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“Pie,” Penelope said, pointing to her plate with her fork “No , just pie”

Laughter filled the kitchen, and she liked that sound , road-tripping all over the coast, finding here her heart told her to stay for a bit She liked her life No, she loved her adventures But if she were being honest with herself, this wasn’t so bad either Ho more of Darryl

An hour later, Darryl rabbed an incident report out of the filing cabinet Typically, he did these reports the night the incident occurred, but the snowstorotten in his way Not that he hter, and his blood felt like it was puh his veins easier Christ itself again Five days he had with Penelope ten years ago Five days he’d get again At least this tih, ad with the real reason why she left, and that it wasn’t because he’d screwed it up by blurting exactly what he’d been feeling at the time

A good twenty years before Darryl had become a cop, the River Rock police station had taken ownership of the old courthouse on Main Street with its big white columns outside Inside the station, the space was modernized with the reception desk at the front near the waiting rooer room with beehive desks, some with computers on top, others with typewriters

When he took a seat at the desk, his captain said from somewhere behind Darryl, “Update on Penelope Carter”

The captain sidled up next to the desk He was a broody guy, big in the shoulders, and in the center, and his dark eyes matched his typically hard expression

“Co the holiday events,” Darryl responded

“That’ll do” The captain went to turn ahen he suddenly froze “Wilson,” he said, glancing over his shoulder “Let’s notover the wo at you for your promotion”

Darryl sat back in his seat and arched an eyebrow

“Ms Carter wasn’t the only one seen on that video,” the captain pointed out

It was a rare thing to see amusement in the captain’s eyes Even rarer to see his shoulder’s shaking with his laughter as he strode away Great The shock at seeing Penelope again, the heat he’d felt for her all those years ago that had taken his da her close again had brought unexpected intensity

He didn’t need to see the video to know that happened He’d been there Experienced it himself

He put hisup the report on Penelope Carter A 911 call had beenher community service work, no matter that he didn’t want her na nothing, she remained as much of a problem today as she had the second he saw her Once, he blew his long-awaited proht that placed hiossip for weeks That couldn’t happen again Penelope was the type of girl who skated drunk on fountains Fun, but not exactly good for his reputation The higher ups atching hiht with Penelope He si Soon, she’d leave Life would go back to normal He could deal with the loneliness if he had his job When everything went south with his wife, he always had his work and the respect of the people of the town He didn’t want to sacrifice either

This year, he’d taken over one of the retiree’s positions in the Christuy for the job He wanted strictly a day shift to have soet that, he needed the proeant

When he hit enter to type on the next line, a deep voice said, “Who’s the sexy skater?” Jack Fitzpatrick, Natalie’s brother and Darryl’s long-tirabbed the chair fro on it backward