Midday Clouds - The Charlie Swan Story

Chapter 61, (Eclipse 20)

Sue met me outside the station. I'd had to wait until Janet was back from her lunch break, and told her to route any emergencies over to Steve, but not to hesitate ringing my cell if I were needed.

"I'm more likely to grab a gun and go deal with it myself than interrupt whatever it is you've got going on, chief," she'd said with a coy smile. She'd evidently seen Sue on her way back in, as my old flame was leaning up against my cruiser, wearing a long, summery dress.

"You look cold," I said as I walked up. She cocked her head to the side. "And nice, though. Really nice. Do you want my jacket? It's windier than I'd thought."

"I'd chew you out for that, Charlie, if it wasn't true. Yes, please. It was actually sunny out on the rez, if you could believe it!" she shrugged on my plaid jacket, which hung nearly down to her knees. She had to scrunch up the arms to free her hands, and she deftly grabbed one of mine in her own. "I'm not trying to be too forward here, but my hands are freezing! What have you got to eat around here? I'm starving."

As cold as Sue might've been, I couldn't help but feel the heat rising into my cheeks. As we walked together, hand in hand, Sue in my own jacket like a varsity date, I stole a look behind me and could swear I saw the station's blinds flicker in the afternoon light. This was about to be the talk of the town for the next month.

...And so what? It's not like people weren't talking already. Most people in Forks didn't know the history we'd had, not like the people on the rez did, at least. To them, Sue was just my dead bestfriend's wife, and I was the corrupt cop swooping in far too soon. Well, to hell with them anyway, I thought. I led Sue a few streets over to the diner, and by the time we got there she had switched from holding my hand to linking her arm with mine, whether for warmth or just to be closer to me, or both, I wasn't sure. The bell rang when I walked in through the door, and I couldn't help but hear the quiet settle in on the sparsely populated diner, as eyes swung in our direction.

Janet, blessedly, broke the spell. "Hey Chief!" She called from behind the counter. "Hey Sue! Corner spot's clean for ya."

We shuffled over to the corner booth, and once settled in had some privacy from the rest of the late-lunch crowd. I usually sat at a table right in the centre of the diner, so Janet suggesting we take a more discreet table, one that could reasonably sit a party of six, was notable. It was also much appreciated.

"Since when do you know Janet?" I asked Sue as she shrugged off my jacket and hung it off the booth's wall.

"Do you know of a diner on the Rez that serves eggs benedict? Because I sure don't. I come up here every so often, you know. It's a 30 minute drive, for Christ sake!" Sue laughed a booming laugh that reminded me, painfully, of Harry's.

"I mean, it's just a long way to go for some poached eggs, is all I'm saying," I said with a smile.

"Yeah yeah, well there's also the library, and the pharmacy, and the... skatepark, of course," she said, glancing out the window at the adjacent park.

"Oh you've taken up skateboarding now?"

"I might. I've been thinking about it. Who says I'm too old to take up skateboarding? I surf! How much harder could it be?"

"Well, I've heard pavement is a bit harder than water, when hit, but you'll end up wet either way." Forks' skatepark was an infamous bit of civil engineering folly; whenever it rained its bowl filled halfway up with water. And it rained a lot.

Sue offered a polite smile at that, and seemed about to say something else when Janet tapped on the table. "Hey kids, what'll it be?" She set down two unordered, though not unwelcome, cups of black coffee.