A Chance at Love (A Ferry Creek Novel): (a billionaire romance novel) (8 page)

Ah, the simple joys of Ferry Creek.

A tree that might fall over.

A high school party that left a
mess.

It always seemed so simple...

Bobby came from the kitchen and ran
a hand through his hair. His eyes were puffy, his face drawn, and everything
about him was off.

Jess nodded at Bobby.

Okay, maybe not everything was
so simple.

Tyler stood at the front of The Pot
Diner and glanced over his shoulder. He watched Jess work for another few
seconds before finally leaving. He couldn
’
t
get it out of his head and he wanted to talk to Jess about it. He felt guilty
if he was at all giving off the wrong signals, but he couldn
’
t get her out of his head. He
couldn
’
t stop staring at her
when she was near. Everything inside him wanted to just pull her aside and
corner her. He wanted to know about her life in high school. How did a pretty
girl like her end up pregnant? What caused her to flee her home at the age of
eighteen? Wasn
’
t she scared
to death to be that young, pregnant, and then on her own?

The thoughts plagued Tyler and had
been on his mind ever since his niece, Emily, started high school two years
ago. Now a junior, the thoughts seemed to get worse for Tyler. If it wasn
’
t bad enough that Emily had gone
from a cute girl into a beautiful woman, she would be turning eighteen over the
next summer, she
’
d have one
more year of high school, and then she
’
d
be gone from Ferry Creek and out of Tyler
’
s
watch. He had no reason to believe Emily would do anything wrong or stupid,
but, come on, kids were kids. Tyler was sure Jess didn
’
t intend on getting pregnant. But it happened. He
wanted to know how it happened... well, he knew
how
it happened but he
wanted to know the situation. The circumstances. If Jess had had an
overprotective uncle as a cop would it have kept her from getting pregnant?

You know, the usual questions.

But Tyler just couldn
’
t bring himself to bother her
about it. The subject had to be sensitive for Jess. After all, it completely
changed her life. It wasn
’
t
as though she had been born and raised in Ferry Creek and kept her feet planted
in town. She had come to Ferry Creek looking for a meal, and from what Tyler
heard, Jess didn
’
t have
money to pay for the meal so Bob helped her.

Tyler climbed into his squad car
and thought about Emily.

Was she at that little party near
the creek?

The empty beer cans and trash
bothered Tyler, but he couldn
’
t
stop wondering if Emily was there. Hanging with friends. With boys. Tyler knew
the drill... a cool night. A fire. A few drinks. That
’
s how all those stories started.

He gripped the steering wheel and
closed his eyes.

He wanted to curse his sister,
Carrie, for working the hours she did as an attorney twenty minutes away. But
he couldn
’
t blame Carrie.
She had a way to keep food on the table, a house to live in, and a way to work
and save for the pending college bills for Emily.

Emily
’
s
father  - Andy - had left four years ago for a woman he met online. When he
left, he left his family in debt and shambles. While Carrie had been working,
Andy had been spending money, charging on credit cards, and taking the little
nest egg Carrie thought she had and turning it into a giant mess. A giant enough
mess that Carrie almost lost the house after Andy left. Thanks to her
connections she was able to save the house but it left her scrambling and
working harder than ever to keep life normal for herself and Emily. Tyler
remembered how sad Emily was. How Emily leaned toward him as a father figure.
At that time, it was easy for Tyler. Emily was just a little girl who still
liked to go to the park, who loved school, who only thought some boys were cute
(and most of them were on television).

Now Emily was basically a woman.
She was beautiful and brilliant, and Tyler knew she had a boyfriend here and
there.

Tyler started the cruiser and
drove. He took a slow ride through Ferry Creek, peering along the buildings,
street corners, and houses. Everything was normal. Just another beautiful day
in Ferry Creek. The calmness outside was opposite of the racing thoughts on the
inside of Tyler
’
s mind. He
thought about just going to the house and confronting Emily about the party by
the creek.

But how fair would that be for
Emily?

Tyler didn
’
t want to scare his niece or chase her away at all.
He liked that they had an open line of communication. He wanted Emily to know
if she was ever in trouble, she could talk to him. Tyler just feared that
trouble... such as getting pregnant... would be the
too-late
kind of
trouble that Tyler couldn
’
t
fix.

The truth though was that even if
Emily went to that party down by the creek, did it matter? Did it instantly
imply that she would drink? No. Not at all. Tyler knew that. Emily was a
straight
‘
A
’
student and poised for college
to be anything she wanted. She
’
d
go far and wide in life and Tyler wanted her to do just that. He wanted Ferry
Creek to be her old hometown and a place to visit. However, a harsh dose of
truth was that Emily may have been at that party and may have been with a guy.
She may have kissed that guy. As much as the thought twisted Tyler
’
s stomach he couldn
’
t help but remind himself of all
the things he
’
d done in
high school.

Maybe that
’
s what bothered him the most, all that stuff he
’
d done... would it all come back
to bite him in the ass now in the form of his niece?

Tyler continued to the outskirts of
Ferry Creek. Where the houses ended and the land began. As he drove, he passed
mainly small streams, all of which connected to the creek itself which then ran
out to the bay. It was amazing how everything was connected to one another. The
back roads to the creek made it easy to get there and the distance from town
made it the perfect place to hang out. To have a little party. To park with a
girl.
To make a move...

When Tyler saw Jack
’
s trucks just ahead of him, he
sped up. He told himself staring at the trucks would keep his mind at bay. The
front truck turned off the road to an open piece of land. It would be the
easiest way to get to the power lines and the trees. Jack would have to assess
the job before actually working on it. If there was a real threat to the power
lines then they
’
d have to
call the power company. Tyler didn
’
t
believe that was the case at all. The trees near it were just weak and ready to
topple.

The next two trucks continued
forward and then turned about a quarter mile up the road. Tyler then pulled to
the side of the road and climbed out of his car. He walked to the trucks and
saw Jack directing his crew, pointing his fingers everywhere, bellowing like
the leader he was.

Jack saw Tyler and he put his hands
up.
“
Are you following me,
Officer?
”

“
Just
wanted to hear your thoughts on it,
”
Tyler said.

Jack pointed to the trees.
“
Simple job. We
’
ll take those three down and
haul them out. That
’
ll keep
everything far enough away from the lines. If the other trees even fell they
wouldn
’
t touch the lines.
”

“
Good
man, Jack,
”
Tyler said and
patted him on the back.

“
You
heading down to the creek again?
”
Jack asked.

“
Yup.
”

“
You
know it
’
s just high school
bullshit, right?
”

“
Sure,
”
Tyler said.
“
But I have a niece in the middle
of that bullshit.
”

“
Yeah.
I have a few more years before my time comes.
”

Jack tipped his hard hat and walked
away. Jack had been blessed with three daughters. He stopped having kids after
the third girl. His oldest would turn thirteen in six months and that
’
s when all the fun would start.
Tyler almost felt bad for Jack, but then again, Tyler didn
’
t know a true father-daughter
connection.

He walked down the small embankment
with care. The ground was easy to maintain unless it was wet, because then the
small hills became icy hills. Down at the creek, Tyler stood and looked left to
right. The flow of the water had a soothing sound to it. The sight of the water
rushing by, cascading around the larger rock was a great view, but when Tyler
’
s saw the circle of rocks and
the charred ring on the ground from a fire, everything pristine seemed to
change. He walked to the ring of rocks and shook his head.

It was a just a bunch of high
school kids messing around. Probably drank a beer or two, thought they were
drunk and loose, then enjoyed the fire. Tyler bent down and picked up one of
the rocks. He looked at the creek and wondered if he was really
that
cop. The one that busted up parties and destroyed everything that high school
kids thought were fun. Tyler dropped the rock and sighed. He thought about Jess
again.

Eighteen. Pregnant. Alone.

The first thing he couldn
’
t control. Emily would turn
eighteen. It was that middle part that made him worried. Taking apart the ring
of rocks would help, even a little, right? All he knew was that she would never
be alone. Tyler bent to pick up a rock again when his cell phone buzzed.

He checked and saw it was Bobby.

Tyler answered the call with,
“
Bobby, is everything okay?
”

“
Depends
on where you are and how fast you can drive.
”

“
Why
’
s that?
”

“
Darryl
’
s here,
”
Bobby said.
“
I
think you should get here, too.
”

“
Is
Jess okay?
”

“
She
’
s fine. But, uh, you know,
Officer... can you help?
”

Tyler ended the call and turned and
ran.

He always tried to give people the
benefit of the doubt. Even a guy like Darryl. Tyler knew Darryl had a rough
life because he had been right next to him when a lot of things went down in
Darryl
’
s life. But no one
messed with people Tyler cared about, and the top two people on that list at
that moment were Emily... and Jess.

Bobby stood behind the counter
gripping the edges so hard he swore he was going to break the tile off. If that
happened, Bobby would personally grab Darryl by the back of his collar, drag
him out back, and perhaps he
’
d
have an accident with Bobby
’
s
fist.

Jess had insisted Bobby stay cool
and let her handle Darryl. From the second Darryl came through the front door,
Bobby could tell he was either drunk or nursing a hangover and hadn
’
t slept in days. Still, that
gave Darryl no excuse to act the way he did. He sat in a booth and started
playing the drums with his hands, calling for Jess. He treated the diner like
it was his personal kitchen. Jess brought him coffee and asked what he wanted.
Darryl confessed he had no money and Jess said she
’
d take care of it.

“
Just
get some food in your stomach,
”
she told Darryl.

“
Sit
with me,
”
Darryl had said.
“
Let
’
s have breakfast together.
”

“
I
’
m working,
”
Jess said.

“
You
’
re always working.
”

“
What
do you want to eat?
”

“
Hey...
is Bob dead yet?
”

The way Darryl spoke was loud,
blatant, and ignorant.

That
’
s
when Jess looked to Bobby and shook her head. She pleaded with him without
words to keep everything calm. But Bobby wasn
’
t
going to take it anymore. He grabbed his cell phone and called Tyler. Bobby
kept his cell phone in his pocket because today was supposed to be the day he
’
d get the call about Sullivan Chasen.
With all the things he had running through his mind, the last thing he wanted
was to deal with Darryl Stant and his rebel motorcycle bullshit.

“
Darryl,
I need you to calm down and keep quiet,
”
Jess said.
“
Okay? People
are eating. Everyone
’
s
relaxing.
”

“
You
know what today is, Jess?
”
Darryl asked.

He leaned over the table and
pointed up at Jess.

“
No,
I don
’
t,
”
Jess said.
“
It
’
s...
Wednesday, right?
”