Pitch Perfect (9 page)

8

Spring Fever

N
OT HAVING A CAR REALLY SUCKED, MIA THOUGHT AS SHE
hoofed it down Main Street to the police station. Myra had given her directions, and unlike in Chicago, just about everything in Cricket Creek was within reasonable walking distance. Still, she was in a hurry and a car would have been nice right about now . . . and of course flagging a passing cab wasn’t an option. Adding to her discomfort, the sky had clouded over, leaving a definite nip in the late spring air. By the time she arrived at her destination, Mia was shivering and her tired feet ached.

“Okay,” Mia whispered as she paused for a second to catch her breath and get her bearings, “now where do I go?” The courthouse was a stately old brick building with a white domed roof in the center, reminding Mia of the courthouse in the movie
To Kill a
Mockingbird
. Mia was a big fan of classic movies and she suddenly felt as if she were stepping into the past. A giant oak tree sprouting tender green leaves graced the side yard, and a row of deep red petunias lined the sidewalk. Two large planters chock-full of flowers perched on both sides of the front porch, and a rustic grapevine wreath decorated the front door. Even in her rush, the homespun beauty wasn’t lost on Mia.

Myra had instructed Mia to go in the double doors in a building to the left, where the police station was located. As Mia had imagined, it was small but it was a police station nonetheless, and entering made her feel a bit nervous. Still, she took a deep breath and pushed the heavy door open. After glancing around, she walked up to the desk with an air of what she hoped was confidence, even though she didn’t have a clue as to how to spring someone from the slammer.

An older woman with a perky salt-and-pepper pageboy cut smiled at Mia, putting her a little bit at ease. “May I help you?”

Mia glanced at the nameplate on the desk. “Nancy, I’m here to bail someone out,” Mia explained.

“Name?”

“Mia Mon . . . Money.”

“Mia Money?” she asked uncertainly.

“Yes,” Mia replied firmly. “Mia Money . . . no relation to Eddie.”

Nancy frowned. “When was Mia Money arrested?”

“What? Oh . . . no, that’s
my
name.”

Nancy chuckled. “Well, Miss Money no relation to Eddie, who are you here to bail out?”

“Oh, um . . . Cam . . . Cameron . . .” What was his last name?

“Cam Cameron?”

“Cameron is his first name.”

“Last name?” she asked with a hint of amusement.

Mia felt heat creep into her cheeks but then used her father’s method of slyly sliding right past something he didn’t know. “He was brought in just a little while ago.”

Nancy slipped on her reading glasses and clicked away on her keyboard. “Cameron Patrick?”

“Yes.” Mia took a chance and nodded. After all, how many Camerons could have been arrested in Cricket Creek?

Nancy slipped her glasses off and let them dangle from a gold chain around her neck. “Bail has just been posted at two hundred and fifty dollars. We only take cash or a money order.”

“Not a problem.” Mia slipped her purse from her shoulder and reached inside for the cash that Myra had loaned to her.

After taking the money, Nancy said, “It will take a little while for the paperwork. As soon as I finish I’ll call back to the holding cell to release Cameron.”

“Thanks,” Mia said and tried not to wince at the term
holding cell
. She had a mental vision of someplace damp, dirty, and full of spiders. She barely suppressed a shudder. Cam was in jail because he’d come to her defense, and it made her feel terribly guilty. “Would you mind letting him out soon? We have, uh, dinner reservations.”

“Reservations, huh?”

Mia nodded firmly. “And they were so very hard to get,” Mia added, hoping that she didn’t have to come up with a restaurant name. The only place other than Wine and Diner she knew of was Sully’s, and reservations at a bar and grill probably weren’t necessary.

Nancy arched an eyebrow and looked as if she were suppressing a grin. “I just bet reservations were hard to get here in Cricket Creek. Special occasion?”

Mia swallowed hard. She hated lying. “Um, our anniversary.” She now understood how one fabrication quickly led to another.

“Aw, well, now, sugar, I’ll do my best. You can have a seat over there.” Nancy pointed to a wooden bench against the far wall. “Hopefully it won’t take too long to spring your boyfriend.”

“Thank you.” Mia nodded but then leaned in a little closer. “Cam’s actually innocent of any real wrongdoing, you know,” Mia said but kept her serious tone low in case the big, mean sheriff was anywhere nearby.

“I’m sure,” Nancy whispered back, but Mia didn’t think she was taking her seriously. Unfortunately she got that a lot.

After glancing left and right, Mia added, “No, really, Cam was actually a hero. He came to my rescue like a true gentleman.” She placed one hand to her chest. “Well, you know, except for the little . . . scuffle.”

“That was very sweet of your man to get into trouble on your behalf,” Nancy said with a bit of a wistful sigh and glanced down at a romance novel on her desk. “Everyone deserves a hero. Somebody to stick up for them. Care. Kiss . . . wake up to in the morning. Okay, I’d better stop.”

“I know what you’re saying,” Mia agreed automatically, but she then realized it was true. She hoped that gaining Nancy’s sympathy would speed up the process.

“Is he your husband or boyfriend?”

Mia noticed the lack of a wedding ring on Nancy’s left hand and felt a pang of sadness. “We’re not married . . . you know, yet. We’re celebrating . . . uh, the day we met.”

“Oh, how adorable! Yeah, well, if he’s a keeper, y’all better hang on tight. All the good ones are already taken or, you know . . .” She extended her hand forward and tilted it back and forth.

Mia frowned for a second, but then it dawned on her what Nancy was getting at. “You mean gay?”

“Uh-huh.” Nancy nodded slowly and sighed as if from personal experience. “I do mean gay.” She sighed again. “Some gentlemen prefer blondes and some gentlemen prefer . . . other gentlemen.”

“So true,” Mia said with a serious nod, but then Nancy laughed.

“Oh, you were kidding!” Mia was often the last one to get the joke.

Nancy shook her head. “No, honey, I sure do wish, but I can laugh about it now. He was a trucker of all things . . . Who knew?”

“Well, I’m sure your soul mate is still out there,” Mia assured her with a bit of a wary smile. She wasn’t used to people being so forward with personal information, but small-town folks seemed to be much more forthcoming, going right past chitchat to the good stuff.

Nancy chuckled. “Well, at my age they’re dropping like flies.” Again Mia wasn’t sure if she should laugh, but when Nancy chuckled, Mia joined her. “Honey, all I can say is that if this Cameron Patrick is hero material, you’re one lucky girl.”

“I’ll remember that,” Mia said and mulled Nancy’s comment over after sitting down on the wooden bench. She clutched her purse on her lap and tried to relax even though she felt out of her element. But after glancing around, Mia almost managed to laugh out loud. Out of her element? That was an understatement if there ever was one, and she started mentally ticking off the reasons why. Okay, she was in a police station bailing out an almost total stranger with borrowed money. Just a little while ago she had tossed a Diet Coke in a man’s face and then jumped onto another man’s back and attempted to snap his ears from his head. Oh, and let’s see, she had left her father’s estate in a battered old car and was now living in a small town under an assumed name while weaving a tale that just kept on growing. And to top it all off, all she had in her wallet was a few dollars from tips, and she already owed money.

Panic started to well up in her throat, and her fingers itched to call her father to end this nonsense and put her on the next flight back home to Chicago. By this weekend she could be in Monte Carlo or Cabo San Lucas. Mia sighed. Maybe if she closed her eyes and clicked her heels she would end up snuggled in her own cushy bed. It was worth a try! She brushed away a lock of hair and noticed that her fingers were trembling. Oh boy . . .

But Mia suddenly sat up straighter. That pitiful pile of tips in her purse was money she had earned. And . . . she had been hired not because she was Mitch Monroe’s daughter but based on her very own merit. Okay, she had pretty much begged, and, well, she had really sucked at her job,
but
Mia was prepared to go back and try again if Myra allowed her. Instead of standing on the sidelines letting everything be done for her, Mia had jumped into the fray—literally—and it felt pretty damned good. Well, except for her aching feet! She glanced down at her perfectly stylish but utterly painful shoes. Her first purchase with her paycheck was going to be sensible footwear, she thought with a wry grin. But when she rolled the word
sensible
over in her brain, Mia actually snorted. From her extravagant lifestyle to her designer shoes, absolutely nothing in Mia’s life remotely resembled being sensible. When another snort drew Nancy’s attention, Mia wiggled her finger beneath her nose pretended she had sneezed.

“God bless you, sugar.”

“Thanks,” Mia replied but then sneezed for real, drawing a frown from Nancy.

“You’re not dressed warm enough for this unseasonal weather. Somebody sure musta pissed off Mother Nature.”

“I know.” She wondered if there was a jacket in the hodgepodge of clothing stuffed in her suitcase. Probably not . . .

“Well, that will never do.” Nancy scooted her chair back from the desk and stood up. “I’ll go search in the lost-and-found box for a sweater.”

Mia waved a hand in Nancy’s direction. She was cold but not exactly thrilled about wearing discarded clothing from a jail. “Oh, I’ll be f-f-f- . . . aaah-choo!”

“Sure you will.”

“No real— Aaah-choo!”

“I’ll be right back,” Nancy insisted and then hurried down the narrow hallway before disappearing into a room.

Mia shook her head but smiled softly. Here she was a complete stranger and Nancy was concerned for her welfare. Fred had promised to fix her car as cheaply as possible and keep it stored until she could pay, and without a penny down. Myra had hired her out of the goodness of her heart and Cameron had come to her rescue twice. Mia already knew more people in Cricket Creek than she knew in her gated community back in Chicago.

Wow . . .

Mia released her death grip on the leather strap of her purse and a reassuring sense of calm washed over her. “Not only
can
I do this, but I will pay back everyone who put their trust in me, especially Myra,” she whispered with a quiet sense of determination. She
wanted
to do this . . . and not to prove anything to her father but to prove something to herself.

A couple of minutes later, Nancy reappeared with a cute little blue hoodie that had the Cricket Creek Cougars emblem in the upper corner. “Here ya go. See if this fits. Probably a little bit big, but it should chase away the chill. Noah Falcon brought over some promotional stuff the other day that I had forgotten about.”

“Oh, I couldn’t take some free stuff meant for your employees,” Mia protested, even though the soft cotton felt warm and wonderful.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Sheriff Mason isn’t too fond of Noah, and he shoved it all into a back room in a big old huff, so don’t worry about it.”

“Well, in that case, thanks,” Mia said and shoved her arms into the sleeves. It was a little bit big but warmed her cold arms. “So the sheriff doesn’t care for Noah Falcon?” Even though Mia knew the answer, she wanted the scoop.

“Crazy.” Nancy pursed her lips. “That Cougar complex has revitalized this tired little town. Business has picked up everywhere, and the new shopping strip down by the stadium is going to be a nice addition to the area. Shops and a couple of restaurants, and there is talk of a future hotel and convention center that will bring in business all year round.”

“Silly man,” Mia said as she zipped up the hoodie.

“Old rivalry that goes all the way back to high school, but yeah,
silly man
is putting it mildly. I know I’m grateful to Noah Falcon and Ty McKenna for bringing life back to our community. If it hadn’t happened soon, Cricket Creek would have become a ghost town. Family-owned businesses would have gone under and let the franchises swoop in and take over.”

“That would have been a shame! This place oozes charm.”

“I’d like to think so,” Nancy agreed. “Plus, the baseball games are fun. I’m looking forward to the new season.”

“Oh . . .” Mia suddenly thought of her father’s involvement with the Cougars and wondered how much he actually had to do with the entire development. If she had to guess, she’d guess it would be a lot. “I can imagine.”

Nancy tilted her head. “I thought your boyfriend was on the team. Surely you’ll be at the games.”

“Oh, for sure,” Mia said firmly. “I was, you know, speaking in general terms. I’m just glad to hear that it’s a success and bringing in more growth.”

“Yes, this town has been brought back to life in more ways than one,” Nancy added before turning her attention back to her computer.