Page 28 of Stormswept Colorado

I smiled. “You feeling any better about the Danny situation?”

“It is what it is. But you’re right. We’ll get through it.”

“We will.” I lifted my chin. “Go have fun. I know the plan changed, but I can still be in charge of Ollie tonight.” I would let my nephew run wild for a few more minutes, then find him and get him to eat.

“You’re the best.”

“I know.”

I went upstairs in search of food. Passed through the living room and said hello to Emma and Ashford, who didn’t seem so pissed at me anymore. Then continued on to the kitchen.

Callum, Ashford’s younger brother, was there breaking open a bag of tortilla chips. “Yo, Teller. You want guac? My special recipe.”

“I’ve never said no to guac, and I don’t plan to start anytime soon. Need help?”

“Find a bowl for these chips. Aside from that, I just need you to stand back and let the master work.”

I chuckled, grabbing the chip bag. “I’ll stay out of the way. But can you set some aside with no jalapeños?”

“Because you can’t take the heat? Surprised at you, Chief.”

“No, for the kids. I have to make sure Ollie eats dinner.”

“Then I don’t envy you. But I’ll keep the jalapeños on the side.”

“Much appreciated.”

Callum pointed at my clothes. “You look nice, by the way.”

“Thanks,” I said evenly. I smoothed a hand down my shirt. I was wearing dark jeans and a button-down. Something had possessed me to dress up a bit for tonight, since it wasn’t just me and Ollie.

He cut into an avocado. “Can’t believe you arrested Ayla, though.”

I groaned. “I have to hear about that from you too?”

“Dude, you’re going to hear about it fromeverybody.”

The O’Neals had lived across the street from us when Piper and I were growing up. Piper and Grace had been best friends pretty much since birth, while I’d been closest to the oldest O’Neal brother, Grayden. Grayden and I had both been in charge, since our parents hadn’t been around much. Grayden and I had also been the first to leave Silver Ridge for the Army.

What happened with Grayden after that was a very long story. Even I didn’t know all of it. Grayden had reconnected with Grace in the last few months, or so I’d heard. Callum and Ashford still didn’t talk to him.

I hadn’t spoken to my former best friend in, what, ten years? Twelve? But if it didn’t impact me or Piper, then I figured I should stay out of that drama. Wasn’t my place.

Anyway, Ashford and Callum were like younger brothers to me as much as Grace was like another baby sister. I considered all of them family, but when it came to Ashford and Callum, we’d never been super close.

Callum was easygoing in all the ways I wasn’t. He was a volunteer firefighter, so I’d crossed paths with him plenty of times in dangerous situations. He had a knack for keeping the mood light, which could make all the difference to a team’s morale. Even if I hadn’t been the police chief, I never would’ve been the jokester. But it took all kinds.

“I didn’tactuallyarrest Ayla,” I said. “I let her off with a warning.” A few chips escaped as I dumped the bag into a serving bowl.

“Good thing. Otherwise, you’d have a team of scary lawyers flying in from LA as we speak to flay you alive.”

I grunted my disapproval of that sentiment. That wasn’t why I’d let Ayla, Bryan, and the others off the hook. “I’d be more worried about Grace, honestly. She was on the warpath.”

Callum laughed. “And what about that guy who came to town with Ayla? You let the boyfriend go too, I hear?”

“Bryan’s her driver and bodyguard, not her boyfriend.”

Callum stopped his work on the cutting board and looked up. “I stand corrected.”

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