Summer In Stanton (Stanton Falls #3) (8 page)

She
had a master plan of course.
 
She was
supposed to graduate from college at the top of her class and start her own
little accounting firm that would grow into something on the level of H and R
Block.
 
Okay, so now she knew that her
ideas were a little more grandiose than they needed to be.
 
She remembered how her mother would always
tell her to get her head out of the clouds and focus on something
realistic.
 

It
seemed like her mother knew so much all the time.
 
God rest her soul.
 
Her mother was a good woman who had died much
younger that Anna ever expected.
 
Maybe
if she had known her mother would be gone early, she would have treated her
better.
 
But it was too late now.
 
All she could do was be thankful for the
woman that had raised she and her sister all alone by working three jobs.
 
She wouldn’t complain about doing a few
reports like Anna was doing now.
 

No.
 
Anna probably got that unappreciative part of
her attitude from her father.
 
At least
that was what she assumed.
 
She’d never
actually met the man.
 
The last she had
heard, he lived in Texas with a family that didn’t include her.
 
For all her faith and love, Anna’s mother
married the wrong man and he burned her.
 
Badly.
 
Anna promised herself from
a young age that she would not end up that way.
 

That
was one of the main reasons she had wanted to have her own firm.
 
She wanted to stand on her own without
anyone’s help.
 
The only problem was that
it was pretty much impossible to get a business off of the ground.
 
No reputable company wanted to hire a young,
inexperienced accountant with zero credentials outside of a few internships and
a very well balanced checking account.
 
They wanted the backing of a major company.
 
Well she didn’t go through all those years of
beyond boring classes just to punch digits into an accounting program for some
mega company.
 

She
held out for a decent amount of time.
 
Six months to be precise.
 
That
was when the grace period on her student loans ended.
 
The reality of what she needed to do to make
it came in the form of a monthly payment that was over four hundred
dollars.
 
So she ate a bit of humble pie
and took the job offer that she’d been given by a company she had interned for
in school.
 
That was five years ago.
 

When
she really thought about, her professional life wasn’t all that horrible.
 
She was blessed enough to have a job with one
of the most respected accounting firms in the Miami area.
 
If she compared herself to the average
twenty-six-year-old, she was doing stellar.
 
In fact, just six months ago she happily moved into her very own custom
built two story house in a new gated community.
 
It was the first really big splurge she promised herself when she
started at the company.
 
It was
definitely a far cry from the little place that she shared with her mother and
sister while growing up.
 
In short, she
was doing pretty good for herself.

None
of that goodness changed the truth that she was in for a long day after getting
that work dropped off at her desk.
 
She
should have been used to it by that point in time.
 
Mr. Granville kept her constantly busy since
he took over as her boss last year.
 
At
first when he’d inherited the High Equity Business unit that she was a part of,
she thought he had taken a liking to her.
 
He used to be full of complements and unnecessary thumbs ups to go with
his funny, crooked smile.
 
‘You’re a
great gal Anna.
 
And smart to boot!
 
That’s going to take you even farther in this
company’.

In
the beginning she liked hearing it.
 
Sure
it was a tiny bit chauvinistic but she didn’t think he meant anything overt by
it.
 
It wasn’t until a while later when
she noticed that every compliment was a prelude to a whole lot of work coming
her way.
 
It had gotten to the point
where in order to not scream, she created a game of it all.
 
If she correctly guessed how many hours of extra
work he would give her, she would go out for a nice treat during lunch the next
day instead of her normal boring sandwich.
   

Yesterday
she had guessed right so at least she could look forward to a nice lunch.
 
The problem now was that she was hungry
already.
 
She cringed as she looked at the
pile of work on her large mahogany desk.
 
She pushed the brown leather chair away from her desk and slipped her
feet into her heels.
 
Her favorite thing
about having a desk that big just might have been that she could relax her feet
on the cool tiled floor under her desk without a single soul knowing.
 
She got up and sauntered through her
door.
 

 
“Hey Todd,” she called to her colleague as she
entered his office located across the hall from hers.  “I guessed right
yesterday so I’m going to treat myself at lunch today but I’m starving
already.
 
I’m heading out for coffee and
a bagel from that cafe down the street.  It’s the one that Mitch from
marketing has been raving about.”

“You
mean Thanks-A-Latte?” Her young colleague questioned.

“Yeah.
 You want me to pick you up a sandwich or anything while I’m there?”

He
seemed to consider for a split second before he grinned at her.  

“No
thanks, I’m good.  You know I have the breakfast of champions every day.
 How about I bring
you
food for
breakfast tomorrow?  You will be hooked, I promise.”  

He
winked at her and chuckled as he went back to focusing on his work.
  

“See,
there you go playing again.  Seriously Todd.  Pop tarts every day?
 What type of champion eats pop tarts and chocolate milk?  Anyway,
I’ll be back soon if anyone asks.  Please spend the time while I am away
converting to grown up food.”

She
took her jacket from off the back of her chair, grabbed her bag and keys, and
charged out the door with a purpose.  

The
only thing that will get me through the day is my coffee.

***

The
smell of freshly baked pastries greeted Tyler as he walked into his favorite
morning cafe.  He noticed Cody waiting for him at a table, and waved to
let him know that he had arrived.  The two of them had been friends for
years before they both happened to join the police force.  They’d gotten
there by completely different routes.
 
Cody entered the police academy right out of high school
while Tyler went to college at the University of Miami so he could become
a forensics officer.  Cody often joked with him that he was not into all
the Science stuff, and that he was glad he didn’t need that to be a policeman.
 Cody would often say that all he really wanted to do was arrest bad guys
and get a sweet police motorcycle.
 
That
was enough for him.
 

Tyler
hopped in line and considered his options.
 
It was still early enough for breakfast but late enough that a burger or
fries wouldn’t seem plain dumb.
 

“What
am I going to get this morning,” he muttered. 

Everything
on the cafe’s menu tickled his fancy.  He hated waiting behind someone who
had to spend five minutes looking at a menu.  He did not mind waiting
today though.  He was never the type to stare too long at a woman but he
saw her reflection in the mirrors behind the counter and the woman in front of
him was unbelievably attractive.
 
Over
her arm laid her business jacket, and he assumed she must be a professional of
some sort to even carry a jacket in the July heat of Miami.
 
As he listened to her order, her voice played
in his ears like a soothing song.
 

“Yes,
I’d like a large coffee, black, and two sugars, with no cream.  I would
also like a sesame bagel, lightly toasted with butter and . . . strawberry
cream cheese on the side.  Thank you.”

The
attendant rang up her order. “That will be six dollars and thirty-seven cents
ma’am.  Cash or credit?”

She
reached into her bag for her purse.  “Do you take American Express?”
 

“Yes
ma’am,” the young cashier replied.  

“Thanks,
just one second.”   A few moments later, she looked back to the
cashier.  “I’m really sorry.  I seem to have left my purse in my
office.  I’ll have to cancel my order.”  

Tyler
watched the woman begin to exit from the line and he stepped forward in a
jiffy.

“That
won’t be necessary Becky.  I’ll take care of her order.”

He
watched as the woman stopped moving and looked at him.
 
He saw the confusion on her face and he
assumed that she was most likely trying to see if she knew him from somewhere.

For
his part, Tyler was just looking at her and he really hoped that his awe was
not apparent.  As he had a chance to look her directly in her face, he was
even more assured of just how pretty she was.  She looked as if she was
barely wearing any makeup except for a small amount of eyeliner that
accentuated her hazel brown eyes.  He liked that.
 
Most women tended to wear way too much
makeup.
 
She looked perfect.
 
Of course, it could have simply been that
smile that she was wearing.
 
He just
wanted to talk to her or listen to her talk.
 
Either would be fine at that point in time.
 

Breaking
himself from the wordless spell that she had cast upon him, Tyler stepped
forward and began to reach in his back pocket for his wallet.  Her smile
grew as he saw her scan his features before speaking to him in that same
melodic voice.

“Thank
you but that won’t be necessary.  I’m really not that hungry anyway.”
 

“Listen,
I insist” He proceeded, intrigued by the notion that she would say no to him.
  “You misunderstand.  I’m a cop.”

“So
that means you need to buy my breakfast because . . . why again?”

“Oh
that’s easy.
  
My job is to serve and
protect.
 
Now I can’t say I’m doing my
job if you’re in need and I don’t help out.
 
That would be against my oath.”

“I
see.
 
So your oath requires you to buy
food for me?”

Tyler
smiled.
 
She had a nice sense of
humor.
 

“It
could be interpreted that way.”  

“Excuse
me,” the cashier intruded on their conversation.  “Am I putting in this
order or not?”

Tyler
looked at Becky as she manned the cash register.  She was tapping her
nails on the display case with no intention of hiding her lack of patience.
 He laughed internally at the idea of the glass case shattering under the
continual drumming.
 
He knew she was
normally very nice and when he glanced backwards he understood why her demeanor
was so unusual for her.  Behind him there was a not so short line forming.
 He also knew from personal experience that it was going to get even
longer very soon.  He directed his full attention again to the woman in
front of him.

“So
can I treat you to a hot breakfast?”  

As
she looked at him, he was starting to get confused a bit himself.
 
All he wanted to do was pay for her
food.
 
He hadn’t even asked her for
anything in return just yet.
 
Tyler
rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger and waited for her answer.

 
“That is very nice of you but no.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes,
seriously.
 
I mean I’m appreciative of
the offer but I’m not the type of woman who would let some random stranger pay
for her food.”

His
brow furrowed in disappointment and total lack of understanding as to her
reason.  Tyler let his gaze move away from her long enough to speak to the
cashier.  

“Go
ahead and take the next order, we will just be a moment.”  Gently touching
her shoulder, he led her beside the line motioning for the next person to pass
them.

Her
eyes widened and surprise painted her face as she looked at the hand on her
shoulder.  He had obviously caught her off guard.  He always tried to
respect a person’s space but his action with her felt natural, as if touching a
friend.  Realizing that he might be making her uncomfortable he snatched
his hand away from her shoulder and mentally chastised himself for touching her
without permission.  He hoped he hadn’t gone too far.
 
Any other time he would have probably cut his
losses and let her go but there was something about the way she looked at him
that would not allow him to stop talking.