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I stared up at Mitch from my seat on the ground, my mouth hanging open like a cartoon. Mitch Erickson. I couldn’t believe it. I had just thought of him yesterday for the first time in what, ten years, and now here he was like I had manifested him out of thin air.
You should have used your powers to manifest a million dollars, I told myself drily.
It had been twenty years but clearly the time had been good to Mitch. He had filled out considerably since our high school days. He had always been tall, but now his broad shoulders and muscled biceps stretched the fabric of his navy sheriff’s office shirt. He had a flat stomach that was pretty rare in guys my age, and muscular thighs the size of tree trunks.
We were both pushing forty, but he still had the body of a much younger man. Sure, his tanned face had a few lines now, and his blonde hair was military short, unlike the shaggy style he wore in our youth, but he still looked like Mitch.
His eyes perused me as I moved to standing. Unlike Mitch, I didn’t look better than I had at 18. I had gained about twenty pounds over the years, mostly in my ass. My breasts had gotten larger during pregnancy and never gone back down, and since then they had been steadily moving south each year.
Our eyes met and we stared at each other for longer than was probably polite. The air seemed to sizzle between us. Finally, I cleared my throat nervously and put out my hand just as he stepped forward to give me a hug. We met in the middle awkwardly, shaking with one hand and hugging with the other.
“I haven’t seen you around Penny,” Mitch finally said. “Did you just move here? Or are you in town doing a scenic tour of people’s roofs?”
I laughed. Mitch had always been a bit of the strong silent type, but I loved his dry sense of humor when he used it. “Yeah, I moved back here yesterday after twenty years away. How about you?”
He smiled, a flash of straight white teeth against the tan of his face, and my breath caught. My god, he still looked good. My long-dormant girlie parts woke up and took notice. They seemed to remember having a lot of fun with Mitch when we were younger.
“I moved back about five years ago,” he told me. “I lived in Portland for a couple of years after I got out of the service.”
“And now you’re the sheriff,” I said with a laugh. “The guy who gave the old Sheriff grey hair with all your pranks when we lived here. Of course you’re the sheriff.”
My mentioning his job seemed to bring him back to attention and his expression closed to a careful neutrality. Cop face. I had seen it a dozen times over the years, usually when the neighbors called to complain that my husband and I were “fighting”.
“What were you thinking being up on the roof alone like that, Penny?” he asked me, his tone harsh and judgmental.
“The satellite angle needed to be adjusted,” I explained. “It wasn’t catching enough of a signal for the internet to work.”
His face was still impassive, but his eyes flared with irritation. “You could have broken your neck if you had fallen.” He jabbed a finger in my direction. “Don’t do that again. Stay off the roof.”
I bristled at his bossy tone. I had spent twelve years married to a domineering man, and when I got out, I promised myself I would never be talked to like that again. My voice chilled to arctic levels as I responded, “I wasn’t aware it was against the law to be on your own roof in Diamond Bay, Sheriff.”
Mitch frowned at my tone and emphasis on his title. “Well, it’s not against the law, but it’s certainly stupid,” he explained like he was talking to an exceptionally dim child. “Not to mention a waste of law enforcement resources to save you. What if they needed me out on a call?”
I felt my temper flare and rose to my full height, which was still about eight inches less than his, and shot him with my best glare. This was not the sweet easy-going boy I remembered from my youth. “Thank you for your help Sheriff,” I said stiffly. “I’ll just let you get back to your law enforcement.”
I turned and stomped away to my front door, only barely resisting the instinct to slam it behind me.
Mitch sure grew up to be a dickhead, I told myself as I went to the kitchen for a glass of wine to calm my nerves. If that’s how he was now, I hoped I wouldn’t run into him too often.
Of course, I ran into Mitch the very next day. Literally. Callie and I were walking along the main strip on our way to lunch at the Crab Shack. It was a tourist restaurant, but our neighbor and landlord Mrs. Brown had assured us it was the best seafood place in town.
Mitch came around the corner just as we reached an intersection, and apparently neither of us was watching where we were going because my shoulder made contact with his arm before we could stop. I looked up into his light blue eyes and groaned as he reached out to steady me. I resolved to ignore the tremor of excitement I felt from his touch. Surely it was just some kind of arousal muscle memory?
“Well hello Penny, nice running into you,” Mitch said drily.
“Why don’t you watch where you’re going next time,” I said crankily, pulling my arm away from him.
I heard Callie gasp next to me in shock. “Mom!”
Mitch’s eyes shot to Callie, assessing, then swung back to me. “I didn’t know you had a daughter,” he said, his tone implying that I was keeping her a secret.
“Yeah well a lot of things have happened over the last twenty years,” I snarked. “Come on Callie, let’s go.”
Callie stayed rooted on the spot, eying Mitch curiously. “Do you guys know each other?”
“We went to high school together,” I said.
“We used to date,” Mitch said at the same time. I shot him a glare and he raised his eyebrows in the universal male sign of “what?”.
Callie stuck her hand out to Mitch. “Hi, I’m Calliope Peterson,” she said politely. “But my friends call me Callie. What’s your name, Officer?”
Mitch shook her hand with an indulgent smile. “Hi Callie, nice to meet you. I’m Sheriff Erickson.”
“We were just going to the Crab Shack for some crab cakes,” Callie informed him. “Would you like to join us Sheriff? I’m sure you and Mom would like to catch up and talk about the old days.”
My head swiveled in her direction. What was she up to? It wasn’t like Callie to be so open with strangers, not after growing up with the father she had.
Which reminded me, I needed to get a referral for a therapist in town for Callie. She had made a lot of progress with her therapist in Portland processing the train wreck that was her father. She seemed to be pretty well-adjusted and resilient, but I was afraid all the changes in our lives the last month would throw her for a loop.
“I’m sure Sheriff Erickson is very busy Callie,” I responded before Mitch could talk. “He’s got a lot of law enforcement resources to manage.”
He looked at me, wearing his impassive cop face, but his eyes twinkled in amusement at my response and the reference to our conversation yesterday. “Actually, I was just heading to lunch myself, and I would love to join you two beautiful ladies for a while. Thank you for asking, Callie.”
Callie beamed at him and started leading the way towards the restaurant. Mitch fell into step next to me. “Penelope Pauline Peterson?” he asked mockingly. “That’s your name now?”
“Shut up,” I groused.
The restaurant was just up the street. The three of us settled at a table and after ordering, Callie leaned her elbows on the scarred Formica table and started her interrogation.
“Sherriff Erickson, you and my mom dated, huh?” she asked, starting with a soft ball. “Was it when you were in high school?”
“Yes,” Mitch said, looking amused. I folded my arms across my chest and watched, curious where this was going. Callie was like a dog with a bone when she got in her investigative mode.
“How long did you date?” Callie continued.
He looked up towards the ceiling as he thought, an old habit from when we knew each other. I used to tease him that he had to look at his brain to figure out the hard questions.
“Almost two years.”
“Was she your first girlfriend?” Callie asked curiously.
“My first serious girlfriend, yes.”
“Did you two go to prom together?”
Mitch nodded solemnly. “Yes, we went together to both junior and senior year prom.”
Fortunately, he didn’t include the part where we lost our virginity to each other in the back of his father’s Suburban after junior prom. I could see the memory of that night in his eyes when he turned his gaze towards me.
“I want to see those pictures,” Callie said to me before turning her attention back to Mitch.
“Were you in love with my mom?” she asked.
No hesitation this time. “Yes I was. Very much so.”
“Then why did you break up?” she asked curiously.
“This kid should be on my team,” Mitch said, looking over at me again. “She’s a very skilled interrogator.”
He nodded at Callie. “I’m calling you in next time I have to question a suspect.”
“Don’t try to avoid the question,” I told him, “She’ll just keep bugging you until you answer. Trust me.”
He laughed lightly and I caught my breath at the way his smile lightened up the stern lines of his face. When he smiled he looked like the sweet boy I used to know so long ago.
“Well, I can’t answer for your mom Callie, but I can tell you I was very much in love,” Mitch said, still staring at me while he answered her.
I saw the play of emotions in his eyes as he continued, “She was my first love.”
A warm knot of nostalgia grew in my chest. He was my first love too, maybe my only love. I had thought I was in love with Rick when we first got married, but in hindsight I think I was just dazzled by his charm more than any real emotion.
I wondered idly what would have happened if Mitch and I had stayed in Diamond Bay and gotten married after high school, the way we talked about when we were first in love.
“That’s so romantic,” Callie sighed, looking between us meaningfully. “And here you are, fate bringing you together all these years later, just bumping into each other on the street of your hometown like characters in a rom com on the Hallmark Channel.”
“Romantic comedy,” I translated when I saw Mitch’s confused look.
“Maybe you can come over for dinner some time Sheriff,” Callie continued. “I’m sure you and my mom have lots more to talk about.”
When Mitch didn’t immediately respond she added, “We have a deck and a grill,” as if that would sweeten the deal. Then again, Mitch had always loved a barbecue. He was definitely a meat guy. At least he had been, back then.
I had no idea what had gotten into Callie, it was almost like she wanted to...fix us up?
No, that couldn’t be right. It had always been me and Callie against the world, or at least against her father. There was no way she would be ready for me to date again, not so soon after moving and leaving everything behind.
In truth, there was no way I was ready to date again either. I hadn’t actually dated since the divorce and sure, it had been three years, but I still didn’t feel ready.
As I looked at the handsome face of the first boy I ever loved, I had to admit I was tempted to dip my toes back into the dating pool. But I don’t know that I would ever trust myself to date again. I was fine with casual hook-ups when I need a little relief. But actually dating? It all seemed like a lot of trouble. Maybe Callie wasn’t the only one who needed to get a new therapist...