“I’m quickly approaching forty-three.”
“For someone who had such a demanding, high stress job, you definitely don’t look your age.”
“I appreciate that. I don’t usually ask a woman’s age, but since we’re on the topic . . .”
“How old do you think I am?”
I laughed. “You want me to give you a reason to use that thing?” I nodded toward the table.
“I promise I won’t shoot you. Take a wild guess and be honest.”
I mulled over my thoughts for a moment. “I can’t lie. At first glance, I thought you were in your late twenties, but I was hoping you were at least in your thirties.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve never entertained a woman more than ten years younger than me, but I’d make an exception for you.”
“I’m thirty-five.”
“I guess today is my lucky day.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Just because my age falls within your dating requirement age doesn’t mean I’m going to date you.”
“Why would you break my heart like that? Que’s already given me his stamp of approval.”
I reached down to rub the top of his head, and he purred like a lap dog. Naryah gasped and shook her head.
“I never thought I’d see the day that my favorite non-human betrayed me.”
“Don’t think of it as betrayal. Think of it as giving you the okay to get to know me.”
“So, how’d you end up here from Chicago?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I see what you did there, but I was born and raised in Black Elm.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. When I decided I wanted to become a police officer, I chose an academy in Illinois because I knew I wanted to join the Chicago Police Department.”
“Interesting. Why’d you retire so young?”
I took a moment to think about how much I wanted to say before responding.
“At the end of last year, I got shot in the hip. It was pretty bad, and the initial prognosis wasn’t good. My parents and brother flew in to be by my side when I had the surgery, and the fear and worry in my mother’s eyes broke me. I’d managed to make it over twenty years without being shot, but every time I called her, I could hear the worry in her voice.”
“So, you decided to retire early?”
“Not at first. I wasn’t ready, on top of being stubborn. The day I was shot, one of my colleagues was killed. We were close, and I took it much harder than I thought because I felt like I didn’t do enough. That night haunted me to the point where it was all I could think about.”
“Wow. I, umm, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. You asked a question, and I answered, although I’m sure you weren’t expecting all that.”
“I wasn’t, but thank you for sharing. I’m sorry about your colleague.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you for listening.”
“How’s your hip?”
