AUTHOR NOTE
The map on the previous page is a rough rendition of Fallport’s main square. It doesn’t include the parking lots behind the buildings and the businesses on the bottom of the page are actually facing the square.
It’s difficult to accurately depict every single thing about the town that’s in my head in a 2D image.
But the map should give you general idea of the areas that appear in all of the Eagle Point Search & Rescue books!
Enjoy!
CHAPTER ONE
Zeke checked his watch for what seemed like the twentieth time.
Elsie was late.
She was never late.
He’d gotten to know her pretty well over the last year and a half, and her reliability was the first thing he’d noticed. At first she was just another employee…but she was so much more than that now.
As time went by, Zeke’s attraction to the sweet brunette grew, and slowly, he’d begun to see through the easygoing façade she presented to the world to the woman underneath. No matter how much she tried to hide it and pretend otherwise, she was stressed, exhausted. It made him want to do whatever he could to help.
He also wanted On the Rocks to be a safe space for her. A place where she could let down her guard and know she had people to rely on.
He wanted to think he was succeeding, at least a little bit. She smiled more frequently, was a touch more outgoing, and she seemed genuinely happy while at work.
And little by little, she was finally beginning to loosen up around him as well.
Zeke had only kissed her once. That evening, he’d lost his shit when one of the customers had grabbed her ass, and he’d pulled her into his office and told her he was done tiptoeing around his attraction. Instead of getting upset or telling him he was overstepping his bounds, that she didn’t want any kind of relationship, she’d melted in his arms. The kiss they’d shared had been short but hot, and Zeke definitely wanted more.
He was trying to take things slow. Give her time and space to come to terms with the fact that she had a protector. Him.
It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. All he wanted was to take her home and spoil her and Tony, her nine-year-old son. Wanted to show them both that whatever had made them so skittish and uncertain was behind them. But even after he’d declared his interest, Elsie had remained guarded.
So he’d backed off, while making it clear his interest hadn’t waned. He frequently found reasons to touch her. A hand on her back. A brush against her arm. Standing just a little bit closer when she was talking to him. Nothing threatening or overt. Just intentionally clear. And it was working. Slowly but surely, since that first kiss, she was relaxing her guard.
Most people wouldn’t agree. Would observe how she acted around him and argue she was just as wary now as when she’d first arrived…but they’d be wrong.
Her reactions toward him were even more subtle than his own, but Zeke could read them loud and clear. She smiled shyly at him often. Her sweet blushes when he complimented her came more frequently. And just the other day, she’d touched him.
It had been one of the first times she’d deliberately initiated contact, and Zeke wouldn’t ever forget it. He’d been slammed behind the bar, as both his bartenders called in sick so he was the only one making drinks. He’d been on his feet since arriving right before lunch. In addition, he and his friends on the Eagle Point Search and Rescue team had been out most of the night before, looking for a mentally handicapped teenager who’d slipped out of the house without anyone’s notice and disappeared into the wilderness behind his home. Luckily, they’d found him, cold and scared but without any major injuries.
Zeke had been exhausted and two seconds from blowing up at a customer when Elsie had come behind the bar, loudly announced to the whole place that he was taking a twenty-minute break and their customers needed to just chill, before taking his hand and leading him down the hall to his office.
It had been extremely uncharacteristic. Elsie didn’t like to be the center of attention. She preferred to fade into the background. But for Zeke, she’d faced down the rowdy patrons and forced him to take a break. It had been a surprise to see her standing up to him, as well. Pointing at the couch and ordering him to sit and relax for a few minutes.
He had. But not without pulling her down next to him. She’d hesitantly settled against him, and they’d both just sat in the semi-quiet of his office and decompressed.
Afterward, she’d gone back to being shy and reticent, but Zeke wouldn’t forget how
she’d had his back—not to mention how good she’d felt at his side, literally.
Some people might get frustrated with how slowly their relationship was progressing, but not Zeke. His time in the Green Berets had taught him to be patient. That the most worthwhile outcomes came from persistence.
And besides…after his ex, he’d avoided relationships himself for years.
He suspected Elsie rarely had anyone watching her own back. It was obvious she hadn’t had an easy life before coming to Fallport, Virginia. Hell, she still didn’t have an easy life. But she didn’t complain. Never bitched about how hard she worked to keep a roof over her and her son’s heads. She just did what needed to be done and kept moving forward.
The bell above the door finally rang, and Zeke looked up in relief, expecting to see Elsie rushing into the bar, apologizing for being late and promising it would never happen again. But instead of Elsie, Reina Caudle waved at him as she entered.
Zeke’s brows furrowed. “What are you doing here? You aren’t scheduled until later.”
“Wow, good to see you too,” Reina said with a smile. “And I know that. But Elsie called and asked if I could do her shift. She’s sick.”
“Sick?” Zeke asked, his brow lifting skeptically.
“That’s what I thought,” Reina agreed. “The woman’s never sick. Remember a few months ago when everyone in town seemed to catch that flu? But not Elsie. She did so many extra shifts for all of us, it was mind-boggling.”
Zeke did remember. Elsie had worked two weeks straight without a day off, most of the time pulling ten-hour shifts. She’d been a godsend to the other servers, and everyone, including Zeke, was grateful she’d been willing to pick up the slack.
“What’s wrong with her?” he asked.
Reina shrugged. “I don’t know. She just said that she felt like crap but she should be in tomorrow as usual.”
Zeke’s frown deepened. One thing he knew about Elsie was that she never admitted a weakness. Ever. When asked how she was doing, she always said “great.” When asked if she was tired, she insisted she wasn’t. When the bar patrons got overly rowdy, she never admitted to being annoyed or frustrated. She had a calm personality and always stayed positive, no matter what was going on in her life or around her.
So for her to flat-out admit she felt like crap was unusual enough to worry him.
Hank Blackburn was behind the bar, getting ready for the lunch crowd. They didn’t have near the amount of people coming in for lunch as Sandra Hain did over at Sunny Side Up, the diner in town, but they were busy enough to warrant opening at eleven-thirty every day.
Now that Reina had arrived—joining Valerie, another server—Zeke was confident he could leave the trio to handle things for a while.