Sunshine Valley

Instead of answering the daily prompt with personal stuff; I’m gonna work the prompt into my story. Hope you enjoy.

Sisyphean task 

     Dillon had set his radar. The inside of his suv was nice and warm. Bill had talked him into a shave with his hair cut. He was warm, relaxed and almost asleep. Evie caused him to jump when she noisly climbed into his suv.

     “Will I ever get used to this?” She blew into her hands before leaning over the  heater vents. “Oohh, that feels good.”

Dillon rose up to look in his rear view mirror. She was still driving her dad’s truck. “I’m sorry.” She blushed, “I startled you.” 

     “I don’t need to fall asleep.” He admitted. “One of those little things.”

     “Sittin’ here like this. Are you expecting  someone to approach your suv.”

     “Possibly.”

     “I’m not so sure running me off the road is Doug’s style. He’s not about hurten’ himself.”

     Dillon fought with himself about telling her what he knew before their conference call tomorrow. Yes, their conference call. As long as he kept silent, he could observe. He let out a long sigh, “Doug’s still in jail. Do you think he could have hired someone to do that?”

     “It’s not outside the realm of impossibilities.” She scooted over to him, holding his face. “You’ve been to see Bill this morning.” Then trailed her fingers over his skin, “I’m amazed he can still hold a straight razor.”

     She was killing him. It took all his composure to spit out, “he’s trainin’ a couple new kids. One’s a girl.”

     Evie playfully asked, “you let a girl shave you?”

     “Once.” Was she aware that she was killing him with her touch. The way she smelt. Being this close to her. This was electrifying. 

     “Would you do it again?” She asked, leaning on the dashboard.

     “Yeah.”

     She giggled, leaning back up, holding his face. “Do you know just how sexy I think a clean shaven face is?” She kissed his nose. “A decluttered face.”

     He choked, “so if I lost a bet and had to grow a beard, you’d never kiss me?” 

     She caressed his face as she talked, “you would deny me this delight?” 

“So tell me.” He spoke as she kissed the tip of his nose again, ‘Change the subject’, he thought. “Does Jack’s truck not have heat?”

     “No. Little does he know, I’m having that fixed. Do you know a good mechanic? That won’t try to screw a woman?” Dillon raised an eyebrow. “A lot of mechanics see a woman walking toward them and they think we are easy targets. And granted, I know very little about vehicles, that doesn’t mean I want taken advantage of.”

     “Drive mine. I’ll get it fixed.”

     “You are a busy man, lawman,” she winked. “Point me in the right direction.”

     “Yes mam.” He smiled. “What are you doin’ out here?”

     “Oh,” she slid out of his suv. Went to her dad’s truck and came back. “Picnic in the cold. Even busy lawmen get lunch.”

     “You know,” he smiled as she laid a cloth over his seat, “Della is gonna get jealous of you feeding me.”

     Evie pouted for a moment, “she’s gonna have to learn how to share.” 

     As Dillon bit into his sandwich, a string of melted cheese fell to his chin. She laughed. “This is the best grilled cheese ever.” 

     “You know what could make it better?” Her eyes were dancing with mischief. She leaned over and kissed the cheese off his chin. 

     “Much,” he choked.

     She looked out the window down the road, “your job, to me seems like such a Sisyphean task.”

     His head was spinning. ‘Ah what’? He thought. “How so?” Came out with caution. 

     “Well, you arrest one criminal. Another one just appears in its place. You clean up one accident site, then there’s another one. You put out one fire, then there’s another one. Seems to me, you are always pushing that rock up a hill.”

     “As long as I do a good job, it’s job security.”

     “Don’t you ever get tired?” She knew the answer to that as soon as she said it. 

     “Of course I do. Burnt out. Beat down. It’s usually the little things that make it worth while. For example, today, an unexpected picnic.”

     She scooted the cloth down toward the passenger door so she could lay her head on his shoulder. As she snuggled in, he kissed the top of her head. 

     “Thanks for the offer of your truck. I can’t drive a stick.”

     It fell out of his mouth before he thought about it, “bet you can.”

Sunshine Valley