Page 43 of Keeping You
Her laughter fades into a grateful smile. “I've missed this. Missed you.”
“Me too,” I admit. Despite the months of anger and hurt, there's an ease between us that feels like coming home. “So, what now?”
Harper gestures at the dough still sitting on the counter. “Now, I have cinnamon rolls to finish before opening. And you have a library to run.”
“And then?”
“And then we grab lunch?” she suggests hopefully. “Start rebuilding?”
I nod, happiness spreading through my veins. I have my friend back. “I'd like that.”
I still have a little time before I need to be at work, so I help her finish the morning prep, our conversation flowing easily, catching up on all the little moments we've missed in each other's lives.
As I roll the last of the dough into perfect rolls, the familiar rhythm of baking together brings back a flood of memories, including birthday cakes at midnight, Christmas cookies with too much frosting, comfort food after breakups, and bad days.
Harper nudges my shoulder. “I missed this,” she says softly, not looking up from her work. “I missed us.”
“Me too,” I admit, surprised by the lump in my throat. “More than I let myself realize.”
She glances up, flour dusting her cheek. “We're going to be okay, aren't we? You and me?”
The question hangs between us, heavy with years of friendship, months of hurt, and the hope of something repaired but different, even stronger.
“Yeah,” I say, bumping her shoulder with mine like I used to. “We're going to be just fine.”
By the time I leave for work, my steps are lighter than they’ve been in months.
I’m not at my desk for two minutes when my phone buzzes with a text from Luke.
Luke:
Lunch at the station today?
I’ll spring for sandwiches from the Blue Bonnet.
My heart does a little flip. It's such a simple offer, but it makes me smile.
We can lock the door to my office, and while you eat your sandwich, I’ll eat you.
Oh my.A blush heats my cheeks.
I hope he follows through on that offer.
Chapter Thirteen
Luke
“It wasn't your fault, Caldwell.” Captain Taggart’s voice sounds tinny through the phone, but his words hit me like a bullet to the vest.
I press my back against the station's brick wall, needing something solid to ground me. “I left Stu at the front while I went to the rear of the house looking for the man’s wife. Maybe if I’d stayed with him…”
“Then you might be dead too.” His tone leaves no room for me to argue my case of guilt. “That domestic was supposed to be routine. Nobody could've known he had a gun.”
My throat closes as I remember Stu's face from the last time I saw him, insisting I go; the patrol would back him up. “He was my partner.”
“And you were a damn good one. But sometimes, even when we do everything right, the universe still kicks our legs out from under us.”
When Callie pulls into the station lot thirty minutes later, I’m still outside under the hot mid-day sun, replaying the conversation in my head. Inside, I’m feeling better than before the call, but I’m not quite ready to close that door yet.
