Page 75 of The House on Memory Lane

She breathed a contented sigh and stepped back, as if she sensed he needed to leave. He liked that too. “Okay, Constable. I look forward to sharing the driveway, and the roads around Wardham, with you, at a reasonable and posted speed.”

His lips quirked and he nodded brusquely to cover up. He had the funny feeling that Karen Miller could quickly get under his skin, and giving her any opening was just asking for trouble. Good trouble, but he wasn’t in the market for that, or anything else. “Sounds good. I’ll get the garage cleared out on the weekend.”

He watched her saunter back up her front steps and lean over to collect gardening gear. His gaze lingered on her ass, until he forced himself to get in the car and drive away.

“There’s a new sheriff in town.”

Karen’s best friend Carrie glanced up from behind the espresso machine. “Did we have an old sheriff?”

“You know what I mean.”

“You have gossip about the new guy at the Wardham detachment?”

“Maybe. What do you know?” Karen slid onto a barstool. A Bun In The Oven didn’t have tables, but three stools lived in front of the espresso bar for just these kinds of conversations.

Carrie laughed. “Not much, other than the position has been filled and the new person’s going to start in a couple of weeks. He works in Windsor right now.”

That would explain the weird hours. “The new person is Hot Neighbour.”

“The rude guy?”

Karen shrugged. “He’s a bit brusque, but I wouldn’t say he’s rude.”

“You said he was rude yesterday. And twice last week.”

“That was before I actually talked to him.”

Carrie cocked an eyebrow.

“I stopped him today and asked him to start parking in his garage.”

“Did you explain it was because of your need for speed?” Her friend giggled at the thought. It was true, though. In the summer, as often as she could find time, Karen headed out along the lake with the windows down. Alone with the wind and her music, it was hard to be 100% mindful of the speed limit.

“It came up. Before I knew he was a cop. It’s not like I’m a criminal.”

“No, but you like to drive fast enough that he’d need to pull you over. Of course, maybe that would be okay. Maybe he’d get you to step out of the car so he could frisk you.”

“For a traffic stop? You’ve got issues.” Although Karen couldn’t deny that she’d enjoy being patted down by Paul. And interrogated. She shivered at the image of him leaning over a table at her, pinning her down with an inscrutable gaze.

Her friend pushed a latte and an orange cranberry biscotti across the bar. Fancy coffee still felt like a special treat in their sleepy little town. Karen grinned and dunked the hard biscuit. “Mmmmm. Oh my god, this is so good.” She slurped a drip of coffee from her fingertips and waved off the previous conversation. “Do we have anything to discuss before the meeting tonight?”

Carrie nodded vigorously. “Oh yes! Apparently, the funding for the new community centre is going to be approved, so we should push for agreement on what the business association is going to lobby for in terms of sponsorship and space usage. I’d love to have a chance to bid for Bun to have a coffee bar there.”

“Are you ready to expand already?” Karen knew that her friend loved running her coffee shop/bakery, but she knew from first-hand experience that being an owner/operator of a store was a huge endeavour. Bun had only been open for a bit more than year.

“The centre isn’t going to open next week. It’ll probably be a year or two before any plans need to be implemented. And there wouldn’t be any food prep there, just drinks, muffins, scones, and the like.”

“Hey, you know that I’ve got your back. Whatever support you need, you’ve got it.” Karen took another sip of her latte. “Is there cinnamon in this?”

Carrie nodded. “Something new I’m trying. My own simple syrups. Less sweet than the commercial bottles.”

“It’s good.” It had cooled down enough for bigger swallows now, and before long the mug was empty. “Was good. Now gone. Hmmm. Hulk happy.”

“Hey, Hulk, before you go...” Carrie pinched her lips. Karen was surprised to see her friend look so uncertain all of a sudden.

“What?”

“The community centre. The draft plans that council saw last night feature a new library.”

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