Page 27 of Shortcake
Her eyes flashed. “You’re right. Ihavedone enough. Goodnight, Sheriff.”
“Addy, wait!” I jogged the few steps after her. “I meant that genuinely, I swear. You’ve done so much for my daughter tonight. Thank you.”
She stopped and turned around slowly to face me. “Oh… I thought you were being sarcastic.”
“Yeah. I know it came out wrong, but I’m truly grateful that you were watching Harper tonight. I don’t know what I would have done if—” My voice cracked and I cleared my throat, gripping my hands to my waist, trying to pull myself together.
Addy reached out and wrapped a delicate hand around my forearm. “Don’t think about that right now. She’s safe.”
“Because of you.” I slowly looked up into Addy’s jade eyes. Eyes I could get lost in if I let myself.
“Maple Grove looks out for everyone. Not just its own people. You’ll learn that soon enough.” She paused, giving an airy laugh. “Although, technically, you two are our people now.” With an exhale she shook her head. “I can’t believe you’ve moved here. What are the chances?”
Her keys dangled from the loose grip of her fingers and there, swinging off the keychain was the same one I’d seen three years ago in the hotel.
That night at Addy’s hotel, I had seen that exact Maple Grove keychain. The sort of keychain you buy at tourist trap gift shops. It had reminded me of my summers on the lake and how happy I’d been here.
It had been that keychain, the Lake Winnisquam keychain, that had given me the idea to come back to Maple Grove and the Lakes region. I had loved it so much and my mom had sent me here when I was starting to cause trouble for her at age 13. I thought it might be the change of scenery that Harper needed.
Emotion burned my throat like a shot of whiskey.
I knew Addy had a connection to this town, but I thought she’d been like me. A girl who’d gone to camp here a few times when she was a kid.
I never would have guessed in a million years that she lived here.
In some ways, that one night stand we had was the catalyst that planted the seed in my head to move out of New York once my mom had passed. If I’d never met Addy, I may have never been reminded of Camp Winnisquam.
It was why I took the job here. Why I uprooted our lives and moved us both five hours away after my mother passed away a few months ago.
“I used to go to summer camp here every summer,” I said. “So, it’s not completely random.”
“Oh yeah,” she whispered. “I remember you saying that.”
“Once there was nothing to keep us in New York, I knew I needed to give Harper the chance at a real childhood.” Or at least, what was left of her childhood.
Addy shook her head. “It’s still one hell of a coincidence.”
It was… and it also wasn’t.
“Go get some rest,” she said. “You look like hell.” Her teasing grin softened the insult.
But I knew she was right. I did look like shit. I was dead tired. It had been a long ass day and I only had a few hours until it started all over again. I chuckled and ran a hand through my cropped hair. “And somehow, you look rested and fresh and beautiful, even after finishing a long shift. What’s your secret?”
“Masturbation.”
A cough sputtered out of me and her grin widened. “Wow,” I said, chuckling. “I’d almost forgotten how blunt you can be.”
Something sharp and deflated pinched the corners of her eyes, even despite the breezy, “I live to serve,” that she responded with.
I didn’t want to leave her. Not here alone in an empty parking lot. “I’ll wait to leave until you’re in your car, too.”
Her smile was tight. Closed mouthed. And she waved my concerns away. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I won’t be able to sleep knowing I’d left you alone in an empty parking lot at two in the morning.”
“Don’t worry. I can handle myself.” She backed up toward a small VW parked a few spaces away from my car.
“I don’t doubt that.” Hell, I’d witnessed it firsthand. “I’d at least feel better waiting until you were locked safely inside your car. Unless… are you not leaving yet?”
