Blue Suede Shoes by Deborah Reardon

Author:Deborah Reardon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781938416125
Publisher: River Grove Books
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

At the moment Jared pulled up to her curb and she heard his car door shut, Clare looked out her second-story bedroom window while she threaded her second earring through her earlobe. She watched him take his smooth, assured steps up her front walkway. He was smartly dressed in a cream-colored turtleneck, dark blue corduroys, and her favorite leather bomber jacket, his neck wrapped in a checkered scarf.

He was unlike any off-duty cop she’d ever encountered and tonight he looked delicious.

Interestingly enough, Jared had taken her offer for an early but brief visit to the Whartons’ somewhat enthusiastically. After the stop at the barbecue, they would return to Clare’s for a movie at home.

As much as she wanted to see her friend Sara Wharton and introduce Jared as a date, Clare hadn’t yet apologized to Mr. Wharton for having a few too many drinks at the bar and for his having to break up her little scene with Courtney. She wasn’t concerned about him bringing it up as much as the possibility that it could come up in Jared’s company or that Yvonne could grab hold of the incident. There was no telling how that would play out.

She waited for the bell to ring, and then she headed downstairs and opened the door to the cool, crisp air. Seeing how well he looked, Clare was pleased she had chosen her favorite taupe sweater, blue jeans, and brown, Chicago-style boots.

“You look nice and completely overdressed.” She said, motioning for him to enter.

“And you look fabulous,” he said. “If I close my eyes, maybe we won’t be in Danfield for a couple of hours.”

She happily accepted his compliment.

“There’s the protest I was looking for earlier, when I told you about this thing,” she said. “We don’t have to go do this. I could pretend I have an ache of some sort and find some other time to see these people.”

“You know what I mean,” he teased. “A stop at the Whartons’ would be great for us.” He hung his jacket and gray-patterned wool neck scarf on her coat rack.

“Dreaming of fancy getaways isn’t going to make it any better,” she said. “If you’re going to be a lifer, you’ll have to start accepting our very simple, unadorned lifestyle.”

Clare intentionally shuffled them toward the kitchen for a bit of relaxing before going to the Whartons’ house.

She knew he wanted to be formally introduced to Yvonne in a dating sense, not so much to get her approval but out of a gentle-man’s obligation. She knew it would make him more comfortable to meet her, while she was selfishly dreading the commentary Yvonne was sure to make around the Whartons and anyone else who might be there.

“Tonight is plenty fancy for me,” Jared said. “But I do want to make sure you’ll survive dragging me along. Unpopular police chiefs have a way of bringing down the mood.”

“In this group, don’t worry. I called Maggie, and she’s delighted. And you know Tug pretty well.”

“He’s one of my few supporters,” Jared said confidently.

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