Visitation

"No, thank you," he told her. "And it's Weston."

"Okay. Weston it is then," she said smiling politely.

Greer spent about half an hour with Mr. Thomas and his family before moving on. He told Shannon how nice it was to meet her and said, "If there's anything I can do to help you get settled, please don't hesitate to ask." He gave her a card with his name and number on and she thanked him for it.

"Unless you feel like unpacking boxes or putting stuff away, I think we're fine," she said in a friendly way.

"I'm not afraid of hard work," he told her. "I don't know how many friends you might have around here to help out, but if you do need a hand, I really am happy to stop by and help out."

Shannon smiled again and said, "I just may take you up on that, Officer...Weston. I do still have a couple of friends in the area, but they're both married and raising kids so..."

"Oh, COOL!" Colby called out. "Mom! I just made it to level 17 for the first time!"

"That's great, honey," she said as she and Greer looked down at her son who never once even looked up.

"See what I mean?" she said managing a small laugh. "Surgically attached." She did her thumbs like she was playing the game, too, and Greer couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, so call me if you need me. And Mr. Thomas? You stay out of trouble, okay?"

"Not a chance!" he said, his spirits up more than Greer had ever seen.

"And good luck with level 17," he said to Colby who didn't hear a word as he was busy making 'game noises' as his thumbs worked overtime.

Greer nodded at Shannon then did the same thing with his thumbs causing her to laugh hard enough that she covered her mouth. For a woman who was somewhere around 35, Greer couldn't help but think she was about as attractive as anyone he'd ever met, and he'd been in the company of some very nice-looking women. None of them had been older than 28, but Shannon was someone he thought he wouldn't mind getting to know if and when she might be ready to start dating again. Then again, having married an older man, she might well have no interest in a 'kid' his age regardless of when she might be ready to start seeing someone else.

He wished everyone a goodnight again, then headed down the hall to see Mrs. Garr, who hadn't been doing well for the last couple of weeks. As much as he loved spending time with the elderly, he knew full well the eventual, unavoidable downside of getting attached. Even so, he always looked forward to his visits and the way his new friends reacted each time he walked into their room.

He popped his head into hers and said, "Where's my beautiful girl?" Mrs. Garr immediately perked up and asked where her 'kissing cop' was then pointed to her cheek. "Just a little sugar, okay?" she said in a voice that was raspy and weak.

He gave her a quick peck and asked how she was feeling. "Not so good, handsome," she told him. "I think the good Lord may be callin' me home any day now."

"Hey, don't talk that way," he told her with a smile. "Who else am I gonna kiss if he does?"

She laughed and the laughter caused a terrible coughing spell. Greer propped her tiny, frail body up and held her until it subsided.

"Oh, Lord. Maybe I should cough more often," she quipped as he gently laid her back down.

They talked for a while longer before Greer went to excuse himself. "Oh, Weston? There's something I want you to have, okay?" She pointed to the drawer in the nightstand next to her bed. "Go on. Open it," she told him.

There was an envelope with what looked like a Hallmark card inside the drawer. He went to open it and Mrs. Garr said, "Oh, no. Not that. Just the drawer. No, you hold onto the envelope until the Good Lord takes me into his arms and then you open it." She smiled and said, "No peeking!"

He promised he wouldn't then gave her another kiss on the cheek. He saw a tear in her eye then heard her say, "If only my kin would come to see me like you do." She smiled again then asked, "Is it too late to adopt you?"

Greer laughed, squeezed her tiny hand, and wished her a good night.

He just couldn't get back the next night and the following day, his tough, former-Marine police sergeant called him over first thing. "Hey, kid? I wanted to let you know that nice lady, that um..." He was looking for the name he'd written down somewhere.

"Garr?"

"Yeah, that's it. She um...passed away last night around 10 o'clock or so. I'm real sorry."

He could be a real dick, but he was a superb police officer and since he'd started visiting the elderly, his heart of stone had softened just a bit.

"Thanks, Sarge," Greer told him. He knew if he'd gone last night, he'd have been there to see her one last time. All he could think about was that sweet lady dying all alone. He blinked away a tear and got ready to go to work.

Greer had never fired his service weapon in the line of duty until that evening. Just twenty minutes before the end of his tour, he and his partner were called to the scene of a robbery in progress at a convenience store on their beat. They were less than a block away and arrived in under two minutes.

A young kid wearing a hoodie had a gun in his hand and was holding it sideways pointing it at the shop owner's face. Greer's partner called for backup as the pair followed department procedure to the letter. The kid saw them standing outside watching him and panicked. He started firing his weapon several times as he bolted for the door. Greer's partner was hit in the shoulder and went down just as the kid exited.

Greer was in a crouch and fired two rounds in quick succession, both of them striking the young man in the chest. Greer approached with his weapon in hand while calling for an ambulance using the most dreaded of phrases, "Officer down! Shots fired. Repeat. Officer down!"

He kicked the young man's weapon away, then slowly knelt down and checked for a pulse. He was alive so Greer handcuffed him then went to attend to his partner who was angry but not scared.

"Son of a bitch!"

"You okay? Where'd you get hit?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Bastard missed my vest by an inch. Looks like it went right through my shoulder."

They heard the sirens in the background and seconds later two squad cars arrived and within two minutes paramedics were on the scene.

"You want me to call Tammy?" he asked his partner as they examined the wound.

"Nah, you'll just scare the hell out of her. I'll call her on the ride to the hospital."

"I'll be by to see you later. And leave the nurses alone! You hear me?"

Back at the precinct, the lieutenant was waiting for him. Greer debriefed him completely then waited for the unavoidable.

"You know the drill, Greer. I'm gonna have to take your weapon and put you on administrative leave until the investigation is complete," the lieutenant said. "Sounds like a clean shooting to me, but that's not my call."

"Is the kid gonna make it?" Greer asked.

"He's in surgery, but yeah, they think he'll be okay. You know, so he can spend the next 20 years in a prison cell."

Greer stopped by the hospital where his partner was recovering with his wife and two kids.

"There's the real hero," the other cop said pointing to his partner who may well have saved his life as the kid was getting ready to fire a second round at him.

"Nah, I just managed to not get shot," Greer said modestly. "You doin' okay?"

"Oh, yeah. This morphine stuff is great," he said. He tilted his head toward his shoulder then said, "Went right through, just like I said."

Tammy thanked him and he could see the fear in her eyes. It was a dangerous job. There was no getting around that. His partner had a wife and kids, something Greer didn't have to think about. He assured her her husband would fine and that he'd be back to check on him in the morning.

As he was making his rounds at the nursing home that evening, Shannon was visiting with her dad again. They made small talk and after a nice visit she asked if there was any chance he really could give her a hand over the next day or two.

"Well, considering I'm on administrative leave and have no job...I think I could manage to stop by and do a little work."

He didn't want to explain why and was grateful when Shannon didn't ask. She gave him her address and he promised to be there bright and early. Colby asked him if he could wear his uniform because he'd made friends with a neighbor boy and he wanted to show him he really did know a police officer.

"No, sorry, buddy. I'll be wearing shorts and a tee-shirt since it's August."

Shannon laughed and said, "Oh, right. The one true month of summer. People go nuts around here when it hits 85 for a couple of days. I'd forgotten that."

"Well, enjoy it, because a month from now it's gonna be...nothing but gray skies...from now on."

He sang it to the tune of 'nothing but blue skies' and Shannon laughed before saying, "You have very nice singing voice."

"It's strictly for karaoke and the shower, but thank you. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I hope so," she said with a smile. "Is 9am too early?"

Greer laughed and said, "I was thinking more like eight so nine is perfect."

"I'm not exactly a morning person," she said, "so nine is much better for me. She looked at Colby and said, "But this guy is up bright and early seven days a week, huh?"

He was playing video games again and didn't even hear her. Both his mom and Greer did the 'thumbs thing' and started laughing.

Greer stopped by the hospital at 8am and spent some time with his partner then headed across town to the address Shannon had given him and pulled into the driveway. It was a fairly new, rather large, ranch style home in a very nice suburban neighborhood. Nothing overly ornate, but very comfortable with a decent-sized yard.

There was a large storage container in the driveway Greer correctly assumed was filled with boxes from the move. As he got out of his car, he saw Shannon appear from inside it carrying a large box.

"Hey!" he called out. "Let me give you a hand with that."

"Hey yourself!" she called back. "Be careful. This one is pretty heavy," she told him happily handing it off to him.

"Wow. What's in this one? Rocks?" he joked.

"Crystal. At least I think that's right. We'll know for sure when we open it, won't we?" She got the door for him and asked him to set it in the kitchen. Evidently, she'd just started because there were only two other smaller boxes that he could see.

"You sure you want to get into this mess?" she asked as they headed back outside.

"Absolutely," he told her. "Beats hanging out around my apartment all day."

"So you're not working?" she asked as they each picked up another box.

"No, I've got a few days off," he told her.

"Well, you certainly don't need to spend them here, but I'm grateful for any help you care to offer."

Greer kicked the door with his foot to let Shannon go in first as she said, "Lunch is on me if you care to hang around that long."

"Oh, okay. Well, honestly? I planned to stay until you were done. I tend to finish whatever I start so unless you kick me out, I'm here until that pod is empty."

She sat the box down in the living room and told him where his went. "Okay. I accept!" she said smiling brightly at him.

For the next two hours they hauled boxes inside one after the other without a break.

"I think we should maybe knock off for lunch is you don't mind. After that I really need to unpack some of these before we bring anything else in. Don't feel obligated to stick around for that."

"Are you kicking me out?" he said with a smile.

"No, just giving you...a way out," she said smiling back.

"No, thanks. I'm good," he told her. "A sandwich is all I need to keep going as long as you feel like working."

"You give real meaning to the 'serve' part of 'to protect and serve'," she told him. "I don't really have anything in the house to eat so how about we grab Colby and go get ourselves a sub sandwich or whatever strikes your fancy."

"Yeah, sure. Where is the big guy?" Greer asked.

"I let him stay at his new friend's place since we don't even have our beds put together. We've been in a motel until I came over here this morning. So it would be really great if I could at least get his bed assembled today."

"Consider it done," Greer told her.

Colby was thrilled when he saw Officer Greer and couldn't wait to show his new friend, Dustin, that he knew an actual police officer—uniform or not. Shannon asked his mom if Dustin could come with them, and the four of them headed off to get ready to go to lunch just before noon.

Greer tried not stare as Shannon led Colby back to their house while he and Dustin brought up the um...rear...but she had legs that made it impossible not to look. They were long, lean, shapely and tanned, and she had a perfect, tight little butt he also found irresistible. As if that wasn't enough, she also had this narrow waist and a pair of gorgeous, C-cup boobs that bounced just right underneath the pink wife-beater tee-shirt she was wearing. And that smile and her pretty face and...

"Weston? What do you think?" he heard her say.

The problem was he'd been 'otherwise occupied' and hadn't heard a word.

"I'm sorry. Could you say that again, please?" he asked hoping she didn't know why he hadn't been paying attention.

"Do you have a preference for where we go?" she asked.

"I'm kind of fond of Potbellys, but anywhere is okay with me," he told her trading places with Colby.

"Potbellys? Are you serious or just pulling my leg?" she asked, covering her eyes with her hand as the sun shone directly into them.

"Serious. There are two of them fairly close by. Or we could hit Quiznos. That's a little closer."

"I've been to Quiznos. You've got my curiosity up with this Pork Belly place so let's give that a try," she said intentionally goofing on the name.

"You won't regret it," he told her. "Their toasted ham and cheese on rye is incredible. I like sauerkraut on mine but..."

"Eeew! Sauerkraut? Really?"

"Oh, yeah. Really," he told her. "Tell you what. You try one bite. If you don't like it, lunch is on me."

She smiled at him and said, "Okay, you're on! Come on boys, climb on it!"

Shannon drove a Volvo Cross Country wagon. Nothing flashy but very safe and Greer knew it was fairly new and likely a 2015 model. He also knew they went for around $40,000 which was the starting price for the base model. This one had to be well over fifty grand new.

Twenty minutes later, the car was unloaded and Shannon was walking into Potbellys with Greer.

"Nice place," she said. "Funny name, but nice."

A young girl saw them and smiled at Greer until she realized this beautiful woman was with him. She saw her wedding ring and did a double take.

"Hi...Weston," she said dryly. "I...I didn't know you were married."

He smiled at her then at Shannon who smiled back, "Oh, no. We're not married," he said pointing at himself and Shannon.

"We're just friends," she added. "No worries. He's still available."

The girl blushed furiously then said, "Oh, okay...um...well, have a nice lunch!"

"Looks like someone has a crush on a handsome young police officer!" Shannon teased.

"Nah, she's just really sweet," Greer said playing it but knowing better.

"Uh-huh. Sure. I was her age once, but let's go with your version," she said smiling at him in way that let him know she wasn't buying it.

As promised, Shannon took one small bite of Greer's sauerkraut-laden sandwich. She made a face as she did, but as she chewed, the face went away. "Oh, my goodness. This is delicious!" she said with her mouth full.

"Told you, right?" he said gloating just a bit. "Looks like you're buying—this time."

As they ate, Greer couldn't help but notice how well-behaved Colby and Dustin were, something he mentioned to Shannon.

"I don't know Dustin, but he seems sweet. Colby really is a good kid, Weston." She lowered her voice and leaned closer. "His father's death really hit him hard. He's much more subdued now. We both went to see a therapist a few times right after he passed away, and she said this is very normal. It's just hard to see him hurting. I know this is something he has to go through, but as a mom it isn't easy, you know?"

"I can't say I fully understand, but I can certainly sympathize. Were they close?"

"Yes and no. Dale, my husband, sold pharmaceuticals. He traveled a lot for business. He was gone about half the time and busy with work whenever he came home. He tried to spend time with Colby, but Dale didn't play sports and that's what Colby loves. Well, other than video games which I think you already noticed. And Dale didn't enjoy those much, either. Still, he was his father and I know he misses him terribly. I miss him, too, just not like my son. But...that's another story for another day."

"What are his favorite sports?" Greer asked her.

"Oh, you name it. Soccer, football, basketball, hockey, skateboarding, bowling. All of them and more."

"There's a half pipe not far from your house. Would you possibly consider letting me take him there while I'm off work?"

"Do you skate?" she asked not sure she heard him right.

"When I was a kid, yes. I haven't for a long time, but I can probably still hold my own with anyone who isn't really good. Some of these kids are just amazing. I like to bowl, too. Maybe we could go bowling sometime."

"We? As in you and Colby or..."

"Whatever," he said. "I'd be more than happy to take him—Dustin, too, for that matter—but it like seems he'd enjoy having his mom around. No?"

"Um...maybe. I've tried to take up the slack for his dad being gone so much, but I'm just not good at any sport. I try but honestly? I suck."

Greer laughed politely and Shannon said, "I'm not kidding. I totally throw like a girl. I bat like a girl."

"Um, well, you kind of are a girl," he said trying not to stare.

She smiled then said, "I like being a girl. I just wish my son had a strong male role model who was there for him, you know? Then again, I'd love to find someone someday myself. I truly hate being alone, and that was part of 'the other story' I referenced a minute ago."

"If you ever wanna just talk, I've been told I do a pretty decent job of listening."

"I noticed that," she told him. "You're not like any guy I've ever met. You really do listen. You actually pay attention and seem to care about what I have to say. That's very refreshing."

"I do care, Shannon, and I'm available pretty much anytime. Just let me know."

"Thank you, but you're already giving up so much of your time helping me get settled. Oh, and then there's all the volunteering you do."

She stopped for a second then said, "Weston? I can't thank you enough for taking an interest in my dad. I've almost literally been sick knowing he's there all alone. You've made quite an impression on him...and me." She paused again then smiled at him. "Please, please don't spoil the surprise, but I'm moving him in with us as soon as the house is put together. Dale had a reasonably good life insurance policy and after selling our home in Colorado, we can afford nursing care, and I want my dad to be at home with his family."

"Wow. That is just incredible, Shannon! I can't tell you how good that makes me feel. Whatever you may be alluding to in your marriage is none of my business, but I can tell you I'm a little..." Greer stopped talking and thought twice about finishing his thought.

"It's okay, Weston. Tell me. I won't be offended. I promise."

"Offended? No, I was going to say something complimentary, but it probably isn't appropriate so perhaps I should just stop talking now."

"I haven't heard many compliments in...well, many years, so at the risk of sounding like I'm fishing for one, it would be very pleasant to hear something nice."