Page 4 of Call It Love (Sterling Mill #5)

His blunt words hit hard. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t close to the family. That was never good news to hear about anyone. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Cancer. She had a son, Jordan. He’s around fifteen. Needless to say, he took it pretty hard.”

I grimaced. Reid’s first wife died when their daughter, Lexi, was still a toddler. She didn’t have memories of her mother. But Jordan would.

“I get it. Anything I can do to help them?”

Reid hesitated. “He’s been placed with other family members.

But he’s been caught stealing from local stores.

The first time, his aunt and uncle paid the bill, and I let him off with a stern warning.

Apparently, it didn’t stick. I’ve received complaints from other store owners who caught him on camera stealing from them.

Yesterday, he was caught spray painting the school fence.

He was never in trouble before his mom died.

I think he’s just hurting and lashing out.

Add being placed in a new home, I don’t want to actually go through the process of arresting him and have something go on his record. ”

I agreed with him, but we still couldn’t have someone disrupt the community like that either.

“I’ve done some research on juvenile diversion programs,” Reid continued. “Basically, it’s an alternative to keep kids out of the legal system and teach them to respect their community. It’s often run by local law enforcement. So…”

“And you think this Jordan kid would benefit from something like that.”

“Bingo.”

“I didn’t know you had such a program.”

“Jordan would be the first.”

“It sounds great, Reid. But I don’t understand where I fit in.”

He hesitated, and suddenly, I had an inkling of what he might want.

“To be direct, I was wondering if he could do some work at Silver Creek Farm.”

To mimic Reid, Bingo .

“He’d get paid from a fund our department has through a grant we applied for to help struggling kids.

Then he’d take the money and pay back the stores and the community.

This wasn’t exactly how I was thinking of using the money first, but it’s the need I currently have.

” Reid sighed. “Look, I know it’s asking a lot, but I figured it’s good labor, and maybe he’ll learn something useful.

Or at least, burn off some energy so he’s nothing but too ass-tired to get into trouble.

He just needs some direction. A firm hand.

You were the first person I thought of. I really don’t want to call Juvenile Services. It won’t help the overall problem.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face and tried to process Reid’s request. He knew I always took on more help this time of year, but I wasn’t sure how much help a teenager, a young one at that, would be.

But I knew Reid wouldn’t ask if he didn’t think it might help.

I didn’t know Reid’s entire background, but Bristol, Reid’s wife, had shared just enough with me to know that someone had given Reid a second chance when he was young.

And he was one of the best guys I knew. What might have happened to him had someone not believed in him?

Sometimes, belief in someone was all it took.

Thunder rumbled nearby, and the odd feeling of something in the air raised the hair on the back of my head.

“I’ll do it,” I told Reid.

I could hear the relief in his voice when he said, “Thank you. If any issues turn up, be sure to let me know. I’ll present this option to him and his guardians and get back to you to work out the details.”

He signed off as another flash of lightning lit up my small office space for several seconds.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly just as my phone chimed again.

Em

Looks like I’ll be pulling extra dish duty ;)

I chuckled.

You should listen to your elders. Sometimes, those folks knew what they were doing long before modern technology

Outside, the storm gathered in intensity.

We rarely got storms like this until later in the summer, but some kind of front was coming through.

Normally, I loved thunderstorms, but tonight, it made me restless.

I shook my head and chalked it up to worrying about whether this storm would bring hail.

I didn’t want anything to happen to any of my plants.

I wandered out to the living room and built a fire, just in case the power went out, as it was prone to do higher up on the mountain.

After making some popcorn, I found a sitcom and settled in to watch it, hoping it would help me relax and throw off the odd vibe I felt.

I guessed it worked because a loud noise suddenly startled me awake.

It was dark in the room. A quick glance around the room proved the power was off.

The wind blew sheets of rain against the windows, and lightning streaked so frequently it reminded me of the strobe light above the dance floor at Ferg’s.

Booms of thunder vibrated the pictures on the walls.

With nothing else to do, I figured I might as well head to bed.

But then I heard another noise, something like a thud on my front porch, followed by a fast rap on the door.

Thinking one of my guys needed help, I hurried to open it.

I’d been right about some kind of change coming, some form of chaos about to happen.

Because, sure enough, someone unexpected stood in front of me, clothes soaked and rivulets of water streaming down pale cheeks.

If the storm outside was bad, it was nothing compared to the tempest of emotions that struck me now as my past, in the form of Anna Washington, stood at my door.