be...”
Sure enough, Officer Hawks’s squad car was parked at the very end of the drive.
“So this is where you live? Nearly across the street from the police station? Keeping your head in the game, Officer? Always on call? Ever ready?”
Josh hadn’t the first clue why he was interested in his arresting officer. Other than the fact that she’d brought back memories of his parents. Like an old song that played strong and melodic in his head. As much as Violet was focused on her career, Josh sensed that same kind of big heartedness and warmth he remembered his mother having. There was a softness in Violet’s eyes that he read as compassion, and that look made him pause. Made him think. And feel things he hadn’t felt in a really long time.
Josh had spent most of his adult life chasing the next win. He hadn’t stopped to consider what he really wanted.
“Belonging.”
The word rushed out of him like a riptide from the bottom of his heart. To be important to just one person. What would that be like? What would it be like to walk into a room and have Violet’s face light up just because he was there? Not the blaze of fame like he saw in a fan’s face, or the need in those dependent on him, but love.
Was that what he wanted?
Love?
Josh saw lights on the third floor flip on. More lights on the main floor as if the inhabitants had come alive due to Officer Hawks’s coming home.
Did Violet have love in her life? Josh imagined a man kissing her. Perhaps a child holding out its arms for her.
Josh turned the steering wheel and pulled away from the curb, the images in his mind becoming bothersome. He headed to Austin’s, then dialed his friend’s number.
“Austin! It’s Josh! Hey, man. I need to beg a favor.”
Austin chuckled. “Anything.”
“I’m still in town. Can I bum a room?”
“Absolutely. Where are you?”
“Outside your front window.”
“Sweet. I’ll open the second garage. You can park next to my vintage Bugatti.”
Josh drove up the drive, and the back gate opened electronically. There was a short concrete drive around to the second garage. That door opened automatically. Sure enough there was a blue 1926 Bugatti roadster sitting in the bay.
Josh pulled the Chiron inside.
Austin came walking out with a glass of white wine for them both.
Josh exhaled and smiled. “Bro, you are the very best.”
“I think you need this more than I do.”
“Oh, jeez. You heard,” Josh groaned.
“It’s a small town. Come on, Katia and Daisy are making a seafood dinner. I told Katia we’d sit on the terrace. I have the wine in an iced cooler. We can talk.” Austin slung his arm over Josh’s shoulder. “I’m here for you, man.”
“Seriously, I need this. I need you.”
“Yep, friends are the best,” Austin said. “Unless you have family.”
They sat at a glass patio table.
Josh stared at him. Austin’s parents were dead, too. Just like Josh, he was an only child and had no aunts, uncles, nieces or nephews. No wonder they were close.
Just then Katia came out onto the terrace carrying a glass tray of appetizers decorated with tropical flowers. “Josh! How are you?” She placed the tray on the patio table. She bent and kissed his cheek.
“Katia, you are a vision,” Josh said. Then he slid a glance to Austin. “You don’t mind me saying that, do you, dude?”
“It’s the truth. And she’s my vision.”
When Katia looked at Austin, Josh knew she wouldn’t have known if a cyclone blew into town. He’d seen the look of love before, but theirs was so intense, he felt he was interrupting.
“Listen, guys, I know you have a lot to talk about,” Katia said. “Daisy and I are still cracking crabs for dinner. So, take your time. Josh, seriously, always know this is your haven. Okay?”
Josh felt a lump the size of a speed bump in his throat. “Thanks.”
“You okay?” Austin asked as Katia went back inside.
“You’re a lucky man, Austin.”
“I know that. But so are you. I saw that photo of you in Racing People. That girl. What’s her name? Joycelyn? She’s a knockout.”
“Who?”
“Joy—”
“Austin.” Josh shook his head. “She’s an infield girl. That’s for publicity. I don’t have anyone.”
Austin’s eyes widened. He took a long slug of wine. “I thought... Well. That you had your pick.”
“There’s never been anyone special. Certainly no Katia.”
Austin’s gaze went to the wide kitchen window where they both could see Katia and Daisy laughing and poking each other with crab legs. “I’ve loved her all my life.”
Josh felt chills down his back. He’d give anything to say that. To know there was a special someone for him. He didn’t know what it was or why this was happening to him now. Was it being in this small town? Was it the shock of finding himself behind bars? Or was it Officer Hawks? He couldn’t stop thinking about how she looked at him when the jail cell door had clanged shut. If a gong had been struck in his head, he couldn’t have been more affected. He felt derailed, on a new course, and he hadn’t the slightest idea where he was headed.
As much as he daydreamed about a different life, the reality was he’d been living as the image Harry and he had concocted for the media years ago. He was a winner. Women came and went. He was successful, rich and alone.
Quite alone.
Yeah, his dreams were mirages. A life like Austin had would never be possible for Josh.
VIOLET DUMPED SOME vegetable soup into a bowl and shoved it into the microwave. Her thick black belt, holster, handcuffs and gun were methodically arranged on the sofa table her mother had given her when she moved into Mrs. Beabots’s apartment. Though she’d picked up her clean uniforms from the laundry, Violet had re-pressed the shirt, taking out the tiny crease she’d seen on its back.
She chuckled as she extracted a soup spoon from her organized flatware drawer. Her mother, Connie, often kidded Violet’s compulsive need for order and cleanliness
