Page 62 of Three Girls Gone

“I know, eh? Mark the calendar.”

“Do you have any plans? I could come over.”

Amanda heard the television come on and hung her jacket and slipped out of her shoes. She wasn’t worried about what Zoe would watch as she had her own profile for each of the streaming services that limited the programs to ones suitable for children. “Pizza Tuesday, but other than that… not really.” They broke the norms for Tuesdays whenever Amanda was home from work for dinner. Pizza, never tacos.

“Oh, pizza. I love it. Can I come over? That sounds amazing.”

“Why not?”

“Awesome. I’ll be there in ten, fifteen minutes.”

With that, Becky ended the call, and Amanda told Zoe they were having company.

“I love Becky.”

“I know, baby.” She mussed Zoe’s blond hair on the way into her bedroom to change into something more comfortable. Her typical detective attire was slacks and a nice shirt, sometimes paired with a blazer.

By the time Amanda had changed into yoga pants and a T-shirt, someone knocked on the door. Becky was serious when she said ten or fifteen minutes. Only she didn’t find Becky standing there.

Zoe came up behind Amanda. “Trent? Yay! You never told me he was coming too.” She hugged Trent’s legs.

“Hey, Zoe,” he said to her while looking at Amanda.

“Baby, why don’t you go back to your show? Trent and I need to talk.”

“Okay.” Zoe left and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV.

Amanda stepped outside. The evening air was a little chilly, and she shivered.

“I’ll be fast. You shouldn’t be standing out here without a jacket tonight.”

When they’d parted ways at Central, things between them had been a little messy. She wasn’t going to prod into the reason. If Trent and Kelsey were having problems, that was none of her business. And if he wanted to have another talk about how they couldn’t explore their feelings for each other, she might explode.

“I just wanted to apologize face to face if I was being strange about Dr.Handsome and…”

If…She’d let that go. “So you noticed, eh? The handsome part?” She winked at him, not wanting to dig into this… whateverthiswas, any further.

“Yes, I noticed. I am a detective, after all.” He smiled, but the expression was quick to fade. “But you’re right. It’s not my place to think anything of it.”

A car horn was honked a few times. Becky was grinning as she pulled in behind Trent’s Jeep, parked, got out, and started up the walk. “Trent Stenson, as I live and breathe. It’s been a long time.” She gave him an enthusiastic slap on the back.

Becky and Trent used to work together at the Dumfries PD. While he’d advanced rank and transferred to the PWCPD, Becky was content remaining at the smaller station as a uniformed officer.

“Yeah, you too,” Trent told her. “But I was just heading out, so I’ll need you to move your…”

“Of course.” Becky smiled at Amanda and pulled her in for a quick hug before heading back to her car.

Amanda ducked inside and watched them from the window in the door. They talked in the driveway for a few minutes, and Amanda wished she was better at lip-reading. Soon, both were pulling out, and Becky was driving back in. Her horn honked as she locked the doors with her key fob.

Amanda opened the door, and Becky stepped inside holding a bottle of red wine.

“Hey, Becky!” Zoe smiled at her and hugged her.

Becky squeezed back. “Oh, thank you for that. That air has a bite tonight. But this should warm us up.” She handed the wine over to Amanda.

Any other Tuesday, Amanda would protest the offering as being made on aschool night. But after that strange visit from Trent, a little wine wouldn’t be the end of the world. “Sounds good.” She headed to the kitchen with her friend and Zoe trailing her.

“When are we going to eat? I’m starving.” Zoe slumped, bending at the knees and letting her arms dangle.