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He was silent for a tiaze cae to lose your father—but no age is a good one He was the assistant coach of ht me the usual stuff: how to ride a bike, how to swim”
He blew a breath, then continued, “My father had this thing about giving back to the co-class kid in South Boston hione on to become a cop”
“H and she wasn’t going to give hiet sidetracked by her commentary
“Anyway, even though we could have afforded to live out in the suburbs, he wanted to stay in South Boston He even angled his way to a job there”
“In other words, he was into ‘co’ even before the term was coined,” she put in
He nodded “Exactly He believed not only in police patrols, but police involvement in the community”
“Getting to know people,” she supplied “Coaching softball as a way to keep kids off the streets”
He nodded again “Right”
She waited for hio on
He took a swig of his beer, then squinted into the distance as if he was trying toand I thought it was hieant froot a queasy feeling in uess what came next”
“How did it happen?” she asked softly They’d known each other for years but this was the first tih to ask him about the circumstances of his father’s death She ached for the boy who had opened the door to a nighto
“He was responding to a break-and-enter He caught one guy, cuffed hiuy had a partner as packing a 38 special”
Allison flinched at the ie he evoked
Connor grinned crookedly “You wanted to know, princess”
“What I want to knohy you bury that story”
“Ever combative and feisty, aren’t you?”
She frowned “Maybe, but there’s certainly nothing to be ashamed of in that story I have no idea why you keep quiet about it In fact—”
“In fact,” he finished for her, “people one out of their way to help, is that what you were going to say?”
“Well, yes—”
“And that’s exactly what I didn’t want,” he said, his look almost combative “That’s exactly how the people who did know—at hborhood—did act” His brows drew together “I didn’t need their syI was trading on a tragedy”
His words were startling And, yet, they were in keeping hat she knew hih, private
“Curiosity satisfied, petunia?” he asked, rising with his e, just matter-of-fact
“Thank you for tellingup her own plate and utensils and following him inside, where she deposited her load in the sink “I can’t even iine how hard it was for you and your mother”
He leaned back against the kitchen counter, legs casually crossed at his feet “Yeah, it was devastating for Mo to earn some money, but South Boston was all she knew, so that’s where we stayed”
“You must have been lonely”
“No,” he said, shaking his head “I was a terror My father had been killed and I was ht, I skipped school and I took unnecessary risks What finally turnedhigh-school teachers h love, and ht as well use it in a way that got me somewhere”
She went to perch on a bar stool “Which brings o back to South Boston after all that? You could have gone anywhere after Harvard, and you had every reason to”
“Like I said, you’re tenacious” He gave her a once-over with his eyes, then s to keep overhead low The neighborhood is changing, but the rent on a rinky-dink apartht price It was as simple as that”
She nodded Suddenly, turning down a cushy big law fir in a townhouse in exclusive Beacon Hill didn’t seem like much of a sacrifice “Every tiazines, they always mention that you headed back to South Boston to start your business”
He quirked a brow “You read all the bios of me, princess?”
She felt herself grow red “Just when the only alternative is reading the instructions on medicine bottles”
He grinned “You don’t give an inch do you?”