Page 8 of Wrecked By You

I relented. “Fine.”

She tugged the door a little bit closed behind her. “I probably should tell you she says she knows you.”

My interest was piqued. Not that I didn’t know almost everyone in this town, but I wondered who was applying for the position. “Who is it?”

Hazel pumped her eyebrows. “Isla Hamilton. She said she knew you while you were growing up.”

I froze, wondering how the woman I’d been dreaming about last night had suddenly gotten her name on Hazel’s lips. “What?”

There was a small knock at the door. Hazel opened it, and thensheappeared. Isla.

“I was supposed to follow you, right?” she asked Hazel.

Hazel nodded and then turned to me. “Police Chief Armstrong, I think you know Isla Hamilton.”

Usually, I was cool under pressure. Calm. Rational. But I couldn’t help but stare at her and notice all the ways she differed from how she used to be.

She was thinner. Her hair had grown long, and it was tucked back in a halfway braid down her head. She had blonde wisps coming out around her face. She’d chosen a simple outfit: a white dress shirt with black pants and heels.

She smiled and said, “Damon. Hey.”

It felt like she’d never left.

Five

Isla

My heart raced, and I wondered how I would get through this interview. “Damon.” I repeated his name.

“Huh.”

Mrs. Friendly hesitated. “Should I leave you to interview her?”

Damon shook himself and then nodded to Mrs. Friendly. “Yes. I’ll come get you when we’re done.”

Mrs. Friendly hesitated before she walked out the door and shut it.

I turned to face Damon, and for a long time, neither of us spoke.

He gestured to a chair in front of him. “You can sit.”

It felt like I should say something about us or about me being back or about anything that would be important, but I couldn’t.

Even after I sat, he only stared at me. After a minute, he moved back behind his desk.

I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Police Chief. That’s really cool, Damon.”

His eyes hooded over, and he leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk, propping his face. “Thank you. And I guess I would be lying if I said I ever thought I would see you back in this town.”

The words were like a blow to the heart. I shot back to my feet, moving for the door. “This was a bad idea. I can’t do this.”

“Isla, just come back.”

I almost opened it, but what would I do? Where would I go? To the local bar where I knew my mom was probably still working? No. I turned back.

His face was blank. He gestured to the chair I had just vacated. “Sit. Let’s do the interview. If you passed the interview with Mrs. Friendly, then that’s good.”

I thought about the interview that I had done with her. It had seemed pretty straightforward, and she’d even shown me a little bit about how the whole system worked with dispatch. I would answer the calls and simultaneously be typing on the computer and notifying different departments about who needed to go where. It did feel like a job I could do. I sat, not knowing what to say.

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