Page 2 of Legends Luke

“Your daughter’s beautiful. How old is she?”

Sandra followed Melody’s gaze. “She was eleven in the picture. She’s sixteen now, going on twenty-five. Her favorite hobby is finding new ways to push our buttons.”

Melody winced. “I’m afraid my sister was the same way when she was sixteen. My dad said she was the reason he turned gray before his time. My mom, though, was always one step ahead of her. Dad said it was because neither of us could ever do anythingthat my mother hadn’t already tried with her parents. She was wise to all our tricks.”

Sandra chuckled, as Melody hoped she would, and the crease between her brows was less pronounced. “I could learn a lesson from your mother then. Erin is giving us a run for our money. I feel like we’re always having to play the bad guys. I was on the phone with her a moment ago. She asked to go to a party tonight — a party with no adult supervision, and, I might add, she’s still grounded after the last stunt she pulled. Of course, when I said no, she unleashed a large amount of teenage drama.”

Melody bit back a smile. “I’m sorry. High school’s tough, for teenagers and the parents. My dad always said if teenagers came with an instruction manual, life would be simpler.”

“I don’t know about that. I do know my husband is at home having to deal with the teenage angst on his own while I’m here feeling guilty. Does it make me a terrible person if I’m glad I have a case to give me a reason to stay at the office late?” The crease returned, and Melody hated to see her boss looking so conflicted.

“No. No one wants to be around constant conflict. It’s normal to want an escape. I’m sure your husband has things handled, and once you have time to collect yourself, you can go home to be his backup.”

Sandra nodded. “Yes, I can do that. Losing myself in your research for another hour should be just what I need. Thank you, Melody. And for the record, you’ve been doing a great job. I’m glad you came on board.”

Warmed by the compliment, she stood and straightened her skirt. “Thank you. I’m happy to have the opportunity. And don’t worry about Erin. You’ll figure it out. Keep doing right by her, and she’ll come to understand you’re acting out of love and not a desire to prevent her from having fun.”

“I hope so.”

Sandra’s parting words followed Melody as she left the office and hurried down the hall back to her desk. Though the workday was nearing a close, the law firm was a hub of activity. Ladner and Bleekley was a small firm, but because of its proximity to the Warner County Courthouse, the lawyers never had a lack of clients. Melody was only one of two paralegals serving four attorneys, the two partners, Sandra Bleekley and Adam Ladner, and the two associates, Tyrell Kendall and Mavis Hill. Most of Melody’s work came from Sandra and Tyrell, whom she enjoyed working with.

Melody studied the faces of those still in the office, only one of them returning her smile as she passed. The rest concentrated on their work, tuning out their surroundings. She told herself she didn’t mind, though a part of her wished she had one work friend to hang out with. It would make living in a new town feel less lonely.

In her mind, she had built up the move to Fire Creek to be some type of adventure, taking her out of her comfort zone. She learned of the job at Ladner and Bleekley through one of her college professors she kept in touch with after graduation. She wasn’t sure what made her professor recommend her for the job in Alabama of all places, but Melody felt a spark of interest when she heard the job paidconsiderably well for a position with a smaller law firm. However, the more she thought about it, the more the change felt like a step backward in her career, taking her out of a large city to a country town and out of a prestigious law firm to a less renowned firm. She was ready to turn the job offer down when her little sister offered her advice she wasn’t expecting.

Lyric was in her last year of an undergraduate program at Franklin University in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her college years had been challenging after the death of their parents, but Lyric and Melody had grown closer since they were the only family they had left. They were best friends as much as sisters, so Lyric knew exactly what to tell Melody to make her rethink her decision on the job offer.

“You’ve spent the last few years in a job which has no room for advancement just to keep our little family together after mom and dad died. I’m close to graduation and ready for the next adventure. Maybe this is a chance for you to find your own adventure.”

Melody hadn’t thought of her job as a dead-end, and she doubted Fire Creek, Alabama, could be classified as an adventure. Yet, the idea of stepping out of her comfort zone, of trying something out of the norm for her, had its appeal. After interviewing with Sandra and Adam, she knew this was where she was meant to be.

In the eight months she’d been here, she’d not had much time to learn her way around the small town, but what she’d seen so far had her falling in love with Fire Creek. On the surface, it seemed to bea sleepy, boring place where the businesses and residents rolled up the sidewalks when the sun went down, but there was more to Fire Creek than meets the eye.

She felt it in the way residents greeted her as if she was familiar and not a stranger. She sensed it in the pride people took in their homes and neighborhoods. She believed this was a place her parents would have been happy to settle in if they’d been given a chance.

The notion brought a smile to her lips as she settled at her desk. With one glance over her ever-growing to-do list, she stayed busy until Sandra told her she was free to call it a day.

Chapter Two

Luke Meade used the rag in his hand to wipe away the beads of sweat coating his brow. He stepped back and closed the hood of the patrol car, satisfied it was running better than when it was brought in. Reaching into the pocket of his coveralls, he withdrew the keys.

“Yo, Chum!” His voice carried across the garage and got the attention of his fellow mechanic, Peter Chumley, or Chum as he was known around the Barlowe Auto Shop.

“Hey!” Chum responded after pausing in changing the oil in a Buick.

“I’m taking the squad car back to Tater. Hold down the fort.”

“No problem,” Chum returned with his catchphrase – the phrase he used in every situation. No matter what the topic of conversation was, Chum found a way to sayno problemas often as he could work it in. The repetitive phrase used to drive Luke crazy, and he almost fired Chum a couple of times because of it. Now, it was part of the atmosphere around the garage. The workday wouldn’t be the same without Chum’sno problems.

Luke navigated the patrol car out of the garage and drove it ashort distance down the street to the police station. He parked it in the designated spot for the police chief, Andy “Tater” Tatum, and palmed the keys as he headed inside. Since the garage won the bid for the city’s auto repairs, he’d gotten to know many of the city employees, especially the police officers since they required regular maintenance on their vehicles. He liked most of them and enjoyed the easy rapport he had with them.

A few of the officers greeted him as he made his way to Tater’s office. The slender man sat at his desk scowling at his computer. His long face already had generous lines making him seem older than his fifty-plus years, but looking irritated as he did, those age lines only deepened, giving him a fierce appearance.

Luke imagined the officers steering clear of their boss when he looked like that. Luke had no such qualms. He tapped on the open office door and waited for the chief to look up.

“Hey, Luke. Come in.” Tater sounded friendly enough, but he was distracted by his computer, barely giving Luke more than a passing glance.

Luke sat in a chair beside the man’s desk and waited. When Tater finally glanced his way, Luke dangled the patrol car’s keys from his fingers.

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