"A penny?" She got no response. Marie cleared her throat. He really was off in his own world at the moment. She giggled as she snapped a stem off a sugar pea and threw the cleaned one in a pot of water.

"Hey, Mister. Give me all your money. This is a stick up." She took her crutch and lightly tapped his leg.

Bud glanced up. He was working on a case that had strayed over into his off time thoughts. Marie was looking at him expectantly.

"What was that, Hon?" He had no idea what she said. Bud tried not to let his work seep over into his home life. He’d known a lot of cops in his time that lived their work all the time. Most of them had ended up divorced. He didn’t intend to be one of them. Bud knew how good his life was. As good as work could be…it was only work.

"I said a penny. For your thoughts?" She grinned at him. "You really were in never never land."

"Sorry, Hon. I gotta case that I’m working on with the Coffs’ police that strayed over into our jurisdiction."

Marie leaned toward him. Bud saw a spark of excitement in her eyes. He knew she was going stir crazy since she broke her leg. She just wasn’t a girl to sit around doing nothing. He knew she still wasn’t as he’d catch her doing things she shouldn’t and scold her, but it had slowed her down and she wasn’t able to work.

She had talked him into going back to work this week. Bud figured he might have had a case of domestic violence to write up if he didn’t. Marie had threatened to clonk him over the head with her crutches if he didn’t stop ‘hovering like an old hen over her’ to use her words. He grinned back at her. She was doing okay and Bud had regular rounds of checks on her throughout the day. And when he was working he insisted that she spend her time over with the Curry’s, Jessica and Varner.

It was working out well. The girls were all happy spending time together under the watchful eyes of Curry and Varner and Bud was back at work earning money for their future. He’d caught Marie peering at herself sideways in the mirror that morning with her hand on her belly with a pleased little smile on her face. Yeah, Bud was earning money for their future.

"Okay, let me run down the case for you." Marie leaned closer and gripped his hand. She really was bored.

Bud told her about a theft ring the Coffs’ police had been trying to bust. Some stolen items had been showing up around The Glen. The community was affluent enough that it was a good place to fence stolen items of high quality. Close, yet far enough away from Coffs that most people weren’t aware they were receiving stolen goods. John, Bud and Zack were all concerned that some of the good citizens of The Glen were getting mixed up unknowingly in something that could get them in trouble. It was a crime to be on the receiving end whether they knew it or not.

Marie listened carefully and didn’t interrupt him until he finished. She loved when Bud talked about his cases. He always sanitized them for her which was fine as she didn’t like hearing about things too awful. This case was about theft and not violence so he could give her all the details so far.

"So some of our residents of The Glen could end up getting in trouble for receiving stolen goods unwittingly?"

"Yeah, in fact its gonna happen for certain, Hon."

"Oh, no. I don’t want to see any of our relatives, neighbors and friends get in trouble for something they were duped about."

"I know. We’ll do what we can to protect those who were innocent. I’m worried that in addition to selling stolen goods to our residents that the thieves are going to branch out into this area and start stealing from The Glen."

"Then you’ve just got to catch and stop them before they do, Bud."

Bud grinned at her. If it were only that simple. "That’s what we’re working on, Hon. Stopping them before anyone gets hurt beyond a few stolen items showing up in town. These shitbirds seem smarter than most crooks I’ve seen. They’re been covering their tracks well so far. But with the Coffs force and The Glen force they’ve met their match." Bud wasn’t blowing smoke. He was proud of their force and from what he’d seen of the Coffs force they were diligent and thorough.

"Of course they have, Bud. With Detective White on the case they don’t have a chance." She kissed his hand emphatically and then finished the last pea on her pile and threw it into the pot of water.

Bud liked that she was so certain of his police force’s success. Marie never doubted his abilities as a cop. He watched her struggle to get up and position her crutches while he gripped the chair with white knuckles. It still took all of Bud’s willpower not to help her when she got up or maneuvered around with those sticks.

She looked satisfied with herself as she moved forward toward the sink.

"Will you bring the pot of peas over to the sink so I can rinse them before we go over to Lachlan and Ashley’s house for dinner? I’ll cook them over there."

Bud lumbered to his feet and brought the pot over to the sink pronto. He was about to drain and rinse the peas when he caught the look coming from Marie.

"Okay, Hon. I get it. You want to do it. I just want to make sure you’re steady on your feet since you can’t hang onto those crutches right and rinse the peas at the same time."

Bud stood behind her, slipped his hands around her waist and stroked her gently. His lips descended to her neck to kiss and nibble on the soft smooth skin he found there. Bud smiled into her neck as he heard her giggle as she turned the water on. So much for his grand seduction of his wife. He switched to tickling her with his fingers and lips.

"Wendell White. You are not helping me to get the peas ready for dinner." She laughed harder as he nuzzled noisily into her neck.

"I don’t care, Hon." Bud chuckled as he renewed his endeavors.

Marie slapped his hand, but then grasped for the sink as she lost her balance. Bud immediately steadied her. He’d had her spotted all along. She leaned back against him. There was no better place to be than snuggled up in Bud’s arms. He hugged her to him.

"You know I love you Bud even though you are incorrigible."

"Uh huh." Bud’s lips found her neck again. The peas were forgotten for the moment.