Long Time Coming

Micah returned her smile, nodding.

“Have you always lived in Staten Island?”

“No.” Taking the plates from her, Micah walked over to the sink. “I moved there four months ago.”

Tessa gathered up the glasses and silver. “Where did you live before?” She wasn’t chatty by nature, but talking was preferable to complete silence.

“Da Bronx. “

She laughed softly. She’d grown up hearing Bronxites refer to their borough as da rather than the. “I assume you’re a Yankees fan?”

Shifting, Micah stared at Tessa in the muted light. The flickering flames turned her into a statue of gold. “I didn’t grow up a Yankees fan, but after living in the Bronx for almost half my life it was safer to root for them than the Mets.”

Tessa joined Micah at the sink, filling it with water and adding a dollop of dishwashing liquid. She rinsed the dishes and glasses, passing them to him as he stacked them in the dishwasher.

“Did you grow up in the city?” Tessa asked, continuing with her questioning.

His eyebrows lifted when he realized she’d called New York City the city. “No. I grew up in New Jersey.”

She gave him a sidelong glance. “How did a Jersey boy find his way across the river to the Bronx?”

His hands halted placing serving pieces in the dishwasher. “My, aren’t you inquisitive.”

“You can say that I’m just a little curious about a man willing to do dishes.” She was very curious about Micah Sanborn because he was the first man who’d offered to help her in the kitchen.

“Good home training.”

She smiled. “Good for you, and kudos to your mother.”

“You can tell her when you meet her Sunday. To answer your question as to how I came to live in the big city, I lived with an aunt in Manhattan while I went to college. After graduating, I rented an apartment in the Bronx. Eventually I bought a two-bedroom condo not far from the Throgs Neck Bridge. Earlier this year I moved from the Bronx to Staten Island. Where did you grow up?” he asked, deftly shifting the focus from himself to Tessa.

“Mount Vernon.”

“What brought you to the city?”

“It’s the same as you. I came to go to college.”

“What college did you go to?”

Before Tessa could answer the question, the power returned; the lights flickered off and on for several seconds, then went out again. She let out an audible sigh. “It looks as if this is going to be a long night.”

Several of the tea lights sputtered, fizzled and went out. Micah replaced the burned-out candles from a supply in a large plastic bag. “I’d better light a few more candles or we’re going to be in the dark again.”

The doorbell rang, startling Tessa and Micah. They stared at each other as a slight frown appeared between her eyes. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Reaching for the flashlight, she flicked it on.

“I better see who that is.” She turned to make her way out of the kitchen, Micah following. Without warning, she stopped. He plowed into her and she dropped the flashlight. “What are you doing?” The query came out in a hissing sound.

Micah picked up the flashlight. “I’m coming with you.”

“There’s no need for you to follow me.”

Ignoring her reprimand, he held her hand in a firm grip. “There’s no way I’m going to let you answer the door when you don’t know who’s standing on the other side.”

“You’re a bossy somebody, aren’t you?” she said accusingly.

“Hell, yeah.” There was laughter in his confirmation.

She struggled to free herself, but she was no match for his superior strength. What little she’d been able to glimpse of Micah Sanborn before the power went out was a tall, slender man whose tailored clothes artfully concealed a lean, muscular physique. When he’d held her during his call to One Police Plaza, she hadn’t been that traumatized that she hadn’t taken note of the comforting crush of his solid body.

“I’d answer the door by myself if you weren’t here with me,” she countered angrily.

Training the beam of light from the flashlight on the floor, Micah steered her down the hallway to the front door. “Thank goodness that I am here. There are some folks who’ll use a blackout as an excuse to act the fool.”

Tessa rolled her eyes at him even though he couldn’t see her. “This happens to be a safe neighborhood.”

“No neighborhood is that safe. There is crime in Brooklyn Heights.”

“I suppose you would know the statistics.” A tapping on the door and a man’s voice calling Tessa’s name cut off Micah’s reply. “It sounds like one of my neighbors. May I open the door?” she asked facetiously.

He stepped back and handed her the flashlight. She unlocked and opened the door. Intermittent flashes of light sliced through the pitch-black streets. He could make out the shapes of people out with flashlights or candles, standing around in small groups. A slow-moving car with high beams came down the street, the slip-slap of tires on the roadway breaking the eerie silence.

Tessa smiled at the man standing on the top step, his luminous blue eyes illuminated in the glow of a lantern. “What’s up, Jacks?”

Micah peered through the opening in the door. He wanted to tell Tessa that he knew her neighbor.

“Some of the folks have gotten together to throw a block party.”

Tessa gave him an incredulous look. “How are we going to party in a blackout?”

“I bought a generator after the last blackout. Come on over and get your eat and drink on.”

It wasn’t often that Tessa socialized with the residents of her close-knit neighborhood because of her hectic schedule, but she decided getting together with the people who lived on her block was preferable to sitting in the dark waiting for the power to come back on.

“I’ll be over as soon as I lock up here.”

“Do you want me to wait to walk you over?”

Micah stepped from the shadows for the first time. “That’s all right, Jacks, I’ll see that she gets there safely.”

Jackson’s smile faded as his gaze narrowed. “Sandy?” Those familiar with Micah Sanborn had shortened his name to Sandy.

“Long time no see, Jacks,” Micah said to the man who’d entered the police academy with him and later graduated with him. Time appeared to have stood still for Jackson Cleary.

Jackson reached for Micah and grabbed him up in a bear hug. “Where the hell have you been? Since you left the department it’s like you dropped off the face of the earth.”

Tessa watched in astonishment as the two men greeted each other like long-lost buddies. She knew Jackson Cleary was a New York City police officer, and when she registered his comment about Micah leaving the department she assumed Micah also had been a police officer.

Micah thumped Jackson’s back. “I’m working with the Brooklyn D.A. Where are you now?”