Love a Little Sideways (17 page)

He looked at the clock on the stove and shook his head. “You know what? I still have to get home and shower and shave. And I hope to hell I don’t have to iron a uniform before I go in. I’ll just make something quick when I get home.”

“Oh.” She bet he wouldn’t be running off if she’d said she was going to toss the school brochures and start having babies. “Okay.”

He kissed her cheek and snagged his keys off the counter. “I’ll call you later.”

“Okay.”

He paused in the kitchen doorway, maybe given pause by her lackluster response. “I really do have to go, Liz. But I’ll call you later because I’ll spend the whole day missing you.”

That
was what a girl liked to wake up to. “I’ll be thinking about you.”

He grinned and gave her a wink. “Good. That’s the idea.”

* * *

Drew felt as if he spent the entire morning playing catch-up. He’d been late to his first day back at work since he had to drive home first and empty his truck of camping debris, shower and put on his uniform.

When he’d arrived, the piles of paper awaiting his attention on his desk resembled a science fair mountain range project. He had dozens of calls to return and his email inbox had literally made him shudder. His paper inbox was spilling out of its plastic confines and he couldn’t find the stress ball Barbara had bought him as a joke one year under the piles.

Between work and Liz, he could knead the hell out of that ball.

Spending the night and waking up in her bed had messed with his head in a big way. He’d liked it a lot and he’d already been thinking about stashing a real coffeemaker at her place so he could do it a lot more often. Maybe one of the units that brewed one cup at a time like they had at the station to cut down on tossed stale coffee.

Then he’d seen the brochures for online courses and that had segued into a pretty blatant reminder she wasn’t tied to Whitford, or to him. If she got a better offer somewhere else, she’d be gone.

Now he didn’t know what the hell to do. Was there any sense in pursuing a relationship with Liz and parking a coffeemaker in her house if she was just going to cut and run if her life’s goal epiphany took her out of Whitford? When she’d implied she’d have no problem leaving town if a good job came along, she hadn’t even hesitated. All he could infer from that was the fact she wasn’t as invested in them as a couple as he was.

But if he put some distance between them now, what good would it do? He couldn’t imagine trying to meet other women. He didn’t want to date anybody but Liz, so any other relationship he tried would be doomed from the start.

Right now, he couldn’t imagine not having Liz. But he was afraid he’d end up in the same place—with a woman who didn’t want kids—only this time, it wouldn’t be an unpleasant surprise. He’d have walked into it with his eyes wide open.

“You busy?”

He looked up to see Butch Benoit in the doorway and welcomed the distraction. Since the service station had finally upgraded to a pump that took a credit card, he hadn’t seen Butch to talk to since the night he’d towed Liz’s car. “Not too busy for you. What’s up?”

“Wanted to follow up on an incident late last week, but Barbara said you might not have read the report yet.”

Drew sifted through the piles until he found the report. Bob Durgin had called Butch in to tow a vehicle that was illegally parked and the night after the owner coughed up the necessary fees to get his truck back, the service station had been broken into and some expensive tools taken.

“If you can give me a few hours, Butch, I’ll look into this and get back to you this afternoon to see if Officer Durgin’s made any progress. Barbara made sure you have what you need for your insurance, right?”

“Yeah. It’s more a matter of principle than the money.” Butch stood to go. “Oh, so you and Liz Kowalski, huh?”

Drew froze, then relaxed when he remembered he had nothing to hide anymore. At least it made sense now why a guy who knew that Drew would call him if he had any information on the case would show up at his office. “Facebook?”

“Yeah. Fran said it’s all anybody’s talking about at the market this morning. So how’s Mitch taking that? And, before you answer, you should know Fran told me not to come home without some good, on-the-record gossip.”

That was a warning that went without saying. “It was a surprise, but he’s coming around to the idea.”

“Huh. So you’re officially a couple, then?”

Drew wondered if Fran had written out the list of questions for her husband, or just drummed them into his head. “I guess we are.”

After Butch left, Drew rocked back in his chair and blew out a breath. Regardless of what the future held, being officially a couple with Liz felt good. And it felt right. Something that felt that good and that right would be too hard to walk away from, so all he could do was keep going forward and hope for the best.

He took out his cell phone and pulled up Liz’s number as he went to close his office door. Maybe he’d overreacted a little to the brochures on her counter, and it wasn’t as if she’d said she was leaving town. She’d just reminded him in a not-so-subtle way that she was still exploring her options. Instead of pushing or, even worse, pulling away, he needed to work on being one of those options.

She answered on the third ring, a little out of breath. “Hi, Drew. I was just thinking about you.”

He liked the sound of that. “Sexy thoughts, I hope.”

“Well, I was wishing you were here to carry my camping stuff and my laundry bag down to the basement and, since I find the way your muscles flex when you carry things sexy, let’s go with yes.”

“Not exactly what I had in mind.” He chuckled. “But whatever makes you wish I was there.”

“Are you coming here? Later, I mean?”

“I want to.” He looked at the mountain of paper that had eaten his desk. “But I need to work late if I’m ever going to catch up. And your alarm going off at four-thirty’s going to be a shock after a week off.”

He heard her sigh over the phone and the disappointment made him feel wanted. “That’s very grown-up of you. Will I see you at the diner tomorrow?”

“Absolutely. You should know, by the way, that Facebook struck again.”

She laughed. “Of course it did. So I should brace myself for being the center of attention tomorrow?”

“Fran sent Butch in for an official comment under the guise of checking on a police report. It’s out there now.” He shifted some piles around as he talked, trying to sort things by priority. It all seemed high. “Sorry to put you back in the spotlight.”

“Everybody knowing we’re a thing doesn’t bother me, Drew. It’s kind of a relief to be able to talk about it.”

“A thing, huh?”

“Yeah, we’re a thing.” He could practically hear the impish grin in her voice. “Don’t you think the word
boyfriend
is a little high school?”

“I like it.” He liked it a lot. But he heard a sharp rap on the door and Barbara stuck her head in, which meant it had to be important. “Crap, I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Can’t wait. Good night, Drew.”

He couldn’t wait, either, and he thought about her more than he should have while dealing with the pile of paper punishment his department was determined to heap on him. High school or not, he liked the word
girlfriend.
Up until last year, he never would have thought it possible, but Liz Kowalski was his girlfriend.

Drew spent the rest of the evening whistling while he worked, much to the dismay of everybody else who worked late.

Chapter Seventeen

“What the heck is arugula?”

Liz smiled at her customer, ready with an answer since she’d already been asked that question at least a dozen times since writing
roasted chicken breast with arugula
on the specials board. “It’s a leaf. Like baby lettuce, but with a little spicy flavor.”

“Can I get the roasted chicken breast without the arugula?”

“Sure.” The last dozen people who’d asked what it was had.

When she clipped the order slip into the rack and Gavin gave her a hopeful look, she shook her head. “Sorry, kid. Not an arugula crowd.”

“It’s a leaf! I can almost understand rejecting the cold melon soup. This is New England. Soup should be hot. But it’s just a little arugula.”

“I thought it was delicious.” She’d had it on her lunch break. She didn’t really get the whole arugula thing, either, but she liked to support Gavin. “And the roasted chicken breast without the arugula is getting a lot of compliments. They like your seasoning.”

Slightly mollified, the kid went back to his cooking and Liz glanced at the clock. It was almost time for Drew to show up, barring any police emergencies.

In the days since they’d gotten back to Whitford, they’d seen each other mostly during his lunch break. He had a lot of administrative stuff to catch up on after being gone for a week, even working through the weekend, and she got up at four-thirty in the morning. There wasn’t a lot of time between when he was leaving his office and when she was going to bed, though they’d managed to sneak a little here and there. Like last night, when he’d stayed over.

And speak of the devil. The bell over the door rang and he walked in, looking sexy as hell in his uniform. From the neck down, anyway. From his collar up, he looked exhausted and maybe a little ragged around the edges. He’d grumbled more than a little when her alarm went off at four-thirty, even after microwaving his third mug of hot water for instant coffee.

Before taking a seat, he leaned across the counter and gave her a quick kiss. “Hello, beautiful.”

“Hi, there. Let me guess. A salad with grilled chicken?”

“Actually, I’m going to have a cheeseburger today. Medium-well, but I’ll have a side salad instead of fries.”

“Wow.” She arched an eyebrow at him. “Rough day?”

“Actually a good day. I’m getting a grant for most of the cost of an ATV for the police department, and the power sports shop is going to donate the rest of the cost. So I’m celebrating. As a matter of fact, I’ll have bacon and extra mayo on that cheeseburger.”

“You must be really happy to have a four-wheeler.”

“To be honest, I’m the most happy about the paperwork being done,” he said. “But it’ll be nice to be able to patrol the woods a bit. Even if we don’t have the manpower to have somebody out there all the time, knowing there could be a cop on the trails at any given time might deter some of the yahoos.”

Liz ducked away to hang the slip for the cheeseburger before Gavin started grilling chicken for the salad. Then she grabbed Drew’s diet soda and went back to the counter. “Did I tell you I talked to the insurance company?”

“No. How did that go?”

“I guess they sent somebody out while we were camping and they’re totaling it. And they say it’s not worth a lot. I knew it was coming, but a little part of me was still hoping to get it fixed. I guess Butch told them he couldn’t even find the parts for it.”

“Is it enough to put a down payment on something made in the modern era?”

She gave him a sour look. “It wasn’t
that
old. And I’m not sure. I’m going to go online and research what’s out there and go from there.”

“I can help you out if you need it, you know.”

“Thanks, but my car may have been ancient, but I’m fairly computer literate.”

He shook his head. “I meant with the down payment.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to say to that. You didn’t make that kind of offer to a woman who hadn’t been your girlfriend very long, if that was even the term he’d use. But, then again, he was a close friend of the family, so he might have made the same offer to any of them. “Thanks, but I’m okay. If I can’t find something soon, I’ll take the truck from the lodge so I don’t rack up miles on the Mustang.”

“You can drive the car as long as you need it.” He took a sip of his soda. “Well, until mid-October or so. The heater in it sucks and she gets tucked away until spring in the garage before they start salting the roads.”

A few other customers wandered in, so Liz was back and forth for a little while as he ate his lunch. A couple of people stopped to talk to him, and then his dad entered and sat down next to him.

“Hi, Andy,” Liz said when she went over to set him up with a napkin and silverware. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please. I was in town and stopped in to say hi to Drew, but Barbara told me he was here. What’s good on the menu today?”

She sighed. “We have a wonderful roasted chicken breast with arugula.”

“I’ll try it.”

She wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. “With the arugula?”

“Of course. Roasted chicken breast with arugula just isn’t the same without arugula, now is it?”

As she went to give Gavin the good news, she heard Drew say, “Do you even know what arugula is?”

“Nope. But Gavin has yet to serve anything inedible, so I’ll give it a shot.”

Because it was almost time for Ava to take over, Liz left Drew and his dad to visit while she started doing her cleanup and making sure everything was stocked and ready for her. By the time she was done, so were the guys.

After cashing them out, she leaned across the counter so Drew could kiss her goodbye. “Are you going to stop by after work?”

“I have a meeting with a guy from the EPA later this afternoon. If it doesn’t run too late, I’ll be there. If it’s going to be long, I’ll text you.”

“Okay.”

When he was gone, she turned to go bus their dishes and almost ran into Ava. The older woman gave her a knowing smile. “It’s so nice to see Chief Miller smile like that. He’s a nice boy and Mallory was no good for him. You two are a much better couple.”

They were a pretty good couple, Liz thought. They enjoyed each other’s company, respected each other’s jobs, and certainly had sexual chemistry.

Ava put her hand on Liz’s arm. “And you’ll make the most beautiful babies. That Rose is a lucky woman. With the Kowalski looks and her Katie being so pretty and Drew being a looker, she won’t have a homely grandbaby in the whole damn bunch.”

Liz smiled, her cheeks feeling tight. Why did it always have to come around to babies?

* * *

Drew grabbed the huge box that had been delivered to the police department out of the back of the SUV and walked up to Liz’s front door. He was saved from having to kick at her door for help when she opened it, and it gave him a jolt of pleasure to imagine her watching for him out the window. Or she’d heard his truck pull in, but he preferred the former.

“What is that?” She stepped back to let him and the box through.

“You’ll see.” He went straight to the kitchen and set the box on the floor. After using his pocket knife to slit the tape, he opened the flaps and pulled out a smaller box. “
This
is how you make coffee.”

“You bought me a coffeemaker?”

He heard the confusion in her voice, which wasn’t a surprise since he knew she was strict with herself. “It’s one of those single-cup brewers and there’s more.”

Reaching back into the shipping box, he pulled out two boxes of the little cups, both decaf. She smiled when he held them up for her to see.

“Most guys start with leaving a toothbrush.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t have to because you had an extra in the drawer, so I went big.”

“I hope it has directions.”

While she started pulling the coffeemaker out of its packaging, he took the last small box out of the bigger cardboard one and worked his way toward the stove. When he was certain all of her attention was on getting the brewer out of the plastic sleeve, he opened the cabinet over her range hood and stuffed the box in.

“What was that?”

Busted.
He gave her an innocent look. “What was what?”

“Don’t even try it. What did you put in that cabinet?”

“Coffee. The real kind. I was hoping to hide it from you so you wouldn’t be tempted to drink it, but I
need
my coffee.”

She laughed at him and went back to what she was doing. “You don’t have to hide your coffee. Trust me, I felt crappy enough back when I was guzzling the stuff that I’m rarely tempted. Or I’m tempted a lot, actually, but I don’t have too much trouble resisting.”

“So you feel better now?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Was it all the coffee, or do you think it was making changes in your life?”

“All of it, probably,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. “The coffee was the big thing, but I was also lonely and unhappy and had a lot of stress about it.”

Drew stepped up behind her to wrap his arm around her waist. With his other hand, he pulled her hair to one side so he could kiss the back of her neck. “You don’t seem lonely and unhappy anymore.”

“Mmm.” She relaxed against his body and he slid his hand over her stomach, feeling some of his exhaustion slip away. “Speaking of not being lonely, Rose and Andy invited us over for dinner. Just a small one in the kitchen, since the lodge has guests.”

Disappointment surged through him, but he tried not to let her feel it in him. He did slide his hand away from the snap of her jeans, though, and back to her hip. “She did, huh?”

“I think she wants to gloat. I’m sure she’s managed to convince herself—and half the town—that us being a couple was all her doing.”

“So what time are we supposed to be over there?” Judging by the clock, it would be soon enough so they wouldn’t have time to get naked before they left.

“I passed on the invitation. I told her you’ve been working overtime and that we just want a quiet night. Do you mind?”

He kissed the back of her neck again. “I don’t mind at all. I’ve been looking forward to it, but I don’t know how quiet it’ll be.”

“You realize that means frozen pizzas in the oven instead of Rosie’s cooking, right?”

“Mmm-hmm.” He was too busy nuzzling the side of her neck to make words, but hopefully she’d get the message. Frozen pizzas was a small price to pay.

“Okay, show me how to use this thing.”

He lifted his head, scowling at the coffeemaker she’d just plugged in. “Right now?”

“Yes.” She stepped away from him to set the temperature on her oven. “As tired as we both are, if we get horizontal right now, we won’t have supper until tomorrow morning and I’m starving.”

“Good point.” He could wait a little while to get her naked, if the waiting involved food and coffee.

He showed her how to use the machine while the pizzas baked, brewing them each a mug of the decaf. As much as he preferred the high-test, her alarm was merciless and the sooner he fell asleep after sex, the better.

An hour later, they were snuggled on her futon, watching a DVD she’d popped in since she didn’t have cable yet. He had his feet up on her coffee table and she was tucked under his arm with her head on his chest.

“The book was better,” Drew muttered. They were watching
It
, which was based on his favorite Stephen King novel. “I must have read that book ten times when I was a teenager.”

“
Needful Things
was my favorite. It was more about people turning on each other, which was fascinating to me. Maybe because we live in a small town.”

“I was always running with Mitch and your brothers, especially on our bikes, so I could imagine something like
It
happening to us. The clown was scary as hell, though.”

He felt her chuckle vibrate against his chest. “You even had Katie, most of the time, since she was such a tomboy. The token girl.”

“While you were with Rose, learning how to keep house and cook. Maybe you should have paid more attention.” He kicked at the paper plates near his toe, bearing the remains of their frozen pizzas.

She slapped his leg. “Don’t be a wiseass. Watch, this is a good part.”

Drew slouched down a little more on the futon, trying to get comfortable. It was tempting to try out one of the blow-up pool floats still scattered around the room, but he didn’t want to let go of Liz. When he’d told her he’d read
It
but hadn’t seen the movie, she’d been so excited for him to watch it, he didn’t have the heart to tell her what he really wanted to do was stretch out on the bed with her.

But this wasn’t so bad, either. As a matter of fact, he could imagine doing it forever—coming home to Liz and having dinner and curling up in front of the television for a while. But, in his imagination, they’d need a few more frozen pizzas and the curling up would wait until the kids were tucked into bed.

His chest ached at the visual, so he tried to push it away. Kissing the top of Liz’s head, he let himself feel content with holding her because ruining the here and now out of fear of the future was a stupid thing to do. And, right now, holding her was enough.

* * *

Liz lingered at the diner when her shift ended, chatting with Ava and a few of the customers. Drew wouldn’t be out of work for several more hours, anyway, and when your house didn’t have a lot of clutter, it didn’t take a long time to clean.

She was starting to accumulate things, though. Like the coffeemaker Drew bought for her. And the extra razor and shaving cream in her bathroom. And, as of last night, a crisp WPD uniform hanging in her closet. Just in case he overslept on a night he stayed over, he’d said.

Part of her knew it made sense. He spent a lot of time there and rushing in the morning because you didn’t have anything you needed at hand could throw off an entire day. But another part of her was waving a yellow flag, urging her to slow down.

She loved spending time with Drew. Hell, if she was being honest with herself, she was in love with him and that scared the crap out of her. He seemed to be marching resolutely toward the finish line, which in his mind was marriage and babies, while she was content to go on as they were for a while. Spending time together, out of bed as much as in it, was enough for her since she was still adjusting to the changes in her life since leaving Darren and New Mexico behind her.