ROOKIE BLUE

A DAY AT THE BEACH

I do apologize for taking so long to update this story. Please forgive me ;) ... and yes, I watched Stick it

-o-

PART 8

Sam had managed to keep himself busy and away from Sarah for the last two hours. Freezing in the driveway was a small price to pay, given her current state of mind. She had been sold to a McSwarek scenario the minute she had laid eyes on Andy. Now, her mind was set irrevocably on having a bunch of nephews to cherish in the near future. Naturally, some minor repairs to attend to on Andy's car became his next mission. He needed the time alone to think, and clear his head. His master plan had never been to steal Callaghan's girl. Andy had been through enough with her disturbed childhood and what he imagined like a cohort of bad boys as boyfriends without ruining the safe place she had created for herself with the handsome detective. He knew better. It was hard to fight the attraction, especially in a non-professional environment, what had happened the night before was proof enough that he was not doing a very good job at it. Around three, to Sam's dismay, Lonny made it back home alone, panting on his bike and covered in dried sand. He watched him take the driveway and stop ten feet away from him. He discarded the bike on the lawn, took off his helmet and waved at Sam. If he was lucky, his brother in law would gather his wits and sweep last night under the rug.

"I wouldn't mind taking her out for a spin some day." Lonny leaned onto the shiny fender, his face exuding pure lust. "She's a beauty," he marveled, stroking the car with glee.

Fantastic, we're all back to junior high, Sam thought. It was definitely an interesting weekend. He never pictured Lonny as a vintage car enthusiast. Sam nodded absently and wiped the grease off his hands. He slammed the hood close, winced at the sound. He shut his eyes. His headache was killing him. So much for holding his liquor. He shrugged. "Hell, I can't see why not. Niagara Falls and back?"

"Really? Isn't it Andy's car?"

"Well, she's not here, right? I won't tell if you don't."

"You sure?"

"Positive! Andy won't mind anyway. But I need it back before 6," he added, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had still to come up with a plan which did not involve him losing it again. Just when he had thought that Sarah's was his safest place to be. He was not out of the woods yet.

Lonny beamed. "Great." He turned around, began to trot to the house, then stopped and walked back. "Man," he shook his head. "I'm sorry about last night," he said, finally taking the hint.

Here we go. Sam cocked his head and his mouth slightly twitched. He folded his arms on his chest and squinted.

"Err, I mean I didn't want to…" he stuttered, "I had no idea… well, I'm sorry."

Sam grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "It's good Lon really. Like I said, there's nothing between McNally and me, she's my rookie. Something I tend to forget after a few drinks," he grinned.

"Yeah, I hear you, man. She's a bombshell."

Sam frowned. "For what it's worth, your midnight snack was a wake up call. So I guess I owe you a thank you, really, man, no sweat." He smiled but the smile did not reach his eyes.

Lonny smiled back, choosing to ignore the subtext. He changed the subject instead. "Too bad you weren't with us today at the beach. What that woman can do with a bike! That's out of this world! I can assure you that your rookie is quite the attraction today. I tell you, she can quit the force and open her own school. There'll be a line at the door. Jed is on cloud nine right now. Just about every guy out there wants to learn more about his friend, the pretty brunette with the magical bike. She's a real champ."

"Yeah, Sarah told me that much…" Sam trailed with a snigger.

"You'll have to drag the two of them back to the house yourself if you want to ever see her again," he teased him.

"Okay, I get it. You think I should go see her?"

"Well, I'm not saying."

"Lend me your family wagon and you can take the Camaro for a ride."

"Done!" Lonny jogged away and disappeared inside the house.

Lonny was right. That was rich. He was out of Toronto with McNally and she was spending quality time on some remote beach with his nephew. He sighed heavily. That, that was mere jealousy seeping out of every pore. When Andy was around, all bets were off. He just could not be himself anymore. And she was not even his girl. He sighed and followed Lonny to the house.

-o-

He followed Lonny's directions, and pulled in at the spot where Andy and Jed were supposedly having such a great time. He stayed there a while, hands clenched on the wheel, his eyebrows furrowed. Sarah was right. They had this instinctual, animal level of connection. But in his case, that was much more. But she was taken. Check.

The sun was slowly setting down. He sighed loudly, frowned, wishing he had followed his doctor's order. He did need glasses, but he was not quite ready yet to accept that fact. The beach was far more crowded than he had anticipated in spite of the chilly weather. Near the shore line was sitting a substantial crowd. He slammed the car door closed and strode to the impromptu gathering. Lonny had been right. She was magnificent. He watched her from afar, wincing each time the crowd erupted in roars of appreciation or burst into applause, cheering madly while she was stringing together more bold figures on what seemed the spur of the moment. She might have spent a lifetime on a bike to be able to put together such a show. There were definitely a lot of things he did not know about Andy McNally.

Finally, the cold wind got the better of him. His hangover did the rest. He walked briskly to the shore, with the nagging feeling he should not interfere. When he passed the motley crew of her supporters and made it to the front row, Jed immediately spotted him. He beamed and waved at him from across the wide circle. Andy seemed to build her tricks as she went, performing one jump after the other with easy grace. Her style was reckless but smooth at the same time. He knew about freestyle biking from TV obviously, but he had absolutely no idea that McNally was so good at it. Her creativity was surreal. The crowd cheered louder when she threw a combination of the craziest tricks he had ever seen, bouncing above steep sand mounds with a wide grin on her face. He shivered. A familiar tingling ran down his spine when she finally landed in front of him. The bike skidded, splattering sand everywhere, and stopped a mere foot away from him.

"Sam! You came," she grinned. "Have you been here long?"

"Long enough McNally, are you trying to kill yourself? Because from what I just witnessed, you could have fooled me!"

"Are you mad at me?" she pouted her mouth, her eyebrow rising to the root of her hair. She seemed genuinely puzzled.

"I don't know yet," he smiled, trying desperately to suppress any hint of concern from his voice, "I figured that you two could use a lift back to Sarah's. So here I am. And from what I can see, you need serious cleaning if you want me to take you out tonight."

"Oh, we're going out?"

"Of course we are!" he teased her.

"I missed you too," she grinned and waved at Jed enthusiastically.