Evan sat out by the pool having a beer. Maybe they should’ve waited until after the wedding to tell them about the baby. This was another time he wished his dad was here to give him advice. He needed to remember all of this so he could tell his kids. Boy or girl, this shit was important.

When Mitchell came out, Evan took a long pull off his beer. “Man, you okay?”

“I don’t know. Ginger said her parents will be here Saturday and her dad may want to punch me. Maybe we should get married tomorrow.”

“Where is she anyway?”

“Lying down. She wanted to rest before the guys get here. She’s been taking a lot of naps.”

“What did you think her dad was going to do, welcome you with open arms for knocking up his daughter? Do you remember how Thomas acted that first night toward me? I’d be surprised if he wasn’t on his way up here now.”

“Yeah man, I do. I didn’t do it intentionally, but I’m not sorry it happened. I know we got the cart before the horse or whatever, but I love her.”

“I know, and her dad will see that too. What time is your party starting?”

“The party has arrived,” Nathan said as he and Sam joined them.

Evan stood and greeted the guys with brotherly hugs.

“Starting without us? We figured you’d be rejoicing, not drowning your sorrows,” Sam said.

“She left your sorry ass, didn’t she? Is it too soon to ask for her number? She doesn’t still have that burner phone, does she?” Nathan said through a chuckle.

“Would you stop? She hasn’t left me. She’s inside.”

“Then why are you drinking alone?”

Evan wanted Ginger with him when they told Nathan and Sam so he changed the subject. “What happened yesterday? Did y’all meet with Ben?”

“Yeah, he said he was coming out here tonight. We’ll let him tell you. Most of it’s good,” Sam said.

“Most?”

They had started another round when Ginger stuck her head out the door. “Can we come out or is this a boys’ only club?”

Nathan stood. “Hey, sugar. I hoped you’d want to see me. It’s fine to tell Evan you’re leaving with me. He’ll understand.”

Ginger hugged him. “There might be a problem with that.” She turned her left hand around and showed him the ring.

“Hell, Riverton. Thanks for buying her the ring, but I don’t think we’re quite ready for that stage yet.” Nathan still had an arm around Ginger.

“You’re not, but we are,” Evan said as Ginger walked over to him and he spread his legs for her to sit between them. He helped her sit before he kissed the side of her jaw. “How you feeling?” He asked in her ear as he put his hand on her tummy.

“Hmm,” she sighed. She laid her head back on his shoulder. “Better now.”

“Don’t be getting too friendly over there,” Nathan called across the pool so Evan flipped him off.

“I heard voices around here. I hope it was okay I walked around back,” Ben announced before they could tell the other news.

This time Evan didn’t stand, but Ben came to shake his hand. “Hey, man. These guys were just telling me y’all were a bit busy yesterday.”

“And today. You ready for this?”

“Tell me what you can.”

Ben slipped his jacket off and laid it over the back of the lounger next to Evan and Ginger then rolled up his sleeves. “It hit the news last night that Chief Curtis Taylor was arrested for passing counterfeit currency. When we picked him up, he sang like a canary. Apparently, there’s more than the ten K we found at his house, and he’s willing to name names for a deal.”

“That’s fan-fucking-tastic. So, what’s the bad news?”

“Deputy Frank Smith is in the wind.” Ben paused, and Evan tightened his grip on Ginger. “We had a plan to talk to him about the assault on Harley and question him about the murder. He called in and told the desk clerk he had to go to Cloverville, but Sheriff Cahill claimed he didn’t know why. He never showed back up yesterday.” Ben sat in the chair next to Evan and Ginger. “This morning the clerk found a vacation request sitting on her desk when she came in. Apparently, Smith stopped by last night. Since no one knew we wanted to talk to him, no one said anything or called the Sheriff. I rode with Cahill out to his house, but he wasn’t home.” He cut eyes to Evan. “You still think the Sheriff is clean?”

When Mitchell looked at Evan, they locked eyes. “Ben, I told you before I’d be shocked as shit if Cahill was dirty. I still don’t think he is.”

“If he didn’t tip Smith to stay away from the station, who did?”

“I don’t know. Here,” Evan said as he gave Ben the fingerprints he took from Ginger’s phone.”

Evan was deep in thought about Ben’s question and didn’t realize he was stroking Ginger’s belly, but his actions didn’t go unnoticed. “Other than the rock sitting on Ginger’s finger, is there something else you need to spill, Riverton?” Nathan had a cocky grin on his face.

“What?” Evan replied when Nathan nodded toward his hand. “Oh, just letting my little guy know his daddy’s got him.”

“Congratulations, man. Is that why you left?” Sam asked.

“Partially. After being here for a month, I realized this was where I wanted to be. Ginger’s family’s from Georgia, and she has a place in the mountains so coming back east made sense. I didn’t want her worrying if I had to go back undercover.” He kissed the back of her head and nonchalantly said, “If something opens up here, then I’ll look into going back into law enforcement.”

“Funny you should mention that. You have an appointment with Mayor Sinclair at nine o’clock sharp in the morning,” Ben said.

“For what?”

“That new law enforcement career is probably beginning sooner than you think. I’ve got to go check in with the guys babysitting Taylor so I’ll talk with you tomorrow,” he said as he stood to leave.

“What the hell, Ben?”

“Just talk to the Mayor, Evan. Call me when it’s over. You were going to get pulled back anyway, I’m just giving you a head start, remember? By the way congratulations,” he said over his shoulder as he walked around the house.

Everyone was quiet. Evan didn’t know what to say after that, but thankfully Sam helped him out. “On that note, we better head out. Looks like the lovebirds have some things to discuss.”

Evan helped Ginger out of the chair so they could tell Nathan and Sam goodbye. Sam shook Evan’s hand as he said they’d talk the next day then congratulated both of them. As Sam made his way back through the house, Nathan gave Evan a hug.

“If you take the job and decide to clean house, let me know. I kinda like this small town life.” Then turned his attention to Ginger, “Sugar, are you sure you’re preggo? I mean, it’s okay. We can leave here, and I’ll raise him as mine.” He gave her a smile that Evan was sure had gotten more women in Nathan’s bed than he cared to know.

“Nathan, stop. You know I love Evan. All you’re doing is making him more protective,” she said as she hugged him goodbye.

He winked at her. “I know. I just like to rile him up. Seeing him like this is great.”

“Dude, one day there’ll be a woman who knocks you on your ass. I can’t wait for it to happen,” Evan chimed in.

Nathan busted out laughing. “Not anytime soon. I need to make sure you do right by Ginger first. I may need to be there to pick up the pieces, but don’t worry I’ll love her good.”

“I better be six feet under.”

“Please don’t talk like that. Our baby needs his daddy,” she said with a shaky voice as she slapped Evan’s chest.

“I’m sorry, darlin’,” Evan said as he wrapped her in his arms. The tears in her eyes made him feel like shit so he flipped Nathan off behind her back.

“Sorry sugar,” Nathan said in an apologetic tone before he kissed the back of her head and mouthed sorry to Evan before he left.

Evan nodded as he guided Ginger to the swing where they sat the first night she was there. “Can you tell me where your thoughts are?” His arm was around her as his thumb stroked up and down hers.

“We’re planning a wedding and having a baby, and you’re talking about dying!”

“Fair enough. Bad choice of words. You know Nathan and I were just joking. Darlin’, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Are you going to talk to the Mayor?”

“Yes.”

“What if something happens?”

“You’ve been here. Nothing happens.” When she looked at Evan, the emotion in her eyes said you’ve got to be kidding me. “Well, there’s been more action in the last month than in my entire life here. Gin, I’ll be home with you every night and still help Mitchell on the ranch. Once we get some of the corruption out, Riverton Crossing will be the most boring place you ever imagined. It’s a safe place to raise a family, and I intend to be right in the middle of raising mine.”

“You’re just talking though, right?”

“If he offers me the Chief of Police position, I’m taking it.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I told you I’d support your decision when you quit your job so I’ll support this one, too. It has to be safer that working undercover, right?” She looked into his eyes. “Will it make me more of a target?”

“I’m gonna find that son-of-a-bitch, Gin. You can rest assured he’s on my radar.”

They sat in silence for several minutes while his thumb continued to stroke her arm. She finally said, “I guess the water works are part of the hormones. Can you love me through them?”

“You bet your cute little ass I can. Darlin’, I promise you it’s safer than undercover. It’s getting late so let’s get you to bed. ”

Evan couldn’t sleep so he got up to let Ginger rest and made his way to the office. It’d been years since he looked at the pictures on the bookcase of his dad, mom, brother, and himself. He wanted this life for his family. He wanted them to have the best, safest life possible. Even though he never thought he’d want to work in his hometown, he knew he could do good things here.

He’d make sure Ginger would be safe, their baby would be safe. Funny how perspectives changed. When he was younger, he wanted out of here because the place reminded him of Mayberry. Now with his own kid on the way, he wanted it to be Mayberry. If he joined the police force, he could ensure that. He just had to make Ginger comfortable with it. She said she’d support his decision, but he wanted it to be their decision.

On his way back to bed, he brought her crackers and water for the morning. He crawled into bed and pulled her close. The feel of her body next to his relaxed him enough to fall asleep.

* * *

Evan walked into Mayor Sinclair’s office at eight fifty-nine the following morning. Apparently the Mayor’s assistant was expecting him because as soon as he said his name, she escorted him in. The Mayor sat behind his desk and raised his head when she cleared her throat.

“Mr. Riverton is here, sir.”

“Mr. Riverton, welcome,” Mayor Sinclair said.

“Good morning, Mayor. Call me Evan,” he said as he walked into the office.

“Evan,” he said as he walked around the desk. They shook hands as the Mayor indicated for Evan to take a seat. Instead of going back around the desk, he took the chair opposite Evan. “Has Ben told you what’s been happening here?”

“Yessir. I’m the one who originally called Ben.”

“I see. He tells me you recently resigned from your position as a federal agent. Is that true?”

“Yessir. I was with ATF, and today is officially my last day. I just got engaged and found out we’re having a baby so I wanted to come back here.” Evan shrugged his shoulder. “Plus I missed the ranch.”

“Are you aware our Chief of Police has been arrested?”

“Yessir.”

“Were you surprised?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes, please speak candidly. I need to know that you and I can speak without barriers when we need to.”

“I’ve always thought Curtis walked that line and maybe even pushed the line of ethics at times, even in high school. I left shortly after he was named Chief, so I can’t speak with certainty about how he performed his job.” Evan relaxed and laced his fingers on his lap. “I was in Riverton Crossing during the mess with Masterson Investments, but kept out of site since I’d worked that case in Nebraska and some of the players knew me. Through Mitchell’s reports and what I saw, I knew Curtis was dirty. I just didn’t have permission to pursue it.” He slightly tilted his head. “When Harley was murdered, the information found its way to my doorstep so I made a few calls to get the ball rolling.”

The Mayor raised his eyebrows. “Some would say you pushed the line of ethics there.”

“Yessir.” Evan was confident in his actions when he said, “I didn’t follow the proper chain of command, but the situation warranted it. Once I knew what was happening, I included the Sheriff. I’m sorry we didn’t include you, but at the time we only had enough to put Curtis under surveillance.” Evan paused to choose his words correctly. “We didn’t know how far the corruption ran, but I knew Ben would let you know when there was something more. His downfall came when he passed the fake currency. None of us expected that.”

“You thought I was corrupt?”

“Obviously I haven’t lived here in years and never met you. I didn’t know.”

“I can see your perspective. Tell me, why did you leave Riverton Crossing?”

“As much as I love and admire my father, I didn’t want to walk in his footsteps. There are expectations for Mitchell and me because of the town’s name.” Evan picked at a non-existent thread on his leg. “I needed to make it on my own for a while so until last month, no one but Mitchell knew I’d joined ATF.” Evan looked the Mayor in the eye when he said, “You hear of guys who join the military and say it was just something they had to do. I felt the same way.”

“What makes you think you’ll want to stay this time?”

“Ginger and the baby. I wanna raise my family in a small town where I know they’ll be safe. If I’m on the police force here, I can ensure they are.”

“The town is growing, Evan. It’s projected to grow a lot with people retiring south. It won’t be the same as when you grew up here.”

“Good. It needs to grow, but needs to grow the correct way. There need to be more officers on the streets with modern equipment. Their presence needs to be known. Do you know why Masterson Investments and companies like them target small towns like Riverton Crossing?”

“I have my suspicions, but tell me.” The Mayor rested his hands in his lap.

“They’re sleepy towns. They know the police aren’t used to handling a lot of crime, there usually aren’t too many of them, and most can be bought because they need a little extra cash. They know they can find officers who won’t feel turning their heads at a traffic violation is really being unethical. Truthfully, they feel small town police are lazy, and I’d like to change that image. I’d like to help the police department keep up with the growth of the town. In fact, the police department needs to grow faster than the town to keep everything in check as the town develops.”

“You make some very good points. The budget will be a limitation. Most of our town people can’t afford more taxes. We do have new businesses moving here within the next year that’ll help with jobs and income, but most companies don’t want to move into the town limits.”

“All I know is people want to feel safe when they walk around town and eat in restaurants. They don’t want to worry about getting robbed or run over.”

“Yes. I know about Ms. Gregory. I don’t want that to happen again either. It seems you’ve given this possibility a lot of thought.”

Evan chuckled. “Yessir, because if you offer me the Chief’s job, I need to make my arguments to Ginger.”

“Since I relieved Curtis Taylor of his duties this morning, I’m offering you the job.” He retrieved a folder from his desk and handed it to Evan. “In here is everything you’ll need to make your argument. If you like what you see, you’ll have to go before the town council for confirmation. I like the vision you have for the department and think we could work well together. Take the weekend and let me know your decision Monday morning.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll talk with you Monday.”

Evan left the office confident he could do the job. He stopped by the florist and grocery store on his way to the ranch with hopes sparkling grape juice wouldn’t cause any problems for Ginger. With her family coming the next day, he anticipated they’d have a lot to celebrate.