women had been the topic of room-wide speculation for the past ten minutes, but Tess pretended oblivion.
Carmen and Gianna stood, smiled and waved to the crowd, then sat back down amid a smattering of applause.
“Law enforcement, can you give us your report?”
Seth stepped forward as Gianna turned. Her eyes went wide, seeing him. Her mouth opened slightly, as if his presence affected her. One hand clenched the other. The gesture said he made her nervous.
Welcome to the club. He smiled at Carmen, gave Gianna a polite nod, then delivered his report in quick, crisp terms.
“Wonderful!” Tess scanned the committee members before she moved on. “Questions, anyone?”
“Will the mounted patrol be available for any of our summer activities?” one woman wondered. “They always add a special element to our gatherings.”
“They’re scheduled to help with the Fourth of July festival and the Labor Day waterside celebration,” Seth explained. “But they’re patrolling the park and forest preserve the rest of the summer, and we have to be careful not to short our fellow officers during their busiest time of the year.”
“We’re grateful to have them here in Kirkwood for those two events,” declared Tess. “Zach, Seth, thank you so much for your attention to detail, and please extend our thanks to your departments. We’ve got approval from your captains to allow you out-of-uniform status for several bicentennial functions, so if you could both make appointments with either Carmen or Gianna, they’ve agreed to create historically correct uniforms for you.”
“Say what?” Seth stared at Tess, then switched his gaze. Gianna looked just as surprised as he did.
Carmen didn’t look surprised at all. She stood, waved to Tess and didn’t seem to care about meeting protocol, another reason to love the aged woman. “I’ll set up a time with our officers so they can be on their way. You go right ahead with the meeting,” she advised Tess, as if the committee chair needed permission. “Gianna can offer advice while I’m gone.”
She stepped into the hallway, whipped out a smartphone and flipped to her calendar app with greater speed than Seth had ever been able to muster, then arched a look to Zach. “Would you prefer to come to the shop together?”
“Less scary that way,” Zach muttered. “Do we really have to do this, ma’am?”
“Carmen,” she told him firmly. “And yes, I guess you do. If the captains say do it, the officer does it. At least that’s how my late husband saw it, and he had the promotions to prove he knew how to handle the work and politics of policing a community.”
“Can’t argue that,” Zach replied. “Together’s fine. Then we can complain in unison.”
“I’ll have pizzelles and Italian cookies for you,” Carmen promised. “If the mouth is full, complaints become a nonissue.”
Zach laughed. “I like how you think. Okay, how’s this Saturday? Does that work for you, Seth?”
“I’ll be there working on installing the rack hardware, so yes. But I thought you were planning to be gone on Saturday?” He met Carmen’s gaze straight on. “I distinctly remember you saying that you and your granddaughter were attending an all-day function in Clearwater.”
“When the opportunity to help the town came up, we decided this was more important,” Carmen replied. “Helping with the bicentennial costuming gives us the chance to show off our versatility without spending advertising dollars, and you know how pricey that is for start-up businesses.”
Her reply made perfect sense, but Seth wasn’t a wet-behind-the-ears beginner on the force. He saw the old woman’s ruse and couldn’t fault how she wrapped her matchmaking in a shroud of community outreach. Clever and admirable. And he’d make sure to never underestimate her in the future, which was good since they were neighbors.
“Ten o’clock okay?”
“Fine with me.” Carmen tapped a number into the calendar as the next person filed out of the room to set up a fitting time. “Officers, we’ll see you Saturday morning.” She turned and aimed her bright-eyed smile at the next victim as Zach and Seth left the building.
“Did we just get railroaded into wearing some kind of Dudley Do-Right costume to become laughingstocks of the entire community and thousands of tourists?”
“Yes.” Seth sighed, stared out at the snow, then shoved open the door. “Worse, my Saturday just morphed from a peaceful long day of me, hardware and pre–Super Bowl radio sports chatter to me, them and Italian opera.”
“No way.” Zach’s look of horror matched Seth’s spoken angst. “Take your iPod.”
“I don’t have an iPod.”
“Borrow one,” Zach advised as he moved to his car. “I get to leave and go home, where our current topic of conversation will be what color to use on the nursery.”
“Piper’s expecting?” Seth clapped the other man on the back. “That’s wonderful news.”
“It’s early, and we’re not saying much yet, but yes, come summer we should have a little Harrison to add to the bicentennial fun.”
“Congratulations.” Seth meant the word sincerely. “There’s nothing like being a dad.”
Zach met his gaze. Seth read sympathy mixed with Zach’s joy. “Thanks, Seth.”
Seth climbed into his car.
He’d been starving when he showed up at the meeting. He wasn’t a bit hungry now. He was thrilled for Zach and Piper. Their fall wedding had been a fun, hometown event. And Seth’s younger brother, Luke, was engaged to Piper’s sister, Rainey. Their wedding would join two families who’d met life’s challenges and clung to faith and hope.
Right now all he could think of was his empty house. No school books strewn here and there. No inane, overacted tween shows on cable. And no one to urge to eat meat loaf...or try broccoli...or teach how to tie flies for stream fishing, or take out in Dad’s boat, watching for nesting water birds. There was just him and eight yawning rooms, a house that felt so empty he could cry. But big, strong men didn’t cry, so he parked the car, grabbed a shovel and spent two hours cleaning out his driveway and then Gianna’s. By the time he completed the job he was tired enough to fall into bed and sleep.
And that was a scenario he’d been practicing for over two years. Work himself so hard that he couldn’t help but sleep, and while he was awake, pray that God watched over the girl he loved as a daughter. Wherever she might be.
* * *
“Police officer uniforms?” Gianna scolded as she grabbed a snowbrush from the trunk after the lengthy meeting. Two hours in lake-effect snowfall had left the car buried. “Really, Gram?”
“I can’t think of a better way to show off tailoring skills than on those two,” Carmen quipped back as she reached for the second brush. “Everyone will notice, guaranteed. Those men are seriously good-looking.”
The thought of Seth in an old-style sheriff’s uniform wasn’t unappealing.
The
