Under the Lights (17 page)

“There you go. Just one of those things.”

“Enough about me. Sam's leaving after the parade, and I'll never see him again. Let's talk about you.”

Kelly wasn't sure she wanted to do that. In contrast to Jen's sexual escapade, what she and Chase had going on looked an awful lot like a relationship. They might not get to spend a lot of time together, but when they did, they enjoyed each other's company. They ate meals together and made each other laugh. They texted when they could. There was no denying the sexual chemistry was there.

And, if she was totally honest with herself, she was probably going to miss him when he was gone.

“I actually stopped by to ask you about the parade, not just because I was bored,” Kelly said, diverting the conversation away from herself, since she knew Jen really wanted to know how things were with Chase. “Last I remember, we hadn't figured out the transportation for the team.”

Jen gave her an
I know what you're up to
look, but leaned back in her chair. “The kids will ride in the back of three pickups like they usually do. The alumni team we're going to put on a float, so they can have chairs and they'll be waving the trophy around. Gretchen's loaning us the trailer her
grandfather used for haying, and the cheerleaders are supposed to be decorating it today.”

“Who's driving that truck?” An alumni player's chair tumbling off the float during a jerky start or stop would be a very bad way to close out Eagles Fest.

“Gretchen said she'd do it. It's a big-ass trailer, but she's been pulling it behind a truck since she was tall enough to see over the steering wheel out in the fields.” Jen picked up her pen and started doodling on a sheet of paper Kelly hoped wasn't important. “I've been trying to estimate how many people will show up for the game.”

“At a token dollar per ticket for something to do on a Friday night, I think we'll come close to filling the stands.”

“It's going to be close.”

Kelly nodded, feeling a profound sense of relief. She had some savings, so all she needed was close. Being
really
close would be nice, since it wasn't a huge savings, but she'd make an anonymous donation if she had to. “We'll make it.”

“I believe you.” Jen looked at her, a slow smile lighting up her face. “I think we might have saved Eagles football.”

—

C
hase pulled his phone out just enough to check the time without being too obvious. He was meeting Kelly for lunch, and this judging gig was taking forever. It had been Mrs. McDonnell's idea to have the alumni guys judge the Eagles Fest decoration contest, because Kelly, Jen and Gretchen had already given so much of their time. And while it wasn't possible to have
no
bias, the guys had mostly been away for long enough to mitigate the problem of judging one's neighbors.

So they'd all gathered at the town square gazebo to go through photos of the entries in what should have been a quick process. Unfortunately, none of the other guys seemed to have a hot lunch date, so there was more socializing than judging.

The football team was there to help keep things organized. There were so many entries, just going through and trying to narrow it down to three favorites of multiple judges seemed unwieldy, so they'd judge the photos individually. Each judge would give it a number between one and ten, and then it was just a matter of math.

It should have taken an hour, tops.

“We keeping you from something?” Sam asked with a pointed glance toward the phone Chase was sliding back into his pocket.

“Nope.” Not yet, anyway.

“Oh, dude! This one's awesome!” Cody held up a picture of a scarecrow dressed in jeans and an Eagles T-shirt, holding what appeared to be a trophy made of gold-painted soda cans.

Chase had to agree. The scarecrow was nothing special, but the trophy deserved some points.

It took a lot longer than he'd anticipated to choose the top three entrants, and then there was some dissention in ranking those in first through third order. But they finally got it settled and wrote out their final decision, which would be delivered to Jen. Local businesses like O'Rourke's and the Stewart Mills House of Pizza had offered gift certificates as prizes, so she'd be handling the announcement and delivery of prizes.

Chase was going to make a run for it, but he saw Hunter
packing up the cooler they'd brought. The kid was alone, so Chase took the opportunity to see how he was doing. He knew the other alumni felt much the same about the kids as he did—they were reminded of themselves as teenagers—and he'd seen their attitudes improve over the course of Eagles Fest. He hoped it continued.

“How are things going, kid?” Chase picked up a couple of empty soda cans to toss in the garbage.

Hunter shrugged one shoulder. “Pretty good. My dad's had a couple of interviews, and one looks really good. He's not drinking as much. And my mom found a program that helps her get a degree online. It's still tight, but now everybody's kinda . . . I don't know.”

“Hopeful?”

“Yeah.” Hunter looked at him, nodding. “Like we'll be okay. And my dad talked to me about football. Like
really
talked. We're a small school and we're not in a really competitive class so, even if we get to keep the team, I can't count on a football scholarship. I can try for one, but no matter what, I need to get good grades. What if I screw up my knee or something? One bad fall and I could end up working for minimum wage because I pinned everything on football.”

Chase hadn't known the kids long, but it stirred something inside him to see the change in Hunter from their first meeting until now, all because he'd realized people cared about him and his future. He wondered if it's how Coach had felt back in the day, when he'd taken a group of boys who needed that and helped them be champions. More than that, he'd helped them see a future beyond what they'd been shown at home, and they were all better for it.

Maybe when things were rough, Hunter would find strength in the memory of Stewart Mills rallying around him and his teammates, the way Chase had found strength in everything Coach had taught him.

It would be tough to leave them all behind, he realized. Not just Kelly, though
especially
Kelly. Even with the tension between them, Chase loved being a part of Coach and Mrs. McDonnell's lives again. And the kids. He'd seen them working to turn things around, and he wanted to know how they did. Not just the upcoming football season they all hoped would happen, but in life.

“I've gotta run,” Hunter said, hoisting the cooler. “My ride's leaving. See you on the field.”

“Yeah. Have a good one.”

He watched the boy walk away and then shook his head. Once he left, he didn't think he'd hear from Kelly again. She'd made it pretty clear she was looking for fun sex with a man there was no hope of a future with.

Maybe he'd keep in touch with Decker, he thought. Deck would know what was happening with the football team, and Cheryl would probably know what was going on in their personal lives.

He wouldn't ask them about Kelly, though. As hard as he suspected it was going to be, once he left Stewart Mills, he had to let her go.

K
elly knew her day was about to take a turn for the worse when she walked into the station and saw Edna Beecher and Selectman Judy Faring talking to the chief. And since they were gathered in front of her desk, there was no way she could avoid being seen.

All she wanted to do was finish her shift, run home to change, and meet Chase for lunch. She probably should have just told him to meet her at her place, but she'd gotten it in her head it would be nice to go out to a restaurant and have a real meal with him. Like a date. Only not a date, because they weren't dating.

When she got within earshot, her stomach sank.

“Those men did us all a favor by coming back here to help out our kids,” the chief was saying. “We're not going to repay
that kindness by hassling them over stop signs that weren't there before.”

“I also heard there was a break-in at the high school and no charges were pressed,” Judy added. “If laws are being circumvented because Officer McDonnell is having a personal—even intimate—relationship with the offender, that's a problem.”

“It's
police corruption
,” Edna added, and Kelly heard the glee in her voice.

“Even if I was going to treat that accusation as credible, which I'm not,” the chief said, “this is not a conversation to have in the middle of the police station. My officers let our visitors off with warnings about the stop sign at my instruction, the same way we gave all of you warnings when they first went up. And as for the high school, that was a misunderstanding.”

The chief must have seen her approaching from behind the women through the corner of his eye, because he made a very subtle
go away
gesture. Kelly reversed direction and ducked around a corner. She could still hear, but she couldn't be seen.

“Now, Edna, you know we appreciate how you've looked out for this town. And Judy, I respect that, as a member of the board of selectmen, you're making sure we're doing our job. But I can assure you there's no police corruption in Stewart Mills, nor has there ever been any inappropriate conduct from Officer McDonnell.”

“I'll be watching her,” Edna promised.

She was always watching everybody, so that came as no surprise to Kelly, but she was more interested in what Judy Faring would say. If she and Edna could whip the town
government into a frenzy over a nonexistent scandal, Kelly's job could be in trouble.

Luckily, Judy wasn't leaving without putting in her two cents. “It's your reputation on the line here, Chief, so I'll leave it in your hands. But if more citizens express concern, we might have to look into the situation more. In an official way.”

“I understand. But I'll vouch for Kelly McDonnell both personally and professionally any day of the week, Judy.”

Kelly leaned her head back against the wall and, from her hiding place, watched the two women leave. What a mess. And the very thing she'd been trying to avoid all along.

“You can come out now.”

She turned the corner and walked to her desk, which her boss was leaning against. He looked more bemused than upset, which she took as a good sign.

“I'm really sorry about that, Chief.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. You haven't done a damn thing wrong.” He cleared his throat. “I got caught up in the wife's gossip and almost crossed a line I shouldn't have, but this is ridiculous. Your personal life is your own business.”

“Thank you. And thank you for covering on the stop sign issue. And the school.”

He shrugged. “If you'd come to me and asked me how to handle it ahead of time, I would have told you to do what you did, so therefore it wasn't really covering.”

“Hopefully Edna will let it go.” She winced. “You know she might call the FBI, right?”

“I'd expect nothing less from Edna Beecher. But trust me when I tell you she's not going to get the satisfaction
she's looking for. She's probably part of their training on how to identify credible reports.” They laughed together and then he shrugged. “Besides, Sanders and the other guys will probably all be gone by Monday and it'll be a moot point.”

It was a good thing her boss chose to walk away, because emotion suddenly knotted in her throat, and she wasn't sure she could have continued the conversation. Logically, she knew the guys—including Chase—would probably all be gone by Monday, but she hadn't allowed herself to think too much about it. And now it wasn't some random time in the future. Monday was right around the corner.

It was in the shower, preparing for her lunch with Chase, that it hit her.
Maybe he would stay.

He liked being in Stewart Mills. She could tell. He'd rekindled old friendships, and he genuinely cared about the people, especially the teens he'd gotten to know through Eagles Fest activities. He wasn't particularly close to his parents, and he wouldn't be so far away that he'd never see his sister or her family.

She wouldn't mind going home to Chase at the end of a long shift.

But even as the thought tried to take hold in her mind, she tried to squash it. Of course he liked being in Stewart Mills. It was like a vacation from the mess he'd left behind in New Jersey. She was his vacation fling. People liked going to Las Vegas or the Bahamas and having a couple of carefree, fun-filled weeks, but that didn't mean they pulled up stakes and moved there.

And even if he did, he wasn't in a stable place, and that scared her. His life was currently a mess, so he couldn't really make life decisions with a clear head. What if it
seemed like settling down in Stewart Mills with Kelly was a good idea, but once he had his feet back under him, he realized that wasn't what he'd wanted, after all?

She'd married a man who came to that realization. Or more accurately, she'd been absolutely devastated by a man who'd realized too late that a life with her wasn't what he really wanted. She was never putting herself in a position to be hurt like that again.

If and when she put her heart on the line a second time, it would be for a man who had a stable life and knew exactly what he wanted his future to be. Right now, the only man she could imagine might be Chase but, as the chief had said, by Monday he'd be gone. Eventually she'd get over him and find the
right
man for her.

But today was only Friday, so she grabbed her keys and went to meet Chase.

—

S
omething had changed in Kelly between last night and being seated at a quiet family restaurant about fifteen minutes south of town. Chase couldn't put his finger on it, but her smile seemed a little strained, and there was tension in her body.

“Rough day?” he asked, wondering if maybe something had happened at work. Although, if something happened in Stewart Mills of a magnitude to cause a bad day for the police department, he probably would have heard about it. Unless it was a domestic issue. He knew there had been a few of those calls since he got into town, and they weighed on her.

“Not really.” She picked up the menu. “Early morning, though. I could use a nap.”

“Instead you had to drive down here just for lunch.” Maybe that was all it was. “It seems like everybody knows—or at least thinks they know—what's going on. We could have just met at O'Rourke's.”

“It's one thing to know people are talking about us. It's something else to have them all staring at us while we eat.”

“I guess. It's not a big deal, though. I mean, you being seen with me.”

“Tell that to Edna Beecher, who showed up at the station today with a member of the board of selectmen to accuse me of police corruption for allowing you to run stop signs and break into the high school because I'm having sex with you.”

He knew his jaw dropped open like a cartoon character's, but he couldn't even make sense of the words coming out of her mouth. “You're kidding, right?”

“No, I'm not. Never underestimate the determination of a small town to start a scandal if there's sex involved.”

“Holy shit, Kelly. You're not in trouble, are you?”

“According to the chief, no. He knows they're being ridiculous. And it's Edna. Very few people take Edna seriously.”

“According to the chief? So that means you could still be in trouble with somebody else?” He couldn't believe this was happening. When she'd first mentioned the possibility her reputation could be damaged by sleeping with him, he'd thought it was a joke.

“It's fine. The worst that could happen is that Edna or Judy actually brings it up at a meeting, and then it's in the minutes and I'd probably have to make some kind of statement. But I'm not going to lose my job or anything.”

“No wonder we left town to eat.”

She smiled at him over the top of her menu. “I picked this place before that happened so, no, I'm not hiding you from anybody. I just wanted to have a nice meal with you without being interrupted by a bunch of people.”

And without the good people of Stewart Mills staring at them, as she'd said. And not staring at them, apparently, but taking notes to be used against her. Anger made him tighten his grip on his water glass, so he set it down and picked up his menu.

“You won't be able to eat anything with your jaw all clenched up like that,” she said, her voice light and teasing.

“It's stupid,” he said.

“Yes, it's stupid, but I knew it could happen. The slight on my reputation, I mean. I didn't see the accusation of police corruption coming, though, because I didn't know three of you would decide to do a little breaking and entering.”

“I'm really sorry about that.”

She laughed. “I was kidding. Like you said, the whole thing is stupid.”

“You know she's going to call the FBI, right?”

“Of course she will. Even though they're just going to blow smoke at her until she goes away, there will be an official record buried somewhere that states Officer Kelly McDonnell of the Stewart Mills Police Department had sexual relations with one Chase Sanders of New Jersey.”

That struck him as nothing short of horrifying, but she looked amused, so he chuckled. “If you do have to give a detailed statement, it'll make for good reading.”

“It would make some bored, low-on-the-totem-pole
agent's day, for sure.” She grinned and he let go of the anger. As long as she was okay, there was no sense in spoiling the time they had together.

“So what did you do today?” she asked after they'd ordered burgers. “Weren't you guys being roped into judging the decoration contest?”

“We did that this morning, and one of the kids emailed the results to Jen, so that's done. I talked to Hunter a little bit.”

“Really?” Immediately, he saw the change in her expression and was struck again by the depth of her feelings for their hometown. “How's he doing?”

“Good.” He told her about his conversation with the boy, watching her relax again as he assured her things were looking up in the Cass household.

She was telling him about a rumor going around that there was a potential buyer for the old mill, when he caught himself wondering what she'd think of New Jersey. It wasn't too bad an area, where he lived, and it was close to the ocean.

But just as quickly, he discarded the idea. Stewart Mills was her home and not in the place-of-residence sense, but the place where her roots ran deep, and it was a part of who she was. Besides, what would he say to her?
Hey, I'm barely employed and technically don't have any place to live, but you wanna go to Jersey with me?

There was no way she would walk away from everything she had here just because they'd had great sex, and he wasn't going to ask her to. Her trying to turn him down without wounding his pride would just be painful and awkward for both of them.

“Are you even listening to me?”

He gave her a sheepish grin, totally busted. “Sorry. I know you were talking about a potential buyer for the mill. I hope that works out, for the town's sake.”

“Me, too. I think the rumor's a little flimsy and people are making it a bigger deal than it is in order to grasp at straws, but you never know. But where did your thoughts go?”

“Where my thoughts usually go when I'm with you,” he lied.

“Aren't you supposed to abstain from sex before a big game?”

“I think that's before you go into battle. And if you'd seen us on the practice field, you'd know there's a good chance I won't be able to have sex
after
the big game.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “By the time we get everybody off school property, clean up and then lock the gates,
nobody
will want to have sex.”

The server brought their burgers and they dug in. When she was done, Chase finished the last quarter of her burger and all of her fries, too. He wouldn't eat right before going on the field, so he'd fuel up while he had the chance.

“Tell me about your sister's kids,” she said while watching him polish off the rest of her meal. “Three girls, right? Do you see them a lot?”

“Not a lot, but regularly. They love me.” He grinned and told her about his three nieces, who were quite a handful, just as he and Kathy had probably been.

There were a lot of stories, but he shared the best ones. Like the incident with the teddy bear and the toilet. And the inevitable run-in with Mom's makeup bag. Or the time
they'd tried to convince their uncle Chase, who volunteered for babysitting at times, that fast food was medically necessary, because if they didn't eat fast, they got sick. He'd taken them through the drive-thru just because their story was so beautifully crafted, and he felt as though they'd earned it. Kathy had disagreed, of course, but those were the risks you took with a free sitter.

Then he showed her the photo his sister had texted him of the girls dressed up for a birthday party, and Kelly smiled. “They're beautiful. I like watching you talk about them, and I've seen you with the boys from the team. It's too bad you don't have kids, because you'd be a great dad.”