didn’t see the person she ran into. But the odd sense of déjà vu—mixed with the smell of his woodsy cologne—confirmed there was a good chance it was...
“Sawyer Hamilton. Good to see you.” The chief stuck a hand past Kelsey. She was more than happy to step out of the way.
Everything about taking this job had thrown her off balance—literally, it seemed. Clearly staying away from the young heir to the Hamilton name and all it entailed was her only option to regain her equilibrium. Which suited Kelsey just fine.
“Did you need to see me?” the chief asked when Sawyer offered no explanation for why he was there.
The other man’s eyes darted to Kelsey. She looked away. Why was he looking at her?
“No, sir, I actually came to check on Kelsey. I heard she was here and thought she might need a ride home.”
She’d rather walk the four miles to her family’s old farmhouse on the edge of town than accept. Four miles in the dark in heels and a dress would be preferable to—
“That’s very kind of you, Sawyer.” The chief had softened his voice to what Kelsey had used to refer to as his “fatherly” tone. He looked over at her. “I would feel better if you accepted his offer.”
What, could he read her mind?
Unfortunately, it often seemed like the answer was yes. And he’d always been kind to her, even when most in the department had written her off as a failure and a fool. Which meant that while there was a large group of people Kelsey would mouth off to in this situation without hesitation, and then do what she wanted—trek home in the dark—she couldn’t do that to the chief. She owed him better than that.
“I will, sir,” she said, forcing herself to turn to face the last man on earth she wanted anything to do with. “I’d appreciate a ride.” She forced the words out.
“I’m right out front.”
Without a backward glance, Kelsey followed him down the hall and outside. Might as well get this over with.
The F-150 wasn’t what she would have guessed Sawyer Hamilton would drive. Sure, it was a nice truck, but it was the same exact one he’d driven in high school. She’d have assumed he’d moved on by now, maybe to a new BMW or something more like that.
He walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. She raised an eyebrow. “Uh, thanks?”
He just laughed softly, a laugh that some women—most women—might have thought was endearing. “You’re welcome. I haven’t been gone from Treasure Point so long, Kelsey, that I forgot how I was raised.”
Another reminder that he was still a Hamilton—one of the haves when she was a have not. And while he hadn’t played any role in the fiasco where she’d lost her job, he was the man who’d chosen to compete for a scholarship he didn’t need, who’d stolen her chance to go right to college, finish in four years, and get her career moving when all of her peers had.
No, instead she’d stayed in Treasure Point, worked at the police department while she struggled to put herself though school, and now was just beginning to see the fruits of her labor, was just now approaching where she wanted to be in life.
Kelsey glared at him as he shut her door, walked around to the other side of the truck, then climbed in.
He’d barely sat down when she stopped in the middle of fastening her seatbelt. Loyalty to the chief only went so far. She wasn’t doing this to herself. “You know what? I’d actually like the walk. Thanks, though.” She reached for the door handle, but his voice stopped her.
“What problem do you have with me, Kelsey? I haven’t seen you in a decade, so I assume it must have been something in school, but I always thought we were... I don’t know, friendly rivals? Maybe even friends?”
What did it say about him that he’d counted her as a friend? She never, never would have thought the same about him.
Either way, his reminder about how much time had passed stilled her. She was an adult now. Close to successful. So far from that bitter, angry seventeen-year-old kid. Surely she could be mature, not let him get to her, right?
“Fine.”
He put the car in Reverse and maneuvered his way out of the parking lot. “Are you in the same house you were in during high school?” he asked and at her nod, he headed in that direction.
“Oh, wait, my car. It’s at the museum. Could we swing by there?”
“Sure.”
He turned around in an empty parking lot and drove back in the direction of the museum. Neither spoke for a minute, and Kelsey wanted to keep it that way, but one thing was bothering her enough that she was willing to break her “say nothing” rule.
“How did you know I was at the police station?” She braced herself as she asked the question. Had everyone seen her getting ushered into the back of the police car? She hoped not, but if so, better to know now so she could call her boss and do damage control with her job before the situation sounded worse than it was.
“I was talking to Clay. He said you might need a lift.”
“That’s all he said?” She cast a quick glance at him, meant to look away and didn’t.
Sawyer’s eyes never left the road, but he nodded. “That’s all he said.”
Kelsey studied him for another minute. He’d grown up since high school, something that should have been obvious, but that hadn’t struck her till now. He still had that confident look of a guy used to winning at everything, but his shoulders had broadened, his jawline grown even stronger. The combination should have made him look even more arrogant. And yet...
If she looked closely, a bit of the cockiness was gone. He seemed a little less intimidating than he’d always been.
Intimidating? Did she just admit she’d been intimidated by him? As they drove down the dark road, making the last few turns before the Hamilton property, she realized that yes, she had been. That didn’t mean she’d backed down from academic competition with him—that was far from the truth. But maybe her dislike of him had been rooted partly in her own insecurity?
That and his part in ruining her life. She couldn’t forget that.
It looked like most of the party had cleared out of the museum, something Kelsey knew the police department would have orchestrated. From what Sawyer had said—or rather, hadn’t said—the public didn’t know about the murder yet. The police officers would have taken everyone’s statements, but would have given as little information as possible, not wanting to bias or influence anyone’s recollections. And now that everyone was gone, they’d be hard at work establishing a perimeter around the crime scene, so they could begin their investigation.
It was funny how much Kelsey wished she was out there with them, checking for evidence, processing the scene. Police work had just been a practical fallback when her dreams of leaving town for college had come crashing down. But to her surprise, it had become something she’d enjoyed. Who knew the desire
