Hope Flames

Chapter 28

EMMA HAD RECEIVED a call from one of the sergeants on duty at the Hope Police Department the next day. She needed to go in and file a report. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Luke was nowhere around in the precinct.

She’d spoken to her lawyer, who told her Vaughn’s violating the restraining order could send him to jail, for a short or possibly long time. That was up to the judge. But he would make bail today, and there was nothing Emma could do about that other than be on guard.

She wouldn’t be caught off guard again, that was for certain. Him showing up at the clinic last night freaked her out and reminded her how hard she’d worked to become independent and gain back her self-esteem. It had taken years of therapy and dragging her ass back to school, starting over when she had allowed herself to get so far behind, to get where she was now.

And she had almost taken a step back again, had almost allowed herself to fall in love again, to put her heart in the hands of a man who could possibly break it. Where had her vow gone to never fall in love, to never have a relationship, to never trust a man again?

Luke had made it so easy. He’d been there for her time and time again, including last night. He’d walked in just in time to save her from Vaughn, who would have done God only knew what if he hadn’t stepped in.

But what if Luke hadn’t shown up at the clinic? What might have happened? Maybe . . . just maybe, Emma could have handled the situation.

She’d never know now.

Well, goddammit, she didn’t need any man to protect her. She had a gun, she had a license, she had taken self-defense classes. She was a grown woman, a business owner, and she could damn well take care of herself. She didn’t need some knight in shining armor to show up on his white horse and rescue her, then tie her down and make her fall in love and forget all her carefully orchestrated plans for her future.

And it might have stung like crazy when she’d kicked Luke out of her house last night, and she might have lain awake the rest of the night because she realized she’d been so wrapped up in herself and her own misery that she hadn’t bothered to ask him about the sting operation at the pharmacy, which made her realize she was a terrible girlfriend, and he should have been the one breaking up with her.

That revelation had made her toss and turn and feel even more miserable. Even worse, she missed him in her bed, but she’d just have to get used to that because independent women like her didn’t need a man and didn’t need love. And even if she had realized she was in love with Luke, she once thought she was in love with Vaughn, too, so she wasn’t exactly the best judge of that whole love thing, was she?

“Are you all right, Dr. Emma?” Leanne asked as they dealt with a particularly ornery chow who didn’t want to have his shots or his temperature taken or his ears inspected.

Emma fought back the tears that had been threatening all day long. “I’m fine. Allergies or something.”

“Oh, those are the worst. Do you need to take something?”

Yeah. A vacation. On some deserted tropical island. “No, I’m good. Let’s just take care of Barney here so the poor guy can go home.”

Work was an endless day of dogs, cats, birds, a snake and, for a fun change of pace, a lemur with a diarrhea problem. After that, she went home, fed the dogs, then grabbed a glass of wine and sat on her sofa, determined to do nothing but watch mindless television all night.

Until her doorbell rang. Immediately tensing, she looked over to the table where her purse lay. Deciding to check and see who it was first, she looked out the peephole, then smiled and opened the door.

“Hey, Chelsea. I didn’t know we had plans.”

“We don’t. I just popped by on the chance you’d be home. And you are.”

“Well, come on in. I’m having a glass of wine.”

“Which just so happens to be my favorite pastime.”

Emma poured a glass for Chelsea, who had tossed her purse on the end table and was sitting cross-legged on the floor playing with Daisy and Annie.

“I love Annie. I wish I could have dogs in my apartment. I’d have adopted her in a heartbeat if I could.”

Emma laughed as Annie slurped one side of Chelsea’s face. “She loves you.”

“Yeah, I’m just a lovable sort.” She climbed up on the sofa and took the glass of wine, then sipped. “Oh, nice. What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion. Just unwinding.”

“Always a good excuse. And where’s the hotshot stud who’s been sharing your bed lately?”

She took a sip of wine. “I sent him back home.”

“Uh-oh. This could be a two-bottle night. Spill. What happened? Did you two have a fight?”

“No. Vaughn showed up at the clinic last night.”

Chelsea’s eyes widened. “Oh my God. Are you all right? Did he try to hurt you?”

“I’m fine. He tried to intimidate me, but he never did anything. And then Luke showed up, and Vaughn was arrested for violating the restraining order.”

“Thank God.” Chelsea frowned. “Okay, so somewhere in there you kicked Luke to the curb?”

“Yes.” She finished her glass of wine, went into the kitchen, and brought out the bottle, refilling her glass. Chelsea was still working on hers.

“You’ll have to explain,” Chelsea said. “Because I’m not understanding how Luke coming to your rescue resulted in you breaking up with him.”

“It’s . . . complicated.” She avoided making eye contact with Chelsea as she took another sip of wine.

“I can do complicated. I’m a math teacher.”

“I was handling Vaughn. He was just . . . talking. Trying his typical intimidation tactics. And I had my gun in my purse, which was in my desk in case he tried something. And then Luke showed up and did the whole macho thing by arresting him.”

“That bastard.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I told you. It’s complicated.”

Chelsea laughed. “Honey. You have to see it from my viewpoint. Hot stuff comes in and intercedes between you and the guy you told me terrified you enough that you had to get a restraining order. So instead of being grateful, you broke up with him?”

Clearly she wasn’t getting her point across. “I didn’t need to be rescued. I was doing okay handling Vaughn.”

“So when Vaughn showed up at the clinic, you weren’t freaked out in the least. You said, ‘Oh, how great to see you. Let’s go get some nachos and rehash old times.’”

Emma narrowed her gaze at her friend. “You are not helping.”

Chelsea shrugged. “Sorry. But I’m having a difficult time wrapping my head around the fact that the guy you are more afraid of than anything in this life shows up where you work, Luke comes in and helps you out, and then you thank him by dumping him.”

“Obviously I’m having a hard time clarifying the situation.”

Chelsea took a sip of wine, then said, “Obviously. So why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just scared.”

“Well, no shit, Shirley. You should be scared. I would have been. After the way you described the hell that Vaughn put you through, I would have been terrified the minute he walked through my door.”

“I was. I never expected to see him again.”

“He thinks he owns you. Do you really think something like a restraining order is going to stop him?”

“I did. After all these years of no contact, I thought he was over it. Over me.”

“He was just lying in wait, waiting for you to show up back here.”

She pondered that over a couple swallows of wine. “And now I’m back.”

“And so is he.”

“But he violated the restraining order. They arrested him. He could go to jail.”

Chelsea waved her hand. “He thinks of you as his property, Emma. The man is obviously demented. You don’t think a piece of paper is going to stop him, do you?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. I didn’t think beyond getting him the hell out of my clinic last night.”

“Which you should thank Luke for. I still don’t understand what’s going on between the two of you.”

“I’m in love with him.”

“Ohhh,” Chelsea said. “And the light dawns. You love him, and that scares you. Because in your beautifully confused head, you think he’s going to turn into some raving maniac like Vaughn who’s going to chain you in the basement and beat you if you raise your voice to him.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe. I fought so hard to get away from Vaughn, spent years getting my sense of self and my independence back. I don’t want to turn all that over to some guy again just because I might think I’m in love with him.”

“Honey. Luke isn’t just some guy. And do you really think he’s anything at all like Vaughn?”

“The logical part of me says no. The scared part of me says I don’t have any idea what any man is capable of once you give your heart to him.”

Chelsea put her wineglass down and scooted over to pull Emma into her arms. “None of us knows what any man is capable of down the road. That’s what trust is about. Not only do you have to trust him, you have to trust in yourself that you chose the right man.”

She sighed. “I didn’t do such a good job of that the first time.”

“That was his fault, not yours.”

“No, it was mine, too. I stayed with him and let him have that power over me because I was too afraid to walk away, too embarrassed by what I’d become.”

“No, that was abuse, and you need to recognize the difference. And you did make a choice to get away. A lot of women never do. You should be proud of yourself for all the positive changes you’ve made in your life since you left him.”

She pulled away and looked at Chelsea. “I am. I’m damn proud of all I’ve done. Which is why I’m also damn scared of chasing down that rabbit hole again. Love scares me, Chelse.”

“Love scares all of us, Emma. It’s probably the scariest thing any of us will ever do. To hand your heart over to someone who could crush it in their hands is the biggest step we’ll ever take. But when you do take that step, you have to know it’s for all the right reasons and for the right guy. The only guy. The one you trust completely, the one you know would never hurt you.”

Emma stared into the wineglass, the red liquid answering none of her questions. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“It’ll come to you. In the meantime, watch your back. And keep your gun close in case that crazy person is lurking around.”

She leaned back against the sofa. “As far as Vaughn is concerned, my eyes are wide open.”

EMMA MIGHT NOT want him in her life anymore, but Luke was still going to watch over her. Between running leads on the drug burglaries, he drove past her clinic and made periodic drive-by checks on her house at night.

Vaughn had made bail, with a court date set up for the next month. Which meant he’d need to stick around, though Luke would bet the bastard was lurking nearby anyway. He asked his fellow cops to keep an eye out for him and to let Luke know if they spotted the guy anywhere near Emma. They promised they would.

Since there’d been no break-ins for the past week, they were all working single shifts again. Which meant Luke could get in some gym time. He hit the basketball court with Will and Carter and a few other guys, some of them cops, some of them friends from school.

He needed the stress release. Too much had been going on lately, and he was wound tight.

“Hey, princess. You gonna hold the ball and daydream all night, or are we going to play some basketball?”

He looked at Carter, then dribbled around him and shot into the basket.

“Asshole,” Carter said with a grin.

“You called me a princess. You’re lucky I didn’t knee you in the balls on my way around you to the basket.”

“You ladies gonna stand around and gossip all night, or are we gonna play ball?”

Carter and Luke turned to Evan, who waited on the other side of the court.

Carter laughed. “Let’s go break a sweat.”

In an hour, Luke was drenched in sweat and more than ready for a water break.

“You’re out of shape, McCormack,” Evan said as he downed a bottle of water. “I can’t believe you missed that layup.”

“I can’t believe you were picking your butt and missed that pass,” Luke shot back. “Maybe you need a haircut. Or are you bucking for the town police calendar, so you’re letting it grow out in hopes some of the ladies will vote you in?”

“It sure can’t be based on his physique,” Deacon, one of the other cops playing, shot back. “He’s got more of a one-pack.”

Evan lifted up his shirt to show off what even Luke had to admit was a mighty impressive eight-pack.

“I’m not the one sucking down all the beer after work, Deacon. You can kiss my ass. And they couldn’t pay me to do that calendar.”

“So maybe it’s a lady you’re doing all those crunches for,” Carter said.

Evan went to the cooler for another water. “I’ve got no comment.”

“So . . . no lady,” Deacon said. “Otherwise he’d be bragging about it. That must mean he’s spending all his time at the gym because he’s only got his right hand for company.”

Evan frowned. “Are we gonna play ball here or what?”

“See?” Deacon said. “It’s the only thing he knows. Playing with his balls.”

Luke let out a snort. Trash-talking was always the best part of playing basketball. Fortunately, they all genuinely liked each other or there would have been bloodletting by the end of the game.

“How’s it going with your girl?” Carter asked him during a break as they swiped sweat from their faces with their towels.

“It’s not.”

“That didn’t last long. Did Emma give you the heave-ho?”

“We’re on a temporary break.”

Carter laughed. “That means she gave you the heave-ho. She find another guy?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Sure you do. You’re just playing the man card. Even guys want to talk about it with other guys. We just like to pretend we can man up and deal.”

Luke gave Carter a look. “You never talked about it. You and Molly.”

There was that look again, that shadow that always crossed Carter’s face whenever Molly’s name was mentioned. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t a man back then, and that’s ancient history. So let’s man up, and after the game we’ll go out for a beer and you can tell me about Emma.”

Luke nodded. When the game was done, they showered and dressed, and Carter met him at No Hope At All, a bar run by Logan’s best friend, Bash, and one of their favorite places to play pool.

“You wanna rack ’em?” Carter asked.

“Definitely.”

They played the first game in virtual silence, shooting the appropriate balls into the appropriate pockets and drinking a few beers. By the second game, Luke knew Carter was going to ask.

“So what happened with you and Emma?”

“She had a problem with an ex-boyfriend who came back in her life.”

“Someone she still liked?”

“No. Someone she had a restraining order on.”

Carter’s brows lifted. “Oh. Bad news. So what happened?”

“I interceded, and I don’t think she cared much for that. She’s got an independent streak, and I think she wanted to handle it herself.”

Beer in hand, pool cue in the other, Carter nodded. “Women are a damn mystery sometimes.”

Luke took his shot, then took a long swallow of beer. “Tell me about it. Anyway, I think the whole ex-coming-back thing just freaked her out, and she asked for some distance. So I’m giving it to her.”

“But you’re still watching over her because of the crazy ex-boyfriend, right?”

“Yeah. He’s out on bail, and I don’t trust that he’ll leave her alone.”

“I hope he does. And I hope that the two of you figure it out.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Carter took a swallow. “Not all of us get second chances with people we love. Don’t let her get away if she’s the one you want.”

Luke wasn’t sure if Carter, who usually wasn’t one to get profound, had just told Luke what he needed to hear, or if what Carter had told him was what he’d wished had happened with Molly all those years ago.

Either way, he was right. He wasn’t about to let Emma go. Things between them had been perfect before Vaughn showed up. And he knew she was scared, but just because someone pushed you away didn’t mean you had to go away.

He’d walked away from one relationship. It had been the right thing to do because it was what they both wanted.

Deep down he knew neither he nor Emma wanted their relationship to end. So he was going to make sure it didn’t. He just had to make sure it was on Emma’s terms. Because he wasn’t going to be like Vaughn and make her come around to his way of thinking, or try to overpower her. Emma had to choose him and come to him of her own free will.

He just had to be there for her when she was ready.

And in the meantime, linger nearby and keep her safe.

When he got out to his truck, he decided to give Boomer some exercise, so he drove by his apartment, got Boomer, and they went to the park for a walk. It was late, but Boomer, like his owner, didn’t keep regular hours.

They walked for a bit and Luke cleared his head, then they got back into the truck and he drove past Emma’s house.

It appeared he wasn’t the only one up late. Emma was outside walking the dogs. Too late for him to back up the street so she wouldn’t notice him.

He pulled over to the curb and rolled down the window as she came over.

“Hey, Luke,” she said. “What brings you by here?”

“Just . . . driving past. You’re outside late tonight.”

She shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep, so I thought a walk would help.”

“Yeah. I took Boomer to the park for a walk.”

She laughed. “It does help, you know. So . . . again, what brings you by here? Checking on me?”

Since her house wasn’t on his way home, he had to admit it. “Old habits die hard, Emma.”

“Well . . . thanks for that. I’m sure we’ll be okay, but I do appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.”

He was about to lean away to put his truck back in gear, but Emma lingered next to the vehicle for a moment.

“So . . . how are things going?” she asked.

“Fine.”

“Staying busy?”

“Yeah. How about you?”

“Oh yes. Lots of work at the clinic lately.”

This was incredibly awkward. They’d always been able to talk. Things between them had been so easy before. He hated this.

His cell rang. He thought about ignoring it, but saw it was the station. “Excuse me, Emma.” He picked up the phone, unable to believe what he was hearing.

“I’ll be there right now.” He hung up and looked at Emma. “Someone’s breaking into Dorson’s Pharmacy. I’ve gotta go.”

“Go, hurry,” she said. “Be careful.”

He nodded and slammed on the gas. Though he wasn’t on duty, he wanted to be there in case they caught the sonofabitch. And since Dorson’s was only a couple of blocks away, he should be able to make it in time.

He flipped on his scanner.

“On foot, the corner of Fifth and Scanlon,” the dispatcher relayed.

Huh. Luke was on Scanlon, right at Fourth street. He turned right toward Fifth and saw a dark-clad figure hopping a fence. He picked up his phone and dialed it in. “I’ve got this guy. On foot, I’m in pursuit with Boomer, though I’m not in uniform, so don’t shoot me.”

He kept his phone on, pulled out his gun, and slid his badge on, then parked.

“Let’s go, Boomer.” He gave the command to Boomer that they were in pursuit. Boomer took off and easily jumped the fence. Luke ran like hell after the guy, hurdling the fence the suspect had just leaped over. When Luke caught sight of him, he dug in, increasing his speed.

Not this time, asshole. He wasn’t getting away. “He’s running through backyards on Sunshine Street, just west of Fourth,” Luke said to his dispatcher. “I’m still in pursuit on foot.”

The suspect tripped over something and fell, slowing him down.

Boomer was on him. He heard the growls and the howls of pain from the suspect.

Luke had him now. He leaped over the last fence and saw the suspect down, Boomer holding him by the arm.

Luke gave the command to release the suspect, then notified dispatch that he’d caught the perp. He gave their location so dispatch could notify the rest of the team in pursuit.

“Sonofabitch. Your dog bit me,” the suspect said.

“Cry me a river. You’re done, dickhead,” Luke said, grabbing the guy and pulling his arms behind him. He heard the sirens and the slamming of doors. “We’re back here!” he hollered.

Several uniforms ran back, and Luke got off the suspect so the uniforms could cuff him. Winded, he leaned over and laid his hands on his knees to suck in some oxygen.

“Good job, Boomer,” Luke said, giving him lavish praise. Boomer ate it up. It wasn’t often they could do a chase like this, but Luke loved being the one to take this bastard down.

“Need a ride back to your truck, old man?” Evan asked, patting him on the back.

“Fuck off,” Luke said, laughing and coughing. “And yeah, a ride would be great. My legs feel like Jell-o right now. This kid can run like an Olympic sprinter.”

They pulled the hoodie off the suspect. Bright yellow hair. Though he wasn’t a kid. Early twenties, maybe. Fit the description Emma had given from the night she’d seen him. And he had a backpack filled with drugs that he’d just ripped off from Dorson’s Pharmacy.

After they processed the scene, Luke drove to the precinct to give his statement.

“Good damn job, McCormack,” his captain said, patting him on the back.

“Thanks. But Boomer took him down. I just got lucky spotting him when I was driving down the street.”

“Great job, Boomer,” the captain said, scratching Boomer’s head.

Boomer loved the kudos he got from all the cops. Luke was glad the asshole was off the streets. Now they could figure out who the hell he was and find his drug stash.

After Luke finished at the precinct, he went to his apartment.

“Boomer,” he said, petting his dog and crouching down to give him a good ear scratch. “You did so good tonight. I’m so proud of you.”

Boomer knew he’d done well. Luke could see the pride in the way he held his ears erect and the way he sat.

After a treat and some water, the two of them went to bed. Luke, at least, was exhausted.

The next day Luke went in to work follow-up on the case. They’d interviewed the suspect, who of course had lawyered up, but they’d fingerprinted him, and one Bobby Tinter had a record that went all the way back to his juvvie days. Drugs, breaking and entering, auto theft—he was a real prize. He was also connected to some very big drug rings out of state, which was likely why he was hitting the pharmacies.

They hadn’t pinned him earlier because he had an Arkansas address. Turned out Bobby was staying with a cousin in the Hope area. Luke figured Bobby had conned his cousin into letting him stay there, and then targeted a small town like Hope to make inroads into the drug ring by organizing several hits on businesses that carried drugs on their premises. With no one to connect him to the burglaries, he would shimmy out of town in a month or so with the booty and work his way up the ladder of the organization.

Too bad he’d gotten caught. There were stashes of drugs in the cousin’s house, though the cousin had clammed up and said he had no idea what Bobby had been doing.

Ah, family loyalty. Whether the cousin had been in on it or not remained to be seen until they investigated further. Either way, Bobby was going away for a long time. Luke was satisfied they had a solid case against him.

It was great to at least get something resolved.

Now if he could get his personal life settled, he’d be happy.

Though he didn’t think that situation was going to tie itself up with a bow and resolve itself as easily as Bobby had last night.

Some things required more work.

But some things were worth it.

Emma was. He just had to figure out how to make that work, how to get past her fears and the awkwardness that had settled between them.

And again, his hands were tied because it wasn’t his call to make.

So right now, there was nothing he could do.

Except wait. And for a guy who was a man of action, that was damn hard to do.

On his break he went to Bert’s for some coffee and something to eat.

“Hey, hero,” Anita said, sliding a cup of coffee in front of him. “We heard you solved the burglary case.”

Bert himself came out to pat him on the back.

“I didn’t do it. Boomer took him down.”

“I’ll have to make Boomer a special treat, then,” Bert said.

“A special cinnamon roll, just for you.” Anita grinned as she placed the whopper of a roll in front of him.

He was going to be miserable in his cruiser for the rest of the day after eating that cinnamon roll.

And didn’t it just figure that Emma stopped in just as everyone asked him to tell them about the bust last night.

“Hey,” Emma said. “I heard you caught the guy. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. Boomer did most of the heavy work.”

She laughed. “Good for Boomer. But I have a feeling you did your part, too.”

At that point, he wasn’t sure if everyone in the diner was more interested in the story about chasing down and busting the suspect or watching the way he and Emma circled each other.

“So? Tell us how it all went down?” someone asked. “Did Boomer leap fences? Did you leap fences? I heard it all took place in backyards.”

After taking a sip of coffee, Luke told his story, giving Boomer all the credit. “Then I just showed up, called Boomer off, and the rest of Hope’s finest came in and cuffed him.”

A round of applause followed. “He was a shifty fellow and hard to catch,” Bert said, giving Luke a paper bag. “That’s for Boomer.”

“Thanks. He’ll appreciate it.”

Everyone went back to their own tables, except Emma, who took a seat at his. “I know you must be really happy to have caught the guy.”

She looked so cute in her scrubs, her hair pulled into a high ponytail. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, which only frustrated him more because of where they currently were in their non-relationship.

“Yeah. It’s a big relief for the entire department.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, and that Boomer’s okay. Did the guy have a weapon on him?”

“He had a gun in his backpack, but he never pulled it during the pursuit. I think he was too busy running.”

“Thank God. You’re like the town hero today.”

Luke laughed and took another swallow of coffee. “I think Boomer’s the town hero this morning. And he’s eating up all the attention.”

“Deservedly so.” She looked down at her phone. “I should get back to work. Congratulations again, Luke.”

“Thanks, Em.” She didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave, so he asked, “Are you doing all right?”

“Yes, I’m . . . fine. Thanks for asking. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“I’m sure you will.”

She stood.

“Em?”

She looked down at him. “Yes?”

“If you need anything. Call me.”

There was a sadness in her eyes. “I’ll do that.”

He really hated watching her walk away.

But he didn’t know what to do about it.