“I’ll behomeas soon as my shift ends and as soon as I can get up here.” Jerica leaned in and pressed a kiss to Bridget’s cheek. “You can find your own rides, right?”
“Yeah. Fuck, I can’t wait to drive again.”
Jerica snorted. “But then I don’t get to be your chauffeur to everything.”
“You haven’t been, but I appreciate the sentiment and agree with it. It’s a good time together when we can have it.”
“It is for sure.” Jerica leaned in and kissed Bridget fully on her lips this time. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Yeah.” Bridget reached up, tangling her fingers in Jerica’s hair before dragging her back down for a deeper, longer kiss. She’d gotten quite used to waking up with Jerica, and even though they still had both houses and weren’t technically living together, they spent the vast majority of their nights in the same house, either hers or Jerica’s. It wasn’t something Bridget wanted to give up, but since she was back to working, she wondered if those nights would dwindle since she had to be in town to get rides to and from work.
Jerica broke the kiss. “I’ve got to go.”
“I love you,” Bridget whispered.
“I love you, too.” Jerica kissed her again, quickly, and moved away to the refrigerator, grabbing her lunch bag. They’d made each of them a meal the night before.
The sun was coming over the horizon an hour after Jerica left, and Bridget knew if they moved in together, the sacrifice would be on Jerica, not on Bridget, since she had to live in the county she was elected to. Pressing her lips tightly together, plans forming in her mind, Bridget finished her third cup of coffee for the morning and went into her bedroom to get dressed.
Arriving at the courthouse in the cruiser was more emotional than she had anticipated. Her heart raced as Landon parked out front. “Here you are, Sheriff.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Thanks,Deputy.”
They never called each other by title, so she knew it was because he was trying to be a smart ass. He was going to go out and finish his patrols, so Bridget stepped out of the car and made her way inside, still slower than before because of the black cast on her leg, but at least able to walk without crutches finally.
She made her way to the elevator and punched the button for the third floor of the courthouse—her sanctuary, her home, the place she spent most of the hours of her day for years, and the one place she hadn’t stepped in for two months.
Bridget drew in a deep breath as she hesitated at the door to the Sheriff’s Department. Sonny had been sent home, so he wasn’t in the jail any longer, but still, her heart broke for him and his own stupidity. He didn’t mean to run her over—at least from her current understanding—he was just a drunk idiot. But at least she would finally have access to the incident report if she wanted to read it.
The doorknob was cold in her fingers. She’d spent most of the last two weeks finishing the requirements for her clearance and making sure this was what she really wanted. At the end of the day, she couldn’t imagine her work life looking any different.
As soon as she stepped into the office, the room erupted with clapping. Bridget grinned and put a hand over her heart as she looked at each one of her deputies and her dispatchers, Rose—the secretary who worked during the day, and other workers from the courthouse who had decided to join in the celebration.
Bridget shook her head as tears prickled in her eyes. She had no idea what to say. Fucking Landon had somehow gotten there ahead of her. He must have run up those three flights of stairs to beat her to it. Putting her hands out in front of her, Bridget tried to get the clapping to stop, but it only got louder.
“You’re all idiots,” she finally managed to cough out.
Landon moved to the side and showcased a cake. Bridget narrowed her eyes at it before stumbling forward to see it. It was a cake done up by none other than Jean, who everyone in town knew made the best cakes. On it, she’d written in fancy lettering,Welcome back, Sheriff!Bridget’s heart was ready to burst.
She hadn’t expected this. It was stupid because she should have expected something, but she hadn’t. She’d mostly thought about coming in to work and trying to catch up on the last eight weeks. Rolling her shoulders, Bridget turned to Landon and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
Everyone got their chance to snag a hug from her as happiness and joy gurgled in her chest. This was more than she had ever expected. They cut the cake. People came and went from the courthouse all day to see her, say hi, check in. She got absolutely no work done aside from pulling up the schedule to figure out who the fuck was supposed to be working that week and when.
She was just sitting down during another lull when Rose knocked on the door impishly. “You have another visitor, Bridget.”
Sighing, Bridget straightened her back, wondering if it was the damn governor this time. She nodded at Rose, indicating she could let whoever it was in. She couldn’t remember the last time the Sheriff’s office had seen this much traffic. Rose was earning her pay today.
Hattie stepped into the doorway, a bouquet of flowers in her hands. “Hey, Bridget, sorry this is later than expected. I wanted to have them up here for when you came in to work this morning, but we had someone come in to make an order for funeral flowers.”
Bridget cocked her head at the bouquet. “Don’t worry about it.”
Hattie handed the glass vase over. “These are from a special someone, or so I’m told. I didn’t quite catch her name. It didn’t sound like English.”
Bridget tensed, clenching her jaw tightly. The undertone of racism in her fair town annoyed the fuck out of her, but she couldn’t beat it out of them, unfortunately. “Thanks. I’m sure I’ll figure out who they’re from.”
“Yeah. So, how’s your first day back?”
Bridget sighed, setting the vase on the corner of her desk. She’d have to look at the note later when Hattie wasn’t around because she did not want to continue that conversation. She sat back down, leaning into her chair and crossing her arms over her uniform, which miraculously still fit well.