Page 10 of Wife Wanted

"Oh yeah?" Her eyes light up. "I'm new to town and only know a few people. My husband and I have a thirteen month old. Which one is yours?"

"Yeah." I take a deep breath. "I'm married to Shane Colter. Rachel is our daughter." I point to where she sits on the carpet. This is the first time I've called her to my daughter to anyone other than to myself.

"I've heard about y'all's story. Did he really find you with a matchmaker? I find that so romantic." She halfway squeals. "There's something so sexy about not knowing the man before you marry him, and learning everything with a ring on your finger. It's like you either sink or swim, and poor Rachel. The way her mom left. I'm so glad she has you now."

I'm overwhelmed that this woman knows so much about me, but small town, big mouths. "I'm Courtney, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"I can't believe I never told you my name. I'm Hayley. I'm married to Officer White - he has the K-9 for the county. It's so nice to meet you too."

There's a question I've always had when it comes to K-9's, and I can't help but ask it right now. "So do you all get to keep the dog?"

"Yes." She smiles, picking her phone up. She slides it across the space between us. "That's Mackie. He's a German Shepherd, and the sweetest thing, but he knows when it's time to go to work."

It's a picture of the dog with what I'm assuming is their son. The son is laying his head on the dog's stomach, and the dog is looking at him like he's the most important person in his world. "Oh my gosh, that is the cutest thing I've seen. Does he do well with your son?"

"Yeah, no one comes near him that he doesn't know. We're lucky to have both of them together. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, I have work to do and I'm sure you do too."

I nod, opening up my laptop. "It's nice to meet you too, but you're right." I get my program up and running, turn on a podcast and focus on the task at hand for the next hour. It's nice to get lost in a project, and not have to worry about anything else going on. When I look up again, I realize that the story time is over. Taking my earbuds out, I put them in their case and save my work before closing my laptop.

"It's a nice break huh?" Hayley asks, as she puts her stuff in her bag.

"It is." I agree, shouldering my bag. "And it was even better to meet you. Maybe I'll see you next week?" It would be so nice to have someone to see besides Shane. I'm close to Cammie, but she has her own family and we haven't been able to see each other yet.

"Count on it. I plan on being here every week."

We walk over and grab our kids before, heading in opposite directions. Today I leave with a smile on my face, and a spring in my step, knowing that I'll have something to look forward to. "C'mon Rach, let's go home and get ready for your dad to get home."

She squeals, and I can't help but feel the exact same way.

CHAPTER NINE

Shane

Miracle of all miracles, I'm off work when I'm supposed to be. There's no late shift call, and I'm able to clock out. I wave at the guys after docking my body cam. "See y'all in two days. I'm gonna enjoy my days off."

I head out of the station, taking the steps two at a time, with my cell phone at my ear. As promised, I'm calling in that order for chicken wings, along with a few appetizers and a side big enough for both of us. Within thirty minutes, I have everything I need, and I'm heading home. The phone rings, and I grin when my mom's name pops up on the ID.

"Hey, how's it going?" She asks, the connection slightly shitty.

"Pretty good. How's your vacation? It's kind of hard to hear you."

"Yeah, we're in the mountains, and crossing over into Montana."

I gawk at the ID. "You're in Montana? What happened to doing the coastal highway? Y'all are gonna end up going all over the country, and here I am just living life working twelve hours a day."

She laughs. "You poor thing. You know we did our time. How's Rachel? How's married life? I'm sorry we're missing out."

Rolling my eyes, I smile even though she can't see it. "No you're not. Y'all enjoy your time together, which you should. You've worked hard for it, and you know I'm just giving you a hard time. I'm really glad the two of you have been able to do this. I do miss you though, and I know Rachel misses you too."

"You still haven't mentioned how the marriage is going."

Leave it to her not to let me wiggle my way out of it. "It's going. We're learning about each other, and Rachel loves her. What else can I ask for?" I play it off, but I know there are definitely more things I could ask for. I could ask for love, passion, and friendship. Courtney and I don't have that yet, but I can feel a pull toward her. We could have it, I'm positive of that. We just have to work toward it. I'm hoping tonight is the start of that.

"Rachel loving her isn't the only thing that needs to happen, Shane," she warns.

"I know, but that's where we're starting. We'll figure it out, mom. We're adults." I remind her, although I definitely still feel like a kid when she questions me, or speaks to me like this. "There are things we have to get comfortable with, and we will. Right now, I should date her, and then we'll move on." Or at least I hope we will. I'm extremely attracted to her, and everything seems level with her. There haven't been any surprises yet, but then again, I haven't been home the way I should be.

"Well, I'll let you get to it. Give Rachel a hug and kiss for me."

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