His first job in Whitford would be leading an ATV safety course. Once kids reached ten years old, they could take the course and hit the trails. In the past, Whitford parents had had to travel to the nearest class they could find, but Josh had pushed to have one right in town to serve the surrounding area.
Thanks to the early hour, Matt had no trouble finding a parking spot in front of the police station and he could smell the coffee as soon as he walked inside. A guy about his own age stepped through an office door and extended his hand.
“Drew Miller,” he said as they shook.
“Matt Barnett. Nice to meet you.”
“Help yourself to some coffee if you want.”
After he’d made himself a cup, he followed the chief into his office and took a seat. “I have a feeling running this safety class today’s going to require a lot of coffee.”
“I’d be right there with you, but I’m having Dave Camden do it. He’s the school resource officer, so he knows the kids.” Miller smiled. “Plus, I’m the chief, so I don’t have to do it if I don’t want to.”
Matt had a feeling he’d like this guy. “I appreciate you coming in early on a Saturday so we could meet. This will be a crazy week with a lot of driving time. I can’t move into the house I rented until next Saturday, so I’ll be commuting from my current apartment.”
“Wasn’t a problem. My wife works the early shift at the diner, so I use the time to catch up on paperwork. Or to chase it, anyway. I never seem to actually catch up.”
“I know what you mean.” Paperwork was the bane of any law enforcement officer’s existence. “I’m looking forward to making Whitford home.”
“I think it’s a great town, but I’m biased, of course. Got a nice small-town feel to it.”
“Hell, on my way in, I saw the barber shop has one of those old-fashioned poles. Brings to mind old men and hot lather shaves and listening to the ballgame on the radio.”
“Good chance a game will be on, but Katie Davis isn’t old or a man. Gives a mean hot lather shave, but a word of advice. No matter where you’re from or who you root for, when you walk into the barber shop in Whitford, you’re a New England sports fan. Don’t piss off the woman with the electric trimmer in one hand and scissors in the other.”
A woman who loved sports and knew her way around hot lather? “Is she single?”
Drew gave him an amused look. “She’s engaged to Josh Kowalski.”
Toes Matt wouldn’t step on even if he were the type to poach another guy’s woman, which he wasn’t. “Lucky guy. Looking forward to meeting him.”
They’d be working together a lot. Once the ATV club that oversaw the original trail system helped connect to Whitford and a neighboring town and a system on the far side, they realized they didn’t have the manpower to run the entire thing. Over the winter, word had spread on the internet there would be great riding in the area come spring, and it was clear they’d need more volunteers.
The people of Whitford, obviously seeing the financial benefit, had heeded Josh’s call, and the Northern Star ATV Club was born. Since Josh Kowalski was the president and Matt would be the game warden, they’d be getting to know each other well. Along with a guy named Andy Miller, who was the trail administrator.
“Hey, Andy Miller,” Matt said. “Any relation to you?”
“He’s my dad. And he lives at the lodge with Rose Davis, who’s the housekeeper, Katie’s mom, and the woman who basically raised the Kowalskis after their mom died.”
Matt rocked back in his chair, trying to absorb that info and sort it into some kind of mental visual. “Well, that’s...close-knit. Hopefully a little more Mayberry than Flowers in the Attic.”
“Flowers in the Attic, huh? I remember that title from when I was a kid and all the girls were reading it.”
Ouch. “Hey, my sisters were always bringing books home from the library, but if my old man saw me reading, it meant he hadn’t given me enough to do. I had to sneak-read whatever books I could.”
“Since you’re doing the safety class at the library today, I should warn you if Hailey Genest finds out you’re moving to town, she won’t let you leave without a library card. Budget committee gets really hung up on the number of patrons, so it’s not really optional where she’s concerned.”
“Good to know.” The name popped out at him, but he wrote it off as a coincidence. Hailey wasn’t exactly a rare name, and what were the chances a woman he’d stumbled across in the woods was the librarian in his new town?
They talked about the town for a while, and the chief shared some of his concerns about the new ATV trails. And Matt did his best to pay attention, but his mind kept wandering back to the Hailey he’d met in the woods. It had been doing that a lot since he’d watched them drive away, which made no sense to him.