Concealed Hearts (Hometown Jasper #4) - Nicky James Page 0,6

found out he was indeed straight and not interested. Then he’d know about me. Would he tell his brother? If so, Shay was dating Josiah, and Josiah owned the Jasper Times. The last thing I needed was to be the front page sensation in the town newspaper. I could see it now. Jasper Police Chief is gay!

My heart skipped at the sheer horror of that thought.

I stared at what I’d written.

I was sad to discover you’d left town so abruptly. I hemmed and hawed and added, My goal when I became chief was to make sure Jasper was a welcoming and accepting town for everyone. A place that didn’t discriminate. I didn’t want anyone to ever feel unwelcome, and it saddens me that your home town has become too tainted for you to feel comfortable being here.

I studied each word. Was it too formal now?

I scratched the thick scruff on my chin as I re-read it again and again. I decided to leave it. Formal was better than the opposite.

You are a fascinating person, and I enjoyed our conversations. If there is anything I can do to help you feel more at home in Jasper, let me know.

I pecked at the keyboard with two fingers as I typed and erased, fixing spelling mistakes, and ensuring each word was perfect.

With my hands sweating and trembling, I added one more sentence. A small hint if Tomi chose to read into it. He was a smart man. I had to give him something. If emailing him wasn’t enough, then hopefully, my closing line would provide him with answers.

I know how hard it is to keep secrets in a place like this. I’ve done it all my life. Sometimes, finding another person who understands can make all the difference.

Then I signed it with my first name, added his email address, and hit send before I could second-guess or change my mind. Once it was flying away in cyberspace, panic hit me right in the chest. I gripped the edge of my desk as I stared at the computer screen and the words Message Sent displayed across the middle.

That was that. No taking it back now.

Chapter Two

Tomi

Windsor’s email hit my computer when I was neck-deep in cleaning my office for the summer break. Classes were over, and grades were posted. I had every intent on spending the greater part of my summer vacation in my lab on the other side of the university’s campus. The likelihood of returning to my office in the physics building was slim.

While arranging textbooks on the shelf, deciding which ones I was taking home with me and which ones could stay, the email notification sounded. Assuming it was work-related since I’d been in conversation with several professors all day, I was stunned to see Windsor Elkhart’s name at the top of my inbox.

I flopped down in my office chair and frowned at the screen without touching my mouse to click it open. The subject line was simple and gave no indication of what his email was about. It read, Touching Base.

It’d been a couple of weeks since I’d run back to BC, leaving Jasper and all its vicious, rumor-hungry people behind. The only good part about being home, aside from seeing my family, had been connecting with Jasper’s Chief of Police, Windsor Elkhart.

He was a surprising man and ridiculously gorgeous, which had made being around him difficult. Windsor was older than me by a few years, mature and with a strong head on his shoulders. Jasper needed someone like him in charge. He was down to earth and companionable which made talking to him easy. And we’d spent a lot of time talking, more than I’d told myself was advisable. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about him dozens of times since coming back to BC. More often than not, late at night when I was in bed alone.

With a strange tightness in my muscles, I scrolled over his email and clicked.

It was short and concise.

Tomi,

I was sad to discover you’d left town so abruptly. My goal when I became chief was to make Jasper a welcoming and accepting town. A place that didn’t discriminate. I didn’t want anyone to ever feel unwelcome, and it saddens me that your home town has become too tainted for you to feel comfortable being here.

You are a fascinating person, and I enjoyed our conversations. If there is anything I can do to help you feel more at home in Jasper,