This didn’t surprise Mike. The development on the opposite side of the farm to Mike’s was one of McGrath’s. It was pricey and extensive. It was also relatively new, having gone in five years before. With the housing estates in the area surrounding the Holliday farm, a shopping area would thrive. Grocery store, video store, pizza place, shit like that would do lucrative business just from the local residents who would no longer have to drive ten, fifteen minutes into town and fight traffic in The ‘Burg during times of congestion. Also the Holliday farm was bigger than any shopping center needed for a build so there was plenty of leftover space to put in another development that would mean more customers for the center.

McGrath would be all over that. Mike knew it and Dean knew it too.

Before they had their private chat, both Mike and Dean gave Fin, Kirb and Rhonda their warnings. At this time in their lives, neither man wanted to alarm them but the point had to be made.

Twenty-four hours later, Mike still wondered if what they said penetrated Rhonda. Even though he knew Dusty had been working with her, she seemed even more withdrawn. Fin and Kirby listened, Kirby taking his cues from his brother. With the intense look in Fin’s eyes, Mike knew Fin had fully absorbed this information, didn’t like it much but intended to be on guard not only for himself but for his family. Fin also eyed his mother on several occasions, his mouth tight, his impatience not hidden.

Another reason Mike knew Fin wanted more from his daughter was, during these times, Fin’s eyes would drift to Reesee and his face would relax. Reesee had become his touchstone during a shit time in his life. Whatever Finley Holliday saw in Clarisse Haines, it eased him.

And Mike couldn’t say he didn’t like that, not only his daughter’s capacity to give it but a grieving kid’s access to it.

Things had changed yesterday at the farm for Dusty. With her Mom and Dad in town, Kirby had been moved into Fin’s room and Dusty into Kirby’s room.

She’d also asked Mike if they could meet at Frank’s for lunch rather than her making sandwiches and bringing them over for him to eat in his car on the way back to work after he spent his lunch hour with her in his bed. This was, he would find, because she’d located Darrin’s will and she wanted to hand it over to him. It was also because she wanted to put her finger on his pulse about how he felt about the impending meeting with Audrey. His woman knew if she hit his backdoor, their time would be spent not talking about important shit but doing important shit.

Truth be told, he wanted her in his bed. But he’d never in his life had a woman who looked out for him. And honest to God, suddenly having it, he didn’t know what to do with it. Vi, he knew if their relationship had progressed, would be like that and he knew it by the way Cal had slid out of avoiding life into living it, this guided by Vi’s hand. And he understood, having Dusty’s attention, concern and care, that was what he’d been looking for in Violet, what he’d been looking for all his life. And never finding.

Having it was another story.

Mike was used to shouldering the burden. It felt strange sharing it.

Although strange, he could not say that strange was not good.

He figured it wouldn’t take long to get used to it.

He was skimming the will, looking for mentions of the land, thinking about all this shit when he heard, “Mike?”

His eyes lifted and he saw Rocky moving across the bullpen toward his desk, her high, thin heels clicking on the floor. Mike knew Raquel well. She came to the Station often, close to her brother, close to all the cops being part of the family for two generations.

Still, as often as he saw her, like Vi, February and, now, Dusty, he never got used to her beauty.

She dressed well in an unintentional, sex-kitten, school marm way. Tight skirts, high heels, perfect makeup. Mike figured every boy in school had a crush on her, every girl wanted to be her when she grew up.

“Hey Rocky,” Mike greeted, dropping the will and jerking his head to the chair beside his desk. “Have a seat.”

She smiled and sat, dumping her purse in her lap. This action stretched her skirt across her hips, her thighs and then she crossed her legs. She had deep history with Tanner that eclipsed their recent reconciliation and marriage. They’d been together years before, it went bad and they both went their separate ways. Seeing her sitting there, her long, shapely legs crossed, her demeanor one that indicated she had no idea her affect on a man, not for the first time Mike understood why Tanner worked flat out, once she found herself free from her cheating husband, planting his ring on her finger.

“Everything good?” she asked, head tilted slightly to the side, eyes unwavering on him.

“Some of it phenomenal, some of it shit.”

Her lips tipped up and she murmured a soft, “Life.”

“Yeah.”

She took in a breath and said, “I need to talk to you about Rees.”

Mike felt his shoulders get tight.

This was a surprise. He’d figured her visit was about Merry and how her brother was f**king it up, not pulling his finger out and sorting shit with his ex-wife Mia, a woman he still loved, a woman he still wanted and a woman he was f**king around with getting back. If it wasn’t Merry, he figured it was something else, something to do with his job or how he could help her with a kid at school going off the rails.

Rees, absolutely not.

He knew Rees was in Rocky’s class. He also knew Rees was getting straight A’s in that class. So a discussion seemed unnecessary.

Unless it was yet something else he didn’t know about his daughter.

“She okay?” Mike asked.

Rocky nodded then leaned forward but did it with head bent, pulling open the bag on her lap. “The usual thing to do would be wait for a parent teacher conference but I didn’t want this to wait.”

She pulled out a folded lengthwise, thin sheaf of papers and set it on Mike’s desk.

“That’s an assignment,” she declared as the paper flipped open and Mike saw a large, red, circled “A+” at the top.

Seeing the grade, puzzled, his eyes went from the paper to Rocky.

When he caught her gaze, she shared, “I’m delaying returning these reports back to the kids for you to have some time to read that. If you could get it to Layne tomorrow, I’d appreciate it.”

“Clue me in, Rocky,” he invited.

“It’s exceptional, Mike,” she whispered and Mike’s gaze on her grew intense as his chest started to warm.

“Pardon?” he asked.