Page 32 of Evergreen Desires
"Paper them?"
"That’s a common practice attorneys use against law enforcement, and vice versa. We ask for something specific, and they provide tons of documents, some related, some not. The idea is to keep them looking through one thing so they don’t have time to look at other stuff. You can also be a bit slow in responding to requests. In the end, they think it’s a waste of time. You’re not lying or giving falsified records, just being unnoticeably slow."
"I bet I can do that."
"I bet you can too."
CHAPTER 27
JAKE
I was enjoying my coffee while Beau was at the stove, whisking cream into a saucepan. Despite being a man of few words, he clearly listened to my ramblings. I made one passing comment about how I used to love when my grandmother made biscuits and sausage gravy as a special breakfast from time to time, and suddenly, a few days later, I woke up to the smell of biscuits baking in the oven and sausage being fried up.
I loved the mornings when he didn’t need to rush off to do something in the barn or greenhouses. Those mornings were more relaxed, and we could sneak in a little extra together time. Still, I totally got that it was basically two people running two businesses. Lord knew that while I helped out and had fallen into the groove with both Beau and Will, I was more in the way or a distraction. But I’d fall into whatever 'groove' of Beau’s that he wanted me in.
"What are you grinning at?" Beau chuckled.
Realizing I was in a bit of a daze but also staring at him, I felt a little heat in my cheeks. "Sorry," I cast my eyestoward the pan on the stove he was still stirring. "Just lost in thought for a moment. Thinking of good things."
"Well, as long as they’re good things." He opened his mouth and had a look on his face as if he was about to make an inappropriate comment.
"Hey, boss!" Will called, letting himself in the back door with Mat in tow. He stopped mid-step, causing Mat to bump into him. "I smell sausage!"
"Yes, biscuits and sausage gravy. I was going to bring some over to you later. I wasn’t gonna leave you out," Beau replied, looking up and noticing Mat. "Morning, Mat. What brings you by?"
"He didn’t get enough of me—I mean us—yesterday," Will said, waggling his eyebrows. "He stopped by the greenhouse this morning looking for you, so I walked him over here."
"I wanted to let you know the inspector isn’t planning to come back today," Mat said. "I told them last night that I would see you today and tell you."
"Well, thank you, truly. Can I get you some coffee?"
"Yes, please. I was actually hoping we could sit down and talk. More in an unofficial capacity." Mat’s eyes made their way around the room, making eye contact with everyone.
"One of those take off the name tag and badge conversations?" Will asked when Mat’s eyes connected with his.
Mat nodded.
“Mhm. Exactly.” I felt like this was above my pay grade, so I started to look for my exit. "Well, I can go get started in the greenhouse…"
"Nope, everyone grabs a seat." Beau bent down to pull the biscuits out of the oven. "I made enough to feed all of us. Then we can talk." He took a quick assessment of the room, "Good?"
I loved it when he took charge. Everyone started moving to the chairs at the kitchen bar. Will grabbed a few more chairs from the dining room/office. While Beau was setting up plates, I jumped up to grab mugs and the coffee pot.
"So, this isnotan official conversation; I amnotPolice Chief Mateo at the moment. Just Mat."
Will leaned over and kissed Mat on the cheek. Initially, Mat looked shocked, quickly glancing toward Beau. In a flash, the wide-eyed shock was replaced by a small grin.
"You said you werenotthe police chief at the moment," Will said, seeming very proud of himself.
Meanwhile, my eyes must have been the size of saucers. I knew Will had the hots for him, but I didn’t know they were starting anything. But given that Mat didn’t flinch away or deck him, I guessed I’d just missed it. Which was frankly surprising since Will overshared everything, had no filter, and would just spout whatever was on his mind at any given time. I admired that, since he really didn’t care what people thought. He’d welcomed me into the fold and opened up to me immediately. I was glad for him… I hoped he could keep it together. Will could be a bit much at times, whereas Mat seems more reserved, calm, and professional.
"Hold that thought. Let's see how this conversation goes first," Mat said with a bit of anxiousness in his eyes while patting Will’s inner upper thigh.
"Well, that sounds ominous," Will remarked, his eyes losing a bit of their luster.
Mateo let out a breath. “The inspector wasn’t in a great mood last night—but not because of anything on your end. He’s swamped and didn’t seem too interested in chasing down false reports.”
He paused, then added, “I went ahead and shared the police report from the peeping incident. Told them it’s still an open case. We got lucky with Agent Walker—he’s one of the senior guys. He said he’s closing your inspection and referring the false report to the state bureau. Filing fake complaints with law enforcement; that’s a big deal.”
