Page 56 of Awakening the Sheriff

“They’re married?”

“No, their boyfriend anniversary. They’ve been together for…I don’t know, six months? Something like that. They celebrate it all. I think it’s an excuse for Tiago to spoil Cas. The man has money, and Cas is reluctant to let him spend it on him.”

“Must be a challenge, their difference in jobs and lifestyles and even age.”

“I’m sure it is, but they make it work. I’ve never seen two people as in love as those two.”

“I agree. They look perfect together.”

Keaton scanned the menu. “Have you ever tried duck confit?”

“Can’t say I have, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”

“It looks delicious. I think I’ll do the salmon for my main…and the scallops as an appetizer.”

“I’m having the lobster bisque. ‘A rich and velvety soup made with lobster stock, cream, and the essence of sherry, garnished with chunks of lobster meat…’” I read from the menu. “Tell me that doesn’t make your mouth water.”

Keaton grinned. “You do the lobster bisque, and I’ll take the scallops, and we can try some from each other. Deal?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Funny how I hadn’t realized how much I had missed these small things about being in a relationship. When I went out for dinner with my friends, I didn’t swap dishes with them. That was a couple’s thing…and now I was part of a couple again. That would take some getting used to, but I was excited about all the good things it would bring.

We placed our orders with an attentive and friendly waiter. I reached across the table for Kenton’s hand and intertwined our fingers. As we sat there, holding hands and letting the intimate atmosphere of the restaurant envelop us, whatever nerves I had felt earlier were long gone. This night was already shaping up to be one I’d never forget.

“I had a bizarre incident at school today.” Keaton’s face lit up with amusement. “Two of my middle school students turned in an essay onThe Catcher in the Ryethat were the same, line for line. So I asked them both to stay after class, and I confronted them.”

“How the hell did they explain that away?”

“Obviously, they couldn’t, but after a little digging, I discovered they had both bought the essay from an online service. Apparently, this guy is selling essays for as little as a dollar, so my guess is he makes his money from selling a lot of them. The problem is that he only has one essay per book, so they bought the exact same one.”

“Seriously?” I chuckled, shaking my head. “That’s pretty bold.”

“And I would never have found out had they not been the same. It wasn’t one of those copy-past Wikipedia jobs, but an actual essay with real research and proper citations and everything.”

“I pulled a guy over today who’d forged his license plate. It was a damn good forgery if you didn’t look too close, but he’d made one mistake. Wanna guess what it was?”

Keaton frowned, then shook his head. “No idea.”

“He used the letterO. That’s not a letter allowed on license plates in most states, since it’s too close to a zero.”

Keaton snorted. “That’s a sad mistake for him to make.”

“It was, and in a way, I almost felt bad for catching it.”

“Why did he forge it?”

“He had outstanding traffic tickets dating as far as ten years back. Had never been caught…until he made the mistake of driving through Forestville. I happened to be sitting alongside Route 2 with my radar gun.”

As we continued to share stories about our day, our appetizers arrived: seared scallops served on a bed of cauliflower puree for Keaton and lobster bisque for me. At the first sip of my soup, I moaned. Granted, my palate wasn’t that refined, but I’d never had lobster bisque that good. It was creamy, rich, with a hint of sherry and plenty of lobster. “God, that’s good.”

“Can I try some?”

Without thinking about it, I scooped some up and held the spoon out to him. His eyes darkened before he accepted and took a taste. “Oh, you’re right. That’s delicious.”

“How are your scallops?”

He held one out to me on a fork, and I took it. It was perfectly cooked, still firm, without being rubbery. The smooth puree—which I would never have thought would fit—complemented it well. “Very nice.”

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