Bantering With A Runaway
Penulis
SJ Wilke
Jumlah dibaca
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Bab
48
“He’s the interim police chief. I’m the woman who keeps a foster teen in her office.” 😌 And yes, the coffee goes cold while the tension stays hot.
Banter’s life is color-coded chaos before romance interferes. She’s got a nearly paid-off mortgage, three kids, two dogs, and a husband who thinks “security plan” is a flirty bedtime topic. Corey calls it being prepared. Banter calls it foreplay with spreadsheets, which makes it worse. You get that sweet married-couple banter where he’s steady and bossy in the way that should annoy her. It doesn’t. It absolutely does. Then she strolls into the station with a baby on her hip and a dog on a leash, and Patsy drags her straight to Livia, a foster teen left sitting in the lobby for hours. Banter hands Livia chips, a soda, and a chair in her own office like she’s claiming her. You’d do it too. And just when Banter thinks she’s heading home, the door opens.
“Ma’am… why is that child on the sixth floor?”
Chapter 1
BOOK 5: BANTERING WITH A RUNAWAY
“Imagine my surprise when I checked my mortgage.” Corey snuggled with Banter in bed.
“Our mortgage.”
“Our mortgage, which is only in my name. Imagine my surprise to find it almost paid off.”
“I’ve been sending all of my paychecks as extra payments,” Banter said.
“You haven’t been working for the police force long enough to send that much money.”
“I had savings.”
“Yeah, bloody savings.” He had expressed early in their relationship that he didn’t like her using her hit money for anything dealing with his life. “Anyway.” He snuggled closer to her.
Banter had been using her hit money for lots of things dealing with their life. “This is money I earned from my investments, not the bloody money, so to speak, itself.”
“As Peter says, semantics. Anyway, I was wondering how to coordinate buying a new house and selling this house, and what would happen if we ended up paying two mortgages, but I see that isn’t going to be a problem.”
“Even if we had two mortgages, we have two paychecks. And you got a raise for stepping up to the police chief position.”
“I don’t like stretching ourselves. People in high positions get scrutinized. If we went out and bought a million-dollar house, that would get noticed,” he said.
“You didn’t find a million-dollar house. I can’t believe you went out and found a house without me.”
“The boys helped. You don’t like it?”
“I love it.”
“You have the final say in it.”
“You already put an offer on it.”
“Five bedrooms. One for each kid and a guest.”
“It’s a longer drive to work and…how the hell am I supposed to secure a whole acre?” she asked.
“Dogs. We can add to the fencing.”
“So, we’re getting another dog for Annie? A guard dog?”
“I think Patsy is enough guard dog. Why are you complaining?”
“I’m not complaining. I think I’m just wowed.” She felt his arms tighten around her.
“You’ve wowed me, ” he said.
“I used to work one week, then take a few months off. Now I’m taking care of three children, two dogs, and an entire police force.”
“And me.”
“Okay, make that four children.”
He chuckled and tickled her.
Banter laughed.
“The boys are stepping up. I’m so proud of how much Colo has matured. He watches over Annie like he’s her mother,” Corey said.
“Both boys are doing a wonderful job. They understand that this is their family and they have responsibilities.”
“All because of you. I couldn’t get Colo to take out the trash when…his birth mother was alive.”
Banter noticed Corey still refrained from speaking his former wife’s name. His sons never mentioned her either. There was no remembrance on her birthday or the day of her death. “I think it’s strange that their other grandparents stay away. I have no problem if they want to visit,” she said.
“They blame me for everything. The last time they stopped by, they looked at the boys with disgust because they looked like me. They couldn’t see their daughter in them.” He fell quiet.
Banter knew not to say anything. She knew he would continue.
“I think the ties are permanently broken. Not that they visited much, anyway. Their daughter always visited them, but alone. She took the boys only if I couldn’t watch them.”
“How much time do we have?” Banter couldn’t see what time it was.
“The alarm will go off in nine minutes.”
“Why do we always have these talks in the morning when I could be sleeping?” she complained.
“Because I can never stay awake long enough at night.”
“Oh yeah.”
“Are you going into the office today?” he asked.
“Yes, for a little while. I have to be back by lunch. Bea and I are going to look at what needs to get painted or repaired. She has some cleaning to do. Then the real estate agent is coming over to take pictures.”
“Considering how many times we’ve painted the living room because of bullet or broken glass damage, I can’t see that room needing anything.”
“Or Kyle’s room. We repainted that. And…we’ll have to replace the front door. Even though we repaired those bullet holes, you can still see them. I want to frame that door.”
Corey chuckled. “And where are you putting it?”
“Kyle’s new bedroom. He put the holes in it. It’s his trophy.”
“Wait until our offer gets accepted first.”
“You said the agent sounded pretty confident that they’d take your offer.”
“They all sound that way.”
“They should jump at your offer. Who buys houses this time of year? Everyone is busy with children in school. Damn. This means the boys will go to a different school.”
“The boys and I already checked out the schools. Buses run past the corner. Or we…I mean you…can drive them.”
“Oh, you think the new police chief is going to let me take a proper maternity leave?”
“I don’t think the undercovers or most of the police force are going to let you take a proper maternity leave. Not the way you carry a gun on your back, a baby on your front, and the police force in your pocket.”
She laughed. “You forgot the lock picks on my wrist.”
He poked her. “And Bea actually lives closer to the new house. We have her full time and more. But if you keep paying her so well, she’ll retire rich in a few years.”
“By then, the boys can babysit and we won’t need a nanny. Wait…I am not cleaning a five-bedroom house.”
Corey laughed. “You’ll always need a Bea.”
“Grandma won’t be happy.”
“No, we’ll be farther from them.”
“And your mom has the touch with Annie.”
“Maybe the fifth bedroom will be Grandma’s room.”
“Well, as your parents age and need extra care, we have the space.”
The alarm went off. They now had an alarm clock in the room and no longer used one of their phones. The digital readout provided a soft nightlight, allowing them better vision when tending to Annie in the middle of the night.
Banter heard Annie fuss. “Time.”
Before Annie could explode into a full cry, Banter picked her up to put her on the changing table.
“I see you’re liking that.” Corey headed for the bathroom.
“I can’t believe your mom still had all your baby stuff. And then only had one. Don’t people save this stuff for the kids that follow?”
“I think she wanted more, but…she’s vague on the subject, but I gather she had a medical problem. I was a hard delivery.”
“So, she kept them as a memorial for all she couldn’t have?” She heard the toilet flush and knew he hadn’t caught what she said. “I think you like the changing table too, Annie girl. There. Let’s get you a bottle.”
Banter felt Annie was showing some intelligence already. Since mornings consisted of the same routine, Annie no longer cried for her bottle but fussed quietly.
“You know it’s coming.” She stepped out into the kitchen to find Colo still in his pajamas.
“Almost ready.”
“You have Annie’s bottle warming?”
The microwave dinged.
“Yep.”
“Thanks, Colo.”
He took the bottle out and put in her mug of water.
“Now, you’re spoiling me.”
He handed her the bottle with a smile, then ran upstairs. She knew he would get dressed.
Since she didn’t see Ollie, she suspected he had already let out both dogs and left them in the backyard. She could already see the morning routine changing with the maturity of the boys and the addition of Annie to the family.
She heard Kyle come down the stairs and head for the back door. “Morning, Kyle.” She could see he had already dressed.
“Morning.”
Ollie, the lab, came running into the kitchen. He begged for a pat from her before going to his bowl. Banter felt surprised to see food already in his bowl and knew Colo must have fed him. Since Kyle hadn’t followed Ollie, she suspected he was still out with Patsy, the bloodhound.
She bet he was watching or entertaining her to give Ollie time to eat. Patsy always snarfed down her food. If she could finish her food before Ollie, then she would try to steal his.
Banter smiled at how the boys solved this issue. Ollie would be done with his food by the time Kyle let Patsy back in.
The microwave dinged. She dropped her tea bag in to let it steep, then turned to start Corey’s coffee, but found it already waiting for him.
“This isn’t a holiday, is it? Or someone’s birthday?” She looked down at Annie to see that she had almost finished her bottle. “Where’s the morning chaos?”
Corey came in.
She handed him his coffee, and they both sat at the table with their drinks. “What’s your schedule for the day?”
“Busy. Lots of politics.” He frowned.
“You’re good at that.”
“Doesn’t mean I like it. However, I’ve discovered that if I give people a choice, they usually pick what I want them to pick.”
“That’s because you’re making one choice less favorable.”
“More work or less work. Most pick less work. I’m changing the leadership. Jonah is stepping up to take my spot.”
“You’ve been coaching him.”
“He’s been coaching himself. I wish I had a dozen like him. I’d have a lot less work.”
Kyle came in from the back with Patsy and fed her.
“Morning, Kyle.”
“Morning, Dad.” He giggled.
Banter hoped he kept his happy nature as he grew up.
“Breakfast, you two?” He was grinning from ear to ear, eager to serve them.
“Can I see a menu?”
Kyle giggled. “We only have one breakfast.”
Colo came running down the stairs. “Morning, Dad.”
“Morning, Colo.”
Soon, the usual fare of hard-boiled eggs and toast was on the table. Banter smiled at how the boys helped with breakfast.
She noted another change in the morning routine. Corey now ate breakfast with them. Since he was becoming more administrative, he had decided to keep his hours aligned with the typical day shift.
One of their morning talks had been about why he had decided this. He wanted to make sure he spent more time with the family.
He was trying to make sure both boys had his time. But with the addition of his new job responsibilities and the addition of Annie to the family, this was getting harder to do.
In addition, the boys weren’t helping. While Corey was trying to spend more time with them, Banter knew the boys were spending more time with their friends. Her training them to be more independent was allowing them to grow their social lives.
“Is everyone meeting at the bus stop?” she asked.
