Sins of the mother (Chapter-21)

Brooke sat on Sierra’s bedroom floor with her rudimentary set of mismatched tools. The Cinderella bed lay half-finished in front of her. She picked up the instructions, looked them over, sighed, and promptly tossed them back on the floor. How was she supposed to turn this mess into the beautiful bed pictured on the box? She wasn’t even sure what some of the screws were called. She’d never seen anything like them.

She picked up the phone and dialed her dad’s number. It went to voicemail. She’d forgotten that he was with her mom at their cabin this weekend and probably didn’t have cell service. She set the phone down and rolled over on her back, massaging her temples.

“Mommy, how long until you get the Cinderella bed done?” Sierra was standing at the door.

“I don’t know, sweetie. I’m doing the best I can. We might have to wait until Grandpa gets back home.” 

“But you promised.”

“I know, but I don’t think I have the right tools here.”

“Then call Daddy. Please.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll work something out.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. She had to be at the firing range at 2:00 p.m. for the last session of the Citizen’s Police Academy class and the graduation ceremony. She had roughly four hours to fulfill her promise to Sierra and get the bed put together.

“It’s okay, Mommy. You can do it later when you have some help.” Sierra, who was still at the door, seemed to sense her frustration. She walked into the room and threw her arms around Brooke’s neck before she went back to the living room and her Saturday morning cartoons.

Brooke threw her hands up and laid back. She stared up at the ceiling. So much to do, so little time. She sat up and hit Lukas’s number.

“Hey, Brooke, what’s up?”

“Not much. What are you doing this morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep last night. I just got out of bed and am fixing a pot of coffee.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll call you later.”

“It’s no problem. I’m up now. What’s on your mind?”

“I’ve been thinking about Odell, and something is bugging me.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“Actually, I just lied. I need some help putting together a bed for Sierra. I promised her I’d do it this morning, but it’s a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. Are you any good at assembling kid’s toys?”

“I don’t have any kids, but I’m a man of many talents. Text me your address and I’ll be there in less than an hour.”

“I don’t want to hijack your Saturday.”

“Text me the address.”

Lukas arrived a short while later, and Sierra opened the door before he could knock.

“Hi.”

“Well, hi yourself.” Lukas stood there with a cardboard tray in his hand that contained three cups. He looked back and forth between daughter and mother. Brooke could see the look of surprise on Lukas’s face. She’d seen the look before. People were often shocked at the resemblance between her and her daughter.

“Sierra, this is Lukas Miller. He’s a friend of mommy’s. He’s a police officer too. Lukas, this is Sierra.”

“Hi there.” Lukas held out his hand and Sierra took it. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Mommy is putting my new Cinderella bed together. But she gets mad. Are you going to help?”

“I sure am. We’ll get it together, I promise.”

“I wouldn’t be so confident, Mr. Goodwrench,” Brooke said. “It’s a mess.”

“Oh, ye of little faith.” He handed her the tray. “Hold this. Coffees for you and me and a hot chocolate for Cinderella. My toolbox is in the trunk of my car. Be right back.”

When they finished assembling the bed an hour after they began, Sierra was ecstatic. She even gave Lukas a hug, which seemed to surprise him as much as it surprised Brooke. Sierra jumped on the bed and began to play as soon she was given the go ahead. 

As Lukas was packing up his tools, Brooke took the opportunity to slip away and prepare a lunch of sandwiches and chips. Lukas came out of Sierra’s room and accepted Brooke’s invitation to the table.

Brooke served the meal, and as they ate, Sierra jabbered on and on about how much she loved her new bed. Once they were finished eating, Sierra disappeared back into the bedroom.

“I really appreciate you coming over and helping out. I wish I could stay here and enjoy Sierra and her new bed, but duty calls.”

“On a Saturday? After they announced the man they believed to be the serial killer was found dead?”

The two departments had issued a joint press release announcing that the serial killer who had been terrorizing the communities of Kingsport and Johnson City was dead.

“They took the coward’s way out,” Brooke said. “I don’t think either chief or any of the captains believed what they were selling.”

“Doing it by press release was the best way,” Lukas said. “They didn’t have to answer any tough questions and if things go badly later and there’s another murder, they can blame each other.”

“If there’s another murder, I promise the district attorney generals in both of our districts will take the case away from us and give it to the TBI,” Brooke said.

“Yeah, well, we’ve done the best we can.”

“Have we? Are you planning to stop looking at the file and following up leads?”

“Not a chance. I’ll just have to do it on my own time.”

“Same here. Back to what we were talking about, it’s the last day of the Citizen’s Police Academy, and that means graduation night and dinner.”

“And you have to be there?”

“I’ve told you before. It’s the chief’s pet project. I have to go.”

“At least we got Sierra’s bed finished. I enjoyed it. It seemed to mean a lot to her.”

“You have no idea. She’s not usually so open with new people. She even gave you an unsolicited hug. That’s big, believe me.”Brooke’s phone rang. She looked at the ID. “Excuse me,” she said. “Hey, Haley.”

“I need a favor.”

“You’ve got it. What can I do?”

“I know I’m supposed to watch Sierra for you, but I was wondering if there’s any way you could get your mom or dad to watch her.”

“They’re out of town, Haley.” Brooke looked at Lukas and rolled her eyes.

“You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. But I got a last-minute date.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?”

“It’s the hottie from my apartment complex I’ve been stalking. I finally got him to notice me. We are, or were, going out to a movie and then later he’s taking me to dinner. But I can cancel it. I promised you, after all.”

“No, don’t do that. I know how long you’ve been lusting over this guy, and I don’t want you to bail because of me.”

“But I feel so bad. I mean, I promised.”

“Not another word. I’ll handle it. Go have fun. Bye.”

“Babysitter issues?” Lukas said.

“Yes. Of all the days.”

“Who are you going to get?”

“I’ll call Alex and get him to watch her. It’s not his weekend to keep her, so he’ll be pissy. Then I’ll have to listen to a lecture about responsibility and career choices.”

“So, Alex is your ex?”

“Yeah, Alex Fisher. I changed my name back to Stevens after we divorced.”

“I could watch her.”

Brooke was surprised, almost shocked.

“Absolutely not. I’m not going to completely ruin your Saturday.”

Sierra came running across the room and jumped into Brooke’s arms.

“Thanks again for fixing my bed, Mr. Miller.”

“It’s Lukas, and you’re welcome.”

“Are you good with bicycles?”

“Sierra, that’s enough,” Brooke said.

“But you said you’d fix that, too. And since Mr. Lukas has his tools here, why can’t he—”

“That’s it,” Lukas said. “I’m staying. What kind of man would I be if I left Cinderella without a ride?”

Brooke watched the grin cross her daughter’s face. “Please, Mommy, please?”

“Lukas, are you sure about this? I really don’t want to impose on you any more than I already have.”

“I’d be more than happy to stay. I’ll fix the bike and keep an eye on the princess. As long as you’re comfortable with it.”

“Of course, I’m sure you two would do fine.” As she spoke, she thought about how Lukas interacted with Timmy the day he delivered the awful news about Timmy’s mother. “But what about you? Don’t you and Gabriele have plans?”

“She isn’t too happy with me right now. I was planning on chilling today. But now it looks like I have a date with Cinderella – if she’ll have me, that is.”

“Yes,” Sierra said. “Cinderella wants you to stay.”

“Okay,” Brooke said. “It looks like I’m outnumbered. You two win.”

Sierra grabbed Lukas’s hand. “C’mon, Mr. Lukas. I’ll show you my bike.”

Brooke watched as Sierra led Lukas through the kitchen and out the French doors to the back yard where the bicycle was. She wandered over to the window and watched the two of them.

Before she left, Brooke gave Lukas a rundown of where Sierra’s snacks were located, and then left for the police training facility. The drive was pleasant. The afternoon was cool but not overly so, allowing her to drive with the windows down and the air off.She thought about how nice it was of Lukas to volunteer for babysitting duty on a Saturday, especially with a child he didn’t know well. He was becoming a good friend. The problem was, she found herself wanting more.

When Brooke arrived at the range, she looked over the materials for her presentation, which was to be on evidence collection. It took her just over an hour to give her talk. Afterward, while the cadets played with some of the department’s favorite police toys, she checked in with Lukas. Sierra seemed to be having a good time, and Brooke clearly heard a football game on the TV in the background.

The last part of the night for Brooke was the graduation ceremony. She assisted the chief in presenting each student with a certificate. Hopefully, the academy had given the cadets a better understanding of what police work was really like. As they filed out, several of the students shook Brooke’s hand and thanked her for her time. Some she recognized, some she didn’t.

She was packing her files up when the chief approached her. “Brooke, I want to thank you for the commitment you gave to this class. You did a great job, and you did it while handling an incredibly difficult case. It’s over, isn’t it?”

Brooke looked up, surprised by the question.

“I hope so. There are some things that we need to follow up on, though.”

“We were between a rock and a hard place with the press release,” the chief said. “We were aware of your concerns about the levels in Rodney Odell’s tox report and the possibility that he’d been framed. But based on the evidence that was found at the scene, we thought it would be irresponsible not to get something out to the public. We kept things pretty vague. What they choose to write or broadcast is up to them.”

Brooke packed up her things and drove home. She walked up the sidewalk to her house, and as she stepped up on the porch, she looked into the living room through the window. Lukas was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on her coffee table like he had lived there his whole life. He was engrossed in a football game, completely at ease. Sierra was lying on Lukas’s lap in her Cinderella Halloween costume. She was sound asleep.

Incredible. Brooke sighed and opened the door, wishing things were different between her and Lukas.

But the time just wasn’t right, and she had to accept that it might never be right.