Tears misted Harper’s gaze and she looked down at Zoey, who was staring up at them, her gray eyes wide.
“It’s okay, Zoey,” Harper said. “Auntie and I are just like little girls sometimes, and bicker. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“No biting,” Zoey whispered, and Harper and Heidi burst out laughing.
Harper scooped her daughter up into her arms and gave her a squeeze. “That’s solid advice, Zoey.”
They’d figure out something, and Harper sent up a silent and slightly selfish prayer that their solution would leave her a piece of her grandmother’s legacy for her own wedding day...and that she might be as blessed as her sister in the romance department. Heidi’s fiancé, Chris, was a great guy—smart, loyal, sweet...
But even if she didn’t find her own Mr. Right anytime soon, Harper had her daughter, whom she loved with all her heart. She’d never worn maternity clothes or given birth, but she knew that she was every bit a mom. Some blessings came along unexpected paths.
* * *
Gabe drove past Blessings Bridal on his way to the police station that morning. Everything looked as quiet as he expected. Passing the shop was out of his way, considering that he was staying at Lily and Bryce Camden’s bed and breakfast. The department wouldn’t pay for the entire cost of the B and B, but they subsidized it, which helped. And it was a whole lot more comfortable than the dive of a hotel he was going to be staying at originally. The breakfast that his hostess had prepared for him—apricot oatmeal, yogurt and a bowl of fresh fruit—made his stay feel more like a vacation than the reprimand that it was supposed to be. But this morning’s meeting with Chief Morgan should take care of that.
He parked in the lot next to the precinct and glanced at his watch. Gabe had been dreading this part—the discipline. It would come in the form of training, but everyone knew what this was. Granted, Gabe should have kept his mouth shut when his boss irritated him, but he didn’t think he’d been altogether wrong, either. Unfortunately, when it came to the chain of command, being right wasn’t everything.
Gabe remembered Chance Morgan from the local force when he’d been a troubled teen in Comfort Creek. Chief Morgan had been a sergeant back then, and Gabe hadn’t known him personally, but he still cared what the man thought of him. Gabe headed through the front doors and nodded to the receptionist, Cheryl. She was on the phone, but put the receiver against her shoulder to shield the mouthpiece and pointed toward the bull pen.
“The chief says to go straight to his office. He’s waiting for you,” she said with a smile.
Easy enough for her to smile. She wasn’t the one facing binders full of sensitivity training. He’d heard horror stories of those questionnaires and required reading...all about how to “constructively approach disagreements and negotiate a win-win solution.” Yeah, he’d had a buddy who did some sensitivity training in Fort Collins—apparently, not quite as in-depth as he was about to experience out here in Comfort Creek. If they had to physically send him away for the experience, he could only imagine what was in store.
He gave the receptionist a nod of thanks and headed around the bull pen toward the chief’s office. He could dread it all he wanted. There was no way out of Comfort Creek but through the program.
“Come in,” Chief Morgan called when Gabe knocked, and he opened the door.
Chief Morgan sat behind a desk. He looked to be about forty with sandy-blond hair that was just starting to gray. He appeared to be finishing some paperwork, and when Gabe came in, he flipped shut the folder and gave him a cordial nod.
“Have a seat, officer.”
“Thank you, sir.” Gabe shut the door behind him and eased into a chair.
“So, why are you here?”
Gabe sighed. “Insubordination, sir.”
Chief Morgan nodded, pulled another file out of a pile and opened it. “You’re a good officer. You work hard, take extra shifts, volunteer delivering food for the elderly during the holidays...” He pulled his finger down a page and flipped to the next, then the next. “So what happened?”
“I was out of line, sir,” Gabe said quickly. If he could speed this along, he would. There was no need to convince Gabe of the error of his ways. He’d accepted that he should have handled this differently if he wanted to avoid this lovely autumnal two-week stay in the dullest town in Colorado. The changing leaves were beautiful this time of year, but he’d trade them for some Fort Collins city streets in a heartbeat.
“I want to know what actually happened,” the chief said, meeting his gaze evenly. “I want your version.”
Gabe cleared his throat. “Well, sir, my supervising officer ordered me to make an arrest, and I chose to let the perp go.”
“And why would you defy an order?”
Why indeed? His supervising officer was a bully and had a personal vendetta against a twenty-year-old kid. The perp had bullied his supervisor’s son in high school, and while Gabe could appreciate the seriousness of bullying, his supervisor’s son wasn’t exactly innocent, either. He was a twit who figured he could get away with anything because his dad was a cop.
“The perp was caught stealing baby clothes and diapers, sir,” Gabe said. “I talked to him, and he said that his girlfriend needed some extra help in providing for their baby daughter. The perp and the girlfriend are no longer in a relationship, but he was trying to contribute—misguided as it might have been.”
“So you felt sorry for him,” the chief concluded.
“I recognized a spark of self-respect in the guy,” Gabe replied. “And I didn’t want to snuff it out.”
“But it says here that when your supervising officer reprimanded you, that you...had words.”
Gabe smiled grimly. That was putting it mildly. “That’s the part I regret, sir. I should have kept my opinions about my supervising officer to myself.”
“So what made you vent?”
Gabe paused, wondering how much he should say. The chief was regarding him with a look of sincere curiosity on his face.
“Between you and me, sir?” Gabe said. “The perp wasn’t a complete unknown to my supervisor. He had gone to high school with my supervisor’s son. The perp was a troublemaker from way back, but my supervisor’s son wasn’t exactly an innocent lamb, either. He’s been let off with a warning for numerous infractions over the years because of his father’s position. This one seemed...personal, I guess. And that wasn’t fair. My supervisor’s son is already off to college and he’ll have a bright future despite his youthful mistakes because he got special treatment. The perp? At least he was trying to provide for his child. And by the way, I paid for the merchandise and recommended a warehouse that was hiring.”
“Do you think he’ll take you up on the sound advice?” Chief Morgan asked.
Gabe shrugged. “No idea. I wanted him to have the chance.”
Chief Morgan nodded and made a few notes on his pad. “You were a bit of an underdog here in Comfort Creek when you were a kid, too, weren’t you?”
“A
