When he was gone, the tension eased. It was still a long moment before Mike said, “I’m so sorry, Lindsey.”
“Me, too,” said Noelle. “I didn’t realize you were living incognito, but I suspect I understand why.”
“Why?” asked Izzie.
“I’m sure the good people of this town wouldn’t be happy that the new schoolteacher is...who she is,” Noelle explained in a thick whisper.
“Exactly,” Lindsey said, feeling a little numb. To be honest, she didn’t give a damn what anybody on Wild Boar thought of her. But she did care what they thought of Mike, and of Callie.
She had to believe, though, that people wouldn’t be so unreasonable as to hold her scandalous reputation against those closest to her. Then again, people were very protective of their kids. They might read PhD, and majors in biology and chemistry after her name...but put that three-letter word, s-e-x, near it, too, and they flipped out.
“I need to get out of here,” she said. She hadn’t eaten anything, hadn’t even had a chance to order, but, frankly, she’d lost her appetite.
“Let me take you home,” Mike said.
“It’s okay, there’s no need.”
“Yeah, Lindsey, there is a need,” he insisted. He said to his family members, “I’m sorry, but you guys have to be on the ferry in forty minutes anyway. Can you find your way back to it?”
“Of course,” Nick said. He got up, as did Mark, and they each reached out and clasped Lindsey’s hand, one after the other. Their wives stood, too, offering her hugs.
Murmuring goodbye, Lindsey let Mike lead her out of the diner. She sensed they were drawing a lot of scrutiny. While she didn’t recognize any faces, she had no doubt somebody from the island was eating here tonight. And even if they weren’t, the staff certainly knew Mike. If they didn’t recognize her yet, it wouldn’t take long before they found out who she was.
Mike didn’t seem to care. He kept an arm around her waist, as if daring anyone to say a word. No one did, including her and Mike, who were silent all the way home.
Once they got there, Lindsey no longer wanted to pull out their romantic picnic. She’d lost her appetite for that, too. Instead, she wondered if, in her desire to help her friend keep her job, she’d just made things worse. Her heart would break if Callie paid the price for Lindsey’s storied background.
And if it hurt Mike... If he lost his job and ended up going back to Chicago, back to the police department, to a position in which he risked his life every damn day, well, she would absolutely never forgive herself. Never.
She was just tired. So very tired. Keeping all the balls up in the air, being on the roller coaster of emotions she’d been riding for months—it was all getting to her. It was early, barely seven o’clock, yet she just wanted to crawl into bed with Mike and have the kind of sex that would make days like today fade into utter insignificance.
And Mike, thankfully, was very happy to oblige her.
10
THE FIRST HINT Mike got that Ollie Dickinson had shot off his mouth came Friday afternoon. He’d been on tenterhooks all week, wondering what the jackass might have done. After several days had gone by, he’d begun to let down his guard, assuming it had blown over. Lindsey had believed the same.
Now, though, he suspected they’d been wrong.
It was around noon, the office was quiet, a lazy day with nothing moving except the dust motes floating in the air. The 911 dispatcher who ran the switchboard was on her lunch break, and one of his other officers was fielding any calls that came in.
Outside, the streets were calm, the summer people who’d come over for the holiday weekend gone for the time being. They’d return again en masse as soon as their kids got out of school, and then the streets would be crowded seven days a week. But for now, at least, Wild Boar got a respite Monday through Friday.
Which was why it was strange to see a news vehicle drive up Main Street and park in the municipal lot. He spotted it out of his window, and immediately tensed up.
Ollie had been even more cocky than usual the past couple of days. Mike had asked him if they had a problem, and the other officer had sworn they did not, but Mike hadn’t believed him.
Officer Dickinson might be as dumb as the brick wall he resembled, but even he could run an internet search. Once he had overheard that Lindsey was a doctor, and figured out she’d kept that a secret from others on the island, his curiosity must have been raised. He’d seemed a little too smug lately, and Mike had spotted him standing on the corner, talking to Mrs. Franklin the night before. The only thing that gave Mike hope Ollie hadn’t discovered anything was the fact that Mrs. Franklin hadn’t stormed into his office demanding information.