Page 29 of Making Home with You

“I…”

I shake my head.“Just go, Carla,” I say, pointing at my door.“Officer Corcoran will contact you if he has any updates.”

Carla stares at me, her mouth open as though she isn’t sure what to make of my sudden outburst.To be honest, neither am I.It’s probably the most unprofessional I’ve ever been in my entire career, but regardless, it needed to be said.

It’s one thing for her to stick her nose into my business, that I can mostly handle.But when she starts bringing Sarah into the equation, I won’t tolerate it.

“Goodbye,” I say, steering her toward the door.Carla wordlessly walks out and I exhale as I close my office door behind her, knowing there’s a good chance most of the station overheard that whole conversation, which I fear is only going to add to my problems.

Walking back to my desk, I pull out my phone, hitting redial as I sit down.Sarah picks up on the third ring.

“Hey,” she says, the sound of her voice instantly making me feel better.

“Hi,” I reply.“Sorry I missed your call, was dealing with a work thing.”

“No worries,” she says.“I hope I’m not disturbing you?”

I exhale, scrubbing a hand down my face.“Not at all.”

“Is everything okay?”she asks, concern in her voice.“You sound distracted or something.”

I take a deep breath, wondering if telling Sarah about my morning is a good idea.“Yeah I’m fine,” I say, knowing she doesn’t need to be burdened with this shit.“Just the usual bullshit of living in a small town.”

“Ugh, trust me,” Sarah replies.“I know all about that.”

I chuckle at her tone.“Guess that’ll change when you move to Boston,” I say, even as a part of me hopes that doesn’t happen.Even though it’s not far, I know it would still make things between us difficult.I saw it with Ryan and Erin, and I know it would be the same with us, especially with my job.

But at the same time, I can’t ask her to stay.I know how important this job is to her, how hard she’s worked to get to this point.

Besides, why the hell would she want to finally escape her own small town, just to trade it for another?

“Yeah,” Sarah says, her voice sounding strange.“Anyway, the reason I called,” she continues, “is I’m about to head back to Erin and Ryan’s, but I wanted to know if you had dinner plans tonight?”

“No,” I say.“Although I’m hoping I can see you tonight.”

Sarah laughs and I can’t help but smile.“Well,” she says.“I was wondering if I could take you out?”she continues.“A night on the town now that we don’t have to hide what we’re doing.”

I chuckle.“A night on the town?”I ask.“In this place?”

“Yeah,” she says.“Why not?Be nice to get the official tour now that I’ll be spending a lot more time here.”

“Really?”I ask, forcing myself not to get too excited.

“Really,” Sarah repeats.

“But what about Boston?”I ask, confused.

“Well,” she says, pausing as though she’s considering her words.“I thought I might take Erin’s advice and commute for a bit,” she says.“Make sure I really like the job before I consider permanently moving there.”

“Makes sense,” I say.

“And,” she continues, almost sounding embarrassed.“I kinda have a good reason to hang around here, too.”

I smile.“Oh, you do, huh?”I ask.“And what would that be?”

Sarah giggles and it’s adorable.“Oh, you know,” she says, teasingly.“Some gorgeous police chief I’m hooking up with.”

Now it’s me who’s laughing.“Well, if that’s what’s keeping you around,” I say.“Best you be at my place tonight.”