Things We Never Said (Hart's Boardwalk 3)

“I don’t have to wear a uniform,” Jeff had said. “It’s a small city, small county, people know me. I could clip on my badge and be done with it. But most days I wear the uniform because we have a lot of tourists here and you already know the psychological impact of the police uniform.”

Michael had nodded, dreading the idea of putting on that hot, polyester crap after years of being a plainclothes officer.

“I don’t want you to put on the uniform.” Jeff had surprised him. “It’ll spread fast around here who you are, and I want the fact you’re plainclothes to make some people feel a little off-kilter. In your case, I’m hoping it elevates you. You’re not one of my deputies. You’re my detective. You get me?”

Michael had nodded, but he wasn’t too clear on why Jeff needed to make such a statement about having an experienced city detective in the department.

Michael wanted to find out why now. “What’s on the agenda?”

The sheriff pointed to the lamp on his desk. “I found a listening device in that lamp last year.”

Oh fuck. Michael tensed. “Any leads?”

Jeff nodded and turned to him, his blue eyes hard. “I need you to catch a crooked cop.”

Surpris

ed, Michael rocked back on his heels.

And he thought his job would be the least dramatic part of his transition to Hartwell.

“Let’s get this straight.” Jessica peered at me over a mug of hot tea. “The new detective in town is an ex-boyfriend of yours. The ex-boyfriend you ran away from in this very shop last summer. He’s newly divorced, you reconnected in Boston, and now he quit his job, took one in Hartwell, and uprooted his entire life to be with you?”

Seeing the inquisitiveness in her expression, hearing the incredulity in her voice combined with Emery’s romantic puppy eyes, I groaned and turned to Bailey for help. “Tell them it’s more complicated than that.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

I pulled a face. “Helpful.”

She raised one eyebrow, which probably meant that if I wanted our friends to understand the situation completely, then I needed to stop being so secretive. However, I wasn’t ready to put my tragic history out there. It had been four days since Michael had appeared and the town was abuzz with his arrival. I hadn’t seen him since the day in my workshop, but I could not escape his name anywhere I went.

Instead, I shrugged at Jess. “Look, let’s just say there is a lot of bad blood and painful history between Michael and me. I left Boston under the assumption that we would let each other go.”

Emery cocked her head in thought. “But you don’t really want that.”

“Yes, I do.” Her perceptive comment disturbed me.

“No, you don’t.” Her smile was apologetic. “Every time you say his name, your tone softens, and you get this look in your eyes, like how Bailey looks at Vaughn and Jess at Cooper.”

I realized in all her quiet shyness, Emery had become a proficient observer.

Bailey’s smug smile said, “I told you so.”

“You don’t have to tell us the details,” Jess said, reaching for a cookie. “You know that. But you can be honest with us about how you feel. Michael gave up everything to pursue a relationship with you. How does that make you feel?”

“You sound like a therapist,” I teased.

She was about to take a bite of her cookie but paused. “Do you see a therapist?”

“I used to. Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is that this is crazy. No one gives up their entire career as a detective in Boston to move to nowhere Hartwell for a woman they’ve spent less than forty-eight hours with in the last nine years.”

“Stop simplifying it.” Bailey rolled her eyes. “You’re absolutely simplifying it. If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t. I love you, you know it. But I won’t participate in you lying to yourself. It’s not healthy.”

Irritation niggled me, and the girls fell into awkward silence as Bailey and I launched into a staring contest. Part of me was annoyed by her curtness, and the other part knew it was born from her concern that I was burying my head in the sand. How irksome, because she wasn’t wrong.

“I’m in a panic, okay?” I threw my hands up in defeat. “I have my reasons for not thinking Michael and I are a good idea. Leaving him in Boston, again, was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. However, I was trying to move on! I would start dating again and this time give a relationship a real shot. Now he’s back. And I can’t deny that I want him. I want to climb him every time I see him. Extreme physical attraction versus what I know is best for me emotionally. That’s what I’m dealing with here. So, yeah, I’m in a panic because I don’t trust myself around him and he’s made it clear that he’s going to pursue me.”

Bailey looked satisfied. “Was that so hard to admit?”