and when the duty sergeant answered, my voice cracked like I was thirteen years old. But when I asked if they were hiring, they said yes so fast I nearly dropped the phone."
"So you've got the job?"
"Not officially. But they're looking to add several officers so I've got a good chance. I don't know what the applicant pool looks like, but the chief has been very encouraging. They're announcing hires right after the last of the exams, the week after next."
All he had to do was pass the exam and wait for his references to check out. And not run into any trouble over the next few days.
"Are your folks happy to have a police officer in the family?"
Cal felt a familiar ache in his heart. He didn't look at Roan as he answered. "It was just me and my grandmother. She took me in after my mom died." He left out the part where he lived in foster homes for a few terrible years before Nana took him in. "I think she would have been happy for me to get on the force. I just wish she had lived long enough to see it."
"How long ago did you lose her?" Roan's voice was soft and husky, and Cal remembered that she'd lost all of her family as well, other than Mimi. Great. They were a pair of orphans, commiserating over their lot in life. Not exactly the conversation he'd meant to have with her.
Somehow, it seemed very important that she not find out how low he'd once sunk. Roan only knew him now, as a man with a future. A man with a fresh start.
"Seven years. By then I had a steady paycheck, and I was able to help her out a little with her bills." It had been a tremendous relief to be able to help her for a change, after she'd scrimped and saved to provide for him for so long.
"What did you do? For work?"
Cal felt his face color. He didn't have a lot to brag about, other than hard work and learning, eventually, from doing things the hard way. "Different things. I delivered pizzas for a while. Did some construction. After a while I got a job in a warehouse, and I made pretty good money on the overnight shift. Gram kept on me to go back to school. She could be pretty hard to argue with."
"I know all about relentless old ladies," Roan laughed. "Mrs. Castleberry keeps telling me I should be married with a baby by now."
Cal smiled. "Gram didn't want me to end up with a baby, she wanted me to get an education. It took me six years to get my associates degree at the community college, going part time, but she was as proud of me as if I went to Harvard."
"I sometimes think of going back to school," Roan said. For a moment she looked like she was going to say more, but then she shook her head. "But I've got the shop and all. And I never was much of a student."
"Don't give up," Cal said impulsively. "Don't make up your mind now. Maybe the time will come when you're ready to go back."
"My life's fine the way it is," Roan snapped, suddenly defensive.
Cal held up his hands. "Sorry. I didn't mean to tell you what to do."
"I have everything I need." She glared at him, and he wasn't sure if he should keep up the staring match; he knew what it felt like to be backed into a corner.
"I'm sorry if I said something to upset you," he said carefully. "All I meant was, for me, it was when I was open to things that my luck changed. I couldn't get on the police force in Red Fork, but I got to be a volunteer paramedic. And that was how I ended up being in touch with Jimmy, something I couldn’t have foreseen. One thing following another. That's all I meant."
"Volunteering," Roan muttered, rubbing at a tiny spot on the table. "Going through the police academy. Someone ought to give you a halo."
Her mood was plummeting fast, and Cal had been the one to send her down. He reached for her hand without thinking about it, meaning to comfort her. But when his fingers closed over hers, they were freezing cold.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," he said, though his mind was quickly going somewhere else entirely. He closed his other hand over hers, enfolding it
"So you've got the job?"
"Not officially. But they're looking to add several officers so I've got a good chance. I don't know what the applicant pool looks like, but the chief has been very encouraging. They're announcing hires right after the last of the exams, the week after next."
All he had to do was pass the exam and wait for his references to check out. And not run into any trouble over the next few days.
"Are your folks happy to have a police officer in the family?"
Cal felt a familiar ache in his heart. He didn't look at Roan as he answered. "It was just me and my grandmother. She took me in after my mom died." He left out the part where he lived in foster homes for a few terrible years before Nana took him in. "I think she would have been happy for me to get on the force. I just wish she had lived long enough to see it."
"How long ago did you lose her?" Roan's voice was soft and husky, and Cal remembered that she'd lost all of her family as well, other than Mimi. Great. They were a pair of orphans, commiserating over their lot in life. Not exactly the conversation he'd meant to have with her.
Somehow, it seemed very important that she not find out how low he'd once sunk. Roan only knew him now, as a man with a future. A man with a fresh start.
"Seven years. By then I had a steady paycheck, and I was able to help her out a little with her bills." It had been a tremendous relief to be able to help her for a change, after she'd scrimped and saved to provide for him for so long.
"What did you do? For work?"
Cal felt his face color. He didn't have a lot to brag about, other than hard work and learning, eventually, from doing things the hard way. "Different things. I delivered pizzas for a while. Did some construction. After a while I got a job in a warehouse, and I made pretty good money on the overnight shift. Gram kept on me to go back to school. She could be pretty hard to argue with."
"I know all about relentless old ladies," Roan laughed. "Mrs. Castleberry keeps telling me I should be married with a baby by now."
Cal smiled. "Gram didn't want me to end up with a baby, she wanted me to get an education. It took me six years to get my associates degree at the community college, going part time, but she was as proud of me as if I went to Harvard."
"I sometimes think of going back to school," Roan said. For a moment she looked like she was going to say more, but then she shook her head. "But I've got the shop and all. And I never was much of a student."
"Don't give up," Cal said impulsively. "Don't make up your mind now. Maybe the time will come when you're ready to go back."
"My life's fine the way it is," Roan snapped, suddenly defensive.
Cal held up his hands. "Sorry. I didn't mean to tell you what to do."
"I have everything I need." She glared at him, and he wasn't sure if he should keep up the staring match; he knew what it felt like to be backed into a corner.
"I'm sorry if I said something to upset you," he said carefully. "All I meant was, for me, it was when I was open to things that my luck changed. I couldn't get on the police force in Red Fork, but I got to be a volunteer paramedic. And that was how I ended up being in touch with Jimmy, something I couldn’t have foreseen. One thing following another. That's all I meant."
"Volunteering," Roan muttered, rubbing at a tiny spot on the table. "Going through the police academy. Someone ought to give you a halo."
Her mood was plummeting fast, and Cal had been the one to send her down. He reached for her hand without thinking about it, meaning to comfort her. But when his fingers closed over hers, they were freezing cold.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," he said, though his mind was quickly going somewhere else entirely. He closed his other hand over hers, enfolding it
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