Some things DO change (closed-PM if interested)

Detective Sarah Travis

How long had it been since she'd been back home? Over 5 years ago...? It was something in that area and usually Sarah didn't dwell on the past but this time, she let herself think about what had happened when she last came home and it made her heart do little flip flops just thinking about it. She hadn't talked with Shane Wright since that 'night'. Oh, she heard rumors from her parents of how things were going back home but nothing too much about Shane. Just that she knew he had made chief of police and yeah, she was happy for him. He was a good cop. He was even a good boss.


Sheriff Shane Wright

But Sarah had always wanted more in life. It wasn't that she hated life in a small town but a bigger city had more to offer and so, she followed her heart. What started out as her and Shane joining the police academy together and then working side by side ended with her leaving to pursue her life as a big city detective with Shane staying behind.

Yeah, they had a thing going but even though she was sure Shane saw it as a 'thing', she had seen it as much more. But she never told him that. Not even when she left.

But, now, she was back. Back not just because of family but also, to follow up on a case that was related to one in Chicago. It was the holidays and she was due some time off so, what better way than to mix a little family time with some business? Besides, she was sure Shane was dating. He was always a handsome looking guy and as they had gotten older, he just seemed to get more handsome. There was always some woman after him. Like Lily from the dinner. Or even Mary from the feed store...

This was only a visit and the only business she had was a favor to ask of Shane which was strictly going to be professional....
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It was late in the day when Sarah drove up to her family's homestead and shut off the car engine. The flight was short but the drive after, well, she hated driving such long distances alone. She had phoned her parents a few times to let her know she was on her way and give them a time she'd be home. Her mother insisted she was going to make some big dinner for her homecoming, even if she didn't want it.

That was fine, as long, she remembered telling her mother, it was just her parents and herself.

But, deep down, Sarah knew her mother wasn't having that because as she looked around after getting out of her car, Sarah saw a truck parked in the drive way and she sighed, "Mom..." was all she muttered as she shook her head, smiling as she slammed her own car door.

They must have heard her drive up because she didn't have time to make it all the way to the front door before she was greeted by her parents who each gave her a hug and welcomed her home. It was then her mother saw her service weapon and insisted that she leave it in the car. The only weapons allowed inside were her father's rifles... It was no use explaining that she was fine with it, instead, Sarah went back and tossed her pistol onto the driver's seat and locked the car. Turning back around, she made a grand gesture toward her mother, "There. Happy?!"

It was then she caught sight of Shane and she failed to see her mother wave her away.... She hadn't realized it but she found herself walking up toward Shane and stopping a few feet from him, "Hello Shane."

Sheriff Shane Wright was happy with where he and his career were. There was a time when he saw things going much differently for him.... well, on the personal side anyway. He had always aspired to be the Sheriff, but he thought that Sarah would have been part of his life through the journey. That changed when her aspirations for life in the big city came to fruition.

Throughout the years, he heard about how she was doing. Shane always ran into her parents. Her father would stop by the Sheriff's Office quite a bit and share any news from Sarah. The sharing of news would always happen at a time when Shane was starting to put her out of his mind, and she would immediately move to the forefront of his mind.

Shane had been involved in relationships. In fact he had been engaged to be married. That was until he found out that his fiancee had fed some information to her younger brother who was involved in a meth distribution ring. Needless to say, the relationship ended when he arrested her.

Here he was, two weeks after breaking off his engagement, and he was called out to Sarah's parents house. He wasn't sure why he was here, and before he could even ask them, he was standing face to face with Sarah. "Hello Sarah. Long time, no see."

Sarah returned his smile with one of her own. She quickly gave her parents a hug before they disappeared inside and her mother saying that dinner would be in 10 minutes.

And then they were left alone outside. Why did it all seem so awkward all of a sudden? Sarah smiled again and drew in a deep breath, "So... did my mom make you leave your weapon in your truck too?" She asked, amused that her parents always treated Shane as one of their own...hell, he had practically grew up at Sarah's house, helping her dad out in the summers between school. It was nice to see he was still considered part of their family even though she wasn't at home anymore.

"Oh... hey, I wanted to say sorry, you know, about you and Gloria..." she said quietly, "Dad told me what had happened..."

"Yes, my service weapon is in my truck. My backup is, too. Your mom made me leave them both there." He smiled at her. It was good to see Sarah. Despite the fact that they had gone separate ways, he still cared for her, and he worried about her in the big city.

"Some things never change, huh. There are no secrets in this small town. I should have known that your parents would share that news with you. Although, I really thought it would be your mom would be the one that broke it to you."

He gave Sarah a half-smile. "You better go in and get ready for dinner. I am not going to stay. I want you to have some time with your parents. I didn't dare tell your mom I wasn't staying, or she would have been really upset and would insist I say. If I just head out from out here, and your mom will just be mad at me later."

"Really?! You know she'll call your mom and tell on you," Sarah said, trying to hide her smile. "Hey, I'll stop by the station in the morning, OK? I still need to talk about you about something I found out."

She didn't wait for his answer, leaving him to watch her as she ran inside the house. Sure enough, as she stepped into the kitchen, her mom went on about how he had left without saying goodbye. But Sarah distracted her parents by going over her trip and deterring their minds back to the dinner before them.

The next morning, just when she thought she could sleep in, her father woke her around 5am to have her help with the work that he still did every morning. Of course, he had told her just because she was home, didn't mean she was going to get away with doing nothing.

Finally, after 7am, breakfast was over and she had showered, she headed to the station...but had remembered, Shane liked to stop by the local diner for morning coffee, so that's where she went too. Sure enough, after she had arrived, she entered the diner and saw Shane sitting in the corner booth, reading the morning paper and drinking his coffee.

She didn't wait for an invite as she plopped down in the seat across from him. "Hey stranger, you owe me one...mom wasn't too happy after last night."

Before going to bed, he received a phone call from his mother. It was odd for her to call in the evening, but he figured she just wanted to chat.

Shane did not sleep very well that night. He tossed and turned all night; his mind on Sarah. Why was it that every time he was almost over her, something happened that brought her right back to the forefront of his mind? Now, not only was she in the front of his mind, she was right here in town, and there was no doubt he would see her again.

Deciding that sleep was useless, Shane got out of bed, showered and went into the den and turned on his radio. It was quiet, which was a good thing. He sat there, his mind still racing and focused on Sarah until he was sure that the diner was open and that the coffee would be ready. He headed out and drove his car to the Sheriff's Office, and then walked to the diner.

Taking his normal spot, Shane sat down. Doris brought him coffee and the paper just like she did every morning. He didn't like that she did that; it made him uncomfortable, because Shane did not see himself as anything special. He was just a guy doing a job, but Doris insisted. She was like a second mother to him.

He looked up from the paper as Sarah plopped down into the booth. "Well, I could say that you owe me one, because, apparently, your mother called my mother and told her how upset that she was that I did not stay for dinner and that I didn't even have the common courtesy to say goodbye before leaving. I told my mother I did it for you, because you just wanted to be with family." He smiled at her and took a sip of his coffee.

"Pfft, old hens.." she said jokingly. Although she had wanted a coffee, she only ordered an O.J. for herself. As much as she wanted to dive into the reason...well, part of the reason she was in town, she also wanted to catch up with Shane.

A lot had happened and well, she had done her research before coming home, of course. She knew of the drug ring that Shane had busted up two weeks prior.

In fact, that was her main reason for being here. It turned out that certain ring was part of something bigger and well, since she was from here, it wouldn't raise that much suspicion if she just happened to be on vacation.

At least that's what her CO had said.

Taking a sip of her OJ, she nodded at Shane, "What's going on Shane?" She asked, smiling, "How have you been? I heard about...that incident a few weeks ago... sorry to hear about that."

"It was a good bust. It was nice to get rid of those guys. They haven't made bail yet, since we seized everything they had. It got a little hairy when they got tipped off, but we were able to overcome that leak and round everybody and get all the meth and the money."

He avoided talking about the fact that the leak had been his fiancee, and that he had also arrested her. He was sure that Sarah already knew that anyway. He picked up his coffee and looked at Sarah. She looked as good as ever... better actually, if that was possible.

"How is the big city treating you Sarah? Is it everything that you hoped it would be?" He smiled at her. He had always hoped she would be successful once she left, after all, he only wanted what was best for her. She was the one that always had his heart.

"Things here have been pretty quiet, other than the meth ring. We have been making great progress with our community policing initiative. The people really appreciate the Deputies being out of their vehicles and interacting with them, and the kids love having the Deputies being in the schools every day."