The Sheriff's Son | Harvey #2

Chapter 9

Nicole walked into the general store the next morning on Ashton's arm. Brandy grinned happily at them from the counter when she looked up. "Hey!"

Ashton smiled contentedly at her. "Hi, Brandy. How's everyone doing this morning?"

"Bryan got a little bit of a cold, but me and Trevor are doing great. What about you two?" She leaned on the counter.

Nicole smiled at her. "We're doing great, too." She leaned a little into Ashton. He'd seemed happy the night before when she rested her head on his arm, so she didn't think he'd mind this, either. He slipped his hand from hers and put his arm around her waist. Nope. He didn't mind.

"Good! What did you guys need this morning? Oh, sorry we can't go with you to Columbia, by the way."

"Don't worry about it. We'll find someone else," Ashton assured her. "This morning, we were trying to find a place Nicole can stay for a while. She'll be staying here after our wedding, but she wants to stay here a little while longer so we can finish getting things together."

"Have you tried seeing if you can rent the cabin you're already in?" Brandy asked Nicole. "You'd be able to do that, I'll bet."

Nicole hadn't thought of that, and she felt a little dumb for it. "I'll ask today," she promised. Ashton gave her a slight squeeze and that told her he was happy and would make sure she did. He wouldn't say it, but she knew he was glad she would stay a while longer.

"You're going to invite me, right?" Brandy said with a grin.

Nicole returned it. "Of course! We wouldn't dream of not inviting you!"

"Good. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Ashton and Nicole glanced at each other. "No, but thanks," he replied.

They said their goodbyes and left. Ashton removed his arm and went back to holding her hand. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she went with it. They ended up spending most of the day on the beach, going over details they needed to settle in Columbia when they were there. After lunch at the restaurant, they walked around town, trying to figure out how they were going to get to Columbia and back.

"Maybe we could go with my parents," Nicole suggested as they passed the police station. Ashton's gaze had wandered to the doors. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes," he answered distractedly. "I heard." He was still and quiet for a moment. Abruptly he turned to face Nicole. "We can go up with your parents, and we can take Mason with us. I need to get a vehicle anyway, so I can get one while I'm there and we'll ride back in that, the three of us."

She didn't think it would work, and she wasn't sure how she felt about having Mason tag along. "Do you think he'll be able to get off of work?"

Ashton shrugged. "All we can do is ask." He tugged her hand and she followed him across the street and inside the building she'd come to really, really dislike.

Everyone was sitting at their desks inside. Gary was eating a bag of chips. He nodded at them when they came in. Norman looked up from what he was writing, smiled at them, and went back to his job. Mason was arguing with someone on his phone. He was staring blankly out the window.

Ashton nodded back to everyone. He chewed his lip while he studied them. She raised an eyebrow at him. "I think we should come back later," she whispered to Ashton.

Norman sat his pen down and stood. Ashton's grip on Nicole's hand tightened a little, though his face didn't change. "Why did you come back, Ashton?" Norman asked once he'd sauntered over.