A First Love to Die For

Chapter Fourteen- Twilight Zone

(Lincoln's POV)

My shoulders felt tense and I wondered if the pounding of my head was ever going to take a break. It wasn't that the morning with Josie had been horrible. It had been fine. But, it was quite apparent that spending time with her would never be sunshine and rainbows again.

I was incredibly thankful that she was here helping but every moment with her left me more unsure of myself. I got it; she didn't want to be with me. So, it pissed me off more than I could express that I couldn't seem to shake that connection and attraction that still existed... for me at least.

It took everything in me to keep my distance so that I wouldn't pull her in for a hug, breathe in the sugar cookie smell of her hair and ask her what the fuck had happened to us?

As a result, it was an extra tense experience. By the time I made my way into the station, I was already on edge and exhausted. Closing the door to my office, I leaned on it for a second and closed my eyes. I was looking forward to a moment of silence and a hot cup of coffee.

I should have realized that I wasn't going to have any peace until this monster was caught. My phone rang non-stop with people asking for more information. The worst part about it all was there was nothing new that I could give. I understood that people were upset. I was too. Our town wasn't safe and let's face it, hadn't been for a long time.

It felt like we were living in an insane nightmare.

Hello, Twilight Zone.

After fielding my third phone call, I stood up and decided that what I needed was some fresh air, for people to see my face around town and to stuff my face. Eating my feelings seemed like a reasonable solution right about now. 

Even when things are running smoothly, I try to get out and about as often as possible. I think it's important to keep myself present and out there for the Kawartha citizens. It helps me keep my ear to the ground and catch problems before they even start.

However, we have never had anything like this happen in Fenelon before.

My walk towards our town diner was just as stressful as sitting at my desk fielding phone calls. In fact, it was worse. Now I was staring people in the face. I was seeing their fear firsthand.

I also noticed how it was bringing out the nasty in people. Many had some kind of negative thing to say about their neighbors. I was already tired of hearing all the shady remarks.

I'm pretty sure that Fred sprayed my flowers with weed killer and killed my prized flowers. He's always been jealous of my first-place ribbon. If he's willing to do that, what else is he up to? I don't really know Mildred.

By the time I made it to "You Gotta Eat Here", I was wishing that I was back with Josie. I would way rather be struggling to maintain a professional attitude and keep my distance from my beautiful ex than have to listen to people spewing nonsense.

I felt like a failure all around and as I walked through the door of the diner, I sighed with disappointment. Sherry the head waitress called out, "Sorry Chief, it's still a ten-minute wait. Why don't you sit down for a cup of coffee on us?"

I wasn't feeling overly social and the only seat was next to Harold. Who I couldn't stand on a good day! It was unfortunate too because I knew he had heard her. I felt rude not sitting down now that she had offered it.

I sat down and wanted to sob into my coffee as he gave me a slap on the back, already slurring his words, "Howdy Lincoln! Saw you and Josie leave together the other night. You lucky dog, if she wasn't my best friend's daughter, I'd be giving you a run for your money. How was she?"