Hurt (12 page)

“Nicole, isn’t it?”

Nicole snapped up at the sound of the husky voice and found herself staring into blue eyes. She opened her mouth to answer and found that she’d suddenly been struck mute. Nicole mustered an embarrassing croaking sound and then nodded her head. God, what eyes that woman has. They were the lightest color of blue and seemed to be dancing as she spoke.

“I don’t know if you remember me, but we met a few weeks ago. That house over on Miller Street?” The police officer was standing just on the other side of the table, coffee in one hand and a small paper bag in the other.

“I, uh, I—that is, yes, of course. Officer Tate, isn’t that right?” Nicole said, finally finding her voice.

Copper hair bobbed as the woman nodded.

“That’s right, but it’s Detective Tate,” she corrected with a small smile.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Nah, not a big deal. So, is this seat taken? It’s kinda crowded in here today and I wasn’t sure if you would mind sharing a table?”

Nicole glanced briefly at the half-empty coffee shop and felt her stomach give a little flutter as she nodded. “Of course, let me move some of my stuff out of the way.” Nicole closed the lid on her laptop and slid it over to the edge of the table.

“I hope I wasn’t interrupting your work or anything. If so, I’m sure I can find another table,” the detective said, her voice bordering on uncertain.

“Oh God, no…I mean, no, I was just browsing the internet while I ate breakfast. Please, I would love to have the company.”

Let’s try not to sound too desperate, now shall we?
Nicole thought.

“Great. So, uh…we caught the guy that broke into the house, by the way.”

“Oh, you did?”

“Mm-hmm. He hit a few other houses, all homes listed for sale. The last house—unfortunately for him—came equipped with a pair of Rottweilers. He confessed to all the burglaries as soon as he got out of the hospital, so it’s pretty much an open and shut case.”

Nicole found the detective’s grin contagious and smiled as she took a sip of her now lukewarm coffee.

“I hadn’t heard. That’s great, Detective Tate. I’m sure the homeowners were thrilled.”

“Please, call me Jamie. It’s no longer an active case, so there’s no…” the detective’s voice tapered off as she looked deep into Nicole’s eyes. “…reason to be so formal. You know, I don’t have any…restrictions…on contact with potential witnesses and such any longer.”

“Oh.
Oh
,” Nicole said, realizing what Detective Tate—Jamie—was saying. “Well, I’m very glad to hear that.”

“So, I was wondering…” Jamie began, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Yes?” Nicole said, her voice catching in her throat.

“Tate! Are you going to be in here all day or what?” A man’s gruff voice called out across the coffee shop.

Jamie sighed and shook her head.

“There are days that I really hate that man,” she muttered, rising from the table. “Just a minute,” she called back over her shoulder.

“Oh, I hope I didn’t make you late,” Nicole said, glancing at the stout man with thinning gray hair standing in the doorway. Nicole recognized him as Jamie’s partner, who had been with her that day at the office.

“You didn’t. But I do need to get going.” Jamie picked up her coffee and her muffin, pushing the chair back toward the table with one foot. “So, I don’t know if you might be free sometime to maybe get a bite to eat or something? If you’re not busy.”

“That would be great,” Nicole said, in what she hoped was not too eager a voice.

“Okay, then. Great. I’ll give you a call this evening then and we can work out the details.” Jamie gave an awkward wave with the hand holding the coffee and then turned to walk toward her scowling partner.

“Wait,” Nicole called after her. “I need to give you my number.”

Jamie smiled back over her shoulder and shook her head.

“Nah, don’t worry. I already have it.”

Nicole watched the copper-haired woman exchange evil glances with the other detective and then leave the coffee shop.

****

Nicole pulled into a parking spot on the side of the bright red building adorned with various images of overall-wearing pigs. She inhaled deeply as she stepped out of the Honda and sighed at the aroma of hickory smoked pork that drifted over the parking lot of Barnyard Barbeque and Ribs. There was just something completely decadent about the smell of barbeque smoking on an open pit, and her stomach growled in anticipation of the pork plate she had called in as soon as the open house was over.

Opening the side door of the restaurant, made to look like an old barn door, Nicole walked in and blinked her eyes to adjust to the dim light. It had been a while since she’d been to this particular restaurant and she had forgotten how dark it was inside. To go with the ‘old barn’ theme, they used hanging lanterns to light the tables instead of traditional lighting, and that, coupled with the smoke from the pit, made it difficult to see.

A hostess in a red-checkered shirt and overalls smiled at Nicole.

“Hi, welcome to Barnyard Barbeque, just one today?”

Nicole shook her head at the perky girl.

“No, I have a to-go order I called in a little while ago. For Landers.”

“Sure, let me go check on that for you,” the hostess said and then turned to walk through a swinging door that led to the kitchen.

“Thanks,” Nicole called behind her and then started to mill around the restaurant’s small waiting area. She picked up a catering menu and began to absently read over it as she leaned against the hostess station.

“There’s no one I’d rather be with than you.”

Nicole’s head snapped up at the sound of the low voice speaking from the booth just to the right of the hostess station.

“You don’t know what you do to me. There’s no one that has ever made me feel the way you do. You are the only one that I want, have ever wanted,
will
ever want.”

Nicole froze as she heard the unmistakable sound of Jamie’s husky tones and, just for a second, felt nauseous. She covered her mouth with one hand and shook her head, trying to convince herself that she was imagining things.

“Oh, Lord. I don’t know where you got that line, but, damn, it makes me want to go home with you,” a woman’s voice laughed back, sending a chill over Nicole. She couldn’t place it, but she knew that she’d heard the voice before. She really didn’t want to place it, didn’t want to stand there even a second longer.

Nicole turned and began to rush out of the restaurant, but stopped as her hand touched the door. She closed her eyes and swallowed, steadying her resolve before whirling back around and striding to the booth where Jamie and the mystery woman sat.

“It most definitely is a line, and I wouldn’t believe a word of it,” Nicole said quietly as she stepped up to the table. Jamie and the other woman—Nicole recognized her from the cook-out the Sheriff had held a few months ago, but didn’t remember her name, only that she worked in the D.A.’s office—both jumped at Nicole’s words. Ignoring the shocked expression on Jamie’s face, Nicole continued, “I’m going to give you a good piece of advice and tell you to get out now while you can. If she cheated on me, she’ll cheat on you. Hell, she’s already cheated on both us from what I saw the other day.” Nicole turned to glare at Jamie. “Just how many women do you have, Jamie?”

“Nicole—” Jamie said, rising from her seat.

Nicole threw a hand out to stop her.

“Don’t,” she said. “Just don’t.”

Nicole spun on her heels, ignoring the smiling hostess holding up the white plastic bag holding her to-go order as she walked away and headed out the exit door.

Chapter Sixteen

When Jamie first stepped across the parking lot of Barnyard Barbecue and Ribs to meet Megan for dinner, she mentally kicked herself for telling the tiny blonde woman she could choose the restaurant. There were plenty of barbeque restaurants in town, and Barnyard Barbeque wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t one of Jamie’s favorites. The food was okay enough, but she had always thought the restaurant too dark and smoky for her tastes. Although, she thought, as she saw a waving Megan standing by the front entrance, dark and smoky was probably the angle the Assistant District Attorney had been going for. Despite what Megan had said earlier, Jamie knew that she was still very much in the closet, or at least enough that she wouldn’t want to be seen eating dinner alone with another woman who was openly gay.

“Hi Megan,” Jamie said while the other woman opened the ridiculous barn-like door.

“You’re right on time,” Megan said as Jamie walked past. “Most cops I know live their lives ten minutes late.”

Jamie flashed her a smile.

“I’m not most cops.”

“No, I would have to agree with you there.”

“Hi, welcome to Barnyard Barbeque. Just two today?” The hostess in a red-checkered shirt and overalls greeted them as they walked into the restaurant.

“Yes,” Megan answered.

The hostess picked up two menus from behind a tall, wooden podium and motioned for Megan and Jamie to follow her. She took only a few steps and then paused by a four-person booth. “Is a booth okay, or did you want a table?”

“No,” Jamie said, “A booth is fine. Thanks.”

“Fantastic,” the hostess said as Megan and Jamie slid into their seats. “Tammy will be your waitress today. She’ll be right out to get your order.”

“Thank you,” Megan said and began to look over the menu. Jamie glanced over her own, but already knew what she was going to order. She’d had the ribs there once before and wasn’t overly impressed, but the pork plate wasn’t half bad.

“Thanks again for doing this,” Jamie said.

Megan opened her mouth to respond, but was cut short by the arrival of the waitress. Once they had placed their drink orders, Megan sat the menu down on the red checkered tablecloth and looked at Jamie.

“Not a problem,” she said. “I meant what I said earlier, you need to go into lunch tomorrow knowing what you are going to say. I think I only met Nicole that one time, but you’ve talked about her enough that I know she probably has a very low tolerance for bullshit.”

“You got that right,” Jamie said laughing. She smiled up at the waitress as the teenager brought their drinks to the table.

“Y’all ready to order?” the girl asked, pulling a note pad out of the white apron she had tied around her waist.

“I’ll have the pork plate,” Jamie answered.

“I think I’ll have the same,” Megan said. Once the waitress left, Megan took a sip of her tea and made a face. “Didn’t I say
sweet
tea? Lord, I should have gone with a Coke.”

“Oh no,” Jamie said, “Don’t tell me you’re one of those sweet tea snobs.”

Megan narrowed her gaze at Jamie.

“I’m not a snob,” she responded. “It’s either sweet tea or it’s dirty water, with very little in between. And this is dirty water with a little sugar thrown in.” She pushed the glass to one side. “So, have you thought about what you’re going to say?”

Jamie rubbed her eyes and sat back against the hard wooden bench.

“I have an idea, but I don’t know. If I say how I really feel, I’m afraid that Nicole will—as you said—think I’m tossing her a line of bullshit. This whole thing has been a nightmare.”

Megan reached across the table and place one hand on Jamie’s arm.

“I know. Well, I don’t really know because, to be honest, I’ve never felt quite that way about anyone before. I do know a little something about wanting what you can’t have, though.”

“You mean like with your father?” Jamie asked and then instantly she wished she hadn’t. Megan’s expression clouded over and she drew her hand back. Jamie glanced over as the waitress walked past the table, trying to think of what to say to break the awkward silence.

“No…well, yes, actually,” Megan admitted. “Believe me, there’s nothing I want more in the world than to be able to look my daddy in the eyes and tell him what’s in my heart, but like I said earlier today, I know it would break his.”

“It can be hard, I know. Just remember, when you’re ready to have that conversation, you have people who will be there for you,” Jamie said and felt her cheeks go warm when she saw Megan’s eyes misting.

“So,” Megan began, shifting in her seat, looking to Jamie as if she was uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken. “What are you going to say to Nicole?”

“Hey, I’m a dumbass, please forgive me?” Jamie answered with a grin.

“I would think that is a given,” Megan said dryly.

“Whatever. Honestly, I don’t know.”

“So, she won’t talk to you at all?”

“Nope,” Jamie responded, shaking her head. “I was able to leave a couple voicemails before she blocked me completely, but she never called me back. Samuels is the one that spoke to her the other day to set up lunch tomorrow.”

Megan frowned.

“Hmm. So you’ve told her everything on the voicemails and she’s still not at least calling you to talk about it?”

“Yes. No. Well, maybe not everything,” Jamie said. She took a drink of her soda and then swirled the ice around in the tall glass. “I hit the high points.”

“Detective, I can’t properly represent you if you don’t give me all the information,” Megan said sharply. “What are you holding back?”

“Okay, here we go, two pork plates,” the waitress broke in, setting the plates down on the table. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you,” Megan said, smiling up at the teenager.

Jamie looked down at her plate and began to push the shredded pork around with a piece of Texas toast. She could feel Megan staring at her, but pretended not to notice, finally glancing up when the blonde woman cleared her throat.