14, 2000. That was the day everything had changed.
Luke had become the older brother. And he’d decided then and there that he’d spend the rest of his life doing his best to make sure criminals ended up behind bars.
No matter what it took.
Did that make him popular? Not always.
But it was satisfying at the end of the day.
“What did the crazy rich lady have to say?” his mother asked absentmindedly. She washed and rinsed in a comfortable rhythm. Maybe she was better at this than the dishwasher.
“She wanted to know about Sarah Hillman. They’re friends.” Unless he concentrated, he’d fall behind in his drying duties and his mother would frown. Luke quickly opened cabinets and put things away.
His mother hummed.
“She didn’t seem all that crazy.” Luke wasn’t exactly sure when his mother had started calling Jen crazy. It had been before the fence people showed up at the crack of dawn, though, and that was the only real sign of psychosis he’d seen. “Turns out, she’s a teacher. She might have a suggestion to help Joseph. Renita thinks she teaches math.” The unease he’d felt ever since he’d moved back in and been cast in the role as head of the family lightened a bit. Having something to do instead of a list of worries was good. He waited for his mother to say it was a good idea, a bad idea, or...something. She was the real head of this crew. He wanted her to be in charge.
“Pretty. If you like that sort of thing.” His mother cut a sly glance at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Angry redheads aren’t my type,” Luke answered, although in Jen Neil’s case, that wasn’t strictly true. Something about her was impossible to ignore.
His mother’s forlorn huff was the first warning that he’d strayed into dangerous territory. “You need to find someone nice, Luke. A woman who might distract you from your job.”
Jen Neil wasn’t nice. Nice made him think of puppies and daisies.
Jen had a rescued pit bull and plans for a spiked fence. In the garden of life, that woman was a cactus.
Nice? No. Interesting? Yes. Maybe even exciting. She had personality to spare.
“Holly Heights is an excellent place to raise a family. You told me that yourself, remember?” she sang in a teasing tone.
While it was good to have a touch of the old Connie Hollister back, this wasn’t the subject he wanted to stick with for long. If he told her he wasn’t sure he wanted a family, she would wilt completely, and lying to her was next to impossible.
“I remember.” Luke took the last dripping plate from her and listened with relief as the water drained. He could make it out of there.
“Being a police officer is a wonderful thing, son,” she said as she cupped his cheek, “but you were meant to be a father, too. You wait and see. She’s close, whoever she is. I can feel it.”
Luke didn’t have the right words so he smiled at his mother and watched her bend to speak to Mari. “Come with me, young lady. We have some bushes to trim the right way.”
After they left the kitchen, Luke stepped out on the deck that had sold him on the house. Here, all there was, was the faint sound of birds chirping and the breeze rustling through the trees. He took a deep breath as he braced his hands on the railing. “One year. You do this for one year and everything will be fine.”
A boring job. A cluttered, cramped house. All the problems that came along with angry teenagers.
He could do anything for a year.
“THE FIRST WEEKLY MEETING of not talking about Paws for Love can come to order. All discussion is postponed until our next board meeting or else,” Sarah said as she banged the salt shaker on the table for emphasis. Rebecca had gotten to the diner early and claimed the best table in Sue Lynn’s. The rest of the Wednesday dinner crowd flowed around them, but the three of them were tucked away in a corner booth with a good view of the sidewalk.
Which was helpful. Without the shelter to talk about, conversation might be sparse. They could do a running commentary of everyone who walked down the street if worse came to worst.
Jen patted the purse she’d settled carefully next to her in the booth. Her whole life, she’d lived with second or thirdhand things from her mother and thrift store finds. She’d gotten good at that. Having money was taking some adjustment. This brand new purse? It cost four student loan payments.
As soon as she’d collected her lottery winnings, she’d paid off every cent of debt she’d been carrying for years, but it was difficult to get out of the habit of measuring everything in terms of those payments.
She’d only bought it on her solo shopping trip to Austin for two reasons. First, she’d had a Pretty Woman moment in the department store with a snooty saleswoman and Jen had wanted her to regret her big mistake. And second...okay, it was possible that there was only one reason. She’d been thinking about making the drive back to Austin to return it ever since she’d pulled in to her driveway.
“Want to tell us what you found out about Bobby’s trial?” Rebecca asked as she studied the menu. Jen was surprised Rebecca had been able to wait this long. She’d always been the caretaker in their little group, the one who encouraged Steph to go for what she wanted and Jen to trust people. Without Rebecca, there was no way Sarah would be sitting at this diner table across from Jen.
Rebecca’s new mentoring program must be taking up every spare minute. That and free-falling straight into love.
Jen kept one hand on the straps of her newest purchase and forced her attention back to her friends. Why was Rebecca studying the menu anyway? No idea. The thing hadn’t changed in ten years. There was no need to mess with perfection.
“What can I get y’all?” Sue Lynn asked. She brushed one loose curl back over her ear as she studied the modest crowd and waited.
“Burger. All the fixin’s.” Jen handed over her menu and tried not to roll her eyes as the other two dittoed her order. Sure, salads were on the menu, but Sue Lynn had the best burger in town.
After Sue Lynn walked away, Sarah covered her eyes with both hands. “The lawyer says, with Daddy’s cooperation, they might be able to keep him close to home. Nobody seems to think there’s any other option than the minimum sentence.”
“Even though he ran away,” Jen asked and immediately realized her mistake when Rebecca wrapped her arm around Sarah’s shoulders and glared at her. “I mean, of course not. He was a real pillar of this community before he...” What? Lost his mind? What would cause a man to steal from his own business? It made no sense to Jen. Hard work was what paid off. He was already doing very well for himself. Greed was the only answer. He deserved jail time. His fancy lawyer, the one Sarah would be paying for forever, would protect him.
But Sarah... His daughter loved him. Jen might see it mostly black and white, but his daughter would be all caught up in the gray area.
“Yeah, and he’s remorseful,” Sarah said with a twist of her lips. “Or pretending to be, anyway.” She shook her head. “Never mind. I don’t want to talk about him, either. I’ve spent enough time worrying about Big Bobby, the man who left me here to stew in his mess. Let’s talk about something else.”
Jen glanced at Rebecca, who seemed just as stumped for good conversation. Eventually, Rebecca waved her phone. “Did you guys see the updates on the HealthyAmericas Facebook page? The welcome-home banner those kids in Alto made for Steph and Daniel? It was sweet, right?”
Jen squinted at the tiny picture on Rebecca’s phone. If she recalled, Alto was one of the villages that Steph and Daniel and their medical team had to hike into because