Pay the Price (Harmony Grove Book 3) by Carol Post (which ebook reader txt) 📕

“It was an easy morning, but I think I’m going to take lunch a little early. I skipped breakfast this morning.”

Not by choice. She’d gotten in from Miami late, then had a restless night. After sleeping through the alarm, she’d had just enough time to take Buttons out, feed him and get him to Mrs. Silverton’s, and then get herself ready.

BethAnn checked the clock on the side wall. “You might want to hold off a few minutes.”

“Why? Is Kevin coming over?” That shouldn’t make any difference. That was a two-or-three-times-a-week occurrence. Sometimes Jessica ate with them, sometimes she didn’t.

BethAnn shrugged. “Maybe.”

Okay, something was up. Jessica glanced out the display window as a police cruiser eased into one of the parallel parking spaces in front. Her stomach tightened, and she mentally scolded herself. The cruiser wasn’t there for her. Branch would never bother her again. It would probably be a long time, though, before the sight of a police car no longer conjured up thoughts of trouble.

She squinted to peer through the tinted side window. Alan sat in the passenger seat, so apparently Tommy was behind the wheel. The driver door swung open, and a head, then shoulders and a chest appeared over the top of the car.

Jessica gulped. What was Shane doing in Harmony Grove? And why was he driving Tommy and Alan’s cruiser?

She spun on BethAnn. “You told me he was gone.”

“No, I didn’t.” A smug smile crept up her boss’s face.

“You said it was safe to come back.”

“It is.” BethAnn was still grinning.

Jessica wasn’t. If this was BethAnn’s idea of a practical joke, it wasn’t funny. Not in the slightest. As Shane circled around behind the car, she fought the urge to run screaming from the counter area and lock herself in the bathroom.

“You set me up.” She didn’t know whether to rage or dissolve in a puddle of tears.

“I wouldn’t exactly use that terminology, but yeah, I had something to do with it.”

“Why?”

BethAnn put a hand on her shoulder. “When I see two people who I know would be perfect together, I can’t resist giving a little nudge. Just ask Melissa and Chris, and Jason and Tia. You know how Carolyn has a reputation as the town gossip? I’m earning my own reputation.”

“As the town matchmaker. Good for you. But you can’t make matches when one of the parties isn’t willing.”

Shane opened the front door, clutching the handles of a plastic bag in his other hand. The cruiser pulled away from the curb. Alan had dropped Shane off. Except Shane had been the one driving, which made no sense.

After letting the door swing shut, Shane held up the bag. “Lunch, from the Hometown Cafe. I was hoping you’d share it with me. I think there’s a table with our names on it at the park.”

She glanced at BethAnn, who waved her on. “Go ahead. Take your time.”

When she turned back around, Kevin stood at the front door. He reached for the handle to swing it open, and Jessica raised an index finger at BethAnn. “Just understand this. What goes around comes around.”

When she looked at Shane again, the carefree roamer didn’t seem so carefree. He shifted his weight to the other foot. “It’s my lunch break. Alan’s taking the car and picking me up in one hour, but I wanted to have a chance to talk to you alone.”

She gave him a nod and followed him out the door. He had one hour to deliver his well-prepared speech about how she was special and how leaving was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever have to do and how—

Wait a minute. “What do you mean it’s your lunch break?”

“I’m working for Harmony Grove.”

She shook her head, unable to connect the dots. “Are you undercover?”

“Nope, right out in the open.”

“Why does the FBI have you here? Your drug case and Prissy’s case are solved. Why aren’t they sending you somewhere else?”

“Because they don’t have any say over where I go.”

“How can you say that? You work for them.”

“No, I worked for them.”

Her jaw sagged. “You left the FBI?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

He paused for a long stretch as they continued, staring across the street at the small grocery store they’d walked to several times. Finally, he sighed. “I’ve never been crazy about moving around. Regardless of what I’ve told myself for the past three years, I’m really more of a homebody. It’s just that in all of the places I’ve been assigned, there’s never been a strong enough reason for me to stay.”

“And now there is.” Her voice wasn’t much above a whisper. Her heart pounded and her breath came in shallow gasps. The sudden lump in her throat didn’t help, either.

She shook her head. “You’re here for good. You have a permanent position with Harmony Grove PD.”

“I interviewed with Chief Willis last week and started today.”

Her jaw sagged for the second time. “Chief Willis?” She’d been gone for a week and a half and the whole Harmony Grove Police Department had changed.

Shane shrugged. “Someone had to step into the vacant chief position. Who better than Tommy?”

“True.” Tommy had been a fixture in Harmony Grove as long as she could remember.

They waited for a pickup to pass, then crossed the street to enter the park. Jessica looked up at him. “How do I know you’re not going to change your mind?”

“I can just tell you I won’t. You’ll have to trust me on that.”

“Trust?” Things hadn’t gone so well after the last time he’d told her to trust him.

“I guess we both have some work to do in that area.”

They made their way to the nearest picnic table, and Shane set the bag on top. Other than a handful of moms with toddlers, the park was empty. Activity would pick up once school let out. Now the semi-quiet was nice.

He dropped onto the seat and pulled two Styrofoam containers and water bottles from the bag. “There have been a lot of things I’ve missed