Don't Touch by Elise VanCise

The other shoe was sitting on the
desk.
     
    She so wasn’t going there, but she looked at
the calendar and thought of Amber. Sure enough the phone rang right
on schedule, Tuesday, twelve thirty. The machine picked up and
Amber started her ritual of updates. Ryan picked up the receiver.
“Am? Yeah, I’m here. No, I’m fine. I…. I just wanted to talk. I
miss you too.”
     
    They talked for five minutes before there was
a knock on the door. When she pushed the curtain aside Jackson
Prince was waving. Opening the door she told her sister she had
company promising she would call her back. Amber teasingly asked if
he was cute. Ryan gave Jack the once over as he walked in. “Yeah,
he’s cute if you like scruffy. Call you later sis.”
     
    Trying to look hurt as she hung up the phone
Jackson made a face. “Scruffy?”
     
    She laughed as he put a hand over his wounded
heart. “Yes, scruffy. And Lord is Mr. GQ. The two of you make quite
the pair.” She was looking for the partner and some files or
something assuming he was there for work.
     
    “Day off.” He said watching her. “Mr. GQ is
spending the day with Silvia and instead of staring at the TV all
day I thought you might like to go for a ride. Murder can wait for
a day.”
     
    Her alarm bells went off and she shook her
head. “Oh no. I can’t.”
    He followed her into the den. “Give me one
good reason why you can’t. Touching stuff doesn’t count.”
     
    Stuttering for a few minutes she couldn’t
come up with any other reasons. “Touching stuff as you put it is
reason enough, Jack.”
     
    She so did not like the wicked little grin
that turned the corners of his mouth. He pulled a pair of latex
gloves out of one pocket and a pair of cloth flesh colored gloves
out of the other. “Problem solved. I’m not taking no for an answer.
You can’t possibly tell me you have plans.”
     
    Jackson set the gloves on the desk then
leaned on the door jam waiting. She couldn’t help but want to trust
him. She had been stuck looking at the same four walls too long.
She put on the cloth over the latex gloves. “Not long, just like an
hour okay?”
     
    He smiled and nodded. “An hour. We’ll start
slow. No work today just a nice afternoon out.”
     
    Glancing at the purse she hadn’t touched in
months she noticed the dust on it. That was a reality check all on
its own. What kind of woman would let her purse get dusty?
     
    It was a nice day, sunny and warm. The winter
was turning to spring. It was nicer to see people walking around
town as they drove. There were changes in shops and buildings had
been painted. Construction was finally starting on the new condos
going in where the old hospital used to be in Eustis.
     
    The world had gone on while she sat in her
house too afraid to join it. Ryan felt like Rip Van Winkle waking
up after one hundred years. They parked on Bay Street and Jackson
opened her door. She smiled at his gallant bow as she exited. “I
could have opened the door you know.”
     
    He gave her a look and cocked his head.
“Maybe I’m old fashioned on how a lady should be treated. My dad
taught me to hold the door, push in a chair, all that good stuff.”
He opened the door to the coffee shop. “See it’s nice isn’t it. Now
tell me you’re not one of those liberal women who take offense if a
guy remembers to lower the seat.”
     
    Laughing as they walked to the counter Ryan
was getting a new view of the scruffy detective. “No, I actually
love the idea of an old fashioned kind of guy. I just didn’t think
they existed anymore.”
     
    With coffee in hand, they walked across the
street through the park to the Lake Walk. Ryan sat on the bench
looking out over Lake Eustis. “I had forgotten how big it is.”
     
    Jackson didn’t say anything he just sipped
his coffee. He was enjoying seeing the world through her eyes. Ryan
had been sequestered so long that it was like taking a kid to
Disney. An hour and a half went by as they sat