Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest 1)

His father burst out laughing, as did Ella.

“Oh, son. If I ever made you feel like I was—”

“You didn’t. That was all me, living in Rex’s shadow and comparing myself to you, Erin, and Sam.” It felt damn good admitting that out loud, and it helped shed some of the weight he’d carried around with him for most of his life.

“Michael…” Ella’s voice trailed off.

“It’s okay. I’m fine. We’re fine,” he said to his mother.

Simon cleared his throat. “One last thing. Don’t you worry about telling the mayor what you need to. I can handle it.”

Mike already knew that now. Not that he liked what he had to do worth a damn. “What about your job? She might ask you not to come back.”

The thought of Simon, the town’s beloved police chief, stepping down for good, in possible disgrace, turned Mike’s stomach. “Maybe she’d let you walk away without stating why.” Mike would lean hard on the woman to give Simon at least that much dignity.

“Funny you should mention his job,” Ella said. “Your father and I have been talking, and with his illness and everything, we realize that life’s short and fragile.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“That it is,” Mike said, having confronted his father’s mortality this year.

“We want to spend more time together,” Simon said. “Make the most of these years.”

“I’ve always wanted to travel,” his mother said.

Mike wasn’t following. “Wait. What are you saying?”

“I’m thinking of retiring anyway,” Simon said, the bombshell detonating in Mike’s brain.

“I did not see this coming,” he muttered, more to himself than to them.

“Be happy for us, though.” His mother smiled, and Mike couldn’t do anything less.

He inclined his head. “Whatever you decide, of course I support you.”

“Good. Then you won’t mind my recommending that you be given the job beyond the temporary position? You’ve already made changes that have improved the department. Everyone’s pleased with you—”

Mike’s breath caught in his throat. “How would you know?” he asked, unable to broach the other subject—of him permanently taking on the job.

“I have visitors. I get phone calls. I’m damned proud of the work you’re doing, son. You’re bringing Serendipity into this century and though I might’ve fought it in here”—he tapped his heart—“I applaud it here.” His finger went to his head. “I like the old ways, but I’m smart enough to know things need to progress.”

“And there are plenty of people who could handle the force and continue to modernize.” Suddenly unable to breathe, Mike rose from his seat.

“But the men and women already respect you,” Simon said. “Just think about it.”

He was thinking.

Take the chief of police job permanently?

Settle in Serendipity?

For all his thoughts about enjoying things here, until now, Mike had always had his safety net. Simon would return and life would go back to normal. Okay, so things here had begun to feel almost normal, he silently admitted…but how long until the feeling of being strangled returned? Until he grew antsy? Bored? Resentful? Given the way he was itching inside himself, with just the mention of him taking over for good, Mike figured not long.

“And think of how happy Cara would be if you stayed,” his mother added.

Cara. At the thought of her, Mike’s chest constricted painfully. How long before he broke her heart? “I have meetings,” he choked out.

Ella rose, concern in her gaze as she reached for him. “Michael, please relax and just think things through. You’re reacting on instinct, not reality.”

Oh, shit. Mike wasn’t ready for this. His mother was right. He needed to think.