Неизвестный - 2. Beyond The Breakwater

“Don’t call me Chief,” he groused, handing her a steaming cup of coffee. “I saw the cruiser out front. It’s another hour before the day shift starts.”

“I took Tory to the airport for her 5:30 flight to Boston.” She sipped the coffee and regarded him silently. He didn’t look like he’d been sleeping very well.

“Have you heard from my kid?”

“She called me two days ago. Gave me an update on her training.”

He grumbled something unintelligible. Bri hadn’t called him, but then that was pretty much his fault.

He pulled the cruiser into his driveway and stared at the big Harley parked in front of his garage. What the hell?

She was in the kitchen, perched on a stool with a glass of orange juice and half a hoagie in front of her. Same jeans, same boots, same slicked-back black hair. Same hoodlum jacket, too. Christ, he was glad to see her.

“Bri?”

“Hey, Dad.”

He tossed an arm around her shoulder and squeezed, brushing his cheek quickly across the top of her head. She seemed thinner, harder, and there was a look in her eyes that he hadn’t seen in a long, long time. A lost look. His heart turned over, and his stomach started burning. “It’s Wednesday. What are you doing here?”

She shrugged.

He shed his parka to the back of a chair and walked to the refrigerator. He rummaged around, found a beer, and popped the top. Then he leaned on the counter and stared at his only child. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” It came out a bit strangled, and she cleared her throat. “Yeah. Fine.”

“Caroline with you?”

Bri shook her head.

Sipping the beer he couldn’t even taste, his mind raced. If she’d needed money, she probably would have called. Of course, she never asked him for money. Hardly ever asked for anything. Couldn’t be trouble with Caroline’s old man. That asshole was long out of the picture—the guy hadn’t had anything to do with the kids since he’d slapped Caroline around for being involved with Bri and then tossed her out of the house. Trouble with the law? Nah—not his kid. So, if it wasn’t money or—the burning in his gut climbed into his chest.

“Are you sick?”

Bri stared at him. “What? No.”

“Then what the hell are you doing here in the middle of the week in the middle of school?” He might have asked a little loudly, but she’d scared the crap out of him.

“I quit.”

Nelson’s mouth dropped open. “Are you nuts? Where’s Caroline?”

“In Manhattan.”

“Did she quit, too?”

“No.” Bri’s voice was tight again. “I moved out.”

Okay, relax. Try to get the facts. Don’t yell at her. He crushed the beer can without even realizing it. “Jesus H. Christ, Brianna! What in hell are you thinking?”

She got up fast and headed toward the back door.

“Bri, wait! Jesus—just—wait, okay?”

She had her hand on the doorknob, but she didn’t open the door. With her back to him, she said, “I’m starting at the Sheriff’s department training academy on Monday.”

“Just like that?” he asked as quietly as he could, which wasn’t very. “You just walk away from school? Did you walk away from Car—”

But he was talking to himself by then, and all he could hear by the time he made it to the door was the thudding of his heart and the roar of her motorcycle fading into the night.

CHAPTER SIX

Nelson cleared his throat. “She, uh…say where she was staying?”

“Chief,” Reese said quietly, “I’m kind of in a bind here. Bri didn’t say much.”

“And if she did, you wouldn’t tell me?” he snapped.

Unconsciously, she squared her shoulders. “No, sir. Probably not.”

His eyes blazed for an instant, and he stiffened. “Oh, for Christ’s sake, Conlon. Lose the ‘sir’ bullshit.”

Taking a deep breath, Reese relaxed her shoulders. “She told me she was sharing a place with a couple of other cadets in Barnstable. It sounds like she’s okay.”

“It doesn’t make sense. To leave school? Jesus, to leave Caroline?” He met Reese’s eyes, and his were filled with uncertainty. “You haven’t seen her. She’s got that look in her eyes like she had before Caroline settled her down. Like there was something broken inside of her.”

“You need to call her, then. Talk to her.”

“Yeah, I did great with that last time.” He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. “Jesus, why is it so hard to talk to your own kid?”

“Probably because she means so much to you.”

“I think about her being hurt, you know. And it makes me want to break things.” He looked away, embarrassed by the admission.

Reese thought about Tory being harmed. The pain was so intense it actually made her ill. “Yeah, I know.”

“You’ll probably know a lot better when you have a kid of your own,” he said gruffly.

“Probably.” Reese grinned.

He joined her at the rail, close to her side but still not quite touching. Together they faced the sea, and at length he asked, “How is that…situation…going?”

“It’s a little too soon to tell,” she replied carefully. She wasn’t totally comfortable talking about the baby thing…not because of embarrassment, but due to a lingering superstition. She just didn’t want anything to go wrong. They hadn’t talked about it, but she knew that Tory wasn’t exactly the ideal age to be getting pregnant. But Tory said it was safe. Promised Reese it was safe. “Sometimes, Tory says, you have to try more that once.”

“Huh. Doesn’t sound a whole lot different,” Nelson acknowledged, studiedly not looking at Reese. “Everybody thinks it’s easy the, you know, the…regular way. But it isn’t…not all the time.”

She waited.

“Brianna… it was a long time before her. We’d kind of given up.” His voice had gotten rougher, and he cleared his throat. “She was like a present, when she came along.”

“I can imagine that she was,” Reese said softly. “It’s kind of terrifying, isn’t it?”

“Damn right it is.” Nelson laughed. “And you haven’t even gotten started yet.”

“Look,” Reese offered. “I’ll give Bri a call.”

“Okay. Yeah. Thanks. You don’t need to say I was asking.”

“Nope, I won’t.” She clapped him on the shoulder and then tapped the brim of her cap. “I’m gonna take a ride through town before I hit the office.”

“Sure.” He watched her walk away and silently counted himself lucky that she was part of his daughter’s life.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and at seven p.m., Reese was standing outside the tiny airport watching the sky. Five minutes later, the twin engine, twelve-seater taxied to a stop a hundred feet away. Six people disembarked, one of them Victoria King. Reese walked out to meet her.

“How you doing?” Reese murmured as she took Tory’s hand and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I’m fine,” Tory said with a smile. “How was your day?”

“Not bad. Let me take your briefcase.”

Tory laughed. “I’ve got it. How about taking me out to dinner, though?”

Reese held opened the door to the one room terminal. “Sure. Any place special?”

“You pick,” Tory replied as she threaded her arm through her lover’s.

“Laverne’s is open. Feel like Mexican?” Reese opened the passenger door of her Blazer and waited while Tory climbed in.

“Perfect.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were settled in a booth in one of the few restaurants that was open year-round, perusing menus that they knew practically by heart. After they had ordered, Reese reached across the table and took Tory’s hand.

“You had a long day. Was it busy?”

“The usual,” Tory replied.

“How much longer are you planning on working three days a week over there?” Reese asked as she leaned back to allow the waitress to set appetizers in front of them. “The clinic’s starting to get busy, isn’t it?”

“It’s picked up.” Having heard the concern in the deep voice, Tory studied her lover across the candlelit table. “I was planning on another week or so. Why?”

Reese shrugged. “It’s a pretty hectic schedule.”

“Well, actually, I was going to tell them I wanted to cut back to half shifts in the ER.”

“Really?” Although the news was welcome, Reese was surprised. “How come?”

Reaching for a nacho, Tory said, “There’s a lot of work to be done at the clinic before the season starts. I need to inventory the supplies, set up schedules for the employees, and I still have another physician to interview for the interim position.”

“Makes sense,” Reese said with a wave of relief. She tried hard not to interfere with Tory’s work, but she couldn’t help but worry about her demanding schedule.

“Besides,” Tory added casually, “I’m pregnant.”

Reese dropped her fork. “Holy God.”

“Wendy confirmed it this afternoon.” Tory grinned. “We did it, honey.”

In the next instant, Reese was on her feet and moving around the side of the table. She took Tory’s face in both hands and kissed her thoroughly. Then, unmindful of the few patrons who watched and the waitress standing a few feet away with loaded plates balanced on one arm, she knelt on the floor by Tory’s side and took both her lover’s hands in hers.

“You know my heart is yours,” she said softly, running her finger over the scrolled gold band on Tory’s left hand. “But I want everyone else to know how very much I love you. Will you marry me?”

“In town…at the meeting house?” Tory murmured, forgetting that they had an audience.

“Yes, there or anywhere you want.”

Tory’s eyes welled with tears as she stared into the deep blue ones that gazed upon her with open devotion. “Oh my love, I would be so happy to.”

As Tory leaned over to kiss her kneeling partner, she heard the muted sound of clapping, and thought, not for the first time, how blessed she had been the day Reese walked into her life.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Reese couldn’t remember a thing about the rest of the meal or the drive home. It was just after ten when they started a fire in the bedroom fireplace and settled under the covers. She turned on her side, her head on the pillow a few inches from Tory’s.

“It’s going to take me a while to believe it,” she whispered.

“Are you okay with it?” Tory hoped her trepidation didn’t show in her voice. Despite the weeks they had spent talking and planning, she knew that oftentimes the reality threw couples into turmoil.

“Oh, yeah.” Reese caressed Tory’s cheek with her fingertips, her throat so tight she could hardly swallow. “I’m so high, I feel like I’m flying.”

Tory ran her fingers through Reese’s hair and moved closer, until their bodies touched all along their length. “You never let me down, you know?”

“I’ll try not to, ever,” Reese murmured. She stroked her palm over Tory’s shoulder and down her arm to her hand, squeezing her fingers briefly. Then, she rested her hand on the arch of her lover’s hip, making slow, gentle circles with her fingertips. “I love you, Tor.”

“Mmm.” Tory leaned nearer still and brushed her lips over Reese’s. “Me, too.”

Tory kissed her again, enjoying the gentleness of her lover’s mouth as her fingers played over the hard muscles of Reese’s chest and shoulders. Reese was such a wonderful contradiction of strength and secret softness, and touching her never failed to stir Tory’s desire. Tonight, she wanted, needed, to be as close to her as possible. When she felt Reese’s tongue slide smoothly across her own, she moaned. She edged her thigh between Reese’s legs, her stomach clenching briefly as the smooth, warm skin pressed to her own heated center. She knew she was wet, and she rocked her hips gently to increase the contact. “God, I could come doing this.”