Free Falling by Debra Webb Read Free Book Online Page A

strained
expression on his weathered face. “You doing all right today?”
    “Good morning, Phil.” She shifted her tool
bag to the other hand. “I’m doing just fine, but I do have a long
day ahead of me.” She regretted the coolness in her tone the
instant she spoke.
    One corner of Phil’s mouth hitched up into a
sad smile. “Well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to make sure you
were okay.” He stared at the ground for a long moment then shifted
his gaze back to hers and said, “I’m sorry about the other day. I
didn’t stop to consider how that little trip downtown might make
you feel. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted you and Mr. McFerrin to
see how foolish you were behaving.”
    “It doesn’t matter, Phil,” she told him,
trying her best to sound reassuring. “You had to do something and
the situation had gotten completely out of control. It was no one’s
fault but my own that I ended up in a holding cell. I knew better
than to behave the way I did.”
    “But still,” he persisted soberly, “it had to
bring back a lot of bad memories for you and I’m real sorry I
caused you to relive the old days.”
    Free plunked the duffel bag onto the ground
and massaged the back of her neck. Her muscles still felt stiff
from hunkering over that mantel for so long yesterday. “Phil, you
did your job. Sure it rattled me, but I got over it. Let’s just
forget about it, okay?”
    He shook his head and stared at the ground
again. “I can’t. I promised Thomas I’d look after you and I’ve let
you both down.”
    Free covered the three steps that separated
them, she pulled the hat from his hands and threw her arms around
his neck. “You didn’t let anyone down, Phil. You’re the best cop I
know and a good friend.”
    He hugged her tight and heaved a relieved
breath. “You know how I worry about you, girlie.” He drew back and
looked into her eyes, his own suspiciously bright. “Thomas wanted
you to be happy.”
    Her smile was real this time. “I am happy.
You shouldn’t fret about that.”
    He pulled a worried face. “Are you really?
You work too hard and I’ve yet to see you on the town with a
beau.”
    The memory of Mac’s kiss slid across her
senses; his scent, his taste, the feel of his skin. Free laughed
tightly as heat crept into her cheeks. “I don’t need a beau to be
happy, Phil.”
    He lifted one gray eyebrow and eyed her
skeptically. “Oh? I noticed some mighty heated sparks flying
between you and that new neighbor of yours.”
    Free felt the color in her cheeks deepen.
“Those were parks of anger.”
    Phil waggled his bushy eyebrows knowingly.
“Seemed like a little more than anger if you ask me.”
    Free shoved his hat back at him and set her
hands at her waist. “It was more than that. He was going to kill
that tree!”
    “Whatever you say.”
    Free gave him an indignant look. “Phil,
you’ve been a cop too long. You’re reading too much between the
lines.”
    He settled his hat back into place and
grinned. “I didn’t have to read anything, young lady. You and that
McFerrin fella were shouting it to the rooftops.”
    Exasperation hissed through her clenched
teeth and she glared at him. “I have to get to work, Phil.”
    “All right, all right. I can take a hint.” He
shook his index finger at her. “Just remember, Thomas wanted you to
be happy.”
    Free threw her hands up. “I am happy!”
    Phil crossed his arms over his chest, which
meant only one thing to Free. He was about to say his final words
on the subject. She silently thanked God, then gave the older man
her full attention.
    “I didn’t live to be sixty without achieving
a complete understanding of what makes people happy in this life,
girlie. Sharing your life with someone who loves you, having
children of your own, those things make you happy. That’s the way
God intended it and that’s the way it is. You won’t ever make me
believe you’re happy living alone in that big old house.”
    She shook her