A/N: So, ya'll might be wondering where exactly some of the parts of the story are going after reading this chapter, but trust me, I never put something in that doesn't have a point for later. Thank you for everyone who reviewed and put this story on their alert list; it made my day!! Feel free to comment on things you don't like, though; otherwise, I won't get better.

Candle-rain-chan: Thank you for the suggestion; it actually did help me alot, even though I did not quite use the topic the way you meant. It did get me on a train of thought that brought me to what I thought was a good idea, and by the end of the 4th chapter, I hope you'll be happy with the outcome :)

Alicyn Wonderland: Thank you to you, too. The "random moments" idea will be used as well. Hope you enjoy

Mandy,

I heard you come in pretty late last night; I hope things went well down at Ethel's! I know you have an early morning since you have to open, but there is some milk and sugar in the pan on the stove for you to heat up; I know how you don't like breakfast, but no one leaves this house without something in their stomach!

Have a good day, Sugar. Love, Patty

Aaaawww… Patty thought of everything. Such a sweetie. It was nice to know that someone cared.

True enough, the contents of the letter were on the stove waiting for me; as I waited for the milk to heat up, I tried to blink myself awake. It was 5:45a.m., and I'd been up since 5:00 getting ready for work. I had been in a pretty sour mood having to wake up a half-hour early on account that I had to walk to work because of that dumb pick-up. Pouring the steaming milk into a green travel mug, I wondered who I could call to go tow the hunk of metal to a mechanic. The police had a tow-truck down at the station; maybe Tony could-

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car horn outside the house. "Now who is that at this time in the morning?"

I slipped on my white keds, grabbed my warm milk, and quietly padded to the front door so as not to wake up Patty. The door creaked open and I peered out; the sun was beginning to rise, casting an orange hue about the world. It was a little disturbing to see a cop car in my driveway, but, when the window rolled down and Tony poked his head out, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Need a ride?" he called out.

I smiled, it looked like I wouldn't have to walk after all. "You bet!" I said, coming out and closing the door softly behind me. I jogged down the walkway and slid into shotgun.

"How'd you know?"

Tony put the car in reverse and backed out onto the street. "Well, I got a call from Ethel pretty late last night; she said your truck was still in the parking lot all by itself when she closed. I figured it had konked out on you again, so I dropped by on my rounds."

I pulled the seatbelt down over my shoulder, "Thanks, Tony. You're a life saver!"

"Not a problem."

The inside of his car was pretty cool; there was a hand-held radio set, a pair of walkie-talkies, and I couldn't help but notice the black, iron grid behind my headrest, separating the backseat from the front seat.

"Woooowww, so that's where you put people who go to the slammer, huh?"

Tony snorted, "Yea, supposedly." He sounded disappointed, and at my inquisitive look he explained himself. "Well, I've actually never had to… well…use it."

"Really? Not even once?" I tried to sound shocked, but I wasn't surprised. Except for a few drunk teenagers, sometimes a bit of teenage vandalism, and, again, a few teenage speeding tickets, there wasn't much for the cops to do. That's why they also worked as the town firemen, and they even had an old ambulance which they used to rush any townsfolk up to the hospital in Falls Ridge.

Tony seemed a little disheartened at the fact, so I tried to change the topic and cheer him up. The radio was tuned in to some crackly station, and I decided we needed a little music.

"Don't touch that," was all he said when I reached for the radio dial.

"Why not?"

"I need it on that particular station; it's the radio wave our squad communicates on."

I folded my hands in my lap for a few seconds, but that noise coming through the speakers grated on my nerves. I just couldn't stand it; did he listen to this every day?

"Mandy, no," he said, as I reached for the tuner a second time.

"Awww, come on, Tony! No one is even talking on this thing; it'll only be for a few minutes," I smiled sweetly up at him and blinked rapidly several times.

He looked over at me and the corners of his mouth twitched, but he held his ground. Or tried to, anyway. "Sorry, Mandy."

My hand continued on its path. "Mandy, I said 'no'." It kept going. "Mandy, don't you dare."

I giggled like a delighted child, "Uh-oh, Tony, it's almost there!!"

"Mand-"

Click.

"…YG radio giving you the best Oldies from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. This is the morning show with Sheila Retkin," the radio blasted to life.

"Mandy!" Tony scolded and slapped my hand.

I grabbed his wrist before he could change it, "Watch it! Two hands on the wheel at all times, Mr. State Trooper, or I could have you on charges for reckless endangerment!"

He laughed at my serious face, and I let go of his arm once he promised not to change the channel.

"Amanda, you sure are somethin' else."

I waved the comment off as a familiar tune by Bryan Adams filled the car, "Oh, I love this song!" Clenching my hand into a fist, I belted out the first verse in a truly dramatic style.

"I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played it 'til my fingers bled
It was the summer of '69."

I could tell he was having a hard time not laughing, especially in the parts where I forgot the words and made up something different. He shook his head in embarrassment, "Ya know, I look at you and think, 'Man, God is really creative… that or one of the more mischievous angels thought it would be funny to send you down her before He was finished'." Tony ducked away from a slap aimed for the back of his head. Oh well, it was time for my Shining Moment… the Chorus.

"Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever,
And if I had the choice
Ya - I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life."

"Seriously, you do know that you're twenty-six, right?" he asked sarcastically.

"That's what it says on my birth certificate!"

"Please, fix your truck soon. Better yet, get a new one so I never have to go through this torture ever again!"

I thought about it for a moment; I had never had any other car. My dad gave me Big Red when I was in high school, so I didn't really have firsthand experience in car shopping. "How do you buy a new car?"

He pulled the car to a stop at the red traffic light and looked over at me, "Well, what kind of car do you want?"

I was about to say "Something really big!" when I heard a revved up engine down the road. Glancing to my right, I almost missed the speedy, silver Porsche as it whipped through the 4-way intersection, continuing on its journey west down Main Street. Had I blinked, I just might've missed it.

"Oh, Tony, I want that one," I said in awe, pointing after the retreating cruiser.

"Yea, me, too. Sorry, but I need you to get out of the car!" Tony was unbuckling my seatbelt.

"What are you doing?!"

He leaned across my lap and yanked on my door handle, pushing it open as the latch unhinged. "Mandy, that guy was going like 65mph down this road; it's only 25! I gotta go after him, and it's against regulations for you to be in the car when I do; now GO!"

"OOOH!" I squealed in shocked understanding. The sirens coming from behind surprised me, and we both turned to watch another police car, lights blaring, speed through the intersection and after the offensive vehicle.

Rushing out of the car, I looked back at Tony, "Looks like somebody beat you to him."

Tony seemed confused. "Maybe, but that cop definitely isn't from here. He's got a black and white car; we have brown and gold. He's gonna need my help because he doesn't have any jurisdiction in Cottage Grove; he can't place the guy under arrest for resisting a law officer, or even give him a simple ticket for speeding!"

"Antonio Rocamontes, make me proud!"

I slammed the door shut and backed off as Tony made a sharp left turn and peeled off after the disappearing police car. As he drove away, I could see him talking into his radio hand-set before looking over his shoulder and giving me the thumbs-up. Quickly, his lights vanished over the hilltop, too.

Good. Tony needed a bit of excitement. Chicago had been like the Devil's Lair; there had never been a lack of crime up there. Three years of peace and quiet in the Grove had gotten him restless. Yes, this would be good for him.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

I glanced up at the clean-shaven, middle-aged man sitting at the counter. Smiling, "Sure, Joe. What's up?"

"Why are you still here?"

I paused in wiping the black countertop. "Huh? It's only….mmm…6:37 in the morning. Work just started."

He swallowed a gulp of coffee and waggled his hand, "I didn't mean that. I meant… well, why are you still here…in Cottage Grove?"

I let out a short puff of laughter. "I thought you liked me, Joe!"

Joe crossed his arms and leaned back on the barstool; it gave me a full view of the navy blue badge sewed onto the upper right sleeve of his brown leather jacket. On the badge in bold golden letters read, "Capt. Joseph Riley: Proud Sheriff of Cottage Grove." His men had given it to him for a birthday gift.

"The Grove isn't a good place for a lively young girl such as yourself."

"Joe, the Grove is my home; I grew up here," my face scrunched up, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Alright, then," he leaned forward again, his elbows resting on the countertop, "let me ask you something else. What are you doing here? What is your purpose in life that you feel so compelled to stick around? What is it that keeps you here?"

It appeared he expected an answer. And for whatever reason, I couldn't think of one.

"Mandy, I'm not saying I want you to go. I just can't figure out why you want to stay."

When I woke up this morning, this conversation wasn't in my planner. I still couldn't think of a response.

"What are you trying to get at, Joe?" I felt needled, pushed, bullied for some reason. Joe and I had always talked about stuff together; after all, he came in every morning for his 6:30 coffee so there was always time to converse. But, we had always kept to light topics, not philosophical ones.

I think he could tell my attitude had shifted and he held up his hands in defense. "Now, Mandy, just listen to me. I've got a piece I'd like to say if you'd only be willing to listen."

It was a request, not an attack.

"Yea, ok." I put the washrag down by the sink and cocked my hip against the side of the counter.

"Alright, first things first. I want you to name me some friends you have here in the Grove."

"That's easy. There's you and Larry and Tony and Patty and Susan an-"

"Only friends that are about your age, Mandy."

That was a little harder. "Well, Tony, Dave and Bobbi Peters, Sean and Linette Jensen, and there's…" I rattled off a list of names.

Joe looked satisfied about something. "Good. Now, besides you and Tony and Jacob Finch, what do all those other people have in common?"

I didn't appreciate where this conversation was going.

"They're all married."

"And?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose to ward off the coming headache. "And they have kids."

"That's right."

"Are you trying to imply something about Tony and me?" I asked in irritation.

"Nope, not even close. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I would disapprove of it if you two ever did decide to get married, but since you brought up the subject… What would you do if Tony ever did get married to someone else?"

My eyes snapped fire, "Who?"

"I didn't say there was anyone; I said, 'what if?'."

"Oh," my body relaxed, and I dismissed his comment with a flick of my wrist. "That would never happen."

"Why? Because he thinks he's in love with you?"

On the defense, again, "Tony's not supposed to be with anyone!"

Whoa, where'd that come from? That sounded pretty territorial… and Joe had heard it, too.

His head cocked to one side, "Not supposed to?"

I dug my fingers through my hair and huffed in frustration. "It's just that he's always liked me. I mean… it's just… it's always been that way!" Things like that don't just change, do they?

"What if you were out of the picture?"

"Huh?"

"I don't want you blabbin' this all over or even talking to Tony about it, but," Joe took another sip of his lukewarm coffee and was quiet for a moment or two, "I sent in a letter of recommendation for Tony to be relocated at another police force on the Eastern Coast."

My jaw dropped, "You what?"

"Tony is a good cop, or would be if he had the chance. Mandy, you probably don't understand, but he's wilting…"

It was scandalous! He couldn't just send Tony somewhere else, and what about Lily? Who would be there for her if I wasn't? "How could you do that?" my eyes narrowed in accusation.

Joe seemed sad, "Let me tell you a little about this place. People come here when they want to get away; whether they're running from factory pollution, large crowds, highways, or just to get some peace and quiet, we always have a slow trickle of new folks coming here to live in a safe, old-style environment. Most of them are elderly couples who want to find rest in their last years of life, but then there are the young couples who move in so that their kids can grow up in a secure place.

"And it's safe, all right; down to the point where nothing ever happens. It's like life turns into… well… going through the motions. That's why the kids grow up and run far far away from here, as if the devil was chasin' them. I hate to say it, but the Grove just tends to suck the life out of people. And that's why I had to give Tony the chance; he wants more out of life than becoming an old mush of a man in this boring place. Of course, the final say will be his; I'm not going to force him away."

"You're wrong. I came back; I could have left, but I chose to come back."

"Which brings me back to my original question. You are the only kid to have ever come back after college. Why? Why don't you just get in your car and drive out of here? Maybe, you don't even have to leave for good, but go on a long vacation and just see something of the world. Perhaps then, you might decide you like life out there," Joe offered.

"I could do that anytime I wanted, Joe." Lies.

"So, what's stopping you?"

"Nothing's stopping me." Again, a lie.

"You sure it's not the same thing that kept you from taking that big scholarship to that Ivy League School? And that made you go to a college that was only 45 minutes from your parents? Or how you could have had a great job in the bigger cities, but you took this one as a waitress? And the same thing that has kept you being a waitress, doing the same thing every day for the past five years?"

"And what would 'IT' be?"

Joe looked me square in the eye, "Mandy, you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid." Strike three.

"Rosemary and I were talking about last night at dinner, and you know what she said? She said that you would make a great mother when you got around to it."

A soft smile spread over my lips, "Someday I will."

Joe's face went hard, "When, Mandy? Why are you waiting around here for something to happen and change your life? One day you are going to wake and realize that you wasted everything just by waiting. There's nothing for you here…"

"Look, Joe," I said, bracing myself against the counter. "Someday I will meet someone, and we will fall in love, and he'll take me out of here."

"You already had that option, and you shot it out of the sky, remember? Seriously, you think it'll happen the same way again? You can't keep hoping on some far off future," My eyes strayed from his to the glass doors, where several high schoolers were coming in to get some doughnuts before going to class. "You've gotta think about the here and now."

I grabbed a warm pot of coffee of the burner and walked out from behind the kitchen area. "Now doesn't exist, Joe. Excuse me, I have some customers." I left Joe sitting there and headed over for the gaggle of kids.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thanks, Jake. You came not a moment to soon" I said to the brown headed boy sitting in between his friends.

He smiled, confused, "Sure thing, I guess."

"By the way, that stunt you all pulled last night with the whole "falling meteor thingy" was spectacular! You need to tell me how you did it; I want to see how much of my theory was correct," I said jokingly.

"You thought we did all that? Oh no, Mandy, that was the real live thing!" The boy exclaimed.

"Yea, sure, ok."

"No, I'm serious, we had nothing to do with it! I promise." I could tell he was being serious.

Eileen clapped her hands excitedly, "And did you hear how they found one and it looked like it was made out of metal? And that there was a cut-out hole inside it, where they thought someone could have been inside, and then climbed out when it came to Earth!?"

All the kids got really animated and started squalling about how they heard that aliens had landed in the midst of the meteors and other such talk. However, my attention had gone back to Joe when I heard his radio start beeping.

"Riley here," he answered. Through the radio's static and over the children's chattering, I picked out several words of the answering message. I heard "This…Larry…accident down near… car is in bad shape… get over here."

Joe's body went rigid and his voice was troubled as he turned his back away from me and the other kids, who had all quieted down and were trying to listen in on his call, too.

"Is he alive?"

Larry's answer came over the radio crystal clear this time. "Can't tell. He's not moving at all. Joe, get down here now."

I whirled around to the kids, "Which of your friends drive?" Joe was already gathering his things to leave the café.

Eileen started crying, "Sean does."

"What's the matter?"

"He told me he was going to skip school today, and go down to spend the day at the lake."

Crap. Sean had a lead foot when it came to driving; he was the one I had in mind when I mentioned teenage speeding tickets.

"Does anyone have his number?"

Jake jumped out of seat, cell-phone in hand, "Yea, I'll see if I can get a hold of him." He almost bulldozed two men in suits who were entering the front doors as he tried getting outside. Joe was already out the door; I desperately wanted to ask him if it was one of the children, but one of the men stepped in my way.

"Could we get some breakfast?"

"Yes, sir, I'll be with you in a minute," I said trying to push past them with the coffee pot still clutched in my hand.

"Miss, I don't mean to be rude, but we can't stay very long. We're just waiting for the road to clear. There's an accident up by Rt. 7, and it's blocking our way to work."

I stopped in my tracks. "You saw it? Could you see who was hurt? There's a kid we know who was going up that way; he's got a green SUV. Was it that kind of car?"

The shorter of the two men waved his hand, "Oh don't worry, ma'am; I didn't get a good look at it, but it was a smaller vehicle." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Actually, it was brown and had some gold lettering on the side; I couldn't really tell, but it looked an awful lot like a police car."

Glass and coffee splattered everywhere. The room was spinning.

Tony.

I slammed my way through the two men and shoved Jake out of the way as he was coming back in the door. "It's ok, Mandy," he called to me, "I just got a hold of Sean; he hadn't even left his house, yet!"

Joe was shutting his car door and turning on his flashing lights when I sprinted across the road and grabbed hold of his open window. "Joe, take me with you!"

He locked the car doors and ripped my hands off of the window, "I can't do that, Mandy. Go back inside."

"Open the doors, Joe, please! Please! Please!" I cried, tears blurring my vision.

His face was stern and held no compliance. "I don't want you to see this."

"I have to go with you!" I latched onto the window, again, and started yanking hysterically at the car handle. "Why are you doing this?! Stop it, Joe! What happened to Tony? Is he alive?!"

Joe reached out the window a final time, tearing my hand away and shoving me backwards. The back of my heel hit the curb, and I stumbled to the ground. His face was ashen as he spoke to me, his words spoken so softly I had to strain to catch them. "I don't know, Mandy; he's not answering them, and, from the way the vehicle is laying, they can only see some of his shoulder and arm. The car is crushed. No, it's mangled."

I couldn't move as he turned on the sirens and sped off. Vaguely, I could hear the kids talking together and someone calling to me. "Ma'am?" It said.

I drew my legs up to my chest and slowly rocked back and forth. I could still picture him looking over his shoulder and giving me the thumbs-up.

Tony…