“You’re an ass,” Steel told him when the cruiser was on the move, leaving Stella and Eric far behind.
“All part of the job,” Ned said. “How about we get some takeout on the way to the station. We did good back there, right? They’ll never guess you’re working with us.”
“Yeah, you did good,” Steel forced himself to say, although he was fuming inside. “What the hell. Let’s go get takeout. I’m not going to accomplish anything else today.”
“Those girls’ families might as well throw in the towel right now,” Eric said when he and Stella were eating at a corner table at the Top Spot Café, a depressing little restaurant that couldn’t get a side salad right, let alone serve a decent bowl of soup, she quickly discovered. “Once they get a taste of the wild side, they just go to hell.”
“That seems harsh.” She toyed with a forkful of lettuce, her appetite nonexistent. She couldn’t believe what she’d seen back at the pit. What had Steel been doing with those girls? Why had the Silver Falls deputies arrested him? Sure, he’d been mouthy, but he hadn’t committed a crime.
Had he?
She hadn’t gotten a good look at the girls as they’d scurried away toward town, but she’d been pretty sure one of them was Lara Whidby. She made a mental note to tell Lara’s mother where she’d seen her—she doubted Kim Whidby would want her daughter to hang out at the pit.
“You want to be a deputy? Get used to harsh,” Eric said, then seemed to remember who he was talking to and relented. “Look, I know you want to believe people can be saved. We all do at the beginning. Then you work the job a few years and see that people are who they are. Those girls look like any others from nice families, but they’re not. They’re already on the long slide down into self-destruction.”
“Not all of them.”
“Everyone knows about the pit. They know it’s where kids go to get drugs. Those girls have made their choice.”
“That doesn’t mean they can’t be saved.”
He pointed his fork at her. “You’ve got to grow up, Turner, if you want to be a deputy. You can’t save people who have given up on themselves.”
“Maybe we need to expand the detox and stabilization programs so they can cater to teens,” she said slowly, thinking about what Jed had said he’d overheard the Coopers talking about. As far as she knew, there weren’t any local treatment programs for teens. “If it wasn’t for the drugs, they wouldn’t act out like that, right?”
“I don’t know. I think some girls like running wild,” Eric said. “You going to eat those fries?”
“Go ahead.” She watched him take her fries and dig into them the way he’d wolfed down the rest of the meal. She didn’t like his cynicism on the subject, but she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard other deputies speaking like him.
Was she setting herself up to end up like them? When she was a deputy, would she feel so jaded she could talk about young girls overdosing on drugs while inhaling a cheap meal?
Maybe Eric was right; maybe she wasn’t cut out for the job.
Or maybe Chance Creek needed people like her who cared enough to want to help people who were veering into trouble. Maybe she could stop young women from making bad choices.
“I’ve got to run to an appointment before I head back to work.” Eric stood up. Threw some bills on the table. Stella stood up, too, grateful the meal was over. He caught sight of her expression and stopped. “A lot of stuff goes on in the world that isn’t pretty and doesn’t have a neat solution. You’re a smart woman, Stella. A good woman. I’m not going to lie. If you become a deputy, it’s going to be hard for me to watch while you come face to face with the ugliness.”
“I’m not a child,” she said.
“I know you aren’t. See you soon.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss on her mouth that was as unwelcome as the taste of his meal on her lips. Stella pulled back, but Eric didn’t seem to notice. He was already halfway across the room.
She reached out to steady herself on the top rung of her wooden chair. That was the second time he’d kissed her as if he had the right to do so. Did Eric think they were together now? He’d never asked if she wanted to be.
She’d let him take her to lunch, though. Let him think she was interested. Since when was she wishy-washy enough to give such mixed signals to a man? That wasn’t like her.
She grabbed her purse and walked slowly toward the door. Was it because Noah, Liam and Maya had all gotten married this summer? Was she feeling left behind?
The answer was yes, and it was worse because Maya was her younger sister. She’d always supposed she’d be the first to marry, and if she was honest, she’d thought she’d beat her brothers to the altar, too.
When she neared the door, she realized a steady drizzle had started outside. She was going to get wet walking the couple of blocks to her truck.
“Can you believe this weather?” a woman asked, rushing through the front door, damp but clearly delighted. Her smile grew with recognition. “Stella Turner? Is that you?”
It took Stella a moment to place her. “Mrs. Hunt?”
“Call me Monica,” the woman laughed. “I guess the last time we met you were just a girl, but you haven’t changed. You’re still lovely.”
“Thank you.” The praise embarrassed Stella. “I didn’t know you were back in town. I’ve missed Runaway Lodge while you were gone. I always loved coming to swim at your beach on hometown days.”
“It’s certainly been a long time.” Monica shook her head. “I shouldn’t have
