Find all the parts of this story here.
Chapter 5: Firsts
Part 3: Sophie
Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Breathe, Sophie LeeAnn. Breathe. Sophie tried to talk herself into a calmer state, but her nerves were having none of it. Her body insisted on being in high-alert, total-freak-out mode as she climbed into the passenger seat of Sam’s personal vehicle. He, of course, drove a very safe and sedate Toyota Camry.
Her brain spun in the effort to find a question to ask, and she exhaled in relief when Sam broke the silence.
“So what’s the path for getting into a marketing career? I think you mentioned college that day you rode with me.”
Yes! A safe topic about which she was knowledgeable.
“It’s typically a four-year degree. I was lucky to have a state university only half an hour from home, so I could save money while I got my degree. I worked on stuff for my dad for free, but I got a job with the local paper doing basic layout stuff. I know, small town weirdness. Peshicot, AZ still has a physical newspaper to this day.”
“Wow. Even New Albany and Williamson have moved forward in the world.”
“I know! Everybody does eventually.”
“So your job in Williamson – you got that right out of college?”
“Mmhmm,” she nodded. “I interviewed via video conference during finals week. I’m kind of shocked they hired me, because my brain was not firing on all cylinders. But apparently even fried from finishing my senior project, they were willing to take a chance.”
“Are you happy with your choice?”
“The job or… what?”
“Yes,” Sam laughed. “The job, Williamson, Bethel. All of it, I guess.”
Sophie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Such a big question asked in so few words!
“The job? I like it. I like telling visual stories and being creative. I can see myself working here for a long time. Williamson? I love the town. It’s cute and quaint and just…” She cast around in her mind for the right word. “Pleasant. It’s pleasant. My apartment I will definitely be moving on from with no love lost.”
“Can I ask why you picked it?”
She laughed. “You can, and the foolish answer is that it was very affordable for someone right out of college who paid no attention to the neighborhood. Almost the first day I moved in I realized I probably shouldn’t have chosen that place, but it was also a good learning experience. I’m really not sure how I could have known without coming up here first, and I wasn’t financially prepared to stay at a hotel for however long it would have taken to find an apartment.”
“You rented it sight-unseen?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t make that mistake again, and I’ll be gone when my lease is up in 3 months.”
“I have to admit, that makes me feel better.” He shot her a sideways grin. She smiled back. She appreciated his concern. He wasn’t overbearing, but pushed her to think smarter about her safety. It meant more than she could find words for that he had rushed over when she was a little freaked by some flowers.
“Who do you think would leave me flowers anonymously?” she blurted.
Sam didn’t answer right away, as though he were taking her question seriously.
“Categorically, my mind goes to any exes, someone you’ve turned down, or someone who is too shy to ask you out. Flowers tend to be romantic, so I’d ask those questions first.”
Sophie barely resisted the urge to snort. “I have neither of the first two up here,” she replied quickly. “I have no idea how I would know the third.”
“Obviously, me neither.” After a pause, he spoke again. “Would you like to talk to my boss, Sgt. Breitung? He’s a detective. He might have more ideas.”
“Oh, I couldn’t do that. I don’t want to waste his time when nothing really wrong has happened,” she immediately deflected.
“That’s fine. In the interests of full disclosure, I did email him tonight, so I’ll be keeping him in the loop.”
That sent a ball of dread bouncing in her stomach, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want Sam to think she disapproved of his choice, but she felt keenly uncomfortable about spreading this around, even though she couldn’t articulate why.
It was less than two minutes later that he parked at The Barnyard, and Sophie got her first glimpse of a large, red barn.
“Wow. They went literal,” she commented as she climbed out of her seat. Sam laughed and, once again, offered his elbow.
“They did. Wait til you see inside.” The gleam in his eyes made her apprehensive and excited all at once.
One foot in the door, she knew exactly what he meant. The interior of the building was full of picnic-style tables with red-and-white plaid plastic tablecloths. From the rafters hung lights shaped like old-fashioned lanterns, and above, sitting on the beams, were hundreds of…
“Are those chickens?” Sophie craned her neck and turned a slow circle.
“Yup,” Sam replied with an amused grin.
“Oh, my…”
There was no wait since it was a weeknight, so Sophie soon found herself sitting across from Sam at one of the picnic tables. Loud country music played from hidden speakers. Waiters and waitresses in jeans and red t-shirts moved about the room, occasionally stopping to line dance and sing along with the music. Sophie spent too much time gaping at the plethora of country- and barn-themed decorations littering the walls and not enough time studying the menu, so when their waitress asked for their orders, Sophie had to sheepishly ask for suggestions.
“The Rooster is the most popular,” the waitress pointed to a spot on the menu with her pen. “White cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, stone ground mustard, pickles, mayo, lettuce, and tomato. It’s a can’t-go-wrong classic.” She paused and move her pen to another point. “If you like spicy-”
“No,” Sophie shook her head. “The Rooster sounds good.”
The waitress smiled and jotted her order, then took Sam’s order for the Firehouse (the spicy one, she noticed) and a basket of fries.
“So you like spicy food?” she asked as the waitress left.
“Sometimes,” Sam shrugged. “And you apparently don’t?”
“I don’t like my food with a side of tears, thank you,” she replied primly, earning a laugh from Sam.
“Hey, I have a question,” she said randomly.
“Shoot.”
“Don’t take offense; I’m legitimately curious. Did you go to college? I don’t know what the education requirements are for a police officer.” She chewed on her lip, suddenly nervous. Had she asked that stupidly? Would he be upset?
Evidently not, because he smiled and dug into the basket of fries the waitress dumped unceremoniously in the middle of the picnic table.
“It’s different for different departments. Williamson only requires a high school diploma. I wanted more, so I got a two-year law enforcement degree from a technical college not far from here. Then 6 months at the police academy.”
“What kinds of classes did you take? What did you study?”
“Mm, some foundational stuff like history of law enforcement, basic principles, juvenile delinquency. Actually, there was a whole class just on police reports. It was kind of mind-numbing,” Sam admitted.
“I can only imagine,” Sophie sympathized.
“I’m planning on going back to school part-time this fall. I want to study criminal psychology.” Sam actually looked a little uncomfortable admitting that. Sophie wondered if that information hadn’t been taken well by everyone he’d shared it with.
“That sounds amazing! I mean, terrifying to me, but so useful for you,” she admitted in a rush.
“That’s my hope. I want to be a negotiator someday, and it will be good to start with an understanding of the human mind,” he explained.
“Oh, my gosh. So much stress. God bless you for wanting to do that work,” she replied with a big smile.
“Thank you. I’m pretty excited for it.”
After that, little was said besides exclamations of delight over the food, with occasional stories of big-brother antics from their childhoods. By the time Sam dropped her off, walking her all the way to her apartment door, a lovely warm and fuzzy feeling had taken up residence. She felt happy and at peace, and thus it was not at all surprising when he gave her a very sweet good-night hug.