23. Raleigh

CHAPTER 23

Raleigh

I expect us to stop at another city, or at the very least a small town. But when Derrick takes his exit, the few buildings I can see are still misty outlines twenty minutes further down the highway. Where we turn off, there’s nothing but knee-high grass, weeds, and sparse trees.

We follow a rough road made more of potholes than asphalt for a few miles. Finally, a wooden fence appears, separating tall grass from tall grass. I see a barn off in the distance, a chicken coop, and a long, low ranch house painted pale teal. Derrick pulls into a gravel driveway, and behind another fence that separates the road from the fields, I see horses grazing. Goats and chickens wander in a side yard. And, coming around the side of the house, I see-

More enormous dogs.

Four of them, ranging from Chance and Justice’s size to mine , come barreling up to the cruiser as Derrick parks and releases his own dogs into the fray. He smiles for the first time since yesterday afternoon, but it’s at the dogs, not me. As they wheel around him, barking wildly for pets he doesn’t have enough arms to give, the front door of the ranch house opens and an older woman steps out.

She’s dressed in plain gray jeans and a flowery button-up shirt, with her gray hair pulled back in a messy bun. The deep crow’s feet and laugh lines on her face show her age, but her body is wiry and fit. Her blue eyes and straight nose tell me exactly who she is.

Derrick’s mother.

At the sight of her son, her face bursts into a startled smile that I immediately know he also inherited from her. Then her eyes catch on the multiple bullet holes in his cruiser, and her smile disappears.

“Oh my god, Derrick?!” she calls, running down the front steps and toward her son. “What happened- are you all right- what are you doing here-”

Derrick catches his mother in his arms and hugs her fiercely. A piercing ache shoots through my chest, startling me.

“I’m absolutely fine, mom,” Derrick tells her. “I’m sorry I didn’t call ahead but it was pretty late when we left the city.”

“That is not an explanation!” his mother accuses, looking over the embattled cruiser- and suddenly locking eyes with me. She jumps back, pressing a hand to her heart. “Oh- we .”

When Derrick looks into the cruiser at me, he’s still smiling, but it becomes more polite than warm. “Come on out, Raleigh.”

I would so much rather camp in the cruiser forever, but the longer I hesitate, the more awkward this entire thing will be. I step out onto the gravel driveway and am immediately assaulted by the four new dogs.

“Oh my god- Herbie! March!” Derrick’s mother calls, but it’s Derrick’s sharp whistle that gets them all to back off. “I’m so sorry for them,” his mother says. “They’re not used to visitors at all.”

“I’m not either,” I say, trying to sound like I’m joking. Derrick’s mother takes it in stride.

“Mom, this is Raleigh,” Derrick says. “Raleigh, this is my mom, Beth.” He puts his arm around her shoulder, and it only strengthens their resemblance.

“Pleasure to meet you, Raleigh,” Beth says, shaking my hand with both of hers. Her smile is warm as the sun, and it’s left lines in her face that make it clear she does it all the time. “My god, look at your eyes. You’re as gorgeous as a TV star!”

Before I can even recover from the compliment, she turns to her son. “I wish I’d known you were coming, Derrick, I would’ve made you both breakfast!”

“ I’ll make us breakfast, since we dropped in on you without warning,” Derrick tells her firmly, steering her up the drive and toward the house. “And I’ll tell you at least half of why we’re here.”

“It had better be the true half, Derrick James Lindman” his mother warns, startling a smile out of me as I follow.

The inside of the ranch house is all bare, warm wood and colorful patterns in the fabric, throw pillows, and rugs. There are pictures all over the wall- all of Derrick at various stages of his life, and several of the two of them together. None with a man I can assume is his father, though.

Beth leads us into an open kitchen with an enormous island, and Derrick immediately starts bustling through the cupboards and fridge for food. I hover by the entry to the kitchen, watching how familiar and comfortable Derrick is with the place and feeling the exact opposite. Beth notices me standing on the sidelines and beckons to me.

“Oh, come in, honey. You can walk anywhere you want so long as you take off your shoes.”

I immediately obey, leaving my shoes by the door and hesitantly approaching the kitchen island, wringing my fingers in Derrick’s too-long sleeves. Beth sits on a stool across from me, already happy to leave the cooking to her son.

“So why are there a dozen bullet holes in your car, my dear child?” she asks Derrick. She’s still smiling, but there’s strain around her eyes now.

“I was part of a high speed chase before we came here,” Derrick admits simply, whisking milk and eggs together in a bowl. “It got a bit heated, but no one was hurt.”

“I hope you caught the crazies,” Beth says, alarmed.

“Of course,” Derrick grins.

He says it with such confidence and pride that I almost don’t realize he’s lying- and I was part of the fucking high speed chase!

“And then you drove your swiss cheese car all the way here becauuuse?” Beth presses.

“My car’s in the shop,” Derrick says easily. “Besides, it looks bad but it still runs. Perk of being the sheriff, mom.”

I’m pretty sure it’s not, not at all, but Beth doesn’t question this. Instead, she turns to me.

“And are you training in the Academy, sweetheart?” she asks.

Maybe she took in my lack of a uniform and assumed the only way I could be on a ride along is if I’m training to be a cop. Is it easier to confirm or deny? Should I also be lying to Derrick’s mother, or is that a crime only Derrick is allowed to commit? I chicken out at the last second and go with the truth.

“Oh, no, I’m not. I’m a…”

Unfortunately, I don’t have an easy explanation for my presence at the ready- because meeting Derrick’s mother after escaping a high speed chase and then letting slip that I’m pregnant with Derrick’s child is so far outside my anticipated activities for the day that I just… can’t think of anything.

Luckily, Derrick is apparently used to lying through his teeth to his own mother, because he says with a laugh, “Raleigh’s not a cadet, mom. She’s my girlfriend.”

That stuns me and his mother, but at the last second I turn my wide eyes and slack jaw into a look of crazed joy instead of shock. Beth leaps up from her chair and smacks her son on the arm.

“Well why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?!” she demands, but she’s clearly ecstatic. She hugs Derrick, almost making him drop the mixing bowl in his hands, then comes around the island to hug me . “Oh, it really is a pleasure to meet you, honey,” she gushes. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything, Derrick! Tell me everything! How long have you been dating? Where did you meet?”

For a moment I don’t care that what she thinks of me is a lie. She smells like strawberries and sun-soaked hay, and her hug is unashamedly warm. My chest aches, but I manage to hug her back. She squeezes me all the tighter before letting me go. The loss makes my eyes sting, and I quickly blink away the emotion.

I… never got the chance to be hugged by my mother.

“We met at a fancy bar,” I manage to say. “Three months ago. We had instant chemistry.”

Beth clearly wants me to elaborate, but my mind is drawing nothing but blanks. I don’t want to lie to this woman any more than is absolutely necessary. I just smile like I’m too bashful to go on.

I can feel Derrick’s gaze on me from the other side of the kitchen, but I don’t dare meet his eyes over his mom’s shoulder. Whatever he’s making starts to sizzle, and he turns his attention back to the stove.

“Well, I guess it’s just fine that I didn’t have any time to get a second guest bedroom ready,” Beth says. “How long are you two staying for?”

“Just the weekend,” Derrick pipes up, flipping an omelet in a pan. “Raleigh was dying to meet you, but I do have to get the car back for repairs sooner rather than later.”

“Well, obviously I’m happy to see my one and only son,” Beth says, “and his gorgeous girlfriend ! He’s never brought home a woman, you know,” she adds in a playful whisper that Derrick definitely hears.

Oh… really? That’s just one more shock to add to the pile I suppose. But she hugs me again, and I forget a little of my confusion in the comfort of her arms.