One in a Million

Chloe laughed. “That too.” Her smile softened as someone came into the room. Callie turned and found Sheriff Thompson standing there.

He wasn’t dressed like a cop at the moment. Jeans, a University of Washington sweatshirt, and battered running shoes, and he wore them with the same authority that he’d worn his uniform. The gun at his hip might have helped there. He strode directly to Chloe, pulled her in, and laid a kiss on her that had the temperature in the room skyrocketing.

Callie studied the ceiling and then her toes, wondering if ridiculous displays of romance were in the water or something. Good Lord. Was everyone in this town starry-eyed?

A year later Sawyer pulled back, playfully tugged on a strand of Chloe’s hair, and smiled into her face. “Later.”

Then he winked at Callie and left.

“Sorry,” Chloe said, sounding dreamy. “Where were we?”

When Callie left the B&B, she drove to her grandma’s to relieve Troy of babysitting duty.

She found him playing poker with her grandma and Mr. Wykowski.

“Pay up,” Troy said to Lucille, holding out his hand.

Lucille turned to Callie. “You going to let him cheat an old lady out of her social security?”

“You’re the one who cheated,” Mr. Wykowski said to her mildly.

“How much money are we talking?” Callie asked.

“Not money.” Mr. Wykowski went to the counter and brought back a family-size bag of potato chips. “I believe you won these fair and square,” he said, and presented the whole thing to Troy.

Lucille sighed. “I hope they go straight to your hips,” she said to the kid.

Troy just grinned and shoved one in his mouth. “Mmmm.”

“She’s still crazy,” Troy said when he and Callie were in the car, same as he always did. But he no longer looked like he meant it, and since she’d just watched him and her grandma do some complicated handshake in good-bye, she didn’t take offense. She drove him home and, just before he got out of the car, turned to him. “Troy—”

“I told him. About what happened at school.” He touched his bruised jaw. “I wanted you to know that.”

“Good,” she said relieved. “And the play?”

“I’m working up to that.”

“And the girl?”

“That too.”

“Work faster,” she said.

She watched him vanish inside Tanner’s house. He’d looked…better. Not exactly chipper, but not quite as unhappy as usual either.

Progress.

She wasn’t sure why she felt so invested in him, but it wasn’t just her feelings for Tanner, she knew that much. Troy had wormed his way into her heart all on his own.

She picked up Chinese take-out and drove back to her grandma’s.

“I want you to know I exercised restraint in today’s social media posts,” Lucille said as they ate.

Mr. Wykowski laughed, but when Lucille looked at him, he turned it into a cough.

“Restraint?” Callie asked her grandma warily.

“Yep. I haven’t posted about you or Tanner in days. I’m leaving things alone.” She beamed. “See? Restraint.” She paused. “And maybe a little self-preservation. I didn’t want you to pull the plug on me.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Callie said in horror.

“I meant cancel my WiFi.” Lucille opened her fortune cookie. “Hmm. I think I got yours by mistake.”

“Why, what does it say?”

“You will get lucky.” Lucille paused. “In bed.”

“Grandma!” she said over Mr. Wykowski’s hoot of laughter.

“What,” Lucillle said. “I’m old, not dead. Don’t you kids play that game anymore? Add the ‘in bed’ to the end of your fortunes?”

Callie chose not to answer, instead opening her own fortune cookie. She stared at it and shook her head, stuffing it into her bag.

“What does it say?” her grandma wanted to know.

She sighed. “I will get lucky.”

Lucille stared at her and burst out laughing.

“Stupid mass-produced fortunes,” Callie muttered.

“So you do believe in them,” Mr. Wykowski said.

She ignored this.

“And why doesn’t getting lucky suit you again?” her grandma asked. “I never really understood this.”

“Love doesn’t suit me,” Callie corrected. Lust, however, suited her just fine.

“And why doesn’t love suit you?” her grandma demanded.

“Grandma, I see how badly love turns out on a daily basis at work. And then there was my own misguided attempt at getting hitched. Let’s not forget that one.”

“How can we?” Lucille muttered.

“What?” Callie asked.

“Nothing. Love you,” Lucille said.

Callie narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth but Mr. Wykowski spoke first.

“So you got unlucky once,” he said. “So what? I was unlucky a bunch of times.”

“That’s right,” her grandma said. “It only takes the one. The right one.”

Callie gave them both a long look. “Have you guys been talking to Becca?”

“No, why?” Lucille asked. “Does she need advice? She’s got that hottie all wrapped up so I thought she was good. Do I need to step in and smack some sense into Sam? Because I can do that. I’ll have to stand on a footstool to do it but that doesn’t matter. I’m there for her.”