“You wouldn’t be—”
Jensen was cut off by her mother putting an arm around her shoulders. My heart clenched. “Hey there, baby girl. I finally met Miss Taylor here.”
Jensen slipped an arm around her mother’s waist. It was an effortless gesture that spoke of years of comfort and love. Tears stung the backs of my eyes. “Good. I was just telling her that she could use our pool to swim laps.”
Sarah’s face brightened. “Oh, yes, please do. We put that thing in a few years ago for Noah, but it hardly gets any use. Come over anytime. It’d do my heart good to see someone enjoying it.”
I twisted the ring on my right hand. I really didn’t want to give anyone the chance to initiate curious conversation, but I worried I’d go crazy if I couldn’t swim. I could try the lake, but I wasn’t exactly keen on communing with the fishies while I tired myself out. I gave in. “Thank you. I think I’ll take you up on that. Do you want me to call you before I come over?”
Sarah waved a hand in front of her face. “Oh, no, that’s not necessary. People are constantly in and out and around the ranch house. Just come on over whenever you like. And we’d love to have you to dinner once you’re settled.”
I gave a noncommittal, “Thank you.” I didn’t want to answer the inevitable questions that were always asked. I didn’t want to see the looks of pity. I didn’t want to talk about any of it. Working here, the shop was busy enough that I doubted there would be time for any in-depth conversations, but a family dinner was a whole different ballgame.
I made a show of glancing at the clock on the wall. “Well, I better get going, finish my run.”
“She ran all the way here from the cabin,” Sarah told Jensen.
Jensen’s brows rose. “Whoa. You aren’t messing around.”
I gave another shrug. “I like to run.”
Sarah shook her head as if perplexed. “Just be careful on your way back. You have Jensen’s number if you need anything, right?”
“I do. Thanks for everything.”
“You’re very welcome. Hope to see you for dinner soon.”
Noah saved me by shouting from behind the bakery case. “Bye, Tay Tay!”
Jensen whirled. “Noah Nolan Cole, you better not be stealing treats out of there.”
With that, I made my escape.
7
Walker
Cool air rushed over me as I pulled open the door to the station, the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting out.
“Good morning, Walker,” a soft voice called from behind the reception desk. Ashlee Elkins was as sweet as apple pie and as shy as a groundhog during a particularly long winter.
“Morning, Ashlee.”
“I have your cup of coffee,” she said, a blush staining her cheeks.
She also had what I was pretty sure was a massive crush on me. I gave her a kind smile. I didn’t want to encourage it, but I also didn’t want to be an asshole. It wasn’t that she wasn’t pretty, she was. In a sundress-wearing, church-every-Sunday kind of way. But she’d forever been like a little sister to me. It was just a no-go. I would never see her that way. Plus, her brother had recently started dating my sister, and that felt incestuous. “I told you, you don’t have to make my coffee.”
Her blush deepened. “I don’t mind.”
I dipped my chin. “Well, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Also, the chief wanted a word when you got in.”
I nodded, taking the mug from her hand and heading towards Clark’s office. I rapped twice on the door. “Come in.”
I entered the room. “You wanted to see me, Chief?”
“Morning, Walker.” Clark Adams was a great Chief of Police for Sutter Lake, but as he got closer to retirement, he’d begun grooming me to take over the role. “Grab a seat.”
I sank into a chair opposite him and took a sip of my coffee. Just as I liked it. Black, one sugar.
Clark placed a stack of papers on his desk and gave me a careful look that put me on edge. “We’ve got a missing hiker out there.” He gestured at a map, indicating the miles of national forest that surrounded our town. “A girl from Seattle.”
Straightening, I placed my mug on the desk. A lead weight settled in my gut, reminding me of another missing girl all those years ago. I told myself that this was different, just a hiker lost in the woods. We’d find this girl. And she’d be alive. “Search and rescue been called?”
“They’ve been put on alert, but the search area is large. The young woman’s parents don’t know exactly where she was going hiking. Just some trail near Sutter Lake.”
“Hiking alone?”
“Yup.”
I groaned. When would these people learn? You never hiked alone, and you always told someone where you were going and when to expect you back.
Clark rubbed a hand over his jaw. “There’s not a lot we can do at the moment, but I wanted to make you aware of the situation.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Of course.” Clark continued to hold my gaze. Searching. Sending the same silent apology he always did whenever there was a case that hit too close to home.
Almost a decade had passed since the spring I’d lost Julie. Since she was taken from me. I still held out hope that a clue would appear or a witness would come forward. I went through the case file every year on the anniversary of her death, hoping that something would jump out at me that I hadn’t noticed before. It never did.
And it wasn’t for Clark’s lack of trying either. He’d done everything he could to find answers. To get justice for Julie. He hadn’t been able to. What Clark had done was light a fire in me to become a cop. He’d encouraged me every step of the way. “Take that anger and turn it into something productive,” he’d said. So, I had.
I shook myself from the memories pressing down on me and pushed from the chair. “I have some paperwork to wrap up, but let me know if there’s anything I can do.”