Just a Memory (7 page)

Being careful not to touch him, she passed him to go to the dorm-sized refrigerator on the other side of her desk. The office was so small, not much bigger than a walk-in closet, that she felt awkward.

He must have noticed. "Look, if you'd rather not eat the pizza, it's okay. Maybe I should just help you finish picking up so you can get home at a decent hour."

"No, I would like the pizza." She laughed nervously. "I…well, I'm just surprised you brought it, that's all. I'm not used to having anyone…I mean, of course I have friends in this town, but they wouldn't…"

Exasperated, she ran both hands through her hair and then plopped her hands back on her hips. "Thanks, Mac. It was very nice of you."

"I didn't do it just to be nice. I was hoping we could be friends, Carolyn," he said softly. "I haven't made any friends yet in Lakehaven." He held his hand out to her.

He'd hesitated just slightly before the word 'friends'. She looked at his outstretched hand and fought the direction her mind suddenly took when another kind of relationship, besides friendship, popped into her thoughts. For a moment she thought of him only as a desirable man, and of herself as a woman who had been without a man in her life for a very long time. A startling warmth filled her and made her acutely aware of her femininity. She was startled by this stranger's ability to rouse such long-dormant feelings in her.

Continuing to think along those lines wasn't good. Having loved Richard and lost him, she'd vowed never to let her feelings for any man get that strong again. Especially not a man, who put his life on the line every day in his job as a cop, and who was in town only temporarily. She wouldn't set herself up again for the pain and loss that would be inevitable when he left.

Besides, dating someone like Mac would only increase the frequency of her daughter's broad hints that it was high time she had a daddy. Carolyn would never get the child's hopes up only to have them dashed.

Trying to remember that being friends was the only way to be, she placed her hand in Mac's and smiled tentatively. "I'd like another friend." She emphasized the word 'friend' just a little.

Mac grinned and they shook on it. "Good, then let's eat. I'm starved."

"Me too."

Mac removed his trench coat and uniform jacket together in one movement. His tie hung from a loosened knot and his top shirt button was undone. He turned back from hanging his coat on the corner of the open door to catch Carolyn watching him.

She looked away to reach for the paper towels to use in lieu of plates and napkins. Amazed that she'd actually enjoyed watching his muscles move under his fitted shirt, she felt a warm glow deep down where she hadn't felt one in a long time.

With an old-fashioned politeness she appreciated, he waited to sit while she took off the holiday smock. "I only wear this old thing when I clean the store," she explained self-consciously. She was tempted to put on her pants-suit jacket, hanging behind her chair, but decided not to. Apparently it felt as warm in the office to him as it did to her.

She sat at the opposite corner of the small desk from him and they ate, not inhibited by the cramped quarters, or the fact the pizza was hardly warm anymore.

As he ate Mac stretched his long legs out beyond the end of the desk. The movement caught her attention. When she looked up from his legs, he was gazing at her. Unable to remember a time when she felt so self-conscious, she quickly looked down and reached for an extra paper towel. She kept her legs primly folded and her feet tucked under her chair. She hoped he didn't guess she was trying to hide the fact that she felt her legs trembling.

"Good pizza," she mumbled.

"
Mm-hmm
," he agreed.

Despite a rough start, the conversation gradually grew comfortable and time passed easily. They talked mostly about Lakehaven, Carolyn answering Mac's questions about the area. She found herself disappointed that he didn't volunteer much about himself personally, and decided to keep the conversation impersonal by not offering any information about herself or Terri. She asked some general questions about where he worked before when they discussed the Lakehaven police department, but she didn't want to pry further.

The pizza disappeared in short order.

"Now what can I do to help you get done here?" Mac asked, scoring with his wadded-up paper towel thrown at the wastebasket in the corner.

"You don't have to do any more, Mac. You've done so much just by bringing me food. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating. I hope I left enough for you." She set the desk calendar back in place after clearing away the pizza box.

"I'm fine, but I mean it. What else can I do to help you get ready to open for business tomorrow?" He stepped into the hall and she followed.

"Mac, I can't ask you to stay and help."

Walking through to the showroom ahead of her, he whirled back toward her and stopped abruptly. Not able to stop as quickly with no warning, she walked right into his chest. He held her shoulders to steady her, and then kept his hold to prevent her from stepping back. Her gaze flew up to see he was smiling down at her.

"You don't have to ask, Carolyn. I volunteered. I
want
to help you. Just me. Mac. Not the cop. Not the Acting Chief of Police. Just me, your new friend."

Carolyn held his gaze and swallowed past the lump that had settled in her throat. "Thank you," she managed.

He smiled and they continued on into the showroom to put the last of the displays back in order. She turned the tape deck back on to play quietly while they worked and discovered they had similar taste in classical music.

"We'll have to go to
Syracuse
for the symphony concerts," Mac announced casually. "They're really good. I haven't heard them often, but I've never been disappointed."

Carolyn didn't know what to say. He'd probably just made the offer in passing and wouldn't remember when the concert dates neared, but the possibility of attending was wonderful. She loved going, but it was such a long drive. She'd never chanced going alone, and it was not often she could find anyone interested in driving up with her.

The thought of going with Mac….

"There. That's the last of the boxes for the display," he said, breaking into her thoughts.

"Thanks for all your help, Mac. That didn't take long at all with two more hands working. I would have been here another hour at least. Now I can open tomorrow without having to skip the Lakehaven Merchants Association meeting in the morning in order to finish. I really appreciate your help. In fact, you've made yourself so handy around here, there's one more favor I'd like to ask."

She led the way to her office where they retrieved their jackets and coats. She pointed to a cardboard file box on top of the little refrigerator. "Those are the minutes for the Association. I have to pass them on to the new secretary tomorrow at the meeting. It would take me two trips to get them all out to my car. Could you carry the box for me?"

"Hey, you don't need an excuse to ask a friend for help." The broad smile he flashed heated parts of her that no man had made feel even lukewarm for nearly a decade.

Mac hefted the heavy box and walked with it resting on his hip. Carolyn saw a flinch of pain on his face when he lifted it, but it passed so quickly she wondered if she'd been mistaken. She followed him to the back door, turning off the lights as she went.

"Charlie sure got this fixed in a hurry," Mac said, noticing the new door with the heavy keyed-deadbolt lock.

"Yes, and am I glad I don't have to worry about the old one anymore. Now I feel safer in here at night."

They stepped out into the cold clear night and she turned her key in the lock. "There, all set. Thanks for bringing that box out for me, Mac. Sure it's not too heavy?"

"Nah."

Carolyn opened the passenger door of her car so he could set the box on the seat. Then with his hand on Carolyn's elbow, he walked her around to the driver's door and opened it. "I'll follow you home to be sure you get there safely."

"Haven't you heard? Men don't do that sort of thing anymore. Besides, nothing is going to happen to me here. This is Lakehaven, and it's not really very late. I'll be just fine."

Mac moved his hand from her elbow along her arm to the top of her shoulder where it rested. His thumb traveled back and forth a short path on the side of her jaw. He couldn't have more effectively stemmed her nervous flood of words if he'd shouted at her to shut up.

"I want to see you home safely, Carolyn. That's the old-fashioned kind of guy I am. Now please, get in your car, and I'll be right behind you."

Though an unaccustomed reaction for her, she did as she was told. It had been centuries since she'd been escorted home by a date. A
date?
You couldn't call a surprise pizza a
date
, could you? Anyway, if dates made her this nervous, she wasn't sorry she had so few of them.

Of course, Lakehaven wasn't overrun by eligible men charging after her. Except for Charlie–and he didn't count–not one had shown up today when she could have used the help. No one but Mac.

By the time Carolyn drove up her street, she figured he'd helped because he felt sorry for her. He just wanted good community relations as the new police chief and she was part of the community, she told herself. That was all there was to it.

She flipped on her turn signal and frowned. Don't get to liking the attention he's paying you, she told herself sternly as she pulled into her driveway and pressed the button to automatically open the garage door.

When she walked out of the garage to the front door, Mac was waiting for her. She stepped up on the wide stoop in front of the door and turned back to him. They were about on the same eye level. "Thank you again for–"

Once more, Mac's hand stopped her in mid-sentence. His palm cradled her cheek and his thumb gently pressed on her lips this time. He stepped a little closer and put one foot up on the stoop beside where she was standing. His thumb lazily traced the edge of her lips while his gaze locked on hers.

"That's about the sixth time you've thanked me, Carolyn. Don't you think that's a bit much for pizza and a little help?"

She had to smile–which was a lot better than her first inclination, which was to kiss his thumb as it tickled her lips.

"But I have an idea," he said suddenly. His fingers strayed back through her hair and then fell to rest on his raised thigh. "You can thank me by going out to dinner with me."

Carolyn's breath escaped in a rush. "Dinner?"

"Yeah," he answered with a chuckle. "You know, the big meal at the end of the day that is generally something better than cold pizza in your office."

"Yes, I know," she remarked with a smile.

"I'm bunking with Hines until I find a place of my own. I don't cook much and eating out alone isn't much fun."

That certainly popped her balloon. He was just lonely. New in a strange town. Why hadn't she thought of that? She stepped back before she made a bigger fool of herself.

"Yeah. And tables for one always seem to be in front of the kitchen door."
Oh, shut up while you're ahead, Carolyn
.
Now he'll think you're a social outcast.

She hoped he didn't see her hand shake as she tried to fit the key into the lock. Carolyn opened the door and reached in to turn on the porch light. She turned back to respond about dinner when she heard light running footsteps coming across the lawn. Backing up to hold the storm door open with her hip, she looked at Mac who watched Terri's approach. She bit down on her bottom lip and wondered if she should have said something about her daughter at the shop.

"Mommy, Mommy, Christie and me had hot dogs for dinner. How come you were so late?" Terri called as she crossed the distance from her best friend's house next door at top speed.