Winner, winner, chicken dinner! The original 250 word snippet took the top spot in last week’s #ThursdayThreads flash fiction “contest.” Yay! When that happens, I know I’m on the right track with the story. The prompt was **Where do you want me?”** The following is basically the 250-word snippet, though I did add 10 or 15 more words to it for this. When I expanded the scene over the weekend, it was over double in size. Yay. Kathleen Gallagher and Devlin O’Reilly are my Romeo and Juliet couple in this book.

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Kathleen didn’t want to open the door. She’d refused to answer the phone after screening the calls. Why couldn’t they leave her alone? The imperious knock rattled the front windows. She cracked the door and peered out at the two police officers.

“You need to come with us, Mrs. Gallagher.”

“Why?”

“We’ve made an arrest. There’s a press conference.”

“Tommy’s dead and buried. You don’t need me there.”

An hour later, she wore widow black and a stoney face. The chief, and other official types milled around. Alex Crenshaw, the district attorney, brushed past her and she cringed away. Every instinct she possessed urged her to flee.

“Where do you want me?” Crenshaw demanded.

The public information officer lined up everyone but Kathleen. With luck, the woman had forgotten she existed. The PIO gave her instructions then noticed Kathleen. “I want you in front of the chief and the DA. You’ll say a few words after they speak. There will be no questions.”

A moment later, the door opened and they filed out in front of the crowd of reporters. The first face Kathleen saw stood in the very back. She knew him. Her heart knew him. The man from the cemetery. The man from the restaurant. The man who silently watched over her.

When it was her time to speak, she said, “Thank you for coming.” And that was all that came out of her mouth. She immediately stepped back into line.

Once it was over, she found him waiting. “I’ll take you home.”

But she knew she was already there.
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And there you have it. Some of you may remember why these are my star-crossed lovers, some may not, so I won’t spoil it for you. I will tease you a bit more. Dev’s future is the epilogue and it should leave you with a smile. And yes, it was a random scene that didn’t fit into “current” timeline but fit the future nicely. LOLOL Writers, I hope the prompt stirs your creative juices. Readers, where do you want to be today?