Page 43 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 2

DECLAN

When I got to the office after dropping Finn off in town, I was whisked right into one situation after another.

Mrs. Brainthwaite’s car had been stolen again, only this time she had the video doorbell.

After figuring out how to retrieve the footage, we saw it was Mrs. Brainthwaite herself who’d driven off in the vehicle before being dropped back home an hour later by her sister.

We contacted Alicia to ask how she’d come to bring her sister home and discovered Mrs. Brainthwaite had been turning up at Alicia’s house mysteriously from time to time with no recollection of how she’d gotten there.

Alicia lived within easy walking distance of all the locations the car had been abandoned in.

Unfortunately, Alicia was now tasked with making sure Mrs. Brainthwaite got the proper medical assessments, and I was tasked with recommending she voluntarily give up her driving license until and unless a doctor could approve her mental clarity.

It was a sad situation all around, but I was glad to at least not have to interrogate Solo’s friends.

I hadn’t wanted to believe any of them would have used possible information from Solo’s job running errands to take advantage of the older woman, but I’d been at my wit’s end on finding the answer to the abandoned car mystery.

With that solved, I moved on to scheduling some additional training for Rolly and putting in a request for an additional part-time deputy now that tourism was picking back up in Aster Valley.

Crime hadn’t increased at all, but other needs were.

Patrol requests, motor vehicle incidents, noise and disorderly complaints, and trespass violations were up.

We needed a part-timer now, and we’d need to add a couple more full-timers as soon as the ski resort opened.

I made a note to contact Tiller and Mikey to discuss their plans.

The day went by in a blink the way it usually did. This job kept me on my toes, and I loved that part of it. Shawn came in for a late shift with a goofy grin on his face and confessed to having real feelings for Tessa. He poked his head in my office to say hello and told me he’d had lunch with her.

“I’m going on that annual fishing trip I told you about with my dad and my brother tomorrow, and I think I’m going to tell them about her. I know it’s quick, though. I don’t want to freak her out or anything, but she’s like… god, Declan. She’s everything. You know?”

“She’s pretty great,” I admitted, spotting the woman herself over his shoulder.

He must not have realized she was coming to take me to dinner.

“And I think she’d appreciate hearing you say so.

She’s going through a scary time right now and can use all the support she can get.

” I shot her a wink, but Shawn must not have noticed.

His grin dropped, and his face became serious.

“I’m here for all of it. If she’ll let me.

The baby and everything. I’m serious, Declan.

This isn’t just a fling for me. I’ve had girlfriends before, and I never felt a fraction for them the way I feel for Tessa.

I want to make her happy. Whatever it takes.

And… I’m not in a hurry. I don’t want to rush her or pressure her right now.

I just want to be there for her. I… I really care about her. ”

Oh shit.

The tears came right on cue. It was the first big sniffle that clued Shawn in to his inadvertent eavesdropper.

His face dropped. “Baby, hell. Oh hell, I didn’t mean… Come here.” He held her in a tight hug and ran his hand over her hair, making sweet shushing noises and rocking her gently.

“I should have said those things to you.” He chastised himself quietly into her hair.

I stood up and walked over to the pair of them before nudging them both into my office and closing the door to give them privacy.

Then I caught Penny’s eye across the office.

Her hand was on her heart, and she had a Kleenex under her eye.

I laughed. “There you go. An office romance and you didn’t even have to work for it.”

Finn had texted around lunchtime that he’d agreed to do the night climbing scene after all. He’d arranged for an experienced climbing instructor from over in Steamboat Springs to be on set for it to help oversee the safety issues, and I got the feeling he was paying for it out of his own pocket.

I tried not to spend too much time thinking about it or I’d need to get back in my office for the bottle of antacids in my desk.

Instead, I’d decided to reach out to Mikey, who reached out to Sam and Truman, who reached out to Winter and Gent, to see if they wanted to grab a beer somewhere. Julian was still in town, so he joined us at Pie Hole.

The first thing Truman said when I sat down was, “Tell me everything. Oh my god he’s so stinking cute. Don’t you think? Those freckles.” He clasped his hands in front of his chest and sighed. Truman’s blond, bearded boyfriend blinked at him.

“Do we need to give you a private moment?”

Truman laughed and leaned over to kiss the edge of Sam’s jaw. It wasn’t until his lips were on his big boyfriend that Truman’s ears turned pink.

“There’s only one man for me, big guy. Especially if that man knows how to hang closet shelving.”

Sam broke out in a laugh, trying not to spit out his beer. “Fine. Alright. Enough. I’ll do it tomorrow, I swear.”

Truman looked over at me with a grin. “The cobbler’s family has no shoes, or in our case the contractor’s partner has no handyman around the house.”

Mikey broke in. “Sorry, that’s our fault. We’re keeping him too busy with resort business.”

Julian nodded like Mikey was doing the same to him.

Truman agreed. “That’s true. But I know he’s loving every minute of it. Aren’t you, babe?” He turned an expectant expression on Sam, who gave a satisfied nod and stretched his arm around Truman’s smaller form.

“I never knew I could work outside all day in the height of summer and not think I was on the verge of heatstroke. Aster Valley summers beat Houston ones, hands down.”

I pictured Sam sweaty and shirtless on a Houston summer jobsite.

That wasn’t a bad image, but my brain quickly replaced Sam on urban scaffolding with Finn on a rock face, shirtless and sweaty.

His muscles stretched and bunched as he reached for the next handhold or toe hold.

The rope harness cupped his junk, and his ass and veins were visible on his forearms.

“… homicide. I just can’t decide if I want to kill him slowly with a boning knife or quick-like with a semi-automatic.”

My attention snapped to Mikey, who was looking at me with mischief in his eyes. “What the fuck?” I asked. “Who are we killing?”

The table of guys all broke into laughter at my expense. Mikey pointed to me and called me out for zoning out during the conversation. “Dude, it’s nice to know when the convo around you turned to premeditated murder, your ears at least did you a solid.”

Truman stopped giggling long enough to add, “And I love the use of the word ‘we.’ No matter what nefarious plans were afoot, our intrepid sheriff was all in.”

Even Sam, who normally kept his emotions fairly close to the vest, was laughing his head off.

I took a deep breath and let myself join them.

It felt good to be out with friends. It felt good to be off duty and drinking beer with men I enjoyed and admired.

I took a moment to appreciate what I’d gained when I’d made the decision to leave LA.

These men were my community. They cared about me, and the feeling was mutual.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I said to Mikey when the laughter died down. “Who are we killing?”

“Whoever it is that has stolen our precious friend’s attention,” he said, watching me carefully for a reaction. “You going to tell us what’s going on? I left town for like a week, and I came back to Sheriff MoonyEyes.”

“Sheriff Gettin’ Some,” Julian mumbled into his copper mule mug. If I wasn’t mistaken, this was his third. He’d already sucked down a couple of them in the time it took us to order our food. I hadn’t even known the pizza place offered more than beer and wine.

I felt my face ignite and tried to hide it behind a sip of cold beer. “I’m, ah… seeing someone.”

Truman looked positively bubbly with excitement. “Someone famous ?”

Winter shot a wink at his celebrity husband. “Famous people are the best.”

“Someone you swore off as a prima donna the last time we were together?” Mikey teased, ignoring Winter and Gent’s quick kiss. “I believe you were going to steer clear of anyone even associated with Gold Rats .”

“Not all Gold Rats are bad,” I admitted with a smile. “Some of them are very, very good.”

Julian muttered, “At least you have a rat. I don’t have anything. The love of my life is marrying someone else, and fucking Christ, I need another drink.”

Mikey reached out to rub Julian’s shoulder. “We’re going to hatch a plan. I told you. Sam has helped me strategize my way through many a love challenge. He even helped me land a pro football player. He can help you land a measly ski instructor.”

“I don’t want to land Parker. It’s too late. Besides. Straight. Remember?”

Sam squinted at him. “Isn’t Parker the one Tiller kissed in high school? Or am I remembering that wrong?”

From the look on Mikey’s face, Sam had just spilled beans that had been locked up tight. Julian stared at him. “What?”

Mikey kicked Sam under the table, and Sam put on the fakest smile ever. “Ha! Just kidding! I think… I think that guy’s name was… Clark-er.”

Truman facepalmed and muttered something under his breath. Mikey’s nostrils flared. “Are you trying to break his fucking heart? Samson Rigby, you’re a monster.”

Julian looked drunkenly between Mikey and Sam. “Tell me everything.”

Mikey shook his head. “No can do. Tonight is about Sheriff Happycock and the actor who begged him to manhandle his stick shif… hey! Hey, ha, Finn! Wow. You have… impeccable timing, don’t you?”