To Protect and Serve (9 page)

             
With eyes still locked, they both scooped up their caps at the same time and went down the hall to the briefing room.  Doug’s mouth was hardened into a straight line.  Bill was smirking.

             
Grabbing a cup of coffee on the way in, Doug settled behind a desk towards the front of the room and scooted over very reluctantly when Bill joined him at the small table, crowding him to one side.

             
“So.  Have you made up your mind yet?”

             
Doug took a sip of his coffee and didn’t answer.

             
“Come on, Doug.  It won’t kill you.”

             
Doug took a larger sip of his coffee.

             
“I’ll bet you’re just chicken.”

             
Doug took a good sized drink, finished the cup and set it down a little harder than usual.

             
“What’s the worst that could happen, huh?”

             
Doug gave Bill a sideways glance that would have made other men back down.

             
But Bill wasn’t other men.  He had worked with Doug for better than twenty years and considered himself to be Doug’s best friend.  Bill and his wife, Patty, had watched Doug date over the years, and had tried several times to fix up Doug with someone.  Bill and Patty wanted Doug to be as happy as they were.

             
Doug had insisted that he was satisfied to be single and loved his job too much to even think about marrying and putting a wife through the hard task of being a cop’s wife.

             
Patty had tried explaining to Doug that not all women considered it a burden; that many thought of their husbands as everyday heroes and it made their marriages special because they understood what their husbands had to deal with on a day to day basis.

             
Doug would just shrug and change the subject.

             
Now Doug had made the mistake of letting Bill know that he was interested in someone.  And not just any someone.  But someone who was so different from all the other women he’d dated that Bill’s radar went on high alert.  When Bill’s radar went on high alert so did Patty’s.  And now Doug had to deal with questions.

             
Well
, Doug grimaced,
better Bill than Patty
.  When that woman got her teeth into something, she was worse than a wolf hound and wouldn’t let go.  Maybe Bill would back off if Doug gave him some information.

             
“Her name’s Nancy.”

             
“And?”

             
“And what?”  Doug scowled again.

             
“And so are you going to ask her out?”

             
“We’ve only spoken a couple of times.  I’m not sure she’s even interested in me.”  This last was muttered under his breath, but Bill had ears like sonar.

             
“Come on, buddy.  What woman wouldn’t be interested in you? You’re witty, charming and a barrel of laughs.”  Bill’s sarcasm could have further irritated Doug, except that he knew that underneath it was a true, caring friend.

             
Doug sat still for a moment and realized that Bill was right.  What was the worst that could happen?  She’d say no, and he was right back where he’d started.

             
Except something was different about Ms. Nancy Adams, and he felt he’d rather live with a ‘what-if’ hopefulness than a certain ‘no’ from her.

             
Yeah, she sure was different.  Usually he went for the Orange County highlighted blond hair, acrylic nails, and toned body from working out at a gym 4 days a week.  He’d date the gal for a couple of weeks and then they’d go their separate ways, usually when the woman became aware that Doug wasn’t interested in a long term relationship.  Bill liked to tease Doug that he was getting his dates from a cookie-cutter assembly line of Barbie wannabes.  The only saving grace was that the women were also smart.  Doug did not suffer fools easily.  He saw on a daily basis what happened when not so bright people had dealings with other not so bright people.  It was a shame too, because the last woman he’d dated had absolutely nothing wrong with her.  Doug just didn’t feel anything stronger than physical attraction.

             
And now his attention was so stuck on Nancy, he’d turned down two come-on’s he’d received while on the job over the past 3 weeks.

              He wasn’t sure if it was the way she really loved her kids, or the way she got so easily flustered every time he looked at her.  It was cute.  Also, she wasn’t pretentious.  It was refreshing.  However, none of that explained how strongly he was drawn to her.  He’d never felt this way about any other woman, and he sure couldn’t explain it, even to himself.  When he saw Bill staring at him, he relented.

             
“Adams.”

             
“What?”  Bill leaned in exaggeratedly with one hand cupped around his ear.

             
“Her last name is Adams.”  Doug swallowed a sigh of relief when the sergeant stepped to the front of the room and started the briefing.

             
“Okay, listen up.  Remember, gang.  Today is Halloween and we should expect all the usual shenanigans that go along with it.”  Sgt. Peters was no more Irish than Doug was, but because he’d been born on St. Patrick’s Day, he’d adopted the green isle as his native homeland and everyone was used to him throwing out words he considered sounded Irish.

             
“Saunders, Winston, you’ll be having the school duty.  Make sure ta stop by the different carnivals throughout the late afternoon.  There are a couple of candy bags for ya at the back table.  Be sure and pass out the candy and pencils to the kids at the schools.  It’s part of the Chief’s new PR program for the department.”

             
Doug and Bill smiled and waved good-naturedly as they received hoots, hollers and wisecracks from the other officers in the room about pulling vacation duty.

             
The rest of the briefing was short and Doug and Bill were on their way to their units in no time with sacks of candy tucked under their arms.

              After tossing the candy into the front seat, Bill rested his arms across the door of his black and white and looked over at Doug.

             
“Well?  Are you gonna ask her out?”

             
Doug debated for a couple of seconds and decided it would be easier to do that than suffer through several more days of nagging from Bill.

             
“Yes, I’ll ask her out.  There, are you happy?”

             
“Not yet.  Bring her by the house and let Patty have a look at her.”

             
“Huh-uh.  No way, Bill.  The both of you would scare her off for sure, what with all your questions and suggestions.  You’ll meet her when I’m ready for you to meet her.” 

             
Doug slid behind the wheel of his own unit and checked to ensure that everything was in order.  As usual, the unit’s computer was running in top condition.  Sparky, the man in charge of the department’s computers and electronic devices took extreme pride in the fact that his department’s equipment was hardly ever on the fritz.  The officers were thankful, too.  The last guy in charge of the computers had been sincere, but not very fast when it came to repairs.  Thank gawd he’d retired and they’d hired a kid right out of college.  Sparky was a computer nerd in the very best sense of the word.  Equipment that would not work for anyone else, purred at top speed and efficiency for Sparky.  Also the fact that he could produce a top-of-the-line flash-bang, made him even more popular with the SWAT team guys.  What was it about things that went “boom” that made guys happy?  Any age guys.

             
Doug pulled out of the parking lot after Bill did, and turned right onto Main Street from Struck.  At Katella he turned right again and headed out for Cambridge Elementary for his first stop of the afternoon.

             
Doug enjoyed working for the City of Orange.  He’d been on the force for the past twenty-six years and knew every section of the city, as well as a good majority of its populace.  Several years earlier he’d been promoted, but found that he wasn’t suited for sitting behind a desk.  He did his best work dealing daily with the citizens and business owners of the city.  After giving the desk job a year, he requested to be put back on a beat, and no one gave him a hard time for it.  He knew that it wasn’t the best career move, but he’d rather be happy with his work and settle for a few less dollars, than continue to be frustrated with the politics of the job.

             
His favorite part of the job was when he helped put together the bicycle safety classes for the local schools.

             
Which reminded him of last week.

             
He’d been assigned to run the safety class at a local private school.  Since it was such a small school, there’d only been himself and Mike, another office he liked working with.  Both he and Mike were good with kids and it made for a rewarding day for both of them.  And for Doug, more than just civic duty.

             
When he’d headed into the principal’s office to confirm where to set up the event, he ran into Nancy Adams as she came out of the office.

             
They’d stopped about two feet from each other, said “Hi” and then just stood there smiling at each other.

             
There was no embarrassment from either of them; that is, until the school secretary giggled.

             
Nancy was the first to speak.  “It’s good to see you again, Doug.  What are you doing here?”

             
“Running the bicycle safety class.  Will you be there?”

             
“I wish.  No, I’m the Drama Teacher.  The homeroom teachers will be the ones taking the students to your class.  Where are you holding it?”

              “I was just about to explain that all to him, Ms. Adams.”  The principal, Victoria Newman smiled to soften her words.

             
“And you probably need to get to class.”  Doug didn’t want to see Nancy go, but he couldn’t figure out any other way to make her stay, especially when he had to speak with the principal.

             
“I do.  If you get the chance, stop by the theatre.  We’re in rehearsal for a skit that the younger students will be doing at our Halloween Carnival.”  Then she realized that Doug would be working with students all day, and probably wouldn’t have the time to stop by.

             
“If I can, I will.”  When Doug saw Nancy’s smile dim slightly, he added, “I’d really like to see you.”

             
Nancy’s smile widened again, and she almost tripped when she started walking because she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. 
I can’t believe I’m such a klutz around him!  He’s going to think I’m perpetually clumsy.
  Nancy tried to maintain some form of dignity, but found it next to impossible to stop smiling at Doug.  Who, in turn, couldn’t stop smiled at her.

             
If it hadn’t been for Mrs. Newman, they probably would have stood there all day, lost in smiling at each other.

             
Fortunately, Nancy was able to make it to her class on time.

             
Unfortunately, Nancy’s advanced drama class let out late, and Doug got called away as soon as the bicycle safety class was finished.

             
They both felt an odd combination of feeling let down, yet exhilarated because they’d seen each other.

             
Later that afternoon, as Nancy unlocked her car to go home, she thought to herself, “Is this what a crush feels like at my age?”

             
Throughout the rest of that day, Doug found himself smiling for no reason.

CHAPTER 8

             
Nancy grinned as she walked across campus to her classroom.  She took in a deep breath and felt almost giddy.