I watch Vic's eyes open and see the small smile brighten her face.

"I didn't kiss you good night. Can I kiss you good morning?"

She nods her gently, I turn a little closer, my hand falls softly on the hollow of her back. I'm almost scared to kiss her. I've wanted for this for so long and now that it's here it doesn't seem real. I don't want to be a disappointment to her.

My eyes close, on instinct, as soon as my lips touch hers. It's a closed pucker at first and I slowly part my lips, she joins me as my tongue gently finds hers and when they meet it's like a propane tank in a microwave.

When we break our kiss I look down then close my eyes.

"Walt, what are you thinking about? You are so far away from me."

"I need to tell you the other part of why I'm not ready for us to make love and move forward even though I really want too."

"Ok"

"I need to forgive myself for sleeping with Lizzie. I need to forgive myself for not behaving like the man that I try to be." I'm looking at her now. "You see, even if my heart was free to be hers I didn't honor her or myself with my behavior, Vic. I'm ashamed of myself and it's hard to admit to myself let alone say to you but I don't want any more secrets."

She is steady in her stare listening to every word.

"I think my first step is to apologize to Lizzie and I want you to know that I'm going to do that but I don't want you feeling insecure or weird about it, Vic."

I can feel her body tense underneath my hand.

"I don't want to be broken any more and I don't want you loving a broken man. I don't want you trying to fix me, either. I just want you to love me for who I really am and I need to do this to get there. To heal. I hope you understand."

"I do but I am also a little in shock."

"In shock?"

"I mean I know you are inside your head a lot, Walt but you sound sorta like a therapist. It's surprising."

I stroke her arm and smile, "Vic, I think if most people were just honest with themselves they know the answers but sometimes we need help getting there."

She smiles and kisses my lips for a moment, "Well, when you retire, I think you found your next calling."

At that we both laugh and Vic turns to me with a serious expression, "I'm really proud of you, you know."

"Thank you, Vic. Now let's get going so I can get you home to change your clothes."

"Morning, Sheriff."

"Moring, Ferg."

"Morning, Ferg." Vic trails behind me by a step.

Ferg stands immobilized at his desk. He is sometimes a little slow to catch on but not this morning. I can tell by the gaping hole where is mouth is.

I hang up my coat and hat by the rack at the door and smooth my hair out.

"So, what did you find last night?"

"Last night? Ummm"…he's nervous.."ummm" He looks at me then at Vic whose slinging her bag down at her desk.

"Yeah, the Ford. Did you find anything?"

"Um I found three possible matches and after checking DMV I discovered that one was junked about 3 years ago and that leaves two possibilities."

He looks back at Vic and he seems more nervous as he puts 2 and 2, well all the two's together, and he looks up at me with a sparkle in his eye.

"I figured if it's a car that's not from here then neither is the person driving it so I went to the local motels in the county and checked the car against registrations."

"Good thing there aren't many motels."

Ferg smiles. "Yeah."

He looks back over at Vic who has not looked up, yet.

"Anyway, I found one registered at the Sleepy Squirrel. I asked Marge, the clerk there, to call me when the guy who registered shows up. Marge plays bingo with my Mom on Monday's at the church. So, I figured, you know, she's good for her word and all."

"Why don't you knock off and get some sleep. When Marge calls I'll let you know since you probably want to be part of the arrest team?"

He looks up, more serious now, "Yes, Walt, I would like that fine."

"Ok"

I turn toward my office and see Vic concentrating heavily on the papers at her desk and I can feel the energy coming from her. This is the part we haven't talked about; the part that is about everyone else not just us.

I stop close to Vic; turn to Ferg, who is about out the door, "Hey, Ferg."

He turns to look at me.

"Great work."

He breaks out his huge and infectious grin.

"Thank you. Good night, Walt." And as if he was almost too scared to say it, "Good night, Vic."

Vic gets up suddenly, walks past me and over to Ferg. She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him, soft and gentle, I can barely hear her say, "Thank you for being there for me when I need you, Ferg."

I can see him smile, "You're welcome, Vic." He turns back toward the door and waves goodbye to both of us.

Vic sits back down at her desk looking down like she wants to avoid me, her blonde ponytail hanging over her collar. I trace the curve of her neck along her uniform shirt with my fingers. I just want to touch her and to know she's real.

I sink into my chair in the office and put together the murder book for our victim and anxiously await Marge's call while Vic does a criminal history work-up on the registered owner of the Ford. I wanna know what we are walking into before we confront this guy.

Vic darkens my doorway, arms folded; legs crossed and leaning against the frame. I look up, thinking of how her body would feel beneath mine pressed against the wood, my hands all over, my tongue twisted with hers and I know I need to mend and move.

"Besides the fact that I like looking at you, a lot, I have the criminal history package done and if it's not our suspect it probably should be because it's extensive. Turns out this guy, Jerry Bedford, has a rap sheet a mile long. Progressively violent and his last stent in the pen was for assault with a deadly weapon. His weapon of choice is a knife.

"Doc Bloomfield confirmed the cause of death was homicide and by a sharped edged instrument so that's consistent with this Bedford character."

I hold my hand out, silently asking for the criminal history package. Vic walks over and hands it to me across the desk, almost like she is afraid to be close to me, which makes me want to let my fingers linger on hers as she releases the folder but I don't because I don't have a right to, not yet.

"You wanna grab some breakfast? I'm starving. My date didn't feed me breakfast."

Smiling, I stand up and walk over to the other side of the desk, I don't touch her but I want to so bad. Instead I stand so close a piece of paper could fit between us. When you have your first sleep over, and you will, I promise it will be more than you ever imagined and I will feed you everything Vic; your mind, your body and your soul."

"Ok, I'm leaving because I want you naked, right now."

She walks out, "I'm bringing back food…..for our bodies."

I smile. I pause. I pick up the phone, "Hello…Lizzie...it's Walt"