Page 6 of Whisk Me Away
A few minutes later my eyes locked with those familiar green ones before she headed straight for my table. I figured she would just stand there and give me some snarky remark before taking a seat at the breakfast bar but to my surprise she slid into the booth across from me and folded her hands on the table top.
“Hi, I’m Karis. I think we got off on the wrong foot and I would like to formally introduce myself,” her small, slender hand stretched out across the table as if to shake mine.
For a second I just stared at her outstretched hand, caught off guard by her forwardness. “Uh, okay,” I slowly took her hand in mine. Our eyes snapped to where our hands were connected, and Karis yanked her hand back as if I’d burned her. She must have felt the same zap of electricity I had when our hands met.
“And your name is?” Karis prompted when I had yet to speak.
“Brant. Brant Landon,” I said, clearing my throat and shaking my head. What was going on with me? Focus, Landon.
A faint, rosy hue crept up her neck and took up residence on her cheeks. “Wait…” She inhaled a deep breath before letting it out, refusing to make eye contact with me. “Landon as in, Sheriff Anson Landon is your father?”
I immediately bristled at the notion that she didn’t know I was the Sheriff now. “No, Brant Landon as in the Sheriff of Ashwood Falls,” I said with more bite to my tone than necessary. I couldn’t help it though. It was hard enough following in the footsteps of my father, always getting compared to him and how he used to handle various situations but for whatever reason her not knowing I was the Sheriff bothered me.
The fire from the other day was back in her eyes and I knew I made a mistake. She had come over here to make amends and introduce herself and I’m sure she hadn’t expected me to snap at her in response.
“Well, Sheriff Landon,” she spit my name back at me. “I‘ll be sure to never park in your spot at church again. You know, while I’m at it, I’ll just go ahead and have my dad give me a map of available parking spots for next week,” she was climbing out of the booth when the pieces suddenly clicked together.
“Dad?” I managed to get out.
She paused at the edge of my table before turning her head back towards me with that same mocking smile from the other day.
“Oh, you don’t know? Yes, my dad is Pastor Walter. Did I not mention my last name when I introduced myself?” She laughed in a way that held no humor. “Karis Thompson. What a pleasure it was to meet you, Sheriff Landon.”
Karis turned and continued her walk to the breakfast bar just as Jim came out with her order, bagged and ready. She said her goodbyes before sauntering out of the diner without giving me a second glance.
I stood in the dimly lit local gym, the musty scent of sweat lingering in the air. Across from me, my brother Brooks eyed me with concern as we prepared to spar. I tightened the wraps on my hands, trying to shake off the tension that’d settled in my shoulders. Brooks, ever the observant one, shot me a questioning look.
"What's eating at you, Brant?" He asked, the concern evident in his voice.
I shrugged it off at first, dismissing him with a shake of my head. "Nothing, just feeling off today," I replied, trying to deflect. But Brooks wasn't one to let things slide easily.
He threw a light jab, his eyes narrowing as he pressed me for more. "Come on, Brant. I know when something's off. What’s up?”
I continued to evade the question, dancing around the topic as we circled each other in the ring. However, the weight of the encounter with Karis pressed on me, and I could no longer keep up the charade. Reluctantly, I halted our spar, catching my breath before finally letting the truth spill out.
“It’s a long story but I ran into this girl at church on Sunday,” I confessed, a hint of frustration in my voice. "And I just ran into her again at Sunny’s and found out she's Pastor Walter's daughter."
Brooks' expression shifted from concern to surprise as he connected the dots better than I had earlier. “Karis or Eden?”
I shot him a surprised look. “Karis. Do you know them well?”
“They went to school with us. Karis was my grade and Eden two years younger. You probably don’t remember them because you were a few years ahead and too cool for school,” he mocked throwing a quick jab to my right side.
I rolled my eyes and danced around the ring. “We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot.”
Brooks snorted. “You make a bad first impression? I don’t believe it.”
“Shut up!” I bit out throwing a jab of my own toward Brooks’ stomach.
Brooks chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Well, that explains your broodier then normal disposition today. You’ve got a thing for the pastor’s daughter, huh?” His grin turned mischievous.
I shot him a glare. “It’s not like that. We just…” I blew out a breath. “We exchanged some words and I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m an immature jerk,” I didn’t mean to get so annoyed today and part of me did feel bad for snapping at her but another larger part of me didn’t care if I made a terrible first impression.
I didn’t need to impress her because I wasn’t looking for a friendship or anything more in that department. I poured myself into a relationship in the past and it ended up biting me in the butt. I have no intention or desire to go through that again. I have curated a life that was simple. Outside my job no one was relying on me, no one was keeping track of my whereabouts or complaining when I left dirty socks strewn across the bedroom floor. I liked my life just the way it was.
“Sure thing, bro. Whatever you say,” Brooks just gave me a cocky, knowing grin before resuming his fighting stance.
After an hour of sparring with Brooks, I took a quick shower before heading back to the station. The rest of the afternoon proved to be much less eventful than the first half of the day, to which I was very grateful. I was making a mental list of the things I needed to do before heading home for the night, when my phone vibrated against my jean clad leg. I fished it out of my front pocket and caught a glimpse of Gram’s picture on my screen. I stabbed the answer button before placing the phone next to my ear.