Softly, I say, “the knock woke me up. I saw them outside through the little window in the door and opened it.”
The night was so cold and crisp. Really strange for the summer. I was sleeping in a pair of short shorts and a tank top and the cool air washed over me as soon as I opened it. The blue and red lights on the cruiser washed over the pair of cops outside and I can still see the sympathy in their eyes.
And I knew.
“I’m sorry, Fee. That’s terrible.”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Yeah it was.”
CHAPTER 4
Monroe
Fee dozes off and I’m finally able to do what I’ve been wanting to do for hours. Drink in the look of her. The soft golden blond hair that flows like a river of gold to her shoulders, a little tousled in her sleep, her pale lashes lie against her cheeks that are flushed in sleep. Her full lips are parted with light breaths.
Sighing, I lean my head back against the wall, running my palm down my face. This has been one long day. One incredibly, wonderfully long day.
It started out as a trial to try and help my dad. Now I was starting to wonder if there wasn’t something else here for me.
I eye the building, wondering if there’s any way that we can improve it.
But really, for dad there’s nothing that he wants more than to have the whole building to himself. I can broach it with Fee I guess. But I don’t think it’s going to happen.
And watching her sleep, I don’t think I want it to happen. She’s so damn pretty and sweet. I’ve never been this close to any Murphy and it’s…well, it’s something special.
My phone rings on the other side of the wall and I groan, my head falling back. I’m sure that’s dad wondering where thehell I am. I’m also sure that when I don’t answer he’s gonna call someone.
Hopefully we’ll be out of here soon. But he’s gonna be livid that I’ve already fucked up.
Our relationship is strained. It always has been. He doesn’t think anything I do is right. Hell, he doesn’t think that anything either of us, my brother and I, do is right. He’s always been that way. That’s why we left as soon as we could.
My younger brother is still pissed at me that I left him all alone here with dad. He barely talks to me and inevitably when we do it ends in a fight. He hasn’t been to see me or dad in forever.
Closing my eyes, I huff out a breath and rub my leg. Fucker hurts so damn bad tonight. It has been a long day.
I can’t believe the way my life is going. I can’t believe that I’ve come back here to my hometown because my career is gone.
They offered me a desk job when the doctor wouldn’t release me for regular duty. Not that I begrudge the doctor. He wasn’t going to lie and mess his own life up. And my leg is too fucked up to do my job anymore.
But there’s no way in hell I want to be chained to a desk for the rest of my career.
I’ve been with the department for twenty years and retired with a disability. So I have an income and if I live frugally, I don’t really need to work. But when dad called it was like a new beginning.
Not with him I guess. The man hasn’t changed a bit. But with my hometown. As soon as I got out of my car, the feelings welled up in me.
I missed it. Storyville has changed some since I left. It’s a little bit bigger. A little busier.
But it’s still home.
My phone starts ringing again and this time it stops after four times so I know he’s losing patience.
Tapping the floor, I turn to Fiona. “Hey, Fiona.” She opens her pretty, changeable eyes and smiles a little. My breath catches in my throat. “Do you want to go walk in the park tomorrow during lunch?”
Her head cocks to the side and then she smiles. “I think I’d like that.”
“Okay. But can I ask you one thing…will you please make sure that you don’t tell anybody. At least for a little while.”
“Afraid of your dad?” She says softly.
