“They still call him Boomer, do they?” she asked.

“Everyone calls him Boomer, even his wife and kids. I think he likes it.”

“And Nick?”

“New woman every time I see him. I don’t know if he’ll ever find one that sticks with him.”

“Really? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him, but he’s a very sharp, good-looking guy and what a smile!”

Seth smiled. “Better than this?” he asked.

“Miles better,” she said. “Kind of crazy that all you boys have handsome smiles when old Norm last smiled a few years ago....”

“Was it that recently? Too bad no one got a picture. So, since I’m working in Thunder Point this year, Boomer’s family has agreed to come to town for Thanksgiving. I’ll have to work, but we divide up the day so everyone on duty gets turkey. I’ll at least get a long lunch break to have dinner with the family. Will you come?” he asked. “My mother would be thrilled. So would Nick and Boomer.”

“Ah, I don’t know, Seth. That’s very sweet, but I wouldn’t want to give the wrong idea to anyone. And there’s Grace. And Troy. Troy has family in San Diego but he hasn’t said anything about going home.”

“Bring them,” he said. “My mom would be so happy to pack ’em in for her holiday meal. She won’t admit it, but she hates it when her daughter-in-law is in charge—she wants to control the meal. And I don’t care what ideas they get—we used to have Thanksgiving together every year.”

“When it was me and Rose. It hasn’t been me and Rose in a long time.”

“I haven’t been in Thunder Point for a long time,” he said. He touched her hand.

“You’ve been here for an hour and a half,” she pointed out to him.

“Have I? Time flies...”

“You told Troy you had thirty minutes.”

“I lied,” he admitted with a shrug. “I’m the boss. I’m on the clock all the time. My phone is on. If the phone chimed, I’d have to leave in the middle of the chicken whatever-it-was.”

“I believe it was chicken tetrazzini.”

“You have amazing taste buds.” He smiled at her. “How about a game of Scrabble?”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“Sort of,” he said. “I’ve been in this uniform since six this morning. Believe me, they get their money’s worth. Hey, when everyone is over the flu, I’ll teach you to play chess. If you want to...”

“You play chess?”

“I learned when I was rehabbing my leg. I just didn’t have much stamina, especially after a really demanding session. But my brain needed to be kept busy, so I learned.”

She smiled sweetly. “You’ve changed so much.”

“I hope so. But I hope I’m the same guy in the good ways.”

* * *

On Halloween Seth called Iris. “Do you have something you can warm up for dinner? Because I’m afraid I’m not going to get over tonight until late and my mom didn’t cook. I forgot—Halloween is different.”

“Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I’m snacking tonight. There are little goblins due any second.”

“And I have to keep an eye on the goblins around town.”

“You do that.”

Seth hadn’t been back in Thunder Point on Halloween since his senior year in high school. He didn’t remember it ever being a major holiday among the locals and yet, what he witnessed was an extraordinary display. On this clear and cold night, the town was alive with celebration. Everyone had their porch ornaments displayed, from corn stalks to pumpkins; there were witches and ghosts flying in the trees, orange and black candles lit the windows. Three separate neighborhoods had haunted houses or graveyards with spooks that jumped out at expectant kids. Seth’s mother was dressed as a scarecrow and was standing stone-still at the end of her sidewalk until a little one passed and then she suddenly came to life, startling them, sending them shrieking and giggling up and down the sidewalk and street.

Seth drove around town slowly, occasionally shining the SUV’s spotlight on trick-or-treaters. Now and then he’d flip on the siren for a couple of startling whoop-whoops. As soon as darkness had fallen, when it was still early, parents had the little ones out. He could see mothers and fathers standing along the curbs socializing while princesses, sci-fi creatures, spacemen, animals, robots and hobos ran up to front doors. The under-seven crowd and especially the under-four crowd wore bulky jackets with their costumes. Little girls had all colors of makeup on their faces and wild, jeweled and colored hair; boys had helmets and masks.

The business district was all done up—there were garlands, lights, harvest decorations and jack-o’-lanterns everywhere. Private business owners like Stu from the diner and Carrie from the deli, folks who were licensed food handlers, handed out things like candied apples and cookies. Rawley Goode was helping Carrie and while he wore no costume save his denim jacket and ball cap, he was still a little spooky. Down the street there was a wild and crazy witch, cackling and prancing all over the sidewalk—she wore black shoes with curled-up toes, red-and-white striped stockings, a black dress with little bells sewn onto the hem, a scraggly gray wig and a very tall black hat. She had a pointy chin, a wart and three blacked-out teeth. It took a moment but Seth realized it was Grace.

He pulled over and got a picture of her with his cell phone. Then he decided to snap a few more—Stu was a pirate, Carrie was a gypsy—and there were kids everywhere who were happy to pose for the town deputy. Even though it was a small town, none of the kids would get to every house and his mom and Iris would enjoy seeing pictures of the ones they missed.

A three-foot-tall Spiderman tugged on his pant leg and asked him if that was a police costume. The little mermaid, Ariel, asked him for a ride in the police car. Waylan, dressed like a bloody butcher and standing in front of his bar with a bowl of candy, invited him in for one on the house. Seth declined with a laugh and a whoop of his siren.

He was strangely touched by the celebration, by the many kids, by their parents socializing while the kids ran wild. He knew the drill—one parent took the kids while the other stayed home with the candy bowl. This wasn’t his first small town. His last assignment was just northeast—a town of only six hundred—and he’d stayed out on Halloween night just like this, patrolling, making sure it was a peaceful celebration of spooks and witches. But back here in his hometown, it kind of tugged at his heart. He remembered years of his mother dressing up, his neighbors scaring the little kids, all the candy. When he was eleven or twelve he and his buddies did a few reckless things—tipped a couple of trash cans, soaped a few windows, smashed a pumpkin or two. Bad boys, he thought with a chuckle. Nothing a broom and dustpan or a little Windex wouldn’t fix, but if they’d been caught there would have been holy hell to pay.