Chapter 2

Nick's mouth dropped open. He hurriedly closed it, so she wouldn't think he was being rude by opening his mouth with food in it. He swallowed. He couldn't tell her what he was thinking.

"That's great! When do you start?"

"Next month. I have Guard Duty for the next two weeks. Then I need to pack, find a place, and move."

"You don't have a place yet?"

"No, not yet. I'm kind of picky about where I want to live."

"Which is where?"

"Close to the station. I'll spend a lot of time in the car, so I don't want to drive far to work."

He nodded. "That makes sense."

"Can you recommend a good real estate broker that can find me an apartment?"

"Travis Hardy is good. So is Amy Anderson. Do you want an apartment, or would you consider renting at the harbor?"

"I don't have a boat, Nick."

"You don't have to have a boat. There's several houseboats for rent. One's even for sale. The owner died a couple of months ago."

"Tempting. Sun. Surf. Beach boys. Beach volleyball. All the pelicans I care to not feed."

He chuckled. "They still sit on the blades of the Mimi."

She smiled. "That still pisses you off?"

"Damn right. They shit all over the blades."

"And on your head a few times?"

He sighed. "You had to mention that, didn't you?"

She started to giggle, with it soon turning to full out laughter.

"Would you stop it?" he hissed.

That made her laugh all the harder.

"Kerry Renee Kelly!"

She sobered and took another sip of her beer. "Sorry."

"No you're not."

"Only you would get upset about pelicans shitting on your chopper blades. Face it, Nick. It's silly."

"It is, but it is still annoying," he agreed.

"I'm sure it is. Just don't sweat the small stuff. One turn of those blades when you start up Mimi, they'll take off and it will probably be a long time, if ever before they come back again."

"Murray won't like that."

"He won't?"

"No. he feeds them."

She smiled. "Murray has a kind heart."

"Yeah, he does. Too kind sometimes."

"Nothing wrong with that. It shows us all that there is still good in this world, despite all of the ugliness I see every day."

He nodded. "King Harbor isn't like San Francisco you know. You might get bored."

"I need a change. I love being a police officer, but I need a fresh start. I need to leave all of the bad times and San Francisco behind. It's time for a new chapter. I really doubt I will get bored. There's something quite comforting about looking for lost dogs."

He nodded. He still wasn't sure what to think of her announcement. He knew she was a city kid. He didn't think she would like living in Southern California no matter how hard she tried to spin that she wanted and needed a change. For his own selfish reasons, he was happy she had decided to settle in King Harbor, but he couldn't help but wonder how long it would take her to get bored, restless, and homesick enough to move back to San Francisco. Her moving back was the last thing he wanted.

He took a sip of his beer. "When you're ready, I can fly you and your stuff down to King Harbor," he offered.

"You'd do that?"

"Of course. What are friends for if not to help friends move."

She reached for his hand and squeezed it. "Thank you, Nick. I really appreciate this."