The rest of the weekend flew by. Ginger’s parents had left knowing they’d be back in a few weeks for a wedding. Her wedding. Even though a wedding in the town square sounded fun, she wanted something more intimate. Maybe they could have a compromise. She needed to talk to Evan.

It was Monday morning, and while Evan dressed for his meeting with the Mayor, Ginger cooked breakfast. She greeted him with a smile as he opened his arms for her, and she gladly walked into them at the same time his face went straight for his favorite spot. They hugged for several minutes before he broke away and kissed her neck. “Last chance, are you sure?” The concern in his voice made her heart hurt.

“Do you want this job?”

“You’ll be just as much a part of it as me. In this town, everyone’ll know who you are. You’ll lose your anonymity. Are you ready for that? Our child will grow up in a fish bowl.”

She smiled, “Oh, Evan,” then kissed his chest. “Your last name is Riverton. I’ve already lost my anonymity and it was already a given our child would grow up in a fish bowl.” Pulling back to look him in the eyes she said, “Babe, your family was one of the founding families. They own most of the land the town was built on. Hell, your granddad was even the first mayor.” She entwined their fingers. “When our children study town history, your name is all through it. It won’t be a secret who they are, but I just don’t want them thinking it’s important.” She shrugged her shoulders as she walked back to the stove. “The only way to guarantee that doesn’t happen is to move away from here, and neither of us wants to do that. So if those are the only fears you have regarding us, then it’s an easy decision. Take the job.”

When she turned her head, Evan’s eyebrows were furrowed. “Those aren’t my only fears.” She knew what he was referring to, but nothing had happened since they’d been back. “They’re just the ones you’ll have to live with every day, the ones that’ll impact your life first. Before the end of the day, the whole town will know I’m Chief even before anything hits the newspaper. So, if y’all need to go anywhere, go before noon. The grapevine travels fast around here, and it isn’t always accurate,” he said before he kissed her goodbye and walked out the door.

* * *

By the time Evan arrived at the Mayor’s office, he was confident this was the right thing to do. He hadn’t looked for this job, but he was glad he found it. The outer office was empty so he tapped lightly on the Mayor’s opened door. Mayor Sinclair turned from his computer. “I was hoping I’d see you this morning. Do you have an answer I want to hear?”

“If I want the job is what you wanna hear then I’d say, yessir.”

“Excellent. Have you signed the paperwork?”

“Yessir. I think everything is in order.

The Mayor stood as he said, “Let’s go meet with the Town Council. They’re expecting us this morning.” He chuckled. “I took the liberty of arranging the meeting before I had your answer. The newspaper will be here for pictures of the swearing-in and an interview. Would you like to call your fiancée?”

“Very much,” he said as he pulled out his phone. Evan called Ginger as they walked then said, “They’ll be here in half an hour.”

“Good that gives us time to meet with the council.”

Evan followed the Mayor into the conference room to face several people he knew growing up, some of which he may have upset in his younger days.

After all of the pleasantries, the real questions began. Evan listened intently to all of them. Most were simple questions that were answered in a word or two. A couple questions were more thought provoking. Evan clenched his hands tightly under the table when someone questioned how he’d be different from Curtis Taylor. When he stopped speaking, he watched heads turn to the left and right and heard the whispers even though he couldn’t make out the words. He caught the Mayor’s broad smile and knowing look in the corner of his eye. When everyone had time to voice their opinions, the Mayor asked for a vote.

“We’ll vote with a show of hands. All in favor of naming Evan Riverton our next Chief of Police raise your hand.” Every member except old lady Perkins voted for him. She had been on Town Council for as long as Evan could remember. She caught him stealing apples from her tree when he was ten, and his parents made him apologize and cut her grass for a month. Maybe his penance wasn’t enough for her so he made a mental note to speak with her later. The Mayor took a deep breath and continued, “Evan, with a vote of six to one it’s my pleasure to name you the Chief of Police of Riverton Crossing.”

Evan stood and thanked the council as the Mayor motioned toward the back of the room. When Evan turned around, he saw Ginger, Mitchell, and Kayla standing there so he excused himself to get Ginger. When he returned, he introduced her to all the council members.

A few minutes later, the photographer and journalist arrived. The photographer snapped a few pictures of the swearing-in ceremony which was short and sweet, then Evan answered questions and posed for more pictures. All the members of council came by to congratulate him and welcome Ginger before they dispersed. Since the Mayor had a luncheon, they agreed to meet at the police station afterward.

Mitchell, Kayla, Ginger, and Evan went to lunch at the café. They hadn’t walked a block before people stopped and shook his hand, as the news seemed to travel even faster than Evan remembered. He looked at Ginger and asked, “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“No,” she said with a smile that wasn’t quite the one he was used to. “You’ve been Chief for what thirty minutes, and the town already knows?”

“The town knew as soon as Evan walked in the building this morning,” Mitchell commented.

Ginger’s whole body stiffened as they walked into the café. The owners insisted their lunch was on the house because that was what people did there. They may not have a lot of money, but they’d share what they had. Unless things had changed significantly, he’d go home with several pies, eggs, and maybe even some moonshine that evening. When he was younger, he didn’t understand the concept, but today he was humbled. It was just the way of the South.

After lunch, they walked back to the parking lot. On the way, he pointed out different places to her—the park, the building that now stood where they used to play baseball, the old recreation center, and the old fire house. As they passed Ruby’s, they saw a man leaving through her front door and Evan recognized him as her old calculus teacher. He felt Ginger tense and immediately saw the women’s eyes lock. An uneasy feeling came over him, as he knew where he’d be that afternoon.

He walked her to the truck and tossed Mitchell the keys to Betty. “I’ll be home for dinner,” he said as he closed the door once he’d gotten her inside. He then looked at Mitchell. “They’re giving me a car. Ginger can’t drive a stick so I thought you would.” Mitchell had a mischievous gleam in his eyes, while Evan narrowed his. “She’ll tell me if you don’t treat her with respect.”

“I’m going to show her how a real man can make her purr.” Mitchell chuckled as he jogged to Evan’s car before he could say anything else. Asshole.

As Evan approached the doors of the police station, he saw the Mayor get out of his car so they walked through the heavy double doors together. He introduced Evan to everyone who was there. As Evan scanned the room, he saw some people he knew and some he’d never seen before. Evan smiled and shook everyone’s hand before the Mayor showed him his office. From behind the door he took a shirt with ‘Chief’ embroidered on it as he said, “This is for you.” Evan smiled as his thumb grazed the lettering. Finally, he walked around the desk and pulled out a handgun from the bottom drawer as well as Evan’s badge. “I think you’re all official now. Rita can get you any information you want on the men and women in the department. She’s your day clerk and Randy is your night clerk. Rita also has your department phone, so let me know if you need anything else. Looks like personnel sent down more paperwork,” he said holding up an envelope with Chief Riverton on it. With that he left while Evan looked around his office.

Once the Mayor was gone, Evan changed shirts and decided the paperwork could wait. He checked his phone before he walked out to observe the officers and found an unread message.

Mitchell: Betty handles like a dream.

Evan: Thanks bro.

Mitchell: Shelby will still take her though.

Evan: Shelby can try.

With a smile on his face, he put his phone back in his pocket and walked out of his office. Instead of him observing the officers, they watched him. As he expected, there weren’t many. He asked Rita for a list of personnel with shifts they were currently working, job titles, and hire dates. Over the next couple of days, he’d stop by for each shift. He made sure he spoke to every officer and spent a few minutes learning what they were working on.

By mid-afternoon, he knew where he needed to go so he stood in the center of the room and asked for a volunteer to accompany him to Ruby’s. Several faces turned red, a few turned away, most of the women scowled angrily. Evan was afraid he’d have to pick one when a young man who didn’t appear old enough to go to the police academy, much less graduate, stepped up. “I’ll go.” He was tall and lanky with a crew cut.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four, sir.” Same age as Ginger.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, sir. I used to work undercover in some of the high schools upstate,” he said with a chuckle.

Evan knew he was serious, but to loosen up the officers he said, “Rita, are we sure he graduated from one of those high schools?”

“Come on now, Chief. You’re not much older than he is.” The excitement that ran through him when she called him Chief surprised him. This wasn’t something he ever thought he’d want and just like Ginger, not something he expected.

“I don’t think I’ve looked that young since elementary school.” All the men and women laughed. While some of the men slapped the young officer on the back, others called him baby face. The young man laughed with them and took the joking in stride. Evan liked this kid.

“What’s your name?”

“Rodney. Rodney Parker.”

“Thank you for volunteering. Let’s take a ride,” Evan said as they walked to Rodney’s patrol car. He drove Evan the few blocks to Ruby’s before Evan asked, “Have you ever visited Ruby before?” Rodney turned beet red so either he had or he was embarrassed by the thought.

“No, sir. My girl would kick my ass. I’ve got a good thing and don’t want to screw it up.”

“Smart man. If you’ve gotta good one, you hang on to her. They’re hard to come by.”

“Yes, sir,” Rodney said as they walked up the front steps. When they reached the porch, Evan rang the doorbell.

A few seconds later, Ruby opened the door dressed in very little clothing, and Rodney immediately looked at the floor as she stood there for both of them to take her in. This was the first time Evan had seen her up close since the night he’d ended things in high school. He stared at her expecting some kind of reaction to seeing her, but there was no emotion whatsoever. “It sure didn’t take the new Chief long to come see me. You boys lookin’ for some fun or are you arrestin’ me?”

“Ruby, let’s step inside. I don’t wanna cause a scene out here,” Evan said in an all business tone.

“So you are arrestin’ me! You never got over me givin’ my virginity to Mr. Farley!” Ruby had her hand on her hips, leveling Evan with her stare.

Evan stepped forward, and she stepped back. When they stood a few feet inside, Rodney followed them in and closed the door. Evan didn’t mince words and his tone didn’t leave room for argument. “Let’s get a few things straight, right now.” He pointed toward himself then Ruby when he said, “I was over you the night I broke up with you. I just started this job today, so to my knowledge the Riverton Crossing police department doesn’t have a warrant for your arrest since I haven’t seen you on a corner soliciting people. I’ve heard talk about the number of male friends who stop by, but as long as I don’t hear any complaints, it’s none of my business. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Now, we do have some questions about a few of those male friends of yours.”

Her eyes widened with suspicion. “I have a lot of dates, Chief Riverton, because I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Rumor has it you had frequent dates with Curtis Taylor. Do you also date his cousin, Frank Smith?”

“I see Frank from time to time,” she said as she looked at her fingernails.

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Yesterday.”

“Here?”

“Yes, he dropped by before dawn. He said he’s been on a boat, but he ran out of supplies. He also said it was lonely on the boat, so while he was in town he thought he’d drop in for a visit. We had coffee.” She shrugged a shoulder.

“Did he say if he was on the lake or the ocean?”

“He didn’t, but he invited me to go with him.” She gave them a smile that was meant to tempt, but neither man gave it a thought.

“When was the last time you saw Judge Bishop?”

“Now you’re just bein’ nosey,” Ruby said pointing her finger at Evan.

Evan didn’t take his eyes off Ruby when he spoke, “Officer Parker, was the attire Miss Johnson answered the door in enough to arrest her for indecent exposure?”

“Fine.” She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to maintain her composure. “I haven’t seen the Judge since the night he was called to the hospital about Harley,” Ruby interjected.

“Thank you. Oh, one more thing. If any of my officers come for a date, it’d be in your best interest not to answer the door.” Evan walked outside with a purposeful stride, and Rodney on his heels.

As soon as they were in his car Rodney asked, “Chief, you know several officers, um, date Ruby, right?”

“I hope I don’t ever hear of any of my officers not doing their jobs.” He looked at Rodney who had a questioning expression on his face. “Rodney, I don’t have first-hand knowledge about what Ruby does, but if any of my officers see illegal activities going on in there, they need to do their jobs. If they don’t and I find out about it, they’ll lose their jobs. I’ll be happy to hire people who actually wanna follow the laws they’ve been sworn to uphold. You may wanna let that be known.”

“Yes, sir.” The rest of the ride back to the station was silent, and Evan was glad because it gave him time to think through all the things he needed to organize.

It wasn’t long before Evan sat at his desk for the first time and grabbed the envelope to see what forms were inside. He pulled out the contents and didn’t find forms, but another picture of Ginger. She was in the café, and looking directly at the camera. Someone drew a red circle around her head and crosshairs over her face. Fuck! There wasn’t a note this time, but the picture was warning enough. While he slid the picture back into the envelope, he called Rita into his office.

“Sir?”

Evan held up the envelope. “Do you know who put this on my desk?”

“Me.”

“Who gave it to you?”

“A young man said he was asked to drop it off. He didn’t say by whom so I assumed it was a new hire packet.”

“Thank you, Rita. That’s all. Please close my door on your way out.”

Evan didn’t let it completely close before he called Ginger.