Fight Like You've Never Lost (Summer Lake #14) - S.J. McCoy Page 0,71
used to happen often enough when he was working, but this was Summer Lake.
No matter how crazy it seemed, the feeling was real, and he knew it. He stopped dead and turned around and came face to face with Laura a few steps behind him.
“Damn, Ryan! You scared the life out of me!”
He raised an eyebrow. “You had me pretty spooked following me like that. What’s the deal?”
“I want to say that I’m going to Missy and Dan’s.” She gave him a rueful smile. “But you wouldn’t believe me, would you?”
“Nope. Though, if you’re going to try following people in the future, I’d suggest that you leave a bit more distance, give yourself the option to take cover if they turn.”
She laughed. “Yeah. I’m no good at this.”
“So, what do you want?”
“To see how you’re doing?”
“I’m good, thanks. You?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Maybe I do, but you’re going to have to tell me.”
“Okay. I mean, how are you with Leanne being here?”
He shrugged and started walking again. “It’s none of my business.”
She hurried after him. “It used to be.”
“Yeah. But she ended that.”
Laura tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder and scowled at him. “And you know why.”
Damn, he didn’t need this. “What’s your point, Laura?”
“Sorry. I’m just trying to figure out if there’s … if you two …”
“What?”
“You know! I thought the two of you were forever. I hated that you ended.”
“Yeah? Well, so did I. But it was Leanne’s choice. And it was a long time ago.”
“It was, but she’s here now and I thought … I wondered …”
“What?”
“I don’t know. If there’s a chance the two of you might …”
“Why are you asking me? Surely, she’s told you that there isn’t. She made that clear on our trip up here yesterday.”
“But what about you … would you?”
He was suddenly sick of everyone getting in his face about it. This was the danger of living in a small town. Everyone knew your business; everyone wanted a say in it. “Why does it matter what I think? When’s her boyfriend coming?”
Laura stopped dead. “Her what?”
“Yeah. Maybe you should check in with her before you start asking me.”
Laura stood there looking shocked, but he kept on walking. He’d had enough. He’d thought he could work with Leanne, thought he’d be able to avoid her most of the time and be civil when necessary, but if someone was going to ask him about her every time he turned around, he was going to have to rethink what he was doing here.
When he reached the house, he stopped halfway up the driveway. Dan was sitting on his front steps tapping away at his phone. He looked up and smiled when he spotted him.
Ryan ran up the steps and walked straight past him to the front door.
“Am I allowed to come in?”
Ryan glared at him. “Only if you don’t mention her name.”
“Okay.” He followed Ryan inside.
It was too early to pour himself a drink, but Ryan was tempted. “What do you want, nerd?”
Dan chuckled. “I know you still love me if you’re calling me nerd.”
Ryan smiled through pursed lips. He could never be mad at Dan. “You pushed your luck yesterday.”
“I know. And I’m sorry.”
Ryan shrugged. “It’s fine. And I’m sorry I bit your head off. You can mention Leanne if you want to. It’s no big deal. It’s just that everyone I’ve seen this morning has gone on about her. I don’t need to hear it. I’ll work with her. The rest of the time, I’ll stay out of her way. Is that good enough for you?”
“Sure.”
Ryan hated the way he did that. He looked so smug. He had something else to say but Ryan didn’t want to hear it. “Anyway, I have something much more interesting to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?”
“Remember my old boss, Callahan?”
“Of course, I do. He’s a good guy. He scared me at first, but that’s just his manner. What about him?”
“I talked to him this morning. He's talking about coming up here. He’s interested in working with us if you want him.”
Dan grinned. “That’d be amazing. He’s exactly what we need. Like, a project manager, someone to pull it all together. I can manage the cyber guys, and you can do all the field work, especially with Manny coming in when you need him. But we need someone who’s good to sit in the office and oversee the big picture, pull it all together. Do you like the idea?”