Sturdy compact tables crisscrossed the room, some with computers, others with art supplies. A video-gaming center was set up in the far corner, and in the back sat an industrial kitchen Roman had heard was stocked with healthy and some not-so-healthy snacks and treats. “Congratulations on the upcoming nuptials.”
“Starting the new year right,” Jake confirmed. “Still can’t quite believe Selina agreed to take me on. We’ve known each other going on twenty years, but that spark didn’t hit until recently. Strangest thing to ever happen in my life.”
Just the mention of that spark had an image of Frankie blasting through his head even as a pang of envy hit Roman in the chest. He’d met his share of people in Butterfly Harbor, most of them around his age, and most of them were happily besotted in wedded bliss, defying most town’s divorce and disillusionment rates by miles. Not that he wanted what Jake had, but he’d certainly been rethinking some of his life choices. He needed to stop these thoughts before he spoke to his mother again. Even through the phone she could pick up on them easily.
“What brings you by, Chief?” Jake walked over to the small wooden teacher’s desk by the front door. He set his cane on the hook on the wall, clicked his computer on and sat back in the spring-loaded wooden chair.
“A couple of things. Doughnut?” Roman offered the bag.
“Chrysalis Bakery?” Jake’s eyes went wide as dinner plates. “My weakness.” He reached in and pulled out a chocolate old-fashioned. “And my favorite. Who squealed?”
“I might have asked your daughter. After she talked me into taking three leftover pies off her hands for the department.” Frankie was correct. The one disappointment so far had been the lack of necessity to cook. Everywhere he turned, someone was giving them food!
“Be grateful you weren’t here when Holly was pregnant with the twins.” Jake accepted the coffee and toasted him with it. “I think there was a pie in every fridge in town by the time those little ones arrived. I believe I’ve finally eaten my lifetime quota.”
Roman grinned. There were worse things to suffer during a loved one’s pregnancy. Or so he was told. “I understand you were sheriff when Frankie’s dad was chief.”
Jake nodded. “Sure was. Tybalt and I went through school together. Preschool all the way to senior year. Horrible what happened to him. Real loss to the town, I’ll tell you. Real loss to all of us.”
“A wildfire, wasn’t it?” Roman hadn’t asked Frankie. It hadn’t felt right, not when he’d seen a hint of grief wash across her face whenever she talked about her father.
“Yeah. We were called in as backup. Wildfire just south of Napa. Not sure how much experience you have with high winds where you’ve worked, but around here, they’ve been killer. Literally. Wasn’t anyone’s fault. Tybalt was just caught at the wrong time in the wrong place. Killed him and two firefighters out of San Francisco. Just gone.” Jake snapped his fingers.
“Frankie was sixteen then?”
“Sounds right. She’s just like her dad, in case you were wondering. Tenacious, dedicated. She had to wait a few years, but she stepped right into his shoes. Makes every call personal, treats everyone with the care you’d want your family to have.” Jake’s gaze flickered with uncertainty. “I can’t imagine you coming in has been easy for her.”
“No.” Roman shook his head, sipped his coffee. “It hasn’t been. And I completely understand why. She never talks about her mom.”
Jake frowned, and in a snap, his face tensed. “I’m not the right person to come to for gossip.”
“Not looking for gossip. Just information.” Because there was still a lot about Frankie he didn’t know or understand. “Frankie told me about her run-in with the law when she was fifteen.”
Jake snort-laughed. “For a while everyone in town thought she’d turn activist rather than follow in Tybalt’s footsteps. Girl always has her heart in the right place, though, and she wasn’t wrong about old Mr. Walters. That old codger was as mean as they came, and the poor animals were suffering for it. Only person to ever do anything about it was Frankie, and it broke her heart when she couldn’t keep old Lucifer—that was the cat’s name. Roxie was allergic.”
“Roxie?”
“Frankie and Monty’s mother.” A bit of the humor faded from Jake’s face. “Wasn’t exactly the maternal sort, but she got one look at Tybalt in that fireman’s uniform of his and she had her sights set. Of course, she thought he was going places, but he only had eyes for Butterfly Harbor. She stuck it out until Frankie and Monty graduated from high school, but their bond had been with Tybalt, not her. Last I heard she was working in Vegas as a blackjack dealer.”