How have I never seen this before?

As Brogan undid the chain across the bottom of the stairs, Ginny eyed the structure dubiously. His massive body ambled up the spiral and, halfway up, he turned and lifted his eyebrow in silent question as he held his hand out toward her. Self-conscious in her baseball jersey and old jeans, she wiped her sweaty palms on her thighs.

Without thinking, she reached up, sliding her hand in his much larger one, allowing him to gently guide her upward. The feel of his hand holding tightly onto hers was unfamiliar and yet comforting. The thought that she would love to hold his hand more often, relishing the feel of his skin touching hers, washed over her. Curling around to the top, she was delighted to see a small loft that overlooked the pub. Even though they were no longer on the stairs, he continued to hold her hand as he led her to a table.

“We usually have live bands play up here on the weekends and keep it closed the rest of the time. It’s too hard for our servers to get drinks and food up here.”

There were two small tables with chairs but the rest of the space would easily fit a small band. Looking around, Ginny was unable to hide the smile from her face. “I really like it.”

Nodding, Brogan said, “I kinda figured you might be more comfortable away from the crowd, but I wasn’t sure you were coming alone.”

She peered at him, watching his normal grimace now paired with a specter of doubt in his blue eyes. “I had no one else I wanted to be with,” she confessed, surprised that the words left her mouth. The sense of vulnerability usually had her keep her mouth shut, but seeing the uncertainty in his eyes made her want to reach out. She watched in fascination as his shoulders relaxed slightly.

Brogan glanced down at their group of friends, some smiling up at him and others trying to hide their smiles. Sighing, he added, “Always a crowd, isn’t there? Anyway, you got stuck in the bleachers with my sister and her gaggle.”

“Gaggle?” she repeated with her lips quirking, sitting in the chair he indicated.

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “You know? They’re all good and stuff…but sometimes, they like to get into everyone’s business.”

Fiddling with the napkin on the table, she shrugged. “They’re fine…actually, they’re great. It’s just a little weird…you know. Being an outsider and all.” Immediately wishing she had not given away that tidbit, she rushed on, “But, it’s all good. They’re…uh…good.”

Erupting in a chuckle, Brogan said, “You gonna keep trying to convince me or yourself about that?”

Ginny’s eyes jumped to his, realizing she had never heard him laugh before. The sound was deep and reverberated through her even with the Irish music playing in the background. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, surrounded by dark, scruffy beard and her mind emptied of all thoughts other than those perfect lips. Hearing him clear his throat, she blinked. “Oh, sorry. I lost my train of thought for a second.”

“Yeah, I kinda got that.”

Shaking her head ruefully, she tried to get back on track. “No, really. Your sister is nice and I like coaching with her. I’m getting to know the others through the AL Auxiliary, but,” shrugging again, “my job doesn’t allow a lot of socializing time.”

Nodding, he commiserated. “Yeah, same here. Always something to do.”

Looking down at the busy crowd, she asked, “Is it hard…uh…running a family business?” His eyes pierced hers, his attention never wavering, but he said nothing. “God, I’m sorry,” she rushed. “That must have sounded bad. It’s just that your family seems so close, but I wondered if working together made you closer.”

Nodding in understanding, he said, “It’s good. Pops…that’s my grandfather, ran the business until he gave it to our dad. Then he passed it on to me, Aiden, and Katelyn so he and Mom could have an early retirement.” He rubbed his whiskers for a moment before adding, “I reckon they wanted us to have something to come home to.”

It was on the tip of Ginny’s tongue to ask more about him, but a call up from Mitch interrupted their conversation.

“Ginny! Got a call.”

Jumping up, she blushed as though she had been caught out late by her father. “I’ve got to go.”

Brogan stood as well, his body towering over hers, his eyes stormy, full of regret. “You didn’t get a chance to eat. You gotta be hungry.”

Offering a small smile, she said, “I’ll just grab something later. But…uh…thanks for sitting with me.”

“Maybe we can do it again sometime?”

She looked up into his eyes and smiled, her breath catching in her throat. “That’d be nice.” Hearing Mitch call out again, she lifted her shoulder as she turned and said, “See you around.”

Brogan watched her descend the spiral staircase, thinking of her job and wondering what kind of call she was being sent to investigate. Sighing, he wanted to know more—actually everything—about the pretty woman that filled his thoughts. Standing, he watched as she headed out the front door of the pub and whispered, “Be safe.”

* * *

“Mrs. Collins, we meet again,” Ginny greeted, as the older woman answered her door, a cat in her arms. “I apologize for my appearance. I came from a ball game.”

“Come in, come in, Officer Spencer. Please, call me Helen. And you look fine, dear.”

Ginny followed her in, once more walking around several cats, all of whom appeared to be fascinated with her legs. Sitting on the sofa, she took out her pad, while shooing another cat from trying to play with her pen.

“So, I understand you saw something else last night? Helen, I have to say that it would be helpful if you would call suspicious activity in right away so that we can come out and possibly catch whoever you see.”

“I didn’t want to get anyone out of bed unless I knew it was a crime,” Helen protested, fluffing another flowered housedress around her ankles. “And bein’ it’s a Saturday morning, I figured the police might be sleeping late.”

“Ma’am, there’s a direct line that feeds into an all-night dispatcher for the town and the county of North Heron. You can call anytime.”

Settling back against the chair cushions, Helen smiled as she absentmindedly rubbed a cat. “Well, that’s nice, isn’t it?”

“So…last night?” Ginny prompted.

“Oh, yes,” Helen exclaimed. “Well, you see, this time I was awoken about one a.m.”

“Did you hear a noise?”

“Oh, no. I had to go tinkle.”

Pen poised over her pad, Ginny halted as she looked up, eyebrows raised.

Disturbing a cat in her lap as she giggled, Helen said, “You know, my dear, at my age, I have to get up to use the bathroom several times during the night. Older women have a hard time holding on to their pee.”

Nodding, as she once more slapped the official cop-face on, Ginny said, “Go on, please.”

“Well,” Helen said, leaning forward, her eyes bright, “my bathroom faces the back of the house and so the little window there looks to the backyard of my back neighbor. There were some clouds so we didn’t have as much moonlight, but they have a small light outside their back door. I knew no one was home—”

“Are they rentals also?”

“Oh, no. That’s the Masterson’s home. They live there, but left town two days ago. Their daughter is having a baby and they’re spending a few days in Norfolk. Their daughter is married to some military type man and I think he might be gone right now, so the Masterson’s wanted to be with her. It is so hard when the husband isn’t around for the birth. I, myself, never married, but I have quite a few nieces and nephews that I stay in contact with, and a couple of them have married men in the Navy. I suppose that makes sense with the Naval base in Norfolk—”

“Last night, Helen,” Ginny prodded.

“Yes, yes. I saw a little movement and when I looked out my window, I could see a man standing just in the shadow of their back porch, peeking in the window. And what bothered me, was they have added on to the back of their house and made a first-floor master bedroom, since Jim had his back surgery a few years ago. And that was just where the man was peeking!”

Leaning back as though exhausted from her tale, Helen smiled at Ginny, who tried to hide her sigh. “Okay, can you describe the man? What made you think he was a man? How was he dressed? You know, like you did the other day.”

“Hmm, well, he was once again dressed in all black. Long sleeved shirt and pants. Um…” she tapped her chin, “he was standing on the porch so his head was much taller at the window. He was looking into the upper part of the windowpane. And his hands were cupped together around his face again.”

“How long did he stay?”

“Well, from the time I saw him, I’d say he was there about another minute before he took off between the houses at the side and I couldn’t see him anymore.”

“Helen, you must call the police if you see suspicious activity in the future. We have a better chance of catching him if we are called right away.”

Frowning, Helen’s shoulders slumped. Rubbing another cat, she sighed. “I know…it’s hard living alone, you know.”

Ginny cocked her head to the side, waiting for Helen to continue.

“You see, I get along with my neighbors, but when you live alone…and with so many pets, I know people can get an idea that I might be a little…uh…batty.”

Laying her pen down, Ginny smiled at the older woman. “Oh, Mrs. Collins, I don’t think you’re batty at all.”

Helen’s grey eyes brightened as she looked up at Ginny. “Thank you, my dear. I know what I saw, but once he ran off I began to doubt myself. Was I dreaming? Are my eyes deceiving me? Will anyone believe me?” Sighing once more, she said, “Both times, I had to convince myself that it was the right thing to do to call the police.”

Standing, Ginny agreed, “Ma’am, if you see anything suspicious, I want you to call the police immediately. You’re a good neighbor and we want to keep Baytown safe.”

Accepting a hug from the older woman, Ginny walked between the houses to the back of the Masterson’s residence, wondering if there would be any evidence to collect.

* * *

By the time Brogan descended the spiral stairs to the ground floor, he found his group of friends to be quietly staring at him, all with smiles on their faces. With narrow eyes, he groused, “What the hell y’all looking at?”

Katelyn walked over, sliding her arm around his waist. “Just nice to see you smiling…well, before you immediately turned back into a sour-puss.”

Glaring at her, he looked at Aiden’s huge grin and said, “Shouldn’t you be working? We got people to feed around here.”

Aiden walked past Brogan, shoulder bumping him on his way back to the bar. “Ease up, Bro. Everyone here has your back.”

Hating to be the object of his friends’ attention, he glanced at the group, seeing Mitch and Grant still sitting with Tori and Jillian. Turning to Mitch, he asked, “Who’d you send Ginny out with? Sam or Burt?”

Mitch shook his head. “Neither. Sam’s off and Burt’s got the evening shift.”

Planting his beefy hands on his hips, Brogan pierced his old friend with his stare. “So, Ginny’s out answering a call by herself?”

The others looked on in wide-eyed shock as Mitch squared off with Brogan. “I know how to run my department, Brogan. If she needs assistance, she calls for it. She may be a woman, but she’s still an officer, with the same duties and responsibilities that the rest of us have.”

Brogan took a breath, his anger becoming palpable as his face reddened. “Well, Chief Evans—”

“Brogan!” Katelyn called out, now pulling on his arm. “Let’s not say something we’ll regret!”

“Seriously, Katelyn? This ain’t no we thing…this is a me thing!”

“You know what I mean. Ginny’s fine and you need to get behind the bar with Aiden before he gives away too many drinks to some of the women in here.”

With one last glare, Brogan stalked away from the others, leaving them staring in awe in his wake.

“Damn,” Zac said. “I’ve never seen him like this.”

Grant squeezed Jillian’s waist and said, “It’s ‘bout time he finally makes the approach. He’s been eying Ginny ever since she’s been in town.”

Belle, standing to the side, said softly, “I don’t think it’s easy for either of them.” The group turned her way and she blushed as she added, “Sometimes the love we seek gets stuck on our past.”