Untold Secrets

Chapter Twelve

Her heels clicked against the tile floor, echoing throughout the empty hallway. Her walk was confident but her nerves were haywire. She wished Alex were here for comfort. He always made her feel less alone, even when they were kids. Especially when they were kids.
The room that they led her to was cold, the metal table being the only thing that occupied the cement floor. She sat in the chair, her hands brushing the wrinkles from her dress in a very elegant way.
Alex sat behind the mirror watching her every move. He was mesmerized by her. Every little thing she did had him in a trance.
"Miss Calhoun, it says that you were attacked late last night. Can you tell me a little bit about that?" the man in front of her asks.
Her blue eyes stared into his own light eyes, his soft smile being all too familiar. She remembered him from high school and recalled how scrawny he used to be. He was in with the popular crowd, being the star of the football team and all. And as she looked at Zack Shelby now, she could tell how much he has matured, his muscles having expanded quite a bit and his jaw line seemed more evident. He was very attractive and Norma felt butterflies in her stomach.
"Uh, yes. I...I was in my bedroom, getting ready to sleep. Uh, but I heard..." Norma trails off, remembering the sound of her precious boy. The thoughts haunt her of what would've happened to him if she hadn't been there.

Alex watched as she relived the pain from the previous night. He had already given his statement and he knew everything would check out. They had discussed everything the night before, deciding to leave out the part of Norma trying to kill Keith.
"Well, everything looks good. We have enough evidence to put Summers behind bars for a very long time. Good work, Romero." Sheriff Wilson told Alex before patting him on the shoulder.
"Thank you, sir." Alex replies with the same stoic expression he always wears. It was an expression he learned in the military. It was his way of survival.
"I would like to speak with you in my office, actually." he tells Alex, walking out of the room and expecting Alex to follow, which he does.
Once they were in the office, Wilson shut the door behind Alex and sat behind the desk while Alex sat opposite of him.
"Romero, your excellent work has not gone unnoticed. I know that you are just starting out here with us but I remember how you were when you were little. I was just a deputy when your father was the sheriff and I remember how you were when he brought you in to work. And with this Summers case in the books...well, I think you would make a great replacement for me." Sheriff Wilson tells Alex with a smile on his wrinkled face.
"Replacement?" Alex asks with disbelief.
"I'm retiring soon, son, and I need to know that I am leaving my town in the right hands. And to be quite frank, there's no one I trust more with this job than you." he tells Alex.
Alex sat in silence, his eyes wide as he tried to absorb everything. His future was practically being handed to him and all he could think about was his father. His corrupt, wicked father. He never wanted to end up like him, yet here he sits, being promoted to sheriff.
"So what do ya say? Think you can handle it?" Wilson asks.
"Yes, sir. Yes, I can, sir." Alex says quickly, shaking Wilson's hand.
"Well alright then. The job is yours come next Tuesday." he tells Alex.
"Tuesday? So soon?" Alex asks with shock.
"I always was one for procrastination. I've been meaning to retire for a while. Now I finally can." the sheriff says as he stands up. Alex stands as well, walking to the door.
"Congratulations." Sheriff Wilson says, sticking out his hand.
"Thank you, sir." Alex says, taking his hand and shaking it before walking out of the office that would soon be his own.
He felt proud of himself and what he had accomplished but some small part of him was disappointed that he was all the bit closer to being like his father.
"Alex? Everything alright?" Norma asks, walking up to him.
He had been standing still, lost in his thoughts outside of the sheriff's office for so long. He hadn't even heard Norma approaching until she was already beside him.
"Fine. I'm fine." Alex tells her, breaking from his train of thought.
"Let's head back. I don't think it's a good idea to leave the boys with Maggie for too long." Norma tells him, already walking towards the exit.
Alex caught up with her by the car, opening her door for her before getting in himself. He felt a small smile on his lips and hoped Norma would be too distracted to notice.
"What?" Norma asks, never missing a thing about Alex. It's like she can sense his emotions.
"Huh?" Alex asks, trying to wipe the smile away.
"You're smiling. You don't smile." she states, her eyes flicking back down to his lips as if expecting to see the smile return.
"Oh. I-It's nothing. I...I got promoted to sheriff." he says lamely as he starts the car.
"Sheriff? Of White Pine Bay?" Norma asks with surprise.
"Uh...yeah." he mumbles, pulling out of the parking lot.
"Alex, this is a big deal! It's not nothing." Norma tells him with a smile.
"Sheriff Romero. I like it." she adds, testing out the name. Alex scrunches his nose with disgust, remembering when people called his father by that name.
"Sheriff Romero, big daddy of white pine bay-"
"Norma." he stops her, blushing at the nickname.
"You're going to be great, Alex. I know it. So much better than your father." she tells him softly, somehow knowing that he worried about that. He glances over at her, his dark eyes scanning her blue ones.
"Thank you." he says softly before looking away. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, both thinking of the soft exchange.
"Mommy's home!" Norman squeals when Norma walks in with Alex.
"Hello my darlings." Norma says, kneeling down in the doorway to hug her two boys.
"Maggie, how was it?" Alex asks, walking further inside to inspect the house. He was afraid Maggie might've been using while she was babysitting.
"Everything was fine. Dinner is just about ready." Maggie says, coming out of the kitchen.
"It's just past two." Norma says with confusion as she stands up from her spot.
"Is it?" Maggie asks, running a shaky hand through her damaged hair.
"Why don't you go up and rest, Mags. We can handle everything down here." Alex offers.
"Yeah I can work the motel desk." Norma adds.
"You sure?" Maggie asks.
"Yeah, sure, sure." Norma says quickly.
"That's awful generous of you both." Maggie says before slowly walking up the steps.
"Can we go play outside?" Norman asks.
"Of course, hon. Don't get dirty though." she tells them as they run out the door. Once Norma is sure they are outside, she turns to Alex.
"What're we going to do?" she whispers to him as she walks into the kitchen alongside him.
"About Maggie?" he asks.
"Yes. I mean she obviously isn't in her right mind. And we can't move out because she needs us." Norma says softly as she leans against the counter facing him.
"We will figure it out." he tells her reassuringly.
"With my new pay grade, we will be able to afford this rent with no problem." he adds, placing his hand on the counter beside where she is leaning. She stares at him for a moment, her eyes searching his face.
"You're going to be a great sheriff, Alex." she whispers.
"The boys are going to be so excited that you're the sheriff. They look up to you so much." she adds with a smile. Alex looks down, a small smile on his face. He was glad the boys could look up to him.
When Alex looks up again, he is stunned by the close proximity between him and Norma. He hasn't realized before how close they actually are to each other. He could feel her breath on his neck while her eyes danced from his eyes to his lips and back.
"I-I-I..." Norma begins, her mind clouded by him. She needed to say something, anything.
"I'm going on a date." she blurts out.
She could see the immediate hurt on Alex's face before he quickly covered it up. She should've kept her mouth shut.
"A date? With who?" he asks, trying not to sound jealous or overbearing.
"Zach." she tells him.
"Shelby." she adds, for some reason feeling the need to specify exactly who.
"Huh." he says, stepping away from Norma.
"I mean is that...is it okay?" she asks.
"You don't need my permission, Norma. You're an independent woman now." he reminds her gently.
"Yes." she says, still feeling guilty for telling Alex.
"I...I should go, uh, shower." Alex says lamely as he leaves the kitchen.