Free Just a Memory by Lois Carroll Page B

nodded.
    "I thought 'Thou shalt cover thy own tail' was rule number one," Hines interjected brightly.
    "No, it's 'Thou shalt wear thy necktie with thy uniform'," Mac countered with a grin.
    Hines pulled a wrinkled tie from his pocket and draped it around his neck. Biting into a doughnut, he promptly dropped powdered sugar on his navy lapel. He groaned. "Hey, now look what you made me do!"
    "Hines, when you're done decorating your uniform," Mac said, leaning way over to bite into his own confection without powdering himself, "come in to the office and let's see what we have on the break-in. Looks like we should start looking at it as vandalism rather than burglary since nothing is missing."
    "Nothing is missing?" Ellie asked.
    "Carolyn said nothing was taken," he said as he looked through his mail. He popped the last of his doughnut into his mouth and caught Hines looking at Ellie with a smirk. Ellie stifled a smile and looked down. Mac licked the sugar from his fingers and decided to ignore the two of them.
    "Ellie, when you've finished your coffee, go see that Ashton woman," Mac ordered in a business-like tone. "We'll catch the phone. By that time I'll be done answering this mail."
    He fanned the few envelopes in his hand and continued into his office. Damned if he was going to let them smirk about his helping out some widow.
    Even if he had slipped and called her Carolyn instead of Mrs. Blake.
     
    The Merchants Association officers meeting scuttlebutt was mainly about the burglary. A few members had even showed up at the meeting to learn what they could about it. They wanted to prevent a repeat in their own stores, but no one could really suggest any preventative measures and they didn't know the cause of Carolyn's break-in since nothing was missing.
    "You ought to talk to Chief Macdonald about what you can do to prevent it happening in your stores," Carolyn suggested helpfully. "He'd have some good suggestions and he's very easy to talk to."
    "Carolyn, that's a great idea," Susan Kline, the owner of Gifts and Crafts, next to the movie theater, replied. "Maybe you could get him to talk to all of us at our next meeting."
    The others agreed with an immediate chorus of yeses.
    "Well, I can ask him," Carolyn allowed. "He seems to be quite helpful and genuinely concerned. He even came to my store in person to see what happened, in addition to sending someone else right away, of course."
    She felt a rush of warmth when she thought of what happened at their initial meeting. She was glad when the owner of the shoe store spoke and the members quit looking at her.
    "The new Chief seems to be on top of things," he agreed.
    Carolyn had to bite her lip to prevent a smile at the intimate picture his comment suddenly presented in her mind. She almost groaned aloud.
    Hazel, who owned the hardware store with her husband, couldn't resist adding her spicy two cents' worth. "I saw him downtown and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. He's a hunk." Hazel was very married but never hesitated to comment on the attractive males in her vicinity. Apparently all she did was look and joke about it. Her husband, who was there at the meeting with her, didn't seem to mind. He must have been used to her personal evaluations of other men.
    "I could stare into those gray eyes for hours. And his strong arms." Hazel sighed dramatically. "To have those around me…" She suddenly giggled and leaned over and kissed her husband loudly on the cheek. Everyone laughed, which had certainly been her aim.
    She easily diverted attention from Carolyn's discomfort. Carolyn still couldn't believe she'd struck Mac as hard as she could when he appeared behind her, and ended up in his arms. Hazel was right. Mac was handsome and definitely a hunk.
    "Carolyn, are you sure they didn't take anything?"
    "What?" she asked, her mind busy with memories. She came back to the present and realized what they were asking. "Oh, no, they didn't; they didn't take anything," she admitted.