Keeper of the Peace (Graveyard Guardians #2) (17 page)

Hell yeah! She was giving him another
chance. “I promise to do it right this time,” he told her.

“I don’t need promises, I only need
you.”

He couldn’t help the wide grin that spread
across his face. “Well, how about our first date then. Would you
have dinner with me at the Davis’ house tonight?”

She grinned back at him, but a little bit of
sorrow still lingered in her eyes. “I’d love that.”

CHAPTER

15

HANNAH

After leaving The Springs, Hannah headed
home to change and get ready for dinner at the Davis house. David
pulled his Chevelle into the driveway next to her and hurried out
of the car.

“I don’t see why you have to change, you
look fine.” He skimmed his eyes over her, tracing her body from
head to toe.

Hannah felt more like he was picturing her
without clothes, rather than with them on. She laughed and gave him
a shove before heading to the door. “Because, I want to look better
than fine, there is nothing wrong with that.”

“I guess.” He shrugged and leaned the porch
railing while she unlocked the door.

While David waited in the living room, she
hurried into her bedroom to change. After going over the pathetic
inventory of her closet, she finally chose a white sundress with
teal flowers scattered across it. It only took her a few moments to
slip the dress on, twist her hair into a simple braid and finalize
the outfit with a pair of white sandals.

Even though it wasn’t a real date with just
the two of them, it was sort of like a date and she wanted to look
like she halfway cared about what she looked like.

Maybe for a few hours she could forget the
dead Reaper, forget her impending jail sentence, and have a little
bit more normal before shit hit the fan.

She emerged from her room and found David
examining her video collection. “Wow!” he exclaimed when he saw
her. “You weren’t kidding, you look fantastic.”

Hannah felt the blood rise to her cheeks and
offered him a small smile. “Thank you.”

He turned back to the movies and pointed at
the stacks. “You know that this entire movie collection screams
nerd, right?”

She shrugged. “So, I like being a nerd and
those are all awesome movies. Why would you care anyway?”

David tilted his head and thought for a
moment. “I don’t. I love you’re nerdish qualities.” He moved away
from the shelf of videos, toward her.

“You can’t fool me, David Foster, I know
that underneath that jacket and badge your own nerdish qualities
have been repressed, and they are screaming to be let out.”

He threw his head back and laughed as he
pulled her into his arms. “Oh, you think so?”

She nodded. “I know so.”

“Well, we’ll see about that. I am a hardened
cop now, it may be hard to get that guy to resurface.”

Hannah grinned. “Challenge accepted.”

David rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Let’s go, nerd.

They left Hannah’s car and took the Chevelle
out to the Davis Farm. It wasn’t far and took them less than five
minutes to get there.

She hadn’t been out to the farm since before
David left, so she stared out the window and happily recalled the
past as they drew closer. White wooden fences lined the perimeter
of the farm that was exposed to the road. Several horses roamed the
field, grazing on the grass, and a few cattle occupied the field on
the other side of the gravel driveway.

The moment they pulled up in front of the
white Victorian with its wrap around porch, Mrs. Davis came running
out of the house waving a pot holder in her right hand. The thin
woman wore her gray hair in a short bob and a floral print apron
covered her tee shirt and jeans. “David!” she called out as she
approached the Chevelle.

He turned to Hannah and flashed her a smile
before pulling the handle on the door and jumping out. He left the
door of the car hanging open and hurried toward Mrs. Davis. When
they reached each other he wrapped his arms around her and lifted
her off the ground in a giant bear hug.

Hannah let herself out of the vehicle and
watched them for a moment. The sheriff had come out onto the porch
and watched his wife and David with a glint of happiness in his
eye.

“Boy,” Mrs. Davis whispered tearfully,
“Where have you been?”

“I’m so sorry,” he murmured into her
shoulder.

“Well, you’re here now.” She swatted him on
the back with her pot holder. “Now put me down.”

David set her back down on the ground where
she immediately smoothed the invisible wrinkles out of her apron
and then finally noticed Hannah standing beside David’s car. “Oh,
hello dear.”

Hannah smiled and waved. “Hi Mrs. Davis.”
Now that she and David were done with their moment, she felt more
comfortable moving forward.

“Oh, good grief, girl, call me Darcy. We’re
both grown women now.”

“Some habits are hard to let go of,” Hannah
replied with a little laugh. She had grown up calling her Mrs.
Davis. Her father never allowed them to address adults by their
first names.

“Come on y’all. Let’s go in the house and
have some supper. It’s almost ready.” Darcy turned and headed for
the porch.

The sheriff, not in uniform, greeted Hannah
and David. “Glad you two could make it over. I know how busy you
both are.” He stared curiously at the two of them, which didn’t
surprise Hannah at all. Everyone in town knew what happened between
them when David left.

They followed Darcy into the house where
they passed through the sitting room and into the kitchen. “I have
to check the potatoes,” she explained and hurried over to the stove
where a large pot was nearly boiling over.

The sheriff pulled out a chair at the wooden
dining table and indicated that Hannah and David should do the
same. After they were all seated, the sheriff switched his eyes
back and forth between Hannah and David. “Yeah, I’m just gonna ask,
are you two back together now?”

Hannah hadn’t really expected the question
in such a direct manner, so she opened her mouth to answer and then
shut it again, looking to David for help. He glanced at Hannah,
giving her a gentle smile. “We are getting to know each other
again.”

The sheriff lifted an eyebrow.

“You know,” David explained, “Dating. Well,
sort of dating.”

Darcy appeared beside the table and set a
tray of deviled eggs in the center. “Now don’t eat all of those. We
have a huge supper to eat still. There are soft drinks and tea in
the fridge, help yourselves.” With that she went back to
cooking.

“I think dating is a good idea.” The sheriff
leaned forward and plucked an egg off the tray. “But, you both know
you are kidding yourselves, right?”

Confused, Hannah frowned. “Kidding ourselves
about what?”

“You are one soul already. Aside from my own
true love,” he looked over at Darcy, who met his gaze with a soft
smile and light in her eyes, “I’ve never met any two people in my
whole life who belong together as much as the both of you.”

David expelled a nervous laugh and pushed
his chair out. “I didn’t expect such a deep conversation tonight.”
He strode over to the fridge and opened it. After disappearing
behind the door for a moment, he stood up with two cokes in his
hand. He bumped the refrigerator door shut again and headed back to
the table where he set one of the cokes in front of Hannah and
opened the other for himself.

Hannah cleared her throat. “Sheriff …”

“Good Lord, do you see a uniform on me right
now? Call me, Frank.”

“Sorry, um, Frank. But, I was just going to
say that I think you are right about us belonging together, but we
have a lot of issues to get past before we can make it official
again.” She turned to David so he could confirm and she found him
staring at her, his eyes bright with excitement.

“We belong together?” he asked softly.

She rolled her eyes and nervously sipped her
coke. “Yeah, now stop acting like an idiot.”

He tore his eyes away from her and looked to
Frank. “How do you know that about us?”

“I just know. You don’t need me to explain
it. Bottom line is this, you’ve been apart for twelve years and the
feelings didn’t fade. That means something.”

A short awkward silence followed. Hannah
didn’t want to say anything, mostly because he was right about
everything.

“Now, Frank, you leave them alone and help
me with this turkey.”

The sheriff rose to do as his wife asked.
Hannah stood up as well. “Can we do anything to help?”

Darcy shook her head and pointed.
“Absolutely not. You two just sit down and let us tend to
this.”

Hannah lowered herself back down into the
chair. Preparing the food was always a group effort at her family
home, so it was strange to let Mrs. Davis wait on them. It wasn’t
for long though. After a few minutes the table was loaded with all
the traditional sides for a Thanksgiving dinner and right in the
middle of everything was a small, perfectly roasted turkey.

“Tell us about L.A., David.” Darcy’s
question received a scowl from her husband. She shook her head,
silently telling him to keep his mouth shut.

David shrugged and finished chewing his
turkey. “For a while, it was amazing. Well, not at first. When I
first joined the LAPD I had to go through all the training and then
be a rooky for what seemed like forever. After that, when I got to
start working on big cases, was when I really started to love
it.”

“Why did you leave then?” Frank asked.

“All right, fine. I know you aren’t going to
leave it alone until I tell you.”

“It’s a simple question, son.”

David used the cloth napkin to wipe his face
and sat there for a moment as if he were gathering his thoughts.
Hannah saw the discomfort make its way to the surface of David’s
demeanor.

“In L.A. I made detective, and after a few
years of that I was given a case which required me to go
undercover. I was in deep with a circle of big time criminals. Drug
trafficking was their game. In the end, I blew my cover and they
were gone by the time our raid took place. Chief blamed me and told
me that he wasn’t going to fire me, but if I wanted to work
somewhere else then I better hit the road.”

Hannah had known he didn’t really want to be
working in Lake County, but she didn’t know why. So this was it, he
was forced to find a job somewhere else.

“How’d you blow your cover?” Frank asked,
his voice smaller than normal.

David shook his head, “You know I can’t talk
about it.”

“Why? It’s over now.”

After closing his eyes for a second, he
opened them and met the sheriff’s eyes. “Let’s just say that I see
the good in people when I probably shouldn’t. I wasn’t the right
man to send undercover.”

Hannah watched the interaction with the two
men closely. Frank nodded and took a bite of mashed potatoes. “So,
you trusted one of them and told them who you really were?”

With a nod, David silently agreed.

“Well, it’s a shitty situation, but I
believe everything happens for a reason.”

“Frank, it was more than shitty. The entire
operation failed because the man I confided in, told the others who
I was and they up and moved. Gone. Basically wiped off the map.
They are probably in Mexico now, hiding out and soaking up the sun
on a beach somewhere.”

Frank shrugged. “Like I said, I think it all
happens for a reason.”

Darcy, who had been quietly watching her
boys and Hannah, apparently decided that it was time for a topic
change. “Hannah, how is the family fairing since your father’s
passing?”

Even though Hannah wanted to hear more about
what David was involved in over in L.A., she was grateful that
David wouldn’t be uncomfortable anymore. “Everyone is adjusting,
it’s different not having him around.”

“I can imagine,” Darcy agreed.

“I think it was hardest for Dan to take,
since his wife and all, he’s lost so much.”

It was the sheriff’s turn to look
uncomfortable. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to find out who the
killer was.”

Hannah finished the last of the food on her
plate and took another swallow of coke. “It doesn’t matter now. I
don’t think it would make things any better for him to know who did
it. He just needs to cope with real life right now.”

Again, silence filled the room for a moment.
It seemed like all they had to talk about was subjects that would
depress them.

“Well,” the sheriff continued. “I miss your
dad. He was a big part of my life too.”

“Thank you.” Hannah smiled because she meant
it.”

The sheriff shifted in his seat. “I already
told David, but I’m gonna say it again. There is always a spot for
you here on the Summer Hollow PD, if you want to stay in town.”

Hannah watched David lower his eyes and
wondered if it was because he didn’t want to move back to town. How
would things ever work if he didn’t want to come back anyway?

“I’m not sure just how things are going to
work out right now, but thank you, I’ll keep that in mind,” David
answered, without making a solid commitment.

Once again Darcy changed the topic of
conversation. “So, not to be nosy, but I just have to ask, who is
that young man your sister Lucy has taken up with?”

Hannah laughed. “Oh, that’s Jack. He was
drifting through town last month and he and Lucy fell in love. Now
he’s here for good, officially part of the Estmond Clan.”

“So, all of your sisters and brothers
approve of him?” Darcy asked. “He seems so … rough.”

“I know he does, and he really kind of is,
but when it comes to Lucy he’s a puppy.”

The older woman nodded her head. “Well, I
hope so. I’m happy for her if that is the kind of man she
wants.”