Coda 01 - Promises

handles.”
    “What about the store? Hate to leave you short-handed during rush hour.” He raised an eyebrow toward the empty store, one corner of his mouth barely twitching up. “Won’t your boss be mad if you leave?”
    I laughed. “I’m one of the owners, so I can slack off if I want to.” I turned and called into the back room, “Ringo!”
    Our one employee came warily out of the back. He was always skittish with me, and if Lizzy wasn’t around, he made a point of keeping his distance. I think he was expecting me to make a pass at him. He was seventeen, had stringy black hair, bad skin, and probably weighed a buck five soaking wet. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he wasn’t my type.
    “Yeah?”

    “Hold the fort. I’ll be back in an hour or so.” I turned back to my tall, dark stranger. “Let’s go!”

    Once we were in the Jeep, he held his right hand out to me. “I’m Matt Richards.”

    “Jared Thomas.” His grip was strong, but he wasn’t one of those guys who had to break your hand to prove how macho he is.
    “Which way?”
“Turn left. We’ll just drive up to the Rock.”
“What’s that?”
    “What it sounds like—a big fucking rock. It’s nothing spectacular. People go up there to picnic. And of course, the teenagers go there sometimes to park or to get high.”
    He frowned a little at that. I was starting to think he didn’t smile much. I, on the other hand, knew I was grinning ear to ear. Getting out of the store for a few minutes, especially to head into the mountains, was enough to brighten my day considerably. Doing it in the company of the best-looking guy I had seen in a hell of a long time sure didn’t hurt either.
    “So what brings you to our fine metropolis?” I asked him. “I just moved here.”
“Really? Why in the world would you want to do that?”
    “Why not?” His tone was bantering, although his face was still serious. “You live here, don’t you? Is it that bad?”
    “Well, no. I love it here. That’s why I’ve never left. But, you know, the town is dying. More people moving out than moving in. Towns along the front range are booming, but nobody wants to live up here and commute.”
    “I was just hired by the Coda PD.”
“You’re a cop?”
    He raised an eyebrow at me and said with some amusement, “Is that a problem?”

    “Well, no, but I wish I hadn’t told you about the kids coming up here to get high.”
    He raised his eyebrow at me again and said lightly, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell them you’re the rat.” The good officer wasn’t completely without humor. “So, you’ve lived here your whole life?” He didn’t sound curious so much as like he was just trying to make casual conversation.
    “Yep. Except for the years I spent in college.”
“And you own the store?”
    “Me and my brother and his wife, yeah. It’s not a big money maker or anything, but we manage. Brian’s an accountant, and he has other clients, so he mostly just does the books. Lizzy and I run the shop.”
    “But curious.

    you went to college?” Now he sounded genuinely “Yeah, I went to Colorado State. I have a degree in physics and my teacher’s certificate.”
    “Why aren’t you a teacher?”
“I didn’t want to let Brian and Lizzy down.” That wasn’t entirely true, but I didn’t want to tell him the real reason: that I didn’t want to deal with the fallout of being a gay high school teacher in a small town. “There isn’t really anyone else to cover the shop. We can’t afford a full-time employee. Well, we could if they didn’t want benefits, but they do. So instead, we just have Ringo, part time. We get half his salary back, ’cause he spends his paychecks on stuff for his car, so it works out okay.” I laughed. “Ringo! That can’t be his real name.” I realized I was babbling. “Sorry I’m talking so much. I’m sure I’m boring you.”
    He looked right at me and said seriously, “Not at all.” We had reached the end of the trail. “You’ll have to turn around here.”

    He stopped the Jeep and looked around suspiciously. There were no other cars. “I don’t see any rock.”
    “Just up the trail a bit. Want to walk up there?”
His face brightened a little at that. “You bet.”
    So we walked down the trail, through Ponderosa pines and Douglas firs and aspens that were just starting to bud to one of the rocky abutments that must have helped give the Rockies their name. The Colorado mountains are full of