Miranda Jossart was the local real estate agent. He’d also gone to high school with her. They hadn’t been close then despite the fact that there had only been twenty-seven kids in their whole class. When he’d come home, Miranda had been one of the first to show up with a platter of cookies in her hand and a smile on her face, welcoming him back. They’d gone on a few dates, but there had never been a spark between them.

“Why would Miranda care that I’m dating Lila?” He’d missed an opportunity, but she had agreed to go out with him. Even as she’d been shoving him out the door this morning, she’d agreed to go to dinner on Friday.

Roxie stared at him, the same expression on her face she often used on Zep. “You can’t possibly be this unaware.”

She was underestimating him. “Apparently I can.”

“Why do you think Miranda brings cookies to the station house all the time? Do you think it’s because she loves law enforcement?”

“I thought it was because she loves to bake and always has too much.” She told him constantly that she was watching her figure. He’d never looked at her figure. She was a nice enough woman, but he’d never once thought of her that way.

“It’s because she’s got the hots for you.”

He laughed because that was ridiculous. “She does not have the hots for me. She’s just nice.”

“Like Annie Dubois is nice? Because when I first came to town she warned me off you. Not like I was ever going to hit that. No. My taste in men is way worse, but Annie showed up at my apartment and explained that you and she were together and I better back off.”

“What? I went out with her twice. Years ago.” It had been when he’d first come home to Papillon. He’d been divorced and burned out. He’d felt like he’d lost everything. The only reason he’d taken the job had been his old friend Rene basically begging him to do it. Annie had suggested that they have dinner, and he hadn’t cared enough to say no.

Then the accident had happened and he’d been forced to care about everything. He’d been forced to focus his entire world on his daughter.

“Well, you made an impression,” Roxie replied with a brief smile. “This was a couple of years ago. She might not still be pining. I think there are some women in town who believe that as soon as Noelle graduates you’ll look for some companionship. Especially when she goes off to college.”