The town sheriff didn’t leave the station midday unless the weather socked in hard, making driving conditions on the outside of town dangerous. There wasn’t a need to patrol River Bend all that often. While Jo made some effort to vary her routine, she’d fallen into the same patterns as her old man all those years ago. A drive through town in the morning . . . again around happy hour, if you could call the group of yahoos that went to R&B’s after four the happy hour crowd . . . and another stroll after dark. Summers varied a little more due to the teenage population scoring liquor and playing a little too hard. They too knew Sheriff Ward’s routine and avoided her wrath. Or maybe Jo looked the other way so long as no one got hurt or attempted to drive.
Luke pushed through the door to the station and greeted the longtime clerk. “Hey, Glynis. She in?” He nodded toward the back office.
“Does she have somewhere else she needs to be?”
He chuckled and moved behind the desk before briefly knocking on Jo’s door and letting himself in.
Jo was standing over a filing cabinet, a stack of papers in her hand. “Hey,” Luke said, capturing her attention.
“Oh, hi.” She seemed surprised to see him. A little nervous even.
“How is your busy crime-fighting day?” He laughed at his own joke and took a seat.
“Don’t jinx me. I’m trying to get out of town.” Jo actually winced as she said the words.
“You, out of town? As in a vacation?”
She shrugged. “I guess you can call it that.”
She didn’t elaborate.
In fact . . . she turned back to the cabinet and started searching through her files.
“Where ya going?”
“Uhhh . . . Texas.” She pulled some papers and nudged the drawer shut without making eye contact.
Texas. He understood the strange affect of his friend. “How is Zoe?”
“Good. She’s good.” She took a hasty seat and put on a fake smile. “How is my Jeep?”
Luke rolled with her change in subject. “It needs a new starter. I ordered it, but it won’t be here until Saturday.”
“That bites. I’m flying out on Friday.”
“Why does that bite if you won’t need your car?”
“Need to get to the airport. I’m not taking a squad car and leaving it there.”
“I can give you a ride.”
Jo took a moment to stare at him before saying, “You ride a motorcycle and drive the occasional tow truck.”
“I can take my dad’s truck.”
“It’s okay. I don’t want to put you out.”
No, she didn’t want to have him hyperaware that she was visiting Zoe. The whole town seemed to think he was a walking nerve when it came to his high school flame.
“You’re not putting me out. In fact, Wyatt and I were planning to drive into Eugene on Saturday. Let me see if we can’t make it a day earlier and avoid two trips.”
Jo hesitated but then started a slow nod. “Okay. That sounds . . . okay, sure.”
Who knew doing a favor for a friend would sound so painful.
“So my starter is fried, huh?” Jo shifted the subject once again.
“Yeah. I should be able to get it in on Monday.”
“That would be great.” When she glanced at the clock, he took it as a signal to move along.
Luke pushed to his feet and patted the top of her desk. “I’ll get back to you on the carpool into Eugene.”
“Thanks, Luke.”
“No problem.”
He made his exit with a nod to Glynis.
The pine-scented air of River Bend filled his lungs as he walked down the block. He waved at the high school principal, who drove by before Luke jaywalked across the street. A breeze caught the wind chimes that hung from the eaves of the crafty gift store.
He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans as he rounded the corner.
Sam’s diner drew his attention. He noticed Sheryl’s old car and glanced inside the windows. Zoe’s mother brought a wave of mixed emotions inside him. He saw Zoe in her mother’s eyes, but that was about it. Sheryl’s hair was at her shoulders, and instead of the sleek black color of Zoe’s, she had a mousy brown that had started to gray. The woman was weathered beyond her actual years. Sheryl had been a big reason Zoe had fled their hometown. And for that, Luke had a hard time liking the woman.
He’d never felt the need to leave River Bend. But lately, he wondered if that was a mistake. The world outside his town was huge, and he’d yet to experience much of it.
Unlike Zoe, who had seen more countries than he had states.
Luke hesitated only a second in front of Sam’s diner before walking the rest of the way back to the shop.
He walked into the open garage, past Jo’s Jeep, and into the office. A note on the phone said his father had gone home for lunch.
Luke glanced over his shoulder to the open workspace. Where else could a garage be left completely open and unattended without the worry of someone walking in and ripping them off?
He wasn’t sure he wanted to be in a place where people had to continually lock the doors. Yet boredom had set in like a growing cancer over the past year.
Ever since Zoe had returned, albeit briefly, for their class reunion.
Her face, along with many others, reminded him of how little he’d done with his life.
Maybe it was time he took a long, hard look in the mirror and determined if he was happy, or if he was simply lazy.