Page 37 of Promise Me, Katie (Bennett Sisters #1)

“The Copperwall wouldn’t make it withouteither of you,” Katherine said. “That’s why I plan to give both of you raises.”

As Zach breathed a sigh of relief, Beth Ann giggled nervously. “Really? I thought you were about to fire us.”

“Not a chance,” Katherine said with a reassuring smile. “I’ve actually been thinking about giving you raises for a while now. You guys have absolutely earned them. And I’m sorry I waited so long to do it. However, along with more pay, I’d also like to make you an offer I hope you can’t refuse.”

Beth Ann stopped smiling. “What does that mean?”

“It means that I’d like the two of you to run The Copperwall.”

“You’re leaving?” Zach blurt out.

“No, but I’ve been mulling over the idea of spending less time here. Since I know I can trust you, and you’re both so good at what you do, I wondered if you’d be interested in handling more of the day-to-day responsibilities. Of course, with a significant pay increase.”

Zach looked pleased at the prospect of running the kitchen while Beth Ann looked concerned.

“I don’t know if I can do it. Extra responsibilities here and there are one thing, but to do what you do six days a week, along with twelve-to-sixteen-hour workdays, I don’t think I could pull it off.”

“I agree,” Katherine added as Beth Ann’s expression changed from unsure to a scowl.

“Don’t you dare. That’s not what I meant.

You’re great at what you do, and I know you’ll continue to be.

But I also know it’s easy to drive yourself into the ground trying to keep up with this place. And that’s not what I’m asking for.”

“Then what are you asking for? What’s your plan?”

“My plan is to hire more people, let you guys lead the kitchen and dining room staff, and I’ll come in a couple days a week.”

“How many people are you hiring?”

“Enough to eventually expand business hours,” Katherine said, then turned to Zach. “If your friend is still looking for work as a line cook, I want you to call him today and offer him the job.”

“Really? Without an interview?”

“Why not? He’s got a solid work history, and it seems like he’s up for the challenge. The question is, are you willing to train him?”

“Absolutely!”

“Wait a minute,” Beth Ann interrupted. “We’re really doing this? Just like that?”

“I don’t see why not. We’ve all been at this long enough to know what it takes.

And right now, before summer starts, seems like the right time to adapt to a new schedule and train enough new staff to ease the burden.

I figure if we have the right people in place, maybe one day, you two can also take some time off for things like vacation, or a honeymoon, or maybe even maternity leave. ”

As their surprised faces colored a deep crimson, Katherine figured it probably felt a little forbidden for Zach and Beth Ann to talk with her about their future since they’d been hiding their relationship for so long.

“Look, what I’m trying to say is that I want The Copperwall to run like a real business with enough staff to allow all of us a life outside of here for whatever reason.”

“What will you do when you’re not here?” Zach asked.

“Well, I have a few things in mind, like working on a cookbook and possibly turning my love of gardening into another small business. But nothing’s been set in stone.”

Although she’d been considering all her options, the part Katherine wasn’t ready to share was her plan to free up enough time to become a wife and mother again.

“So? What do you think?”

Zach and Beth Ann looked at each other and smiled before Zach stretched out his hand to shake Katherine’s.

“I think you’ve got yourself a deal.”

** *

After Matthew and Justin left the diner, Justin turned the black and white police cruiser toward the north side of town and drove a few miles before calling dispatch.

“Meredith? This is Macomb, are you there?”

“Right here, Justin,” the female dispatcher responded. “What can I do for you?”

“Meredith, Officer Brandon, and I are headed north down Canyon Road, and with this buggered-up radio, we may be out of reach. Can you give our excuses to the Chief if he should come lookin’ for us in the next thirty minutes?”

“Will do!” she said cheerfully. “And I’ll write up another work order to have your radio looked at. I can’t figure out why that dang thing is always on the fritz. None of the others are.”

“I know, right?” Justin forced a laugh. “I guess technology is not always our friend.”

“Isn’t that the—”

Before Meredith could finish, Justin reached out and turned the radio off. Then he pulled the car to the side of the road, got out, and went to the trunk. He had it popped open and was digging around inside before Matthew caught up with him.

“What are you doing?”

Justin didn’t answer as he moved traffic cones, a crime scene kit, flares, and other police necessities out of the way.

Then he pulled back the edge of the carpet to reveal the spare tire and moved it aside.

Underneath was a small stack of manila folders, covered with enough dirt and oil smudges to let Matthew know they’d been there a while.

After putting things back as they’d been, Justin marched back to the driver’s side, slid into his seat, and slammed the door shut without saying a word, followed by Matthew hurrying back to the passenger side and climbing in alongside him.

“Are you gonna tell me what’s going on or not?”

Justin took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. There was a tension in him that Matthew hadn’t seen before.

“Let me start by saying that for years, I was convinced I’d never have to share this with another living soul. But I think if you’re planning to love Katherine for the rest of your days, you better know everything there is to know about the fire that took Max Chandler’s life.”

When Justin forced the manila folders into his hands, Matthew tried to hand them back, but Justin refused to take them. “Look, Katie will tell me everything I need to know when she’s ready.”

“No, she won’t.”

“Excuse me?!” Matthew raged with anger. “You don’t know her like I do. We trust each other. And she’ll be the one to tell me whatever I need to know and when I need to know it.”

“She can only tell you what she knows,” Justin said, pointing at the information in Matthew’s hands. “And that right there, she doesn’t know about.”

Matthew looked down at the stack on his lap and, for the first time, really saw what was written on the labels of each file folder.

Chandler, Maxwell Damian

Chandler, Addison Rebecca

Chandler Fire—Residence

Chandler Fire—Investigation Results

Chandler Fire—Witness Testimonies

“There’re things in those folders that only I know about.”

Matthew stared at them, wondering how only Justin knew about the details of each report. It should’ve been information available to the entire Windsong Police Department. Especially Katherine’s father.

“Those files there are the only ones like it,” Justin explained, having read the racing thoughts of his young partner. “They haven’t seen a single day of any filing cabinet in the entire station. Not even Jerome has seen those in their entirety.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re filled with sensitive information.”

As a flood of other questions came pouring out, Justin hurried, in what precious little time they had left, to answer as many as possible.

“Max wasn’t what you’d call a nice guy. He was well-liked in high school because he was good-looking and a football star who got a lot of opportunities to attend some pretty impressive colleges.

But for some reason, he passed it all up to stay here, marry his high school girlfriend, and be a cop like her dad. ”

“Katie?” Matthew’s stomach churned at the thought of anyone but him in her life.

“Yep. At first, we all thought he did it for Katherine. You know, like some romantic, grand gesture. But it didn’t take long to figure out that wasn’t the case.

He never could see that she was more than he deserved.

Or maybe he did, and somehow that pissed him off.

Maybe it’s why he treated her so damn bad. ”

As he listened, Matthew thought about Katie’s caring nature and kind heart. And wondered how arrogant and ignorant someone had to be to think she wasn’t enough.

“After Max joined the department, the Chief saw more of his true colors. From what he told me, I guess Max had a bad streak as a little boy, and it wasn’t until later he seemed to change for the better.

But it didn’t last, or maybe it was all a game to begin with.

Because either way, his attitude got worse after he came back from the Academy, and it wasn’t long before he started abusing his position in a dozen different ways. ”

“Like how?”

“Well, for starters, he had no respect for the job. He used his badge, uniform, and even one of the cruisers on his days off to pick up women. Hell, he was so stupid he even bragged about it to Kendall and Patrick. So, when the Chief got wind of what he’d been up to, he was furious.

Honest to God, I thought Jerome was gonna kill him for cheatin’ on Katherine.

Clearly, Max didn’t care if he ever got caught.

Even by the Chief himself. And I’m sure you can imagine how stupid that is. ”

“Did Jerome ever confront him?”

“He wanted to, but by the time he started hearin’ stories, he was already stuck between a rock and a hard place, with Katherine being pregnant and all.

Plus, Max started playin’ the doting husband and father-to-be in front of anyone who would buy it.

I guess Jerome wanted it to be real, but it turned out it wasn’t. ”

Matthew looked down at the folders in his lap.

“Katie told me that Max was with someone on the night of the fire, but she didn’t know who it was. Do you know?”

“Yep, and it’s worse than you can even imagine.

Max left a helluva mess behind,” Justin said with a heavy sigh.

“After the preliminary investigation, there were a lot of things left unanswered, so that’s when I was given what Jerome called a special assignment .

When you read those reports, you’ll understand. ”

Worried about what could be worse than anything he’d heard, Matthew took a deep breath before opening the Witness Testimonies folder. There, on top of a stack of papers, was the photograph of a young girl paper-clipped to the front page of a background check.

“Basically, my special assignment boiled down to finding out exactly what Max Chandler was up to and who he was up to it with.”

When Matthew pulled the picture from the paper clip to get an even better look at the girl’s face, he noticed the words CLEAN REPORT in big, bold letters across the top of the page before he looked back at the picture again.

“If you think your eyes are lyin’ to ya, they’re not.”

“But… this can’t be true.”

“Unfortunately, it is.”

Matthew shook his head. He couldn’t seem to make sense of it.

“And you’re one hundred percent sure about this?”

Justin nodded. “I didn’t want it to be true either, but it is. That file has plenty of evidence pointing directly to—”

“No. Don’t even say it.”

Justin must’ve understood the fear that was running through Matthew’s mind. “I promise you. Katherine is completely safe.”

“How can you say that?”

“Like I said, Katherine doesn’t know. And from what I could figure out, they didn’t know each other before the fire,” he said, pointing to the picture in Matthew’s hand. “She didn’t even live in Windsong until after Max died.”

“But how could this happen?” Matthew wanted to reason everything out, but his mind wouldn’t cooperate. “This can’t be true.”

“It’s true, man. The facts are the facts. And we got enough of those to prove it. Max Chandler was having an affair and playin’ house with her and his kid when Katherine was out of town. And on the night he died, he saved his girlfriend before his own child, and that is the woman he was with.”

“But why him? Why would she even—”

“Fall for a guy like him?” Justin asked. “She’s not a bad girl, Matthew. She just got caught up in the lies of a bad dude. If you think about it, she’s really no different than Katherine.”

“Bullshit,” Matthew snapped. “How can you compare the two?”

“I get it, man. You’re pissed off,” Justin conceded. “After I found out, I felt the same thing you’re feelin’. Honestly, I think she’s here to look out for Katherine. Maybe even try to fix what happened.”

“No one can fix what happened to Katie. That fire destroyed her life.”

“Don’t you think I know that?”

When Justin snapped back at him, Matthew could see the years of frustration and turmoil boil to the surface. There had never been a reason for his partner to tell anyone other than the Chief who else was inside Gideon and Ruth Chandler’s house on the night of the fire. But now there was.

“I’m sorry, man. This ain’t easy for me either. I’ve grown to like this girl. But it’s true. Before he saved his child, Max Chandler saved the life of his secret girlfriend. And that girlfriend was Beth Ann Lucas.”