From the hard look that Ruth noticed on the approaching officer's face, she feared he was going to throw the book at her. What else could she figure?...

"A little Divine intervention here, Lord, to get me out of this?" she asked, as she glanced up toward the heavens again, then back at the officer.

Her palms started sweating.

Is such nervousness due to my fear of the unknown here, Lord, or for another  reason?

She began fanning her hands in the air in front of the steering wheel to dry them of her nervousness, and stopped when the officer came to stand at her window.

"License, registration, and insurance card, please," said the patrolman, whose name tag Ruth saw read: Nicholas Night.

"Ruff-Ruff-Ruff!" 

The muffled barks and curious growls of the car-bound German shepherd in the patrol car caught Ruth's attention. Twisting back, looking over her shoulder and through her car's rear windshield, she spied a K-9 in the front seat of the cop's car. The dog's eyes locked with hers.

"Ruff-Ruff-Ruff!"

Ruth faced frontward again. Six months ago during the showing of dogs at the Faith Hills Police Station—in front of the "Keep Us Safe" town committee, of which Ruth had been a part—one German shepherd had been approved for the first police K-9 unit for the town. And here that dog was, remembering Ruth, pulling her over with its human partner.

"Didn't you see that red light back there, Miss?"

Ruth looked up at Officer Night. He appeared to be younger than she, but not by many years—five tops. That had been the same age gap as between her and late husband Darren.

Regardless, Ruth was attracted to the officer here. She couldn't explain it, but his warm, compelling light eyes hypnotized her. His enchanting smile touched her, too; however, his words and attitude troubled her.

Pulling me over on Easter morning and asking me for identification, and proof of car coverage, officer. Really?

"The light was yellow, Officer Night. I saw it."

Nicholas offered Ruth a sly grin. "Sharp eye, Miss..."

"Mitchell," she assisted.

"Miss Mitchell," he said, in acceptance.

"Then why would I have gone through a red light, if I have such keen eyesight, as you say?"

"I was talking about you seeing the name on my tag here, Miss Mitchell," he said tapping it.

Ruth sent him a sarcastic face. "That's more than I can say about 'your' eyesight, Officer Night. Don't you see I'm pregnant, and that this traffic stop is stressing me out? And that that's could not be good for the baby?"

"Uh...well...I...," stammered the officer verbally backpedaling, noticing she was with child. "My apologies...Mrs. Mitchell," he fumbled out," but I—"

"It's 'Ms.,' if you must know, Officer Night," she voiced, cutting into his apology. "I'm not married. I'm a widow."

Ruth didn't know why she emphasized that Nicholas should address her as "Ms." She also didn't know why she added that last bit of "widowed" information to her reply. Could it have been just nervous "head-over-heels" chatter?...

She hand-cupped a slight giggle, thinking:  How ironic. A policeman named "Nicholas Night" is about to ticket me for running a red light on "Easter morning."

With a compassionate face, Officer Night said, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Ruth replied lowly, her hand uneasily resting on her baby bump.

The conversation between them then held silent for several seconds as they studied each other's face. It was a wordless exchange that said each wanted to know more about the other, but were afraid to ask, or to tell, at the moment.

***************

Sooooo fab to see you at the end of this chapter, fans! Much thanks to you for reading this Faith Hills K-9 romance of mine! What do you think, Wattpadders? Are Ruth and Nicholas a match? Will the K-9 connection help their relationship in any way? Don't forget to tell me in your comments below why you think one way, or another. I'd looooove to know!

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