The Hero's Redemption

Despite the angry flush, he backed up a step. He leveled a scowl at Cole. “You keep your nose clean, son. We’re watching you.”

Neither Cole nor Lottie moved until Officer Watson had backed out of the driveway and started down the street.

Cole realized he was clenching his fists. He loosened his fingers with an effort and closed his eyes. “I had no business not telling you.” He couldn’t look at her. “I knew no one would hire me, but that’s not a good excuse.”

“You’re wrong,” she said, the old-age creaks apparent now that she was trying to soften her voice.

Surprise made him turn.

“I’ve seen the quality of your work. Heard how pleased Del and Roy are. And Erin, of course.” Lottie paused. “Does she know your history?”

He choked out a “Yeah.”

“I can’t imagine she would’ve recommended you to the rest of us if she’d had any hesitation at all.” Now she sounded starchy. “I do not for one minute believe you’d hold up some teenage clerk at a convenience store for a few dollars. Ridiculous!”

“Thank you.” Stunned as he was, that was hard to get out, too. Lottie wasn’t ordering him off her property. Or looking at him with new doubt.

But what about Erin? She’d let him take her Cherokee out on his own enough times, he could’ve had the key copied. Had she felt doubt when the cop told her why he wanted to talk to Cole?

His hands had formed fists again, but he willed himself to relax and say, “I should get back to work.”

“If you’re too shaken…” Lottie’s voice trailed off.

“You’re a good, kind woman, Mrs. Price.” He summoned a smile. “And I’m perfectly capable of finishing what I started.”

“Oh, you.” She lightly whacked his arm and simpered, a frightening expression. “Why would you be formal now?”

Formal? Oh. “Lottie,” he corrected himself.

He strode to the backyard as she shuffled after him. Cole took a second to remember where he’d left off, then crouched and reached for the screwdriver with a hand that shook. He had to give himself a minute to feel steady again.

Not once in the remaining hour of his workday did he forget the suspicion—no, certainty—he’d seen in the cop’s eyes, the outright accusation only because he lived in town and had the conviction on his record. He knew this would happen over and over. This last month…he’d deluded himself.

* * *

COLE HAD ESSENTIALLY been living with Erin. He didn’t need to ring the doorbell anymore. He walked in. So when she heard the chimes at five thirty, Erin assumed a neighbor was stopping by. When she opened the door, Cole stood waiting, hands shoved in the pockets of his cargo pants, his expression closed tighter than a bank vault.

Surprised, she peered past him. “Was the door locked?”

“Just…thought you might want some warning.”

“Warning?” she echoed, before it hit her. This had to do with the cop who’d come by looking for him. Standing back, she said, “Come in. I’m working on dinner.”

Behind her, he said, “Me staying might not be a good idea.”

Erin stopped and turned. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what happened today.”

“The police officer?”

His mouth curled unpleasantly. “Forgot about him, did you?”

“I just thought…that maybe Ramirez asked him to check up on you or something. He seemed pleasant.”

He stared, his blue eyes as sharp and yet unreadable as they’d been at the beginning. “There was an armed robbery at the ampm. Who else could have done it but the ex-con lurking in town?”

“Oh, dear God.” She fumbled backward for a chair, pulled it out and sank into it. “He really suggested…”

“Oh, yeah.” Cole hadn’t moved past the kitchen doorway. “He made sure to tell Lottie she’d been foolish enough to hire an ex-con.”

Momentarily dizzy, Erin thought she must have turned ghost-white. My fault. She’d set him up to have some faith that his past didn’t define him. Maybe because he’d been convincing her that she could put her own tragedy behind her. What if they were both wrong?