Luke would have taken offense if his buddy wasn’t on to the basic needs of a man in a small town. “Won’t Mel worry?”
Wyatt shook his head. “If she thinks that’s who I am, then rings wouldn’t be on the table of discussion.”
Luke knew his friend was right. Mel took some time to trust, but when she did, she did with her whole heart. Besides, Wyatt wasn’t that kind of guy.
“So we drive up Saturday, drive back Sunday?”
“If you find yourself busy Sunday, I’ll bring the new car back without you,” Wyatt said.
Sounded like a plan.
Luke slid back under the Jeep with a tiny lift in his chest after Wyatt left. Something to look forward to other than the underside of a car and the same dozen streets of the town he’d called home since he was born. He hadn’t had a serious relationship in town since Zoe . . . and that had been eleven years ago. He had the occasional hookup, but most of the time he left town for that. Nikka had scratched his itch in Eugene for a few years . . . nothing serious. It helped that she was a little older and didn’t look at him as anything but a bed warmer. The arrangement worked for both of them.
But it got old and Nikka had eventually moved on.
An out of town anything was way past due. Maybe he should convince Wyatt to take a weekend in Vegas for a bachelor party.
Yeah . . . that sounded good.
Vegas weekend.
Lots of women in Vegas.
When he pictured the women, he thought of long legs, thick dark hair . . . full, lush lips.
He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed Zoe from his head.
Luke took his frustration out on a stubborn cap holding Jo’s oil inside the engine. Only testosterone had a strange ability of giving strength that wasn’t there a few seconds before.
The taste of motor oil never was something he’d learned to like.
He pushed away and managed to grab a nearby bucket to capture what his face hadn’t. His father took that moment to kneel down and peer under the Jeep.
“Don’t say it,” Luke warned.
His father simply started laughing until the deep rumble walked out of the garage and into the office.
“I need to get laid,” Luke whispered to himself.
“I need your help.”
“Need me to arrest someone for you?”
Zoe once again cradled the phone to her ear. This time she was outside a coffee shop, her tablet open as she searched the Internet.
“Nothing like that. You told me last winter you were in need of a vacation.”
Jo chuckled before she spoke. “What’s a vacation?”
“That thing you do every once in a while to take a break from that thing you do to earn a living.”
“What does me leaving my post have to do with helping you out?”
“I’m buying a house.”
“Yeah, Mel said something about that. That’s exciting.”
“And I can’t decide. Is it too big, is it too small? Wrong neighborhood? I don’t want to mess this up. It’s a big step. I’d feel a lot better if someone I know and trust was here helping me narrow down my search.”
“You want me to come to Texas to help you house search?”
“Yeah. I know it’s short notice . . . but there are several great options that are having open houses over the weekend.”
“This weekend?”
“Don’t sound shocked. If I’d asked you to plan a week away a month from now, you’d come up with an excuse.” Zoe paused and waited for Jo to deny her claim.
She didn’t.
“I could use a weekend away. Just make sure we have time to . . . play.”
Zoe smiled into the phone. “You mean hook up?”
“God, yes.”
Zoe laughed. “I’ll plan a long weekend.”
“I can cut out early Friday and take the late shift on Monday.”
“Like anything happens in that town on a Monday night.”
“Hey,” Jo almost shouted. “You’d be surprised.”
“You’re right. I would. So Friday . . . text me your flight plans.”
Zoe disconnected the call, opened up the calendar on her tablet, and blocked out the weekend using Jo’s name. Because Zoe knew her friend would still have her cell phone in her hand, she sent a final command via text. Leave your gun and badge at home.
Zoe waited for the snarky friend inside the cop to show up. The dot, dot, dot on the screen proved her rebel friend was still in there somewhere.
Fine, but I’m bringing my handcuffs.
Instead of delivering the news to Jo with a phone call, Luke washed up and walked through the town to the station, where he was sure he’d find her.
The town sheriff didn’t leave the station midday unless the weather socked in hard, making driving conditions on the outside of town dangerous. There wasn’t a need to patrol River Bend all that often. While Jo made some effort to vary her routine, she’d fallen into the same patterns as her old man all those years ago. A drive through town in the morning . . . again around happy hour, if you could call the group of yahoos that went to R&B’s after four the happy hour crowd . . . and another stroll after dark. Summers varied a little more due to the teenage population scoring liquor and playing a little too hard. They too knew Sheriff Ward’s routine and avoided her wrath. Or maybe Jo looked the other way so long as no one got hurt or attempted to drive.
Luke pushed through the door to the station and greeted the longtime clerk. “Hey, Glynis. She in?” He nodded toward the back office.
“Does she have somewhere else she needs to be?”
He chuckled and moved behind the desk before briefly knocking on Jo’s door and letting himself in.
Jo was standing over a filing cabinet, a stack of papers in her hand. “Hey,” Luke said, capturing her attention.
“Oh, hi.” She seemed surprised to see him. A little nervous even.
“How is your busy crime-fighting day?” He laughed at his own joke and took a seat.
“Don’t jinx me. I’m trying to get out of town.” Jo actually winced as she said the words.
“You, out of town? As in a vacation?”
She shrugged. “I guess you can call it that.”
She didn’t elaborate.
In fact . . . she turned back to the cabinet and started searching through her files.
“Where ya going?”
“Uhhh . . . Texas.” She pulled some papers and nudged the drawer shut without making eye contact.
Texas. He understood the strange affect of his friend. “How is Zoe?”
“Good. She’s good.” She took a hasty seat and put on a fake smile. “How is my Jeep?”
Luke rolled with her change in subject. “It needs a new starter. I ordered it, but it won’t be here until Saturday.”
“That bites. I’m flying out on Friday.”
“Why does that bite if you won’t need your car?”
“Need to get to the airport. I’m not taking a squad car and leaving it there.”
“I can give you a ride.”
Jo took a moment to stare at him before saying, “You ride a motorcycle and drive the occasional tow truck.”
“I can take my dad’s truck.”
“It’s okay. I don’t want to put you out.”
No, she didn’t want to have him hyperaware that she was visiting Zoe. The whole town seemed to think he was a walking nerve when it came to his high school flame.