but Parker had turned over the day to day running of the office to Morgan. The two women were quickly becoming indispensable to the team and were creating their own little wonder duo.
Brian glanced at the corner of his screen as his email pinged. Then he snorted. Adam had started emailing him daily. Sometimes it was just to say hi, and other times it was to ask him a detailed question about some conundrum he was dealing with. Brian felt like he was a well-read, experienced, intelligent individual, but Adam’s questions sometimes made him feel stupid. He would have to go searching for the answer. This one did not require work on his part, just a response.
No,he typed out.I’ve never seen “River Monsters” on Animal Planet. That seems crazy that he caught so many fish that he put himself out of a job. Wonder if he knew he was doing that?
He sent the email, grinning. Tomorrow morning there would be a response, then in the afternoon, some kind of challenge.
Brian appreciated that the kid was reaching out. It was a challenge to not ask about Sage, even when Adam mentioned her.
Email pinged again, and he glanced at it in surprise.
Mom wants to know if you would like to have dinner with us tonight. It’s her day off and she says she owes you a steak. 7pm.
Brian stared at the words for a few minutes, wondering if he should just accept gratefully or come up with some excuse.
If he were honest, he would say hell, yes, he’d like to go to dinner. The thought of seeing Sage again sent a tide of warmth through him, warmth he had no business feeling. Because even though they’d kind of had a moment together, he wasn’t sure about the future. He refused to tie anyone to his future. Or even his present.
If he didn’t go, though, she would offer again in the future. Maybe it was better to go and get it over with. The email pinged again, and there was just one word on the screen.Please.
