“Good morning,” Chief Taylor said. “Miss McCray, I presume?”
“Yes, from the Haggerston Chronicle,” Sofia replied with a quick smile, mentally preparing herself for her assignment. She’d only started at the Chronicle a couple of weeks ago after returning to Haggerston, and this assignment meant that her editor was taking her seriously—for now. She wanted to keep it that way.
“Let me introduce you to the officer you’ll be riding along with.” He gestured to the chair in front of the large desk.
A tall officer, dark and rugged, sat with his arms crossed over his broad chest. His dark hair was cropped short, his blue uniform setting off his obsidian eyes. He cocked his head to one side as her gaze lit on him, and a small smile turned up one corner of his mouth. Her heart thumped hard and then seemed to stop in her chest. He needed no introduction—this was Benjamin Blake.
“You’re late,” Ben said, glancing at his watch. “Eight oh five.”
She’d heard that he’d become a cop, but she’d had a hard time imagining her high school “bad boy” boyfriend in law enforcement. Looking at him in full uniform, his dark eyes fixed on her almost teasingly, she found herself tongue-tied.
She had some explaining to do, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.
“Officer Blake says that he knows you already,” Chief Taylor said. “So that should make working together for the next two weeks easier. We appreciate you being here, Miss McCray. Our new community watch program could use the publicity.”
She finally found her voice. “Yes, absolutely.”
“I just need you to sign a few papers.” Chief Taylor passed her a clipboard with forms attached. Sofia took it numbly.
“Couple of days, I thought,” Ben said to the police chief, and she glanced up from the papers.
“Or so...” the chief replied noncommittally. She didn’t miss the tension that rippled along Ben’s jawline and realized he wasn’t looking forward to this, either.
She scratched her signature across the bottom line, and when the police chief flipped to the next page, she did the same once more. Sofia attempted to keep her expression neutral, her eyes moving over the forms without absorbing any of the information.
“In case you get shot,” Ben offered helpfully, nodding at the forms. Humor flickered at the corners of his lips, and for a split second, she saw the teenager in him again. His gaze held hers for longer than necessary, and her breath caught in her throat. She forced her eyes back down to the page, heat rising in her cheeks.
“Just accepting that a ride-along has risks,” the chief said cheerfully. “And that you won’t sue us if anything should happen.” He took the clipboard from her and turned away. “Officer Blake is one of the leading officers in this program. We’re focusing on domestic violence, child endangerment and driving under the influence. We have bigger problems here in Haggerston than most people realize.”
“Yes, I was briefed on that,” she said. “I’m glad to be a part of getting the word out.”
“Do you have any questions before you leave?” Chief Taylor asked.
“Not at the moment,” she admitted. She was still too distracted by Ben’s unexpected presence to think of much else.
“Well, I’m sure Officer Blake can fill you in when questions arise,” he said with a smile as he turned away. “Have a good day, you two.”
Ben pushed himself up from the chair where he’d been reclining and gestured for her to leave the office ahead of him. The door closed behind them, the din of the bull pen enveloping her. Sofia looked up at Ben, noting the subtle way his face had changed over the years. He had lines around his eyes now. His jaw was clean shaven—a change from the constant five o’clock shadow he used to sport. He still had those piercing dark eyes with long lashes, but he’d lost that familiar scent of leather jacket and cheap cologne. He was a man now, his teen years left solidly behind him. He seemed to sense her scrutiny, because he glanced down at her.
“It’s been a long time,” he said, his tone low enough for her ears alone as they made their way around the desks and toward the front door.
“Yes. Nine years.” Nine years was a long time to carry a secret. She’d come back to Haggerston knowing that she’d have to reveal it sooner or later, but it wasn’t going to be easy.
“Something like that.” He nodded at another officer, and she felt the warmth of his hand touch the small of her back as he guided her past some desks. “How long have you been back in town?”
“Two weeks.” They emerged past the front desk and pushed open the front door, stepping out into the cool spring air.
“So, what brought you back after all this time?” Ben asked.
She wished she had a flippant reply for that question, but she didn’t. She felt her smile fade.
“My dad has cancer,” she said, her voice low. “I’m here to help him through his treatment.”
That was an understatement. She was also here to try and rebuild a relationship with her father after all these years. When her parents split up that summer that she graduated, she’d done what all the counselors advised against—she’d chosen sides. Now that her father was facing cancer, she knew that she had a lot to make up for to him, as well. He’d met his grandson for the first time two weeks ago, and she truly wished she hadn’t left it so long. This homecoming wasn’t a victorious one by any stretch.
“I’m sorry, I had no idea.” He reached toward her, but just before touching her arm, he pulled back.
“It’s okay. We aren’t really advertising it. Dad doesn’t want anyone to treat him like he’s sick.” She touched the tingling place on her arm where he’d nearly touched her.
Ben nodded slowly. “I get that.”
This was not going to be easy working with Ben. She’d thought she’d put all those butterflies behind her. She was a grown woman with responsibilities, for crying out loud, and she was smarter this time. Wiser. Older. Why couldn’t that be enough? She stopped and turned around to face him. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“What, us working together?” he asked.
“Exactly. We have a bit of a history—”
“I tried getting out of it,” he interrupted. “It was no use.”
“Oh.” He’d tried getting out of it? Somehow, she thought she’d be the one with more reservations, but perhaps she was wrong about that. Benji had been her first love—the bad boy with the motorcycle who swept her off her feet, much to her parents’ chagrin. And she’d loved him passionately until he dumped her and she left town with her mother—pregnant. She’d never told him about her pregnancy or her plans to leave, and while the guilt of that laid heavily on her shoulders, she’d honestly thought she was doing him a favor.
“I know this is complicated...” she began.
“Yeah, a bit.”
He angled his steps toward the parking lot, and she had to quicken her pace to keep up. Was he actually annoyed with her? It hardly seemed as though he had any right. She’d been the one unceremoniously dumped on the night of her prom. They’d been just about to go inside when she’d asked him the question that had been plaguing her for weeks: How would they stay together when she went off to college? It was a reasonable question, considering that Benji hadn’t finished all the classes he needed to graduate that year, so he’d be staying behind. Somehow, that had turned into an argument that ended with Benji telling her that they’d never last anyway, and he’d driven off on his motorcycle, leaving her in the parking lot with a corsage and a broken heart.
“It looks like things have turned out well