The Guarded Widow (3 page)

“I’m Officer Rafferty and I’ll need to see your license, registration and proof of insurance, please.”

For her, recognition was immediate.

Isn’t it just my luck? What are the odds that he same man who’d delivered the worst news of my life manages to pull me over for running a red light as I indulged in a crying jag, on my twelfth wedding anniversary?

“I’ll need to see your license, registration and proof of insurance, Ma’am,” Officer Rafferty repeated with impatience sounding in his voice.

She slid the license out of her wallet and handed it to him. The rest of her information was stored in the glove compartment and since she’d heard horror stories of people accidentally being shot if a cop thought they were getting out a gun, she proclaimed her intentions in a loud voice. “I’m going to get my registration and insurance card out of my glove compartment. Is that ok?”

“Yes Ma’am, that’s fine,” he answered dryly as he watched her stretch across her car. Rummaging through an overflowing glove box, she retrieved a bulky yellow envelope. Then she handed him the registration and insurance card through the open window, tilting her face up to study him.

Wow, he’s really tall. He must be at least six feet five inches. Slowly, her eyes traveled the entire length of him. Hmm, he really fills out his uniform quite well. Her detailed assessment of him was completed by gazing into a striking pair of intense blue eyes. For one startling instant, all she could see was his eyes, as they seemed to captivate her, drawing her in. Distracted by the intensity of his gaze, she purposely averted her own, but not before allowing one more self gratifying moment to look at his face as a whole. She evaluated his straight nose, the full stern mouth and his strong square jaw. He’s a very good looking man, Olivia surmised. And those eyes, she thought again. Why can’t I remember ever noticing his eyes before?

Suddenly feeling embarrassed by her immediate reaction to eye up a police officer, Olivia deliberately stared straight ahead through the windshield. This is the man who supplied me with the information about my husband’s death, she firmly reminded herself. Not only that, but how cliché was it for a woman to drool over a man in uniform?

Officer Rafferty, not missing her long scrutinizing assessment of his person, glanced down at the driver’s license he held in his hand.

“I’m going to run these. Just wait here,” he stated, his tone commanding.

Upon returning to the unmarked police car, he climbed in and started entering her data into his laptop.

Mrs. Olivia Jones, he’d remembered her immediately, as soon as he saw her face turn toward him as she’d glanced up through the open window.

After sliding her driver’s license through the scanner, his long fingers moved rapidly over the keyboard as he typed in the registration information.

How long ago was that?

He could still recall sitting in her warmly lit kitchen, during one of the worst snowstorms of the last decade, astonished, by her tremendous display of self control. To be told her husband was dead and yet complete caring for her children before satisfying her own desperate need for answers, was truly impressive. He remembered the way her eyes had remained focused on her hands when he’d read aloud the police report faxed from
Vermont
. Stoically, she’d thanked him for making the trip out, “under such terrible weather conditions,” and shown him to the door without so much as shedding one tear.

I didn’t realize how pretty she was, he thought bitterly. Too bad, she’s so cold.

When he’d glanced down at her inside the vehicle he’d noticed her eyes were a bit puffy and swollen, as though she’d been crying. However, once he’d approached the vehicle, she hadn’t shed one tear. Olivia Jones didn’t strike him as the type of woman who would try to cry her way out of a ticket. Realizing that about her, he couldn’t help but like her for it. At least, a little bit. As a cop, as a man, it drove him crazy when a woman turned on the tears.

A few more strokes on the keyboard completed his search for information so he climbed back out of the unmarked car and strode back to the SUV.

“Mrs. Jones, I’m going to issue you a warning for this occurrence,” Officer Rafferty said, scowling in disbelief. He couldn’t believe the words that were rolling out of his own mouth.

Her eyes widened with surprise and seemed to sparkle from the dome light shining within the interior of the car.

“Thank you, I appreciate that. I don’t know if you remember me or not but…” She was in mid-sentence, just forming a smile when he interrupted her.

“Yes, I remember you, Mrs. Jones. Now pay attention when you’re behind the wheel of your vehicle. You could’ve caused a hell of an accident back there.”

He was being unnecessarily rude and he knew it. But, quite frankly, he hadn’t appreciated how his insides had clenched up when she’d smiled and thanked him. Irritation, with her, coursed through him and his distaste was shown clearly on his face.

Sensing his outright hostility, Olivia narrowed her eyes. “Well, thank you just the same, Officer Rafferty,” she drawled with a hint of sarcasm.

He said nothing.

“Am I free to leave now? I need get home to my boys.”

“Yes Ma’am,” he retorted before issuing a mocking reminder. “Do try to drive careful now you hear?”

Eager to be rid of him, Olivia stomped on the accelerator.

“What in the world was wrong with him?” she wondered aloud. “He could’ve just given me a ticket instead of acting rude and condescending. Humph! I’d have rather had the stinking ticket than deal with his nasty change in attitude.”

Angrily, she toyed with the idea of speeding the rest of the way home. Just out of spite. But then common sense kicked in and she decided she probably shouldn’t push her luck. Now though, instead of feeling melancholy and reminiscent, she felt tense and irritated from her encounter with the arrogant police officer.

Olivia turned into her driveway, followed the lane to her house, and since she was home for good, parked in the garage.

She started getting out of the car and then remembered the mail Michael had dropped. Leaning across the passenger seat, she reached down to blindly grope around on the floor of the vehicle. After discovering the numerous envelopes, haphazardly strewn about, she picked them up and began stuffing them into her purse. The last envelope briefly caught her attention; it was from Tom’s previous employer. But, still irked from the traffic stop, it barely made her radar so she shoved it into her purse with the rest of the mail and slammed the car door shut. She walked out of the garage and gazed up at the clear night sky.

Oh…there are so many stars visible tonight. I’ve always loved looking at my house all lit up against the darkness.

While she enjoyed the serenity of her peaceful woods, uninvited thoughts of Officer Rafferty began drifting back into her mind. Completely unaware that she was even doing so, she enthusiastically entertained them. His strong handsome face was certainly easy on the eyes. My, oh my, he looked like a force to be reckoned with, poured into that uniform. And those eyes, his intense blue eyes had actually created a strange tightening within her belly. Desire, a virtually forgotten sensation, flashed through her, electrifying her blood like a bolt of lightening.

Suddenly, a loud crash inside the house shattered the blissful silence. Within seconds the cries of shrieking children pierced the still night air, successfully disrupting her amorous thoughts of the distracting police officer. Olivia looked up in time to catch a glimpse of her twin sons, running by the dining room window, laughing manically. So much for an evening of relaxation, she conceded. After checking underneath the third flower pot to verify that Tommy had returned the spare house key, she went into the house to wrangle up her two youngest boys.

Officer Gavin Rafferty prided himself on being the type of cop who’d never allowed a few tears or a pretty face to determine how he performed on the job. So when Olivia Jones sped away in her SUV, he stood on the side of the road wondering what the hell had just happened to him.

“I must be getting soft,” he said with a shake of his head, trying to clear his jumbled thoughts.

Navigating the unmarked police car down the quiet streets of
Liberty
, he mulled over the fact that Olivia Jones was an attractive woman and seemed to have dealt with the death of her husband rather well. Maybe a little too well. Had it even been two years yet? Gavin wondered with a sneer.

Earlier, when he’d run her information, he’d noticed she still lived at the same address he’d traveled to on that snowy night.

He recalled, quite clearly, how his friend and partner, Officer Ron Barton, had suggested flipping a coin to decide who would risk the drive out there and deliver that kind of news. Since Gavin had called tails, he’d found himself battling snow covered roads instead of sitting in the police station drinking hot coffee as Ron had done.

Yeah, two years sounds about right, he decided as he entered the precinct parking lot and parked the cruiser.

It had been late December, just around the time Missy had determined our long distance relationship should end. He could still remember returning home to see a Steelers game at Heinz Field and seeing for himself the true reason his five year relationship had abruptly ended.

Of course, Gavin hadn’t handled it well. And eventually Ron, being the good friend that he was, had needed to come over and help pull him out of his week long drunken stupor.

“It’s never easy to see your lady with the man she threw you over for,” Ron had told him, bluntly, then grinned. “But dude, look at that face, women are always drooling all over you. Enjoy it for a change.”

So Gavin had enjoyed it, at least for a few months anyway. But the bar scene gets old after a while and when he began feeling the need to do something constructive with his time he decided to try his hand at refereeing youth basketball games. He was beginning to feel lonely. At thirty seven years of age he’d never contemplated marriage or desired to start a family, so he really enjoyed the camaraderie with the local coaches and participating with the kids at the games. He’d found his niche.

Gavin entered the police station and headed to his desk. He’d already decided, just out of curiosity, to check the date on that Olivia Jones report. A few keystrokes later, he realized two years really does fly by quickly.

His concentration was interrupted as a shadow passed over his computer screen, followed by his partner’s gravelly voice.

“What’re you doing with that report again?” Ron asked, chewing on a toothpick. He was constantly chewing on some foreign object.

“I pulled over Olivia Jones tonight for failing to stop at a red light,” Gavin told him, not looking up as he scanned the old report.

Ron rolled the toothpick around his mouth as he peered over his friend’s shoulder.

“So you cited her and now you’re pulling a report from two years ago. Why?”

“I didn’t cite her. I gave her a warning,” Gavin replied.

Ron’s snort of disbelief finally had him glancing up from the computer screen as he closed the report.

“You? You never give a warning. You getting soft on us, Rafferty? Or is she one hot piece of …” Ron’s words trailed off as Gavin abruptly stood up. .

“Shut it, Ron. She’s a widow with four young sons. I figured she could probably use a break. So yeah, I guess I’m getting soft,” he angrily grumbled, his final words trailing off almost inaudibly.

Gavin stalked away, irritated with Olivia Jones all over again. My shift’s over, he decided as he shoved open the front door of the precinct
. I’m heading on home and going
to bed.
 

Maddy strolled through Olivia’s front door with her filmy linen skirt swirling about her shapely legs and silver bangle bracelets clinking on her arms. Tossing back her thick, wild mane of curly long blond hair, she exclaimed with delight. “Olivia, the autumn colors in your yard are just breathtaking.”

As she glided through the hallway toward the kitchen, James and Luke exchanged mischievous glances and stifled snickers as they took aim, preparing to fire their new foam super striker rocket launchers at her full head of blond hair.

“Oh boys, you know it takes much more than that to distract your Aunt Maddy,” their mother cheerfully declared as she placed dirty breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. Then she chuckled in amusement as Maddy showered her two youngest nephews with hugs and kisses, knowing the boys hated it.

“Ack! No Aunt Maddy! No kisses,” they screeched, struggling to get away.

Olivia leaned a hip against the kitchen counter and studied her younger sister.

Maddy was seventeen months younger than she, although more often than not, to Olivia it felt more like a ten year difference.

“She has a whimsical air about her,” their Grandmother Spangler would always say of Maddy while Olivia’s own feet were, “always firmly planted on the ground.”

She’s so beautiful, Olivia mused, as she watched her sister glamorously blow kisses to Tommy and Michael. Initially both boys rolled their eyes, but at their mother’s arched brow they sent a verbal greeting to their aunt.