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call them up when the fire alarms sounded.
    “You weren’t exaggerating when you said these alarms go off every week, were you?”
    “Nope, I wasn’t. Time for me to go gawk at men with big hoses.”
    I rolled my eyes. We headed outside and had to wait for a thumbs up to return to the building before we could get back to work. When we were permitted back inside, I headed over to finance and asked them how much money was in the vital statistics fees account. They reported there was eight hundred ten dollars in the account. Since the cost is ten dollars per copy, that meant we had only issued eighty-one copies. I started to worry. I walked back to Bonnie’s desk.
    “Bonnie, there are hundreds of sheets missing.”
    Bonnie looked at me in shock. “How can that be possible?” she asked.
    Then we heard whistling. I turned to see out of the window at our front counter and there he was again….a little slice of heaven on Earth. Oh geez, I had to stop thinking like that; I was like a high school girl when he was around.
    “Hello, ladies!” Officer Williams said.
    We both waved hello.
    “So, I heard you had a break-in. Anything missing?”
    Bonnie spoke up and said, “Safety paper,” after she realized that I seemed to be tongue-tied.
    “Don’t worry, we’ll catch the guy.”
    Bonnie said, “How do you know it was a guy?”
    Williams said, “I’m a cop, I know things. Besides, I can’t picture some little petite woman kicking in a door.”
    To that Bonnie replied, “Have you seen our mayor?”
    “Bonnie!” I exclaimed.
    Williams laughed.
    “Sorry, but she is kind of manly,” Bonnie said.
    “Not appropriate, Bonnie,” I said, then I went back into my office. I mean, it was funny, but I certainly didn’t want anyone to hear her making fun of the mayor. I imagined I could permanently lose a deputy if a certain someone overheard her.
    “He’s gone,” Bonnie shouted into my office.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “You’re future ex-husband is gone and you can stop hiding in your office.”
    “What do you mean, my future ex-husband? I don’t even like him.”
    “Bull. You do like him. It’s written all over your face every time he is around. He makes you nervous. I can tell by the way you went hiding in your office.”
    “I didn’t go hiding in my office,” I said, insulted.
    “You should go out with him.”
    “Fine, I’ll admit, he’s ‘eye candy,’ as you would say. I enjoy the view, but I’m absolutely not interested in going out with him. Also, I seriously doubt he is interested in dating me.”
    “I have an idea—flash him your panties like you did with public works yesterday, then he’ll be interested.”
    “Oh my god, Bonnie. I can’t believe you just said that! I was so embarrassed. And you ! You did nothing but laugh at me!”
    “I couldn’t help laughing; it’s a natural reaction. What could I have done, anyway?”
    “You could have warned me that there was a box behind me. You could have helped me up. You could have jumped in front of my crotch to limit the view.”
    She laughed. “Since I am so worthless and of no help to you, how about you let me go home early?”
    Since I was still in charge, I granted Bonnie her wish and decided to let all of the employees skip their lunches and start the holiday a little early. Tomorrow would be the Fourth of July. Traffic was horrendous on the island. Plus, I felt stressed over the happenings in the office this week and needed a break myself as well.

 
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Morning came entirely too early for me as usual. I wished I could have slept in on my day off, but that luxury no longer existed with a baby around. My parents invited me and Mandy over for a cookout later, but first, I was going to take Mandy to Sunshine’s annual Independence Day parade. I chose a pair of comfy shorts and a t-shirt to wear with flip-flops. I put Mandy in her pink and orange Hawaiian-print onesie and headed out at nine. The parade didn’t