An Unlikely Family

She checked her fingertips. No blood from a head injury, thank goodness. Just a dull pain behind her eyes. “You’re wrong. I did enter, but I didn’t have to break anything to do it. The back door was unlocked.”

“I don’t buy that,” he said. “This building is a school. It’s closed for the summer and is locked every night.”

Okay, forget submissive. No one had ever called Evie a liar to her face, and she was running out of patience with this guy, cop or not. “I’m well aware this is a school, and I’m telling you I opened the back door and walked in.”

“You shouldn’t have,” he said. “It’s nearly dark. No one has any business being in this building this time of night. You’re violating public property even if you didn’t pick the lock.”

She released a frustrated breath. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. I’m not violating anything. Besides being part of that public you’re sworn to protect, I’m the new principal of Heron Point Elementary. And this is my office, or soon will be.”

He cocked his head to the side and studied her. His frown deepened. Was he drawing a conclusion based solely on appearance? Did he find her lacking in stature at five feet four inches? She followed his gaze downward and sighed. A jersey-knit camisole was definitely inappropriate for the head of a school. She tugged its thin strap back up to her shoulder. Give me a break, she thought. I’ve been driving all day. She was glad he couldn’t see her feet. One flat, flowered sandal had slipped off somewhere under the desk.

A corner of his mouth twitched. He rubbed his jaw and continued staring. “You’re the new principal?”

She squared her shoulders. “I am. And you’ll pardon me for saying so, but with your attitude, I’d guess you’ve spent more time in a principal’s office than I have.”

He folded his arms over his chest and grinned. She detected a dusting of fine dark hair on his left forearm, broken by a patch of white where his wide leather watch strap began. His ball cap covered most of what appeared to be thick black hair.

“That’s a pretty good guess,” he admitted.

She relaxed, one hand on the desk. “Can I assume you’re not going to arrest me?”

“Yes, you can. We don’t have a law against just entering.”

“Fine, but I still have an earring to find.”

“I guess I could help you.”

She started to protest, imagining a large, polished boot crunching the delicate gold mounting. “No need…”

“It’s okay. Firemen get cats out of trees. I suppose I can do jewelry recovery.” He started to bend in front of the desk when they heard a beeping sound from outside.

Evie spun around to the window and stared at a small vehicle racing toward the school at perhaps a wicked fifteen miles per hour. She turned back to the officer. “What’s that?”

“Oh, shi—shoot. I forgot to cancel Lou.” He pressed a button on a radio attached to his shoulder, and the device crackled to life. “Lou, it’s Billy. Never mind. False alarm. Everything’s under control.”

Too late. Whoever Lou was, he was arriving amid a blaze of flashing lights attached to the top of his vehicle. “Are you kidding me?” Evie asked. “Your backup is arriving in a golf cart?”

The man who had just identified himself as Billy joined her at the window. “He had to. I have the squad car.”

“The squad car? As in, there’s only one?”

“It’s all we need. You can see how fast Lou got here in the golf cart.”

At this moment Heron Point and her hometown seemed more than thirteen hundred miles apart. They could have existed in different galaxies. Imagine golf carts fighting crime in the Motor City!

She looked over at Billy who was intent on watching the battery vehicle purr to a stop at the school’s entrance. An older, decidedly well-nourished officer in the cart lifted a radio from the dashboard. His voice emerged from the radio at Billy’s shoulder. “Ah, Roger that, Billy. But I’m already here.”

Evie got down on her knees. “I’ve got to find my earring, while you tell your crime-fighting partner about the potentially volatile situation here.”

Billy returned to the desk and stood a couple of feet from where she was searching. He didn’t say anything, but Evie could hardly ignore his presence towering above her. She looked up at him and sighed. “Is something else wrong, Officer?”

He was staring disapprovingly. “Maybe there is. I think you’re having a bit of fun at the expense of our town’s law-enforcement division. We take our jobs seriously here, Madam Principal, and if you ever find yourself in real trouble, you’ll be thankful for our commitment to keeping order on this island.”

Oh, dear. She’d hurt his feelings. She hadn’t intended to. All she wanted was to find her precious earring and crawl between clean, pink sheets. “I’m sorry, Officer…?”

“Muldoone. Billy Muldoone.”

“Officer Muldoone.” She stuck her hand up to him. “I’m Evie Gaynor.”

He took her hand. His lips curved into a sort of conciliatory smile, but she sensed he was a long way from becoming a friend.

“I apologize if it seemed I demeaned your position and authority. I assure you I have the utmost respect for the law and police officers.” She felt rather silly looking up at him from all fours, while he stood like one of the pine trees outside, tall, unyielding and, in his cop way, even more impressive. “I meant no offense, really.”

“Then none taken.” He pointed to her left foot. “Look there. I think that’s your earring.”

She scooted around, spotted the glimmer of a diamond and exhaled a sigh of relief. “That’s it. Thank you, Officer.” The small gold post backing was next to the gemstone, and she palmed both pieces.

“No thanks necessary. And call me Billy. Everybody does.”

“Okay, Billy. You can’t imagine what this means to me. My father was never much for shopping, so when he actually went to a jeweler for this and wrapped it…” She cleared her throat. “Well, enough about that. I’ll just be on my way so you can return to whatever it was you were doing before—”

A knock at the front door cut her off. “That’s Lou,” Billy said, heading out. “Maybe we can get to the bottom of who left the door unlocked.”

While Evie wiped off the earring and reinserted it, Billy returned with Lou. He explained that she was the new principal and introduced her to the man he identified as a service aide. Lou, while not exactly the ideal image of first responder, was jovial and probably competent enough to deal with problems that could be investigated from a golf cart.

“Lou thinks one of the maintenance crew left the door unlocked,” Billy said. “I’m sure it was a mistake. It would have gone unnoticed if I hadn’t seen someone moving behind this corner window.”

“Yes, I’m sure it was.” She twirled the diamond stud, relieved to have it back where it belonged. Billy had removed his cap, revealing an abundance of wavy hair. When he ran his fingers through it, spiky strands fell onto his forehead nearly reaching his straight black eyebrows. Evie reaffirmed her first impression that he was decidedly well-proportioned at better than six feet. She didn’t doubt his ability to maintain the upper hand over most any law-breaker.

But Officer Muldoone wasn’t all brawn. His facial features gentled him in a way his build and that deep baritone voice never could. His eyes were a soft brown, the color of wet sand. His lips were full and framed by fine crescent-shaped creases. Something Lou said made him chuckle, and the low, rumbling sound seemed to vibrate into Evie’s chest. The tough cop had a nice laugh.

Lou flipped a notebook closed and stuck a pen in his pocket. “I’ve got some time, Billy. We’ll secure the building and then you go home to your family. I’ll write up the report.”

Go home to your family… Evie turned away from the men and fiddled with the zipper on her purse. She didn’t even know Billy Muldoone, so how could she be disappointed to learn he had a family? He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and he was a decent-looking guy. Of course he would have a wife and kids. Most men did at his age. Most women at thirty-four did, too, but Evie had learned to live with being the exception.

Settling the strap of her purse over her shoulder, Evie headed for the door. “Thanks again, Billy,” she said, “and I’m sorry for any misunderstanding.”

“No problem.” He wiggled his cap into the groove around his hairline. “We’ll follow you to the back door and make sure the lock is secure.”

It was dark when Evie got into her car. She pulled out of her spot and took one last look at the men checking the mechanism on the door. Billy gave a wave and hollered at her to drive safely. She exited the parking lot in the direction of Gulfview Road and the Pink Ladies.

She planned to take a shower and ask her landlady about the nearest place to grab dinner. Then she’d call her father and spend the rest of the evening curled up in bed thinking about plans for Heron Point Elementary. Her mind raced with opportunities for the school year. That was a good thing. Because she couldn’t allow her mind to dwell on any possibilities as far as family man Billy Muldoone was concerned.

CHAPTER TWO

BILLY WATCHED THE Malibu turn the corner. Behind him, Lou rattled the doorknob. “She’s locked now,” he said.

The last splash of red from Evie’s taillights faded behind a stand of cedars. Still Billy stared at the road until Lou jostled his arm and asked if he’d heard him.