Judging Joey (3 page)

Her words struck a chord in him that over the years he had found himself constantly trying to silence. How dare she question his integrity? He may be new to this job, but so was she. His family questioning his actions was one thing, but he refused to have to defend himself to a complete stranger.

He stood up taller and bore his gaze into her. “When I make a commitment, Miss White, I keep it.”

Chapter 3

Joey trudged away from Madeline and headed toward the parking lot. He tried to block out the voices of the other women calling to him. The three blondes’, plus Caitlin and Alex’s, voices seemed to mix together almost in harmony. A deeper voice pierced through the synchronization as it called out his name.

“Joey! Officer O’Neill!”

He turned around. Roger Denby, the school’s principal, waved him down and rushed over.

“Thanks again for volunteering. Everyone is saying what a good sport you are. It isn’t easy getting hit with pies in the face. I ought to know.” He chuckled as he wiped whipped cream residue off his ear. “Oh, there’s your sister and her husband.” He waved, summoning them over.

Caitlin pushed the stroller in their direction, and Kevin led his son by the hand to join in on the conversation. Alex hurried over, too, never being one to miss out on anything.

Christopher jumped up and down signaling Joey to lift him. Joey swung him up and placed him on his shoulders.

“Listen.” The principal ran a hand through his thinning hair and hesitated. “Two of my teachers have been complaining to me about things missing from their classrooms. Minute things like knickknacks off their desks or classroom library books, but it’s troublesome.” He shook his head. “In my day, students would never have taken things that didn’t belong to them.” He leaned in and whispered so that Christopher couldn’t hear. “We would have gotten whooped at home, if you know what I mean.”

“As PTA Vice President I hear a lot of what goes on in the classrooms,” Caitlin chimed in with a hushed voice. “These teachers need this problem to stop
now
. Otherwise they’ll have this going on until June. We were hoping you could talk to the classes. Individually. It’s more intimate that way.”

“I’d like to think more intimidating,” Roger added. “I won’t tolerate this sort of behavior in my school.”

Joey shook his head, not crazy with the idea. He couldn’t imagine when he’d be able to fit that in. Today’s event was a big commitment and he had the Safety Assembly next week. “Gee, uh, I don’t know when I could fit that into my schedule.”

Christopher tugged on his uncle’s hair. “Uncle Joey! Give me a ride!”

“Leave your uncle alone,” Caitlin said, pushing the stroller back and forth when her daughter started to fuss. “Ssh, Kylie, it’s okay, angel.”

Kevin handed his wife a pacifier from the diaper bag. “We think she’s teething.” Kevin reached back into the bag, grabbed a tissue, and wiped at his daughter’s nose before Caitlin gave Kylie the pacifier.

Joey smiled at his lawyer brother-in-law. He admired him. Kevin was a hands-on kind of father, and he was a good husband to his sister. It amazed him how happy Caitlin was since she met Kevin. He worked for their father at the family’s law practice. After Christopher was born, Caitlin cut her hours at the family law practice significantly.

When she
was
working, their mother and Aunt Nora took turns watching the kids. Since Aunt Nora’s three girls didn’t have any kids of their own yet, she loved to baby-sit Caitlin’s children. Never would he have guessed his tomboy sister to be cut out for the role of wife and mother, but that’s exactly what she had chosen to be, and she was great at it.

Roger Denby continued to plead his case. “We’ve already had the guidance counselor talk to the classes. But just this afternoon one of the third grade teachers found her pencil holder missing.”

“I’m working days now, so I don’t see how I . . .”

“What about after the Safety Assembly?” Caitlin suggested. “You’ll be here already and a uniformed police officer might be more convincing to the children as to the seriousness of the situation.”

“Make that two police officers.” Alex reached out and shook the principal’s hand. “We’d love to do it,” she said, not giving Joey a chance to decline.

Roger clapped his hands together. “Splendid. I’ll see you both next week.”

Joey shot Alex a look and shook his head. Then he leaned over and whispered in Caitlin’s ear, “You snowed me with the pie thing. It was more than I bargained for.”

A group of children and their parents were waving down the principal. “Mr. Denby! We’re next!” they shouted.

He laughed and his eyes sparkled, reminding Joey of St. Nick on a Christmas card.

“I promised some of my kindergarten students that I’d take a hay ride with them. Best be off. Have a great weekend!” He dashed away to join the group of children and their parents.

Joey had to give the principal credit. He wasn’t about to let a trace of whipped cream down his neck interfere with his promise to his students.

Alex gave Christopher a high-five. “Hey, little partner, did you hear that? We’re going to visit your class next week.”

“Cool. Miss White’s going to be happy. And me, too.” With that, Christopher started to pound on Joey’s head. “Thanks, Uncle Joey!”

Joey grabbed his nephew’s hand to discourage the pounding. “Sure. Be glad to.”

Caitlin hugged her brother, squeezing her son in the process. “Thanks for doing this. It means a lot to the teachers and the kids.”

Joey returned her hug the best he could, considering he had a forty-five pound squirming kid on his shoulders and he was covered with whipped cream residue. “Miss White’s class, huh? Should be interesting.” He winked at Alex.

Caitlin’s eyes narrowed and her gaze homed in on Joey. He hated when she scrutinized him like that. Like the time he was fourteen and she discovered he had been reading her diary to the rest of his football team. Getting grounded by his parents for a month was the least of his punishment. Catlin had played the guilt card for years. And Joey had been trying to make it up to her ever since.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Caitlin folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot.

“Uh-oh. Mommy’s not happy with you. You must have said something bad, Uncle Joey. Take it back. Quick.”

Joey endured his nephew’s incessant tapping on his head and stared back at his older sister. He turned to Alex for help. “What? What’d I say?”

Alex sighed and then shook her head. Her mass of blond hair, normally worn up and swept away from her face in a severe style, flowed about freely. Even though he always thought of her as a colleague and friend, it sometimes struck him that, in a way, she was kind of pretty. And that reminded him of what a fool her ex-fiancé was. That jerk had broken his partner’s heart.

“You know, you should wear your hair like that more often. You look good,” Joey said, thinking that maybe it would help her get more dates. He knew she hadn’t had one since she’d broken up with George.

“That’s the problem, Joey. Why are you looking at her hair when you should be answering my question?” Caitlin turned to Kevin and asked him to take the children for a treat.

Relief crossed Kevin’s face. He lugged his son off Joey’s shoulders and whisked him and the stroller away toward the ice-cream stand.

Caitlin waited until they were out of hearing range. “Joey, knock it off. This is serious. You are not to crack jokes about Madeline or any of the teachers. Clear?”

“Hey, chill out, would you? You’re real sensitive. What gives?”

When she didn’t answer him, he said, “Besides, I would never make fun of them. I know how hard their jobs are.” He shot Alex a confused look. “What’s gotten into her?” Both his sister and Miss White needed to take a chill pill.

Caitlin poked him in the chest. “I mean it. Not another word.” She searched the crowd. “I’m going to join Kevin and the kids.” She pressed her finger against his T-shirt. “Remember, focus on the students, not the teachers,
especially
not Madeline.”

He watched his sister scurry off to her family and then turned to Alex. “Now what was that all about?”

Her eyes widened. “Honestly. Men are so dense sometimes.” She dragged him toward the parking lot as she began to decode his sister’s hidden message. “Don’t get any ideas about dating any of those teachers. Especially not Miss Madeline White.”

He stopped dead in his tracks. “
That’s
what she was trying to say? Why didn’t she just say so?” Sometimes Alex surprised him with her insights. He never misunderstood Alex like he did other women. Maybe
that’s
why most of the male officers at the precinct thought of her as one of the guys.

“Thanks for clearing that up,” he added.

“No problem,” she said as she yanked a hairband off her wrist with her teeth and drew her hair up into a ponytail.

“Besides, my sister doesn’t have to worry about something happening between the redhead and me. Keep it on the low down, but I think Miss White’s the conductor on the train heading halfway to Crazy Town.”

Alex shrugged and took a moment to digest what he just revealed. Joey imagined the detective wheels turning in her head before she said, “Hmm, I hear the parents and kids really like her. You know what’s weird? How come your sister didn’t know Madeline in high school either?” she mumbled.

Joey had to think about that for a moment while Alex fixed her hair. “Caitlin and I are three years apart, so when I was a freshman, she was a senior. Seniors don’t hang with freshmen.”

Alex tapped at her temple, apparently not about to let what he had just said go without more of an explanation. “If you both grew up in this same town, wouldn’t you have crossed paths at some point? Maybe at one of the elementary or middle schools? That’s how it was where I grew up.”

He stopped short. Alex was on to something there. The more he thought about it, the more he realized she had to be right. Now he really felt like a jerk. There were several elementary schools, but there was only one middle school in their district. They had to have gone to the same school then. Maybe they were even in some of the same classes. “Nice going, partner. Now I feel even worse. She accused me of doing something to her in high school.”

Alex hit him in the arm. “You dog. What did you do?”

“Nothing, I think. Not sure . . .”

“Well, figure it out before things get ugly. See you at the basketball court.”

They both jumped into their cars. Alex took off, but he had to deal with the three blonds he left commiserating at the cotton candy stand. A quick text message to each one was all he had time for if he was going to make that game. He worded each message differently, but essentially they all relayed the same communication.
Good to see you, thanks for supporting the school.
He made a mental note to delete them from his phone, something he should have done a long time ago.

On his drive home to take a fast shower, his phone beeped several times indicating receipt of text messages. He disregarded them. But what he couldn’t ignore was the image of Miss Madeline White as she flashed into his mind more than once. Her dress had revealed long, lean legs, still a bit tan. She didn’t strike him as a tanning bed or spray tan kind of woman. No, that tan was one hundred percent authentic. The weather was still so warm for October that she could have been sunbathing recently.

He eased into his condo’s parking spot and cut the engine. High school was a lifetime ago. Aside from friends he was still in contact with, he hadn’t given it a thought recently. It pained him to think of his promising football career—the only thing from high school worth remembering—that was stripped away from him. It had come to an abrupt end and so instead of fumbling at what he had lost, he scrambled forward. Was it possible that he had known Madeline and had hurt her somehow? Or was she certifiable?

Why was Caitlin so determined to keep him away from the mysterious redhead? By ordering him to do so, his sister had really piqued his curiosity. She should have known better than to do that, being from a family of five brothers. What on earth was she thinking?

What was this town thinking hiring Joey O’Neill to be one of its police officers? Even though Madeline had learned some time ago that he was one of the new Safety Officers, she had yet to really see him in action since the Safety Officers usually dealt with the older grades in her school.

No matter, though, she thought as she charged back to her classroom determined to get away from the crowd, especially Joey O’Neill. Damn he looked good. Years ago she wanted to be part of his inner circle. She wanted to be way more than that, if she were being honest. He enjoyed life and she had loved the way he laughed. From what she saw earlier, he still managed to find humor when being whacked with whipped cream. But the man was a flirt and, worse, never took anything seriously. Except maybe for team sports. At least that was how he had been in high school. And if her parents had taught her anything, it was that people don’t change.

She unlocked her classroom door, went to her desk, and sank into her chair where she sought refuge. A shout from the school hallway caused Madeline to look up and knock over the picture frame on her desk. One of her first graders stood in the doorway tugging on his mother’s hand.

“Come on, Miss White. You’re missing the Carnival!” the jubilant boy said, trying to pull his mother into the classroom.

“I’ll be back out in a minute, Mikey. After I straighten up here a bit. You go on. I’ll bet your mom wants to play some games.”

Mikey’s mom nodded with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry to bother you, Miss White. Mikey insisted we check to see why his favorite teacher wasn’t outside with everyone else.”

Madeline blew a strand of auburn hair away from her face as she continued to straighten up the mounds of papers on her desk. “No bother. I was outside already and realized I forgot to get the classroom ready for Monday. I promise I’ll come outside soon. Okay, sweetie?”

Assured that his teacher would join the festivities momentarily, Mikey’s face brightened and he grabbed his mother’s arm. Madeline waved goodbye as Mikey dragged his mother away.