Wolfe Wedding by Joan Hohl Page B

Bye. Love you.” She took off at a near-run along the campus walk.”
    “Sarah, slow down!” Jake called after her in sharp concern.
    She flashed a grin at him over her shoulder, adjusting her pace to a brisk, striding gait.
    Jake anxiously watched her until she entered the building. Then he set the car in motion to wend his way to the station.
    After reporting in, he got behind the wheel of his black-and-white police cruiser and began his regular routine of patrol.
    Jake loved being a cop, enjoyed waving to and exchanging friendly gibes with kids of incremental ages as he patrolled the area around the elementary, middle and high school. From there, his route took him around the outer boundaries of the college.
    But even after seven months he still could not drive the college perimeters without recalling the events of the previous autumn.
    That was when Jake had first met, and been immediately attracted to, Sarah Cummings.
    Now he could reflect gratefully on the incident, for it had inadvertently brought him and Sarah together. But at the time, the mystery of Sarah had nearly driven him to distraction.
    The incident had involved the crime of car theft, or more precisely car-parts theft, undertaken by three upper-middle-class college students on a whim, just to see if they could get away with it.
    And they might have, Jake conceded, had it not been for the threat posed by Sarah to the three of them, because she had accidentally overheard them discussing their nefarious activities, and his subsequent interest in her.
    Oh, it had stumped him for a while, the glaring fact that she shied away from being seen in public with him, especially when he was in uniform.
    But Jake had eventually worked it all out, then set about catching the young men with the goods—withSarah’s help, he admitted, smiling at the memory of her wielding a stout branch to knock a tire iron meant for his head out of the hand of the self-appointed leader of the three.
    Savoring the warm memory of his beautiful Sarah rushing to his defense, Jake happily continued his patrol, stopping occasionally, chatting with friends and acquaintances, until it was time to meet Sarah for lunch.
    She was waiting for him in their usual back booth in the off-campus hamburger joint where he had first spotted her seven months ago. She was wearing the same big round tortoiseshell glasses that gave her a wide-eyed, owlish appearance.
    The sight of her softened and hardened Jake at one and the same time.
    “Hi,” he murmured, sliding onto the bench opposite her in the booth, slightly awed and amazed at the ever-deepening love he felt for her.
    “Hi.” Sarah returned his greeting, the glow in her eyes proof that she returned his love in equal measure.
    “Got time to hear about Eric now?”
    “I’m all yours for exactly fifty-five minutes,” she said brightly.
    “You better be—for fifty-five minutes, and forever,” he growled.
    “Eric?” She laughed and arched her eyebrows.
    “Yeah.” He grinned. “He and Tina are pregnant, just like you and me.”
    “I think it’s wonderful.”
    “So do they.” He laughed and shook his head. “And you really don’t mind making it a double wedding?”
    “Not at all. It’ll be fun.” Her eyes danced with amusement. “And your mother will love it.”
    “According to Eric, she already does.” Jake erupted in laughter as another consideration sprang to mind. “And I can’t wait to hear what Cameron will have to say. Two weddings and two babies! He’ll freak.”

Eight
    C ameron woke to the sound of running water, both inside and outside the house. Frowning, he pried his eyes open to a slit and peered at the face of his watch. The position of the hands brought his eyes wide open.
    Twelve-fourteen! He never slept so late—except on days when he didn’t get to sleep until dawn. And this was, had been, one of those days, or nights, or whatever.
    The sound of water running inside the house ceased abruptly. The running