A Better Man. Emilie Rose

recruitment office and stood over me while I signed the papers.”

      Denial ripped through her. “I don’t believe you. My father is a stickler for rules. He wouldn’t bend them let alone break them. Besides, your mother moved away soon after you did. My father wouldn’t have had any influence over her.”

      A disgusted sound erupted from his throat. “I didn’t expect her to take the money I sent her each month and move closer to the prison holding the bastard who beat her and convinced her she deserved it.”

      She gasped. He’d never spoken so plainly about his past when they were together. If anything, he’d tried to shield her from it. Sure, she’d heard the stories compliments of her father and the Quincey grapevine, but having Roth confirm them rattled her.

      “None of that would have happened if you hadn’t confessed to a crime you didn’t commit. Daddy could never have proven you’d stolen Gus’s Corvette.”

      “My prints were all over that car, and your father claimed he had witnesses and enough proof to lock me away.”

      “There couldn’t have been witnesses or proof if you didn’t do it. And your prints were on the car because you’d worked on it that morning.”

      Roth’s father had been a mechanic before going to prison, and Roth had taken over his daddy’s business while still in high school. Even though she’d had no interest in cars she’d spent countless hours standing beside open hoods watching him work to be with him.

      “Your dad had most of the county’s legal system in his pocket. He could have railroaded a conviction through.”

      “Of course he had influential friends. How could he not after all those years as chief? But having connections is not a crime. Lying to the police is. I tried to tell him the truth but he wouldn’t listen to me. You should have told Daddy Chuck took the car for a joyride. Instead, you chose to lie for your buddy over telling the truth and staying with me.”

      The old anger, frustration, hurt and resentment poured like acid from her mouth. “Admit it, Roth. You wanted to cut your ties to me and Quincey, and Chuck provided the perfect opportunity. Maybe you and he prearranged it.”

      Roth exhaled roughly. He swung sharply into the gravel parking lot of Pig In a Blanket, stomped on the brake and silenced the engine, then twisted to face her. “We did no such thing. I was bad news, Piper. You deserved better. And so did Chuck.”

      “Chuck was a thief. Why did he deserve your loyalty more than me?” She hated the hurt in her tone, but this conversation exposed so many memories. The sharp edges of the bills stabbing her palm when he’d folded her fingers around his money roll. The cold resolution in his eyes when he’d told her he was leaving. The fear, hollowness and helplessness of watching him walk away without a backward glance.

      He’d left her, eighteen, alone and pregnant and terrified of what her father would do when he found out.

      “Let’s eat. You’re short of time. Remember?”

      She blinked away the past. She was too upset to eat, but the chance to finally put her questions to rest sent her bustling into the unpretentious restaurant.

      Roth surveyed the interior and the other customers. Piper searched for familiar faces as the hostess led them to the only open booth, and relaxed a bit when she recognized no one from Quincey.

      Roth took the seat facing the door, the way her father always did. It had to be a cop thing.

      The waitress delivered a fragrant basket of hush puppies, took their orders and departed.

      “Would you really have gone to jail for Chuck?”

      “Yes,” he answered without hesitation.

      “Why, Roth? Why would you sacrifice your freedom for him?”

      He held her gaze. “Chuck was the closest thing to a brother I had. An arrest would have cost him his football scholarship to State and his chance to get out of here.”

      Did he really not know what had happened to his best friend? “Have you kept in touch with Chuck?”

      “No. He wasn’t much on writing.”

      “He was kicked out of college his first year for cheating and he lost his scholarship. He’s been in and out of jail ever since, mostly for petty stuff, but still… You sacrificed us for nothing.”

      Roth sat back so quickly his ladder-back chair creaked. “You’re kidding.”

      “You’ll have plenty of time to catch up with him now. He’ll be one of your most frequent overnight guests at the station.”

      She fidgeted with the corner of the paper place mat. “Why come back now?”

      Now when she’d finally gotten her life together.

      “The job opened up.”

      “My father’s job.”

      “Your father retired.”

      “Not by choice.”

      His eyes narrowed. “If not by choice, then how?”

      “The town council forced him out.”

      Frown lines grooved his forehead. “That could explain the hostility I’ve encountered. The chief was well liked. Why force his retirement?”

      “Six months ago Dad had a mild stroke followed by quadruple bypass surgery. His recovery hasn’t gone as smoothly as we’d hoped.”

      “He looked fine when I saw him at the station.”

      “He’s getting better, but he still has some…deficiencies.” Her father went into the office every day even though the council wouldn’t let him do more than visit. He claimed his staff was his family and the station his second home. “If he had a bit more time, he’d be able to work again, but the council isn’t made up of Dad’s cronies anymore. We’ve had an influx of new blood. I guess they ran out of patience. They certainly hired you on the sly.”

      The waitress placed their meals on the table and batted her eyelashes at Roth. Rather than watch to see if Roth returned the flirtation, Piper stared at her plate and gathered the courage to ask the one question burning a hole in her brain.

      “How long are you staying?”

      “Why? Does my return disturb you, Piper?”

      She would never let him know how much. “I can’t imagine you being happy here. You always hated busybodies. Quincey is still full of them. Nothing has changed.”

      “I spent nearly eight years on active duty, most of it deployed to the world’s hellholes, where I didn’t know who or what was waiting around the corner to take out me or a member of my team. I can handle gossips whose only weapons are words.”

      The idea of him in harm’s way disturbed her, but she brushed it aside. His well-being was no longer her concern. “That’s not what you used to say when those gossips reported your every move to my father.”

      “Times and perspectives change. The townsfolk will soon see they underestimated me.”

      Relieved to finally learn the reason Roth had returned, Piper’s stiff spine eased. “Once you’ve proved that, then what?”

      And how long would it take to make his point?

      “Your father spent thirty years on the Quincey police force. What makes you think I won’t do the same?”

      Panic pulsed thorough her. “You’ll hate it here. The way you always did. We’re forty miles from anywhere interesting. You’ll be bored out of your mind. No one comes back once they leave.”

      “You did.”

      “I—I—that’s different. My family’s here.” She’d returned for Josh. She wanted her son to have his grandparents’ love and support—even if it could be