Page 7 of Needing Your Love
My cell rang, and I pulled my cruiser into The Market’s parking lot to answer.
“Jamie,” I said, a grin stretching my lips.
“I bought him a ring,” my son said by way of a greeting.
I barked a laugh, not surprised in the least. “When are you going to propose?” I asked, my heart lighter than it had been in months since he’d moved in with his best friend turned boyfriend.
“After the party,” Jamie stated even though his voice hinted at a lack of surety.
Jamie graduated from the police academy tomorrow, and I looked forward to my son joining the force and working under my command starting next week. We were a smallband of brothers, just me, Babs, who was finally contemplating retirement, and two other officers. Jamie would be the perfect addition to the station.
Same as when my son was a young boy, he’d done drive alongs with me when he’d returned home last summer after a knee injury ended his short NFL career. He’d been devastated over the loss of his dreams but had gotten together with Chaz, who he’d always been in love with. A solid win as far as I was concerned. He and Chaz were attached at the hip, and I couldn’t have been happier for my son.
I told him as such, and his sigh radiated happiness over the line.
“He’s the best thing that ever happened to me, Dad. A couple of years ago, I never could have imagined the life I have now, but I’m so goddamned thankful.”
“Same.” I smiled and waved at Georgie Ellis, who was loading groceries into the delivery van. “I’m excited to see you at your desk on Monday morning.”
“I have to get through tomorrow and the rest of the weekend first.” Jamie released another heavy exhale. “I’m scared.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ve earned that badge, and there’s no chance in hell Chaz will say no. I’m proud of you, son.” I swallowed hard as tears stung my eyes.
“Thanks for believing in me,” Jamie said, his tone low too. “For pushing me to enter the academy—for always having my back.”
“Alwayswill, too,” I promised.
“What are you up to?”
“Patrolling.”
Jamie snickered. “Bored, huh?”
I chuckled. My son knew me well. “Tired of paperwork.”
After promising to see him at graduation tomorrow, I hung up and turned onto Pippen Street to continue my attempts tomake the day pass faster even though I only had the promise of a quiet house waiting for me at the end of my shift. Loneliness had settled in after Jamie had moved out, but I wasn’t about to tell him.
That afternoon of patrolling didn’t offer me the usual sense of fulfillment in knowing I did a damned good job of keeping my people safe, but at least no need arose that caused me to flick on my siren.
My wanderings led me southwest, and I slowed as I approached the abandoned house I thought of more often than not.
Rich Riley had passed three years earlier, and although Jimmy hadn’t returned for the cremation and burial he’d arranged from Boston, the boy had yet to sell the place. According to Town Hall, the taxes were paid every year, and I wondered about his plans for the property. The house and land had been in disrepair over a decade earlier and had only gotten worse with every passing season.
While the one-story home could be rehabbed and inhabited, I doubted Jimmy had any intentions of doing so. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since that night I’d turned down the offer of a blow job and shut the door in his face.
I pulled to a stop, eyeing the sagging stoop where Jimmy had huddled all those years ago when we’d first exchanged words. Tall grass had taken over the stone walkway that used to lead to the porch we’d sat atop countless times after that September afternoon. Even more clapboards hung in disarray, and the lone shutter that had hung on for dear life now lay beneath curtained windows hiding whatever filth had piled up inside.
Why didn’t he just sell the place and be done with it? Why cling to a building that housed his childhood trauma?
I’d often wondered if telling Jimmy taking care of his dad was a real-man thing to do had pushed him toward defending hisabuser when DHHS had come knocking. Guilt lay heavy on my heart since that day, and I expected it would continue to haunt me to the grave.
Exhaling heavily, I drove away, turning my focus on the other houses amidst the trees as sunshine warmed my arm through the cruiser’s open window. While this wasn’t the best side of Pippen Creek, the residents received the same care and thoughts from their chief.
I didn’t allow discrimination. Couldn’t see a man’s wealth or lack thereof shaping who they were. Our residents had chosen theLive Free or Diestate, and I’d committed myself to making sure those I was responsible for could do just that.
Twice on my way back downtown, I rolled to a stop and leaned out the window to check in with people enjoying the too-warm day. I scanned every house and business, watched couples and moms with strollers meandering down sidewalks as I cruised past, proud of how our town ran like a well-oiled machine. There hadn’t been any major trouble in decades, only skirmishes here and there and a few fender benders to cause a blip in our mundane lives.
But something hovered on the horizon, a similar sense to the one I’d felt all those years ago while sitting beside a filthy kid who had called himself a worm.
