“I’m fine.What about you?”
He nodded and wiped the side of his mouth with the back of his hand.
A silence settled between them as they regarded each other.
Unsure, she lifted her hand, her fingertips lightly brushing the hair from his temple, and explored the darkening bruise.
Cole’s smoldering gaze ran over her face, and their eyes locked.His look was gentle yet intense, and Lesley felt weak, as if her knees were about to give out on her.
A gentle smile touched his mouth.“Four karate lessons and you come at him with a broom?”
“I took the first thing that came to mind.”There was a breathlessness to her response.“I didn’t want you hurt because of Dale.”
“Your friends?”His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Not likely.”She shook her head self-consciously and looked away.“I went out with Dale a couple of times, but that was it.”
Another car could be heard approaching, and simultaneously they turned to see who was coming.The police patrol car could be seen coming up the hill toward them.
“I called,” Lesley supplied.“I didn’t know what else to do.”Was she imagining things, or did Cole tense and take a step in retreat?
“I don’t want to become involved.”His eyes seemed to bore into hers.“Agreed?”
Numbly, Lesley nodded.Not become involved.But he already was.What he wanted was to avoid any contact with the police.But why?
By the time the two uniformed officers had parked their vehicle and approached her, Cole was inside the duplex, door closed and lights off.She cast one fleeting glance toward him, then turned her attention to the policemen.
The first one tipped his hat back with the end of his pencil.“Seems like you carry a mean broom, lady.”
“Yes.”Lesley swallowed tightly.“These two are drunk and disorderly.”
The second officer picked up an empty beer can beside the car.“I think we get the picture.Looks like their car may have ruined a portion of your yard.”
“Are you going to arrest them?”
“Looks that way.Any qualms?”
“None.”Lesley’s hand clenched the broom handle.“Throw the book at them.”
“You’ll need to answer a few questions.”
The first officer returned to the police car and picked up the microphone to his radio.
“Would you mind coming down to the station and answering a few questions?”be asked, surveying the two men, who were sitting up.Dale was rubbing the side of his jaw and looked around confused.Frank was out cold.
“No,” she agreed meekly, “I don’t mind at all.Let me change and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“This one says a man slugged him.”The officer glanced at Lesley.
“Ask him about ghosts and goblins—he probably saw those too,” Lesley supplied.She wouldn’t lie outright, but she owed Cole a debt of appreciation.“I’ll be right back, Officer.”
After an hour and a half at the police station, Lesley parked her car in the driveway to her apartment.Halloween wasn’t a holiday she’d soon forget if as much happened to her every year.She felt bone-weary.It seemed that in the space of a few hours more had happened in her life than the past twenty years.
When her car door slammed, Cole came out of his duplex.His tall figure filled the open doorway, silhouetted by the light.“Everything go okay?”
“Fine.”She wiped a hand across her face and sighed.“Frank and Dale are sleeping it off in the drunk tank.”At his concerned look she added, “Neither one of them even showed signs of a struggle.I think you got the worse end of that deal.”The bruise on his face looked angry and she squelched feelings of guilt.“Would...Would you like a cup of cocoa?”She wasn’t sure why she issued the invitation.Tonight he had made her angrier than anyone or anything and only a short time later had rescued her from what could have been a nasty scene.The invitation was a way of extending her hand in friendship, her way of saying “Let bygones be bygones.”
Cole hesitated, and Lesley tensed.He knew what she was saying.Now she almost regretted having asked.“Look, I didn’t ask for your hand in marriage.A decision shouldn’t be that difficult.”
