Just One Kiss. Susan Mallery

raised her glass. “Welcome home, Justice,” she said.

      “Thank you.”

      They all took sips of their drinks. Lillie put her milk down and turned to her grandmother.

      “Mr. Garrett is a bodyguard.” She wrinkled her nose. “Like on TV, right?”

      Patience had called him Mr. Garrett to make a point. Lillie was doing it because of how she was raised. “If it’s okay with your mom, you can call me Justice.”

      Lillie beamed. “Is it, Mom?”

      “Sure.”

      Lillie sat a little straighter and cleared her throat. “Justice is a bodyguard, Grandma.”

      “I heard.” Ava glanced at him. “That sounds dangerous. Is it?”

      “Sometimes. Mostly I protect rich people who travel to hazardous places. I make sure they’re safe.”

      “What are you doing in Fool’s Gold, then?” Patience asked. “We’re about as far from hazardous as you can get and still stay on the continent. Is it part of your new business?”

      He nodded, then glanced at Ava. “I want to open a business with a couple of buddies of mine. We’ll provide training for security firms.”

      Ava looked interested. “A bodyguard school?”

      “We think of it as more comprehensive than that. We’ll provide instruction on strategy, weapons and other equipment. Up-to-the-minute reports on various conflicts in different parts of the world. In addition, we want to offer corporate retreats. Team building through activities. Obstacles courses and other physical challenges.”

      Patience blinked. “Wow. That puts my idea of a coffeehouse to shame. I mean, I got as far as having a book club and maybe an open-mike comedy night, but that’s it.”

      “My partners and I have been working on the plan for a while. We’ve been waiting to find the right place. Ford suggested Fool’s Gold, so when I came here last year, I checked it out.”

      Ava’s surprise was evident in her voice.

      “Ford? Ford Hendrix?”

      He nodded. “We’ve been friends awhile now. We reconnected in the military. Our third partner is a guy named Angel Whittaker.”

      “I’d heard Ford was returning,” Ava said, “but no one knows when. He’s been serving in the military for years.”

      “He gets out in the next couple of months. He should be back then.”

      Angel didn’t care where they started the business, and once Justice had come back last year, he’d lobbied for Fool’s Gold. He’d thought about looking up Patience then, but he had enough self-control to avoid her. This time, not so much.

      “Who’s Ford?” Lillie asked.

      “You know the Hendrix triplets and Mrs. Hendrix,” Patience said. “Ford is the youngest brother in the Hendrix family.”

      “Oh. He’s old.”

      Ava smiled. “He’s in his thirties, Lillie.”

      The girl looked confused. “That old?”

      “Ah, to be young again.” Ava picked up her fork and speared a piece of lettuce. “So, Justice, tell me what you’ve been doing for the past fifteen years. Did you get married?”

      CHAPTER THREE

      PATIENCE SILENTLY VOWED she would never complain about her mother again. Not that she did it very much, but sometimes it was difficult sharing a house. Tonight, though, Ava had proved herself to be a master at getting information from anyone at any time.

      By the time the dinner plates had been cleared and the dessert served, Justice had spilled nearly all his secrets. He’d spent a decade in the military before going into private-sector security. He had never been married and had no children. He’d come close to getting engaged once, he’d lived all over the world, but didn’t call any place home and had put off finding a house or an apartment in Fool’s Gold, preferring to live in a hotel until the business was up and running.

      Patience had simply settled in to listen. Her mother’s gentle grilling had been better than live theater and she’d been able to enjoy both the floor show and the view.

      Since their earlier encounter in the salon where she worked, Justice had traded in his suit for jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She liked the way he’d filled out—all muscles and strength. No doubt a result of excellent physical conditioning. She would suspect that the bodyguard business required that sort of thing.

      Watching him talk, she noticed the odd line or two around his eyes and that his expression was more guarded than she remembered. She was also very conscious of the fact that the last man to walk into their house had been a plumber and before that, the guy who had upgraded their cable TV. Ava hadn’t dated much after her husband had left. Patience hadn’t meant to follow in her mother’s footsteps on that front, yet here she was, pushing thirty and chronically single.

      Justice was the kind of man to set the most chaste of hearts to fluttering, and Patience had to admit that any chastity on her part had been due to circumstance, not choice. If her handsome, slightly dangerous former childhood crush made a move, she would cheerfully agree. Justice seemed like the type of man to cure nearly any female ill. As long as she was careful to keep things emotionally casual.

      She supposed that in today’s modern age, she should be willing to make the first move herself. To self-actualize. But that wasn’t her style. She’d never been especially brave and now, walking Justice out onto the front porch, she didn’t experience any sudden surge in courage.

      “Still adore my mother?” she asked as she closed the door behind them. Just in case he had the idea he should kiss her good-night. Which he should. She was doing her best to send that message telepathically. Not that she had any psychic talent.

      Justice sat on the porch railing and nodded. “She’s good. I’m going to talk to Ford and Angel about hiring her to teach the interrogation classes.”

      Patience smiled. “It’s a gift and she uses it. I think people believe that I was a pretty decent kid naturally, but that’s not true at all. It’s because I knew my mother could make me confess if she suspected I’d done anything wrong.” She leaned against the upright support and smiled. “It helps keep Lillie in line, too.”

      Justice grinned. “Lillie’s great. You’re lucky to have her.”

      “I agree.”

      His smile faded. “Can I ask about her dad?”

      “You can, and I’ll even answer.” She shrugged. “Ned and I got married because I got pregnant. I was young and stupid.”

      “Lillie’s ten?”

      “Uh-huh. I’ll do the math for you. I was nineteen when she was born. Ned was a guy I was dating. I was bored and confused about my life, and one thing led to another. I got pregnant, he did the right thing and we were married. Six months later, he ran off with a fortysomething redhead who had more money than sense. Lillie was three weeks old.”

      Justice’s expression hardened. “Does he pay his child support?”

      She allowed herself the brief illusion of believing that Justice would rush to take care of Ned if he didn’t. The fantasy was very satisfying.

      “He doesn’t have to. He signed away all rights in return for not having to support her financially. I think I got the better deal. He wouldn’t have been consistent, and that would have hurt Lillie.”

      “You could have used the money.”

      “Maybe, but we get by. I’ll never be able to save enough to open Brew-haha, but I can live with that.”

      He straightened. “What?”