Finding Peace (Love's Compass #1) (12 page)

“Yes, the same one that was broken into the other night.” This whole case was turning out to be odd. They had to be connected. But, how? His mind went to the robbery at Laurie’s studio. That intruder had disappeared entirely. The truth was, Tuck was starting to get frustrated with the growing pile of incidents and no real answers.

They were in serious need of a break in the case. He prayed God would lead him and Lance in the right direction and keep Laurie and the Lewis kids safe.

~

By the time Sunday morning had come around, all of the snow had melted and so had the resulting ice. The only evidence remaining was the mud that seemed to be everywhere.

Tuck arrived right at eleven as promised. Laurie hadn’t seen him since he’d brought donuts. They were going to be spending most of the day together and she found herself grinning like a school girl.

He loaded her photography equipment into a box in the back of his truck and then helped her inside. As soon as she was settled, a snuffling sound drew her attention to the seat behind her. She laughed when she saw Rogue wagging his tail at her, head bobbing back and forth with the effort.

“Well, hello there.” She scratched behind the dog’s ears. When Tuck got in, she turned to him. “I didn’t realize you were going to bring Rogue along.”

“I leave him alone at the house enough, I hate doing it on the weekends, too.”

“Will he be okay in here?”

“This time of the year, he’ll be fine. He’s got water and I’ll bring him inside at Mom’s house. Do you mind?”

“Of course not!” She wrinkled her nose as Rogue gave it a kiss with his wet tongue. With another pat, Laurie turned back to the front of the truck and the dog moved to watch out of a back window. She motioned to the bag at her feet. “I brought salad and chocolate chip cookies. We might want to put them in with the camera equipment so he doesn’t eat it all while we’re having lunch.”

“That’s probably a good idea. I’m pretty sure he’d turn his nose up at the salad, but the cookies would be fair game.” Tuck started the truck and turned the heater on high. “They say snow is possible again tomorrow. It kind of has that smell, doesn’t it?”

“It sure does.” Laurie rubbed her hands together briskly. “I hope it does. I love snow. I think I should have chosen to live somewhere like Colorado, where it snows more often. Three or four times a year here isn’t nearly often enough.”

Tuck raised an eyebrow. “I, for one, am glad you didn’t decide to live in Colorado.”

Catching his meaning, her cheeks warmed. She looked out of her window as Tuck drove.

“You look beautiful, by the way.” He gave her an appreciative smile. “I like how you did your hair.”

“Thank you.” His words warmed her heart and she no longer noticed the chill in her hands.

~

They decided to have lunch at a little sandwich shop. Tuck ordered a roast beef with chips and Laurie chose half of a turkey sandwich and a bowl of the shop’s popular creamy chicken soup.

“I seriously cannot wait for that soup,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “Okay, so maybe it is good I didn’t move to Colorado.” She laughed. “I guess I like snow and the idea of winter, but not the practicalities of it.”

Tuck thought she looked adorable with the smile that reached her eyes and the slightly red nose from the cold air outside. He reached across the little table they were sitting at and covered her cold hands with his. “You need to get some gloves,” he commented, marveling at the way her small hands fit perfectly in his.

“I have some, I left them at my place.” She dipped her chin a little, looking at him through her lashes. “Is this something your boss would frown upon, seeing as I’m still part of the case you’re working on?”

“I don’t care.”

She burst out laughing. “Well, okay then.” She seemed to study him for a minute, her expression growing serious. “So it was your fiancée who actually broke off your engagement?”

He raised an eyebrow at her bold question. “Yes, she did. I think there were a lot of problems leading up to it and I didn’t see the signs somehow. It’s not like my job is a real incentive. Odd hours, on call all the time, danger lurking around every corner.” He made it sound like he was exaggerating, but it wasn’t by much. “There’s not a lot of people who can put up with that kind of thing.” He shrugged, letting go of her hands when the waitress brought a bowl of soup and set it down in front of Laurie. “If you ever come to your senses, I won’t blame you.”

“You want a family someday, then?” She picked the spoon up and used it to collect some of the soup. Blowing tentatively, she placed it in her mouth and closed her eyes in appreciation.

Tuck wondered if there was anything she did that he wouldn’t find cute. “Yes, I do.” He studied her, but she didn’t meet his gaze. “What about you?”

“I always hoped a husband and two or three kids would be in the cards for me one day.” Laurie looked up from the bowl and found Tuck watching her. “I have my parents and my sister. We all love each other very much but we didn’t do that much together. They had their lives and I had mine. They made sure I didn’t need anything physically, but I always missed out on the family togetherness. I want to experience that with my own kids someday. You’re lucky to have that here.”

His stomach growled and he opened a package of soup crackers, hoping the salty squares would tide him over until they brought his meal. “Yes, I am lucky. Heaven knows they can drive me insane, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

“Have they always been supportive of your being a cop?”

“Mostly. Mom would have preferred it if I had chosen a profession that was a bit safer. Or that made it easier to find a wife.” He laughed. “But they are supportive. She worries about me sometimes, but does a decent job at trying to hide it.” He took a swig of his ice water. “And at least Lexi is a year older than I am. She usually gets the brunt of the ‘It’ll be fun when there’s more grandkids running around the place’ comments she throws out on occasion.”

Laurie could totally picture Patty saying that and it made her chuckle. She pointed her spoon at him. “Hey, it could be worse.”

“That it could.”

Their sandwiches arrived and neither of them talked much while they ate. She was content to focus on her meal. Her sandwich was incredibly good, but it was the soup that hit the spot.

“Do you want something for dessert?” Tuck asked.

“Honestly? I’m stuffed.” She put a hand on her stomach. “But you feel free if you’re still hungry.”

“No, I’m good. But I thought we could swing by Daisy’s and see if she has any pies available. I shouldn’t show up empty-handed.”

“Did she give you a piece of her apple pie when you went to get her statement?”

He looked at her quizzically. “Yes…”

Laughing, she folded her napkin and placed it on the plate. “I knew she would. And be honest – you’re hooked now, aren’t you?”

“I admit that I’ve been craving apple pie ever since.” A grin stretching his lips. “She must bake something besides apples and cinnamon into them.”

“One would think.” She looked at her watch. “How about I call Daisy’s and see if she’ll hold a pie back for us? Then it looks like we’ve got about an hour to kill before we need to go pick it up and head over to your mom’s house. With the food I brought, we should be set.”

“Sounds good.”

Laurie made the call while Tuck paid their bill. “Daisy said we were lucky, that she usually is sold out by now, but that the cold weather seemed to be keeping more people at home this morning.”

He helped her with her jacket before donning his own. Both of them tugged on knit hats. “How about we go down by the duck pond. We can walk for a few minutes and talk before we head over?”

“Sure.” She suddenly felt shy. She thought about what he said; how most women wouldn’t be interested in a man with the kind of job that he had. She could certainly see where they might feel that way. She had to admit that, when she thought about her future family, she pictured a husband who came home for dinner every night. And she hadn’t imagined a husband who went to work at a job where his life could be in danger. The thought of that made her feel as though the meal she had eaten had turned to lead. “What made you want to pursue a career in law enforcement?”

Once they were in the truck, he gave Rogue a small piece of sandwich he had saved and looked at Laurie. “The police aren’t what they were when we were kids. I remember seeing a police officer as someone safe to run to if I were lost, or the hero that would save my family if they needed it. The sad thing is, the way the world and the government is today, it felt to me like there were as many bad cops out there as there are good ones. Not a lot of kids see the police as a friend anymore.” Tuck shrugged. “Maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t. But I decided that I wanted to become a police officer because I was determined to make sure that at least one cop out there was going to fight for the residents of this town. I want to be one of those cops that a kid can run to if he or she is in trouble.” He gave her a half smile. “I suppose that sounds pretty hokey.”

“No. It sounds honorable.” And heroic. “You’re right, until I met you, when I saw a police car I assumed they were trying to fill their quota in traffic tickets. It doesn’t seem like they are necessarily accessible to the everyday person, I guess.” Laurie smiled at him. “Kitner is lucky to have you on its side.”

Tuck was an extremely handsome man and if she thought he couldn’t get any more so, the red tinging his ears and the way he got that half smile when he turned from her proved her wrong. She nudged him with her elbow. “Come on, Jeeves. To the park.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Right away, Ma’am.” He gave her a grin as he maneuvered his truck out of the crowded parking lot and back onto the street.

~

Tuck pulled up to the duck pond and parked the truck near the area where he had found Laurie before. The area was deserted save for one jogger brave enough to face the cooler weather and wet paths.

“I don’t think I’m dedicated enough to be a jogger,” Laurie said, shaking her head. “Talk about dedication.”

“I actually did jog back when I was at the police academy. It was enjoyable enough. But I prefer to use the gym behind the station now.”

“You work out at the gym?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “A couple times a week. Why? Is that a surprise?”

“No. But it explains a lot.” She was blushing furiously at her words. “Ugh, never mind. Let’s go for a walk.” Taking her seat belt off, she moved to get out of the truck.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. She halted at the touch, but didn’t turn around.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice husky. “And for the record, you are beautiful when you blush.”

She let out a little laugh and ducked her head. He couldn’t see her face but had a feeling the blush she sported might have spread even further. Opening his door, he relished the feel of cool air hitting his face.

He attached a leash to Rogue’s collar and led him around the truck to join Laurie. “Let’s stick to the sidewalk.”

“I agree, or we’ll be a muddy mess.”

Tuck extended a hand to her and she pulled one of her own from a jacket pocket and placed it in the warmth he offered. His stomach did a flip flop at the softness of her touch. 

They walked for a while in comfortable conversation. Rogue was happy to prance next to his owner, tongue lolling, and his nose in the air picking up different scents. Any ducks nearby kept their distance from the canine. The time went by quickly. Tuck checked his watch and reluctantly tugged her back in the direction of his truck. “We had better go and pick up that pie before we’re late.”

Laurie nodded her agreement. “Thank you again for lunch. It’s been the best Sunday I can remember in a long while.”

He smiled, rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand. “Same here.” He unlocked the truck, urged Rogue to hop in, but stopped Laurie by reaching for her hand again. “I hope this is the start of many days like this.” He touched the back of his fingers to her cheek, catching some stray strands of her hair. He carefully tucked them behind her ear. When she looked up at him, he thought he might drown in the depth of her eyes.

His gaze swept over her face and settled on her lips. When she drew that bottom lip between her teeth, he bent low and captured it with his own. She leaned into him, returning the kiss. Relishing the warmth of her lips, he cradled the back of her head with one hand and slipped the other around her waist. Laurie’s hands clasped behind his neck.

He broke their kiss and rested his forehead against Laurie’s. The last thing he wanted to do was go to his mom’s house. He drank in the light dancing in her eyes as he held her in his arms. Her hands had dropped to rest against his chest.

“We’d probably better get inside before you freeze. And before Daisy gives our pie away.”

~

The front door opened and Patty ushered them inside with a welcoming smile. “My goodness, it’s getting colder by the hour. Come inside.” She reached down to give Rogue a pat.

Laurie squeezed through with her camera bag and sack of food. “Thank you, Mrs. Chandler.”

“It’s Patty, honey. Call me Patty. Here, let me take that from you and put it in the kitchen. Oh! That salad looks good and those cookies look heavenly!”

Laurie turned to the living room to find Grams and Serenity watching. Rogue had already started his rounds, greeting each person and enjoying the pettings they had to offer. “I hope you don’t mind if I move on in here.” She heard a noise and saw Tuck come into the house with a duffel bag and a small, rolling piece of luggage containing some cloth backdrops and a few other things she never left home without. “Almost literally. I usually use a small fraction of what I bring, but I like to be prepared.”

“We brought a pie along, too,” Tuck said as he went by on his way to the kitchen.

Laurie sat down with Serenity and went over some of her shot ideas, trying to get a feel for which Gideon might do and which he would dislike. She always wanted to find out if it would be easier to do outdoors first or indoors.

Once they had a game plan, she stood with her hands on her hips and looked at her equipment. “Alright, let’s do some shots in his room first. Let me get a few things out.”

Serenity had already dressed Gideon in the clothes she wanted him to wear. Laurie attached her external flash to her Canon DSLR and followed her down the hall. “First, I’m going to capture some candid shots while he’s playing, let him get used to the flash and the fact that I’m taking photos of him.”

Serenity nodded and hung back while Laurie made herself comfortable on the floor in front of Gideon. “Hey, buddy! It looks like you’re having fun there.”

He was playing with his trains, which were currently heaped in a pile. Laurie took a few pictures to get her settings right. Then she brought up the pictures on the view screen. She turned it so that he could see them. “I’m going to be taking some pictures of you today. See? After I take them, they show up on the screen. Isn’t that cool? If you ever want to see the pictures, you just let me know, and I’ll show them to you.”

She snapped a few more pictures as he sat there, watching her. The flash was angled at the ceiling and didn’t seem to bother him. When his curiosity about the camera seemed to wane, she made a suggestion.

“Can I show you something fun? Here, let’s grab this box and put it down here.” She moved the box to the floor next to the bed. “Is it okay if I use one of your trains?”

She reached for a yellow train and when he didn’t object, she picked it up. “Thank you! Okay, what about this?” Laurie took the train and made “choo-choo” noises as she drove it along the bed and then let it fall over the edge to watch it crash in the box.

Gideon’s first reaction was a big smile, but then his eyebrows came together in a scowl. He scooped the train up out of the box, gathered all of the other trains together and deposited them on the bed.

Laurie’s gaze swung to Serenity in the doorway.

“He has to order them by color first.”

“Ah, gotcha. Sorry about that, buddy.”

She took a photo or two as he did just that. When he was ready, he drove the red train across the bed and let it fall off the side. As soon as it began its plunge, Gideon’s face lit up. By the second train car, he was laughing. Laurie took photos until he had driven each of the train cars off the bed and into the box. Putting the camera aside, she clapped her hands. “That was awesome, Gideon! Good job!” That earned her brief eye contact with a smile. She looked up to find Serenity with a matching smile on her face. “Let’s give him a few minutes to play that game, then we’ll redirect. I would like to get a picture or two of you both together.”

At her words, Serenity immediately shook her head. “Oh, I don’t think so. We don’t need pictures of me. Just Gideon will be fine.”

“Please? Does he like it when you read to him?”

Serenity nodded.

“Do you usually read here at bedtime, in the living room, or where?”

“Usually in the rocking chair in the living room.”

“Perfect!” Laurie grinned. “I’ll be back, let me go get set up.”

She went out to the living room. Everyone else was in the kitchen. She angled the rocking chair. It would be easier to take photos without the other furniture getting in the shot. She might have moved the chair completely, but Laurie was afraid that, if she changed the layout too much, it might make Gideon uncomfortable. She wanted it to all feel natural to him. She grabbed a book from one of her bags and went back down the hall.

When she entered the room again, Gideon looked up. “Hey, buddy. I have a book you might like. Would you like to see it?”

He hesitated a moment, but stood and approached her. Laurie took the book out from behind her back. He saw the red train on the front and reached for it. She knelt down in front of him. “I will give this book to you and you can keep it if you come out into the living room so that your mommy can read it to you. Will you do that for me?”