A clear path. A Bennett path.
“My priorities have changed,” he said at last. “There’s…there’s someone.”
Eleanor studied him for a moment. "She must be something special."
Luke's throat felt tight.
She is,he thought.She's everything.
He wanted to drive her to school every morning and pick her up every afternoon. He wanted to fix the sagging porch railing on her house and repaint the shutters. He wanted to sit across from her at breakfast and listen to her talk about her students.
He wanted to be the man she called when she was scared.
The man she turned to when she was happy.
The man who got to stand beside her and be proud.
And if that meant the promotion didn't happen—if it meant his parents were disappointed, if it meant Mercer made jokes, if it meant the entire department thought he'd lost his mind?—
Luke didn't care.
He'd already lost the only thing that mattered.
And he was going to get her back.
Eleanor was still watching him, waiting for an answer.
"That seat's not mine to take," Luke said.
Luke looked out over the volunteers hauling folding tables. Someone untangling a string of lights with the focused patience of someone who'd done it a hundred times before.
Grace would be one of those people on Saturday. Just showing up and doing what needed doing because she loved this town more than it had ever loved her back.
He thought about the way parents talked about her at school pickup. The way her kids looked at her. He thought about the teachers' lounge, and Hannah's bakery, and every corner of Crystal Lake where Grace Hart had quietly, stubbornly built trust out of nothing.
"I've got a more important job right now," Luke said. His voice was certain.
Respect flickered across her face. “Good for you.”
Sitting on the town council wasn’t for him. But Grace Hart? She would be perfect in the role.
And if she wanted it—whenshe wanted it—he'd make sure it happened.
Luke glanced at his watch. Four hours until school let out.
He knew the building was secure. He knew there were protocols, cameras, locked doors. He’d reviewed the specs himself. And still, his mind kept circling back to the way she’d looked—shaken, furious, trying to pretend she wasn’t rattled.
He would have to teach her a few basics. Nothing extreme. Just enough to give her options.
Luke straightened, the restless energy easing just enough to let him breathe.
He had patrol to finish. Reports to file.
And then he had Grace to pick up.
The thought settled warm and certain in his chest.
Thatwas the job that mattered now.
