Serving Pride (4 page)

He didn’t want to
feel like he was burdening his aunt, so he rented the apartment
above O’Neil’s Groceries. The small apartment was already furnished
and it was in town, so he could easily keep an eye on
everything.

Pride wasn’t such a
big place that there was a lot going on. Most of his calls were
simple complaint calls. High school kids would get into trouble,
sneaking into places they shouldn’t. Or husbands and wives would
argue too loudly and there would be a domestic dispute call. They
also dealt with accidents on the main highway between Pride and
Edgeview, a larger town just fifteen minutes
away.

Some days he would
end up patrolling the beach, but with winter coming there would be
far fewer people visiting. He also helped the rangers patrol the
state park. Kids like to party up at the overlook on Friday nights,
and he’d swing by there to make sure nothing too crazy was going
down.

He was only in his
second month on the job when things took a turn. He was sitting at
the small diner off the highway with the sheriff, when David
grabbed his chest right there over his lunch and fell
over.

Robert did CPR on
him until Dr. Stevens arrived, then they took him away in the
ambulance. Robert called Mrs. Blake and stopped by to pick her up
and drive her to the Edgeview hospital. She’d been losing her sight
since earlier that year and didn’t drive. By the time they got to
the hospital, David was gone.

Robert sat there
with Mrs. Blake crying on his shoulder and wondered what he was
supposed to do now.

Amelia was at work
in Portland when she got her mother’s call. It took her less than
ten minutes to leave the small veterinary clinic. Packing while
your eyes are flowing with tears was very difficult. She asked her
neighbor to watch her place while she was gone, packed up Oscar,
her five-year-old Siamese cat, and headed home.

While she drove she
kept thinking of her father. She’d spent her entire vacation in
Pride over the recent holidays. She remembered him smiling and
laughing, and he’d looked healthy enough. She knew that he’d had
more stress in the last year since his two deputies had quit and
moved out of state. Her mother’s deteriorating health had also
caused him some stress. She just couldn’t wrap her mind around the
fact that he was gone. When she finally drove up to her parents’
house a few hours after leaving Portland, it hit
her.

The driveway was
packed with cars and she knew the well-wishers were already there.
There was a g
roup of
older women in town who saw to it that anyone who was going through
a tough time, wouldn’t be alone. Which usually involved a lot of
food and people. Parking her car behind her dad’s cruiser, she
started to walk in when she heard a noise behind
her
. There was a group of
older women in town who saw to it that no one who was going through
a tough time in Pride would be alone. Their plans usually involved
a lot of food and people. Parking her car behind her dad’s cruiser,
she started to walk into the house when she heard a noise behind
her.

She turned around
and saw him standing against a tree trunk next to the cruiser. She
recognized him immediately. Robert Brogan had been on her mind a
lot over the years. Because of him, she’d had the courage to do
things she never would have. She’d taken a year off and had
traveled to places she’d wanted to see her whole life. Rome, Paris,
Hawaii, and Australia had been the first on her long list. Then
she’d settled back down and finished college. Being a veterinarian
was something she’d dreamed of ever since she’d found a hurt bird
and nursed it back to health when she was a
child.

She’d also learned
from her experience with Ricky and Kevin that day so many years ago
and had taken nine years of judo. No one would ever corner her like
that again.

She walked over to
Robert, stopping just a few feet away.

“Are you going to
come in?” He stood in the shadows and continued to just look at
her.

“In a minute. I’m
sorry about your dad.”

She knew she must
look a wreck. She hadn’t even changed out of her scrubs and lab
coat. Her eyes were probably all puffy and red from the tears that
had flown down her face on the drive down here.

He looked the same,
from what she could see. It was almost too dark in the shade of the
tree to see his face clearly. His dark hair was cut shorter and his
eyes were darker than she remembered.

“Thank you. I
didn’t know you were back in town.”

“I’ve been back for
over two months.” He stepped forward, and she noticed that he was
wearing a uniform much like the one her dad had always worn, but
his shirt stretched tight over muscles she didn’t remember him
having the last time she’d seen him. His arms and chest were wide
and she realized she’d been wrong; he
had
changed, a lot. His eyes showed a deepness that she hadn’t
seen before. He seemed taller and more powerful than the boy she
remembered.

“I hear you’re a
veterinarian now. Your dad was always talking about how proud he
was of you.”

She could feel the
tears building. She knew she was stalling, putting off going into
the house so she could avoid the realization that he wasn’t
there.

Robert must have
noticed, because he walked forward and engulfed her in his arms. It
was nothing more than a brotherly hug, but it did wonders for
settling her heart.

She didn’t realize
she was crying until he said, “Shh, it’s okay. You can get it all
out.” He ran his hands into her hair and held her to his
chest.

He was practically a stranger and here she was blabbering all over
him. Why did he always have to see her when she was the most
vulnerable? His arms were wrapped tightly around her, one of his
hands at the back of her head, holding her close to his chest. She
could feel that she’d gotten his shirt wet with her tears and felt
stupid that she’d soaked it.

Leaning away, she
looked into his eyes and could see that none of it mattered. He was
looking at her with kind eyes and had a slight smile on his lips.
She’d dreamed of kissing those lips so many times over the
years.

Taking a step back,
she used her hands to wipe the tears from her
face.

“I’m sorry. I lost
it for a minute.”

“You don’t have to
apologize. I can only imagine what you’re going through.” They
stood there in silence, watching each other for a few seconds.
Finally, he grabbed her hand and started walking her towards the
house. “I’m sure your mother is going to be happy to see you. There
are so many people in your house. I needed to step out and get some
fresh air. Everyone is going to be glad that you’re
home.”

When she entered
the house everyone stopped and looked at them. She didn’t even
register that he was still holding her hand. Then she saw her
mother sitting on the couch and rushed over to engulf her in a
hug.

After the funeral
two days later, the house was packed once again. Amelia was dressed
in her simple black dress pants and a black sweater and was
thankful it hadn’t rained that day; the weather had held for the
simple ceremony. The whole county had shown up for her father’s
funeral.

He’d been sheriff
for as long as she could remember, over thirty years of service. He
had been set to retire in three years. Her parents had planned for
their retirement her whole life. They had taken family vacations
when she was a child, but had only driven up or down the west
coast. Once, they had traveled to Yellowstone National Park, but
that was as far as her mother would allow them to
go.

Maybe that was why
she’d had such a huge desire to travel after high school. She felt
like her parents were content to live their lives in Pride and had
no real desire to ever leave.

Not that she didn’t
like Pride. After all, it was home. She knew everyone in town and
felt warm and comfortable here. But she had wanted to see the world
in her youth.

After her travels,
she’d had a better understanding of why her parents had picked
Pride as a place to live. People here were generally good. You
could really count on them in a time of need, and for the most
part, everyone helped everyone else out.

Her mother had yet
to be left alone since Amelia had arrived home. Her friends all
stayed with her and made sure her needs were taken care of, which
made Amelia think about her own future. She knew her mother had
lost most of her sight over the last five years. She was looking
frailer than she had in the past, and Amelia just couldn’t imagine
her living in the house alone.

By the end of the
day she knew that she needed to move back home to care for her. For
now she was surrounded by the whole town, but once things settled
down, there was no way her mother could live without someone
here.

Within three weeks
she’d closed up her life in Portland. She’d called and given her
employer her notice the day after her father’s funeral. She’d also
called her landlord and told him she’d be moving out at the end of
the month. She was breaking her lease, but due to the dire
circumstances, he’d waived all the fees.

Now, as she drove
in front of the small moving van back to Pride, she wondered what
the next few years would hold for her. She knew she could ask
Tammy, the head veterinarian at the local clinic, for a job.
Hopefully, there was an opening. If not, she could always find
something else to do. After all, living with her mother, she
wouldn’t be hurting financially.