Him coming back was all it took to turn her world upside down.
Harper Collins is perfectly content with where her life is at. Is it perfect? No. But she's content. Now a guidance counselor at her old elementary school, a volunteer safety officer...
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IT'S BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE I'VE SEEN HARP. I slither my fingers through my hair in frustration. It was stupid of me to think everything would be fine. I've been busy at the station and she's been avoiding me like the plague; with the excuse that she's busy preparing for the start of school. Matt hasn't said anything and appears oblivious to the whole thing.
I swipe my thumb over my phone screen as if I'm going to magically find her number. I refuse to ask Matt or anyone else. I want her to give it to me, not anyone else.
My thumb stops at Emily's contact info. I ended up taking her out on a date. She's a really nice girl with goals, but like every girl before her, something was missing. There was no pull. At the end I walked her to her door and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She was disappointed, but understood. And it didn't help that the whole time we were at dinner, Harp was on my mind.
I drop my phone into the cup holder and start my patrol car. Enough of this! My route takes me right by the little league fields today and I know from Matt that Harp's coaching a game. The windows are rolled down and I let the fresh summer breeze into my car. There isn't much time left to enjoy it with fall right around the corner.
I pull in to the little league and see the fields filled with kids. Matt's the president and the number one coach. He's had high school's and even some colleges offer him positions. He ended up accepting one for the local high school where he also works as the health and gym teacher now. I do a quick patrol of the area and then decide now is a good time for lunch.
A parking spot opens up and I immediately take it. I get out and shut my car door, automatically searching for that flaming copper hair. People shoot wary glances towards me. It's a known fact that people are nervous around cops.
Matt's orange head pops into view and I take strong strides over to him. "Hey."
He turns and smirks. "What are you doing here?"
"This was my patrol route. Decided to get lunch from the concession stand."
He nods. "Have you gotten used to this place again?"
I chuckle, "Oh yeah, it's been very nostalgic."
Matt waves to a family and then asks, "So the kids will be done this week with little league and then the fields are open to the public for tournaments. Think you'd be interested?"
"Definitely. Actually, guys at the station have been interested in starting a team."
"Perfect." Matt exclaims, "Now we can play against each other like the good old days."
I smack Matt's back. "Be ready to be humiliated when you lose to me."
He taunts, "Yeah right, you seem out of shape."
I bark out a loud laugh, "Says the guy with the gut."
He cocks a brow. "Watch it! Not all of us can go to the gym. Some of us have people to go home to. Besides my wife says the dad bod is sexy."
