Tuesday Tales: From the Word STICKY

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Only a few days into the new year and it feels a lot like the old one. This week’s word prompt is STICKY.

Kyle Stapleton leaned against the back of his stool. He really should’ve made an effort to come back sooner. Ten years. How could he have let time slip away from him like that? Family mattered. It was a damn shame that was a lesson he hadn’t learned in time.

He raised his cup to his mouth and washed down the last forkful of pie, his gaze on Pearl as she poured coffee into the deputy’s mug. There was something about her … He wiped his sticky lips with the napkin and continued admiring the waitress. Since the man had his back to him, he couldn’t see his face, but he could read her body language. It was a very nice body at that—slim but not too slim with just the right amount of cleavage and curves. She was tall, with a great pair of legs, too. The man had said something that had made her stiffen her spine. Bad news?

A few moments later, the deputy stood and turned toward him. Kyle recognized Randy Walker the second he laid eyes on him. At six foot two, more muscled and slightly more portly than he’d been in high school, the man was the epitome of a small town lawman. His starched shirt hugged his broad shoulders, and even if the buttons strained a little across the midriff, he still looked fit and dangerous, not the sort of man he would want to tangle with. The razor-sharp crease in his pants suited the mirror-like shine on his boots. Obviously, Randy took his job seriously and dressed to prove it.

The deputy hadn’t put on his mask and his broad grin as he approached was all Kyle needed to confirm that his former teammate had recognized him. He stood, a welcoming smile on his face.

“Reckless Randy! Fancy seeing you here dressed like that,” he said. “Given the way you behaved in school, I would’ve expected to find you sitting on the other side of the bars.” Randy laughed and rubbed his bald head. “No one’s called me that in years. If I hadn’t married Rachel, you might’ve been right, but she tamed me. Now, I’m a devoted father and husband as well as a hard working pillar of the community. I noticed that fancy leather jacket of yours in the mirror. Who else other than a pimp or a big city lawyer would be wearing something like that in the middle of June?”

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales