His Honor, Her Family

by Tara Randel

  “No.” He set the bag on the counter and pulled out his phone. Tapped the screen to bring up his email. “Nope.”

  Grace’s face slowly turned red. “She must have forgotten.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m here and ready to work.”

  An arched brow rose. “Really? We’re not cutting into your shopping time?”

  He smothered a chuckle at her disgruntled expression. “I have a life, you know.”

  “True.” She picked up a pen and tapped it on the desktop. “So, Serena waited on you?”

  “Yes. She helped me pick out a gift.”

  She bit her bottom lip. He’d come to know her well enough by now to imagine she was dying to ask who the gift was for but didn’t want to come off as overly pushy. Or wait. Was she more curious about his conversation with Serena than the recipient of the gift? Now he had to find out.

  “Nice woman,” he said. “She’s created quite a pleasant atmosphere in her store.”

  “She is. I don’t know her well, but we’ve chatted from time to time.”

  “So she’s not one of the original merchants in town?”

  “No. She moved into the space about two years ago.”

  “A transplant like me?”

  “I guess.” She stopped tapping. “So did you talk about what you have in common?”

  “And if we did?”

  “I... You...”

  He laughed. Couldn’t help it, really. Grace’s interrogation skills were sadly lacking. Also, he hadn’t enjoyed himself like this in a very long time.

  He found himself wondering what she was like in court. Did she possess a take-no-prisoners attitude? Ask relentless questions to make her case? Or was she quiet but authoritative? And why should he care, since one of the reasons he’d escaped here was to get away from all things law enforcement and trial related.

  She slammed her hands on her hips. “What?”

  “I find it amusing that you’re so concerned about my visit with Serena.”

  “Well, you work for me. I’m responsible for all my employees.”

  “Enough to dig into their personal lives? Who they’re dating?”

  Her eyes went wide. “You’re dating Serena?”

  “Jealous?”

  * * *

  JEALOUS? GRACE?

  She waited for the smug expression to leave his ridiculously handsome face, but he continued grinning at her.

  Drat. She was jealous.

  “I’m not jealous.”

  Except her tight chest said otherwise.

  “Could have fooled me.”

  How could she not be after their kiss at the lake yesterday? She’d have to be dead not to feel something, and last time she checked, her heart was still beating. Overtime, apparently, for this man.

  And not just the kiss. He’d opened up to her. Even in the short time she’d come to know him, she understood how hard that had been for him. So, feelings for Deke? Big-time. But she’d never, ever, admit she was jealous.

  “Okay, I am a little curious, but no way am I jealous.”

  “Because that would mean you have feelings for me.” His grin grew bigger. “As a concerned boss and all.”

  “Funny.”

  “This really is.”

  She rounded the desk to walk to the counter. “It’s just...after our time on the lake yesterday, I thought we’d connected.”

  “We did.”

  She hated to have to spell it out, but there didn’t seem to be any other way to get to the truth. “But you want to play the field?”

  “Are you kidding? Right now I have enough trouble just keeping up with you.”

  She felt a reluctant grin tug at her lips. “I’m special like that.”

  Deke ran a hand over his short hair and didn’t meet her gaze. “Very special, so let me assure you, you have nothing to worry about.”

  Sweet, he thought she was special. How long had it been since she’d tried to have a relationship but sabotaged it by putting her career or family first? Her dismal dating experiences spoke volumes. Deke certainly had her full attention and she planned on holding on to that for the foreseeable future. Did that mean more kisses? At the thought, she wanted to do the happy dance right there on the spot, because yeah, she could see more kisses in the future. Maybe they’d meet at the lakeshore at midnight. Or by the firepit under the stars. But more than that, she could talk to Deke. Really talk to him, and that was pretty equal to his amazing kisses.

  Wondering if her thoughts were mirrored on her face, she tried to read his expression, then realized he hadn’t looked at her when he said she had nothing to worry about. Which made her worry. He was avoiding her gaze for a reason. Why? What was he hiding?

  Giving herself mental whiplash, she took a few seconds to stop and think about what he’d said. He’d said she had nothing to worry about. Which meant...

  “But someone else needs to worry? Serena?”

  Surprise crossed his face. “Very astute.”

  “Lawyer.”

  “You do have that working for you.”

  She pressed her hands to her stomach. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  “Me?”

  “Sure. You show up out of the blue, looking for a job. Then you...wait. You didn’t just show up here on a whim, did you?”

  A sheepish expression crossed his face.

  “You came to Golden on purpose?”

  “Yes.”

  “Because of that trial you told me about?”

  “No. A family issue.”

  Relief swept through her. She didn’t want to think about trouble following Deke here and what that would mean for her hometown. Although why she would be relieved when she planned on leaving soon was beside the point. Her family still lived here after all.

  “Is this thing with Serena serious?”

  His broad shoulders rose as he exhaled a breath. “I don’t even know if Serena is involved in the problem. It’s a lead my brother asked me to follow up.”

  “And since you’re on a leave of absence—”

  “And already up here hiking the Appalachian Trail.”

  “—you decided to infiltrate my town.”

  His brow creased. “You make my actions sound nefarious.”

  “If you’d fill me in...”

  “I can’t. Not right now.” His steady gaze met hers. “But I trust you, Grace.”

  Even though Deke had revealed himself yesterday, she sensed he didn’t say those words easily or often. The tightness in her chest eased and she found herself touched that he’d confided in her, even if it wasn’t the entire story.

  “Okay. How about this? You tell me when you can, and in the meantime I’ll do a little reconnaissance for you. Like I said, I don’t know Serena well, but we are friendly. If you give me a direction to follow, I’ll see what I can find out.”

  After a long, charged moment, he said, “I can do that.” He moved closer to the counter and suddenly she was engulfed in his woodsy scent. “See what you can find out about her family or if she’s involved with anyone from out of state.”

  “Deal.” She held out her hand and he took it. After a firm shake, she tried to remove it from his grip, but he held fast. She looked up, getting lost in his dark blue-gray eyes. His thumb brushed over her skin and it was all she could do to control a runaway shiver.

  When he finally let go, she brushed her hands off. “I think we’ll make a good team.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  “Sure beats worrying about my own family for once,” she said with a grimace.

  “They don’t need your concern, Grace. They need to stand on their own feet.”

  “Easy for you to say, but remember, Faith didn’t send you the memo about this morning’s tour group.”

 
“She probably has a good reason for forgetting. She’s a mother with two kids and it doesn’t look like her husband is any help.”

  Guilt pressed on her shoulders, but she stood her ground. “You just made my point.”

  “I’m not arguing the point because right now I have a tour to meet up with.” He grinned at her. “Unless you want to take over?”

  She shivered. “Please.” Picking up a form, she handed it to him. “The Kelly and Pope families. They’re vacationing here together. Mr. Pope called to let me know they’re running late.”

  Having read the form, Deke looked up, curiosity clear in his eyes. “Okay, then you can tell me why you dislike the outdoors so much.”

  “It’s not dislike, really. And it’s not all outdoors. More like some bad memories that linger after all these years.”

  “Nothing could be that bad that you wouldn’t take advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery here.”

  “You’d be wrong.” She’d boxed up those memories years ago and hidden them where they belonged, in the past.

  He rested a hip against the counter. “I shared.”

  She sighed. Yes, he had.

  Resting both hands on the counter, she closed her eyes. Conjured up the high school trip that had ended in embarrassment. Right on cue, her stomach started swirling, but she met his gaze.

  “Short story. Senior camping trip. I was surprised by Lissy Ann’s invitation to hang out with her friends. I sat with them around the campfire, hiked the park with them. One evening a few of us were allowed to take a path up the mountain to the lookout. It was getting dark when Lissy Ann realized she’d forgotten her flashlight and asked me to run back to our camp to get it. Carter was leading the group and she insisted she couldn’t leave his side, which was not unusual since they were always glued together. Thankful that she’d included me with her friends, I went on the errand.”

  His strong hand covered hers. “Let me guess. You never met up with them.”

  She carelessly lifted one shoulder, trying to hide how much the memory still bothered her. “No one was at the lookout when I arrived. Once I realized I’d been duped, I decided to return to camp, only it was getting darker and I got turned around and took the wrong path. It was spooky and I swear I could hear animals coming for me, so I froze. Spent hours curled up under some bushes until the teachers found me. When I eventually got back to the campsite, I didn’t miss the kids’ eyes on me or the laughter at my expense.

  “I ducked into the restroom and overheard a few girls who’d come in laugh over Lissy Ann’s treatment of me. The chubby girl with the convict father.” She shook her head as if the physical movement could keep the tears at bay. “Got so nauseous I threw up. When I finally ventured outside, I did my best to pretend their whispers didn’t bother me, but obviously they did.”

  “Now I understand why you were less than overjoyed to see Lissy Ann the day she stopped by.”

  Grace shoved the memories back in the box. “I thought I’d gotten over it, but it all links up with those memories of being teased because of my family. But that doesn’t explain why she wants to be friends now.”

  “Want my opinion?”

  “I shared, so yeah.”

  He chuckled. “You’re successful. Not only as an attorney, but your family business has done well. I’d venture a guess and say she’s disappointed at how things turned out for herself. Reconnecting could be her way of apologizing.”

  “We did kind of discuss our past when she stopped in the other day.”

  He leaned toward her, his masculine scent engulfing her again. “Now that you’ve figured it out, you have no reason not to love being outdoors.”

  “Don’t push it, Matthews. I may incorrectly lump all outdoor activities with being left in the woods at night, on top of being teased, but it’s my issue to deal with.” His genuine smile sent tingly sensations over her skin in a way she didn’t want to examine. “But I’ll be heading back to Atlanta soon, so I suppose it doesn’t matter in the big picture.”

  At her reminder, he removed his hand, taking his warmth with it. The room suddenly turned cold. At the loss of his touch or the idea of going back to her career?

  “Except to your family,” he went on to say.

  “I’ve left the tools for them to succeed. If Faith focuses and Nathan spends more time working than scheming, Put Your Feet Up should be fine. If they can’t commit, then my mother should consider selling.”

  A dark brow arched. “You’d advise her to sell?”

  She clasped her hands together. “I already have. She refuses to even consider the idea.”

  “Let me ask you something.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you really want them to succeed?”

  His words startled her. “What kind of question is that? Of course I do.”

  He held up a hand. “Hear me out. You’ve been the one to take care of the family for so long, maybe you don’t really think there’s any way they can possibly manage without you.”

  “That’s always been the plan. I’ve made sure they knew I would eventually leave to practice law away from Golden.”

  “Yet you come running every time they need you?”

  “Are you suggesting I like it when they mess up?”

  “No, but control is powerful and can be difficult to let go.”

  “I have no...” She stopped. Was Deke right? She complained when they needed her, but dropped everything to bail them out of their messes. “Wow. I’m an enabler.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I can see you’ve spent a lot of time and put a great deal of thought into this business. It’s part of who you are, Grace, just like being an attorney is also who you are. You can’t have one without the other or separate them.”

  She’d never considered her life like that.

  “If you act like they can’t do anything without you, you’re subconsciously saying you expect them to fail, and they will. But you’ve given them everything they need to run this business. It’s time you stepped back and let them. For real this time.”

  The back door opened and voices carried up front.

  “The clients,” Grace said, relief and disappointment mingling at the reprieve.

  Deke’s serious gaze pierced hers. “And here’s my last piece of advice. If your family takes over, you can focus on your own life for once. That means more time with me.”

  That said, he lifted the counter partition, squeezing her shoulder as he passed by to greet the guests and get them on their way. She touched the spot, wishing he didn’t have to rush off. He’d opened the door to a topic she’d never wanted to delve into and didn’t want to go through alone. He grabbed the van keys, nodded goodbye and ushered the group outside, the words shared between them hovering in the air.

  Focus on your own life for once.

  Grace’s shoulders slumped. She’d never placed the spotlight on herself before. Was almost afraid to try.

  More time with me.

  Did she want more time with Deke? If she were honest, yes, lots of it, in any way, shape or form. Evidently he was on board. The question was, would she dare take advantage of his suggestion?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  BRIGHT AND EARLY Friday morning, Grace was reviewing the tour schedule for the next week when she heard the back door open. Running a hand over her hair—because it could be Deke coming in to work after all—she stopped midmotion. Okay, so she liked when he saw her at her best, but honestly, he’d managed to see her at her worst far too often. Lowering her hand, she was surprised when Nathan walked in from the hallway, carrying a large tote bag.

  She checked her watch, then stared at him. “It’s nine o’clock in the morning. You don’t have a group. Why are you awake?”

  His hair looked shaggier than usual, like he’d just rolled out of bed. “There’s a change in
guides today.”

  She glanced at the schedule. “What are you talking about? I haven’t made any changes.”

  “No, but Mr. Newton has.”

  “Come again?”

  “He called me thirty minutes ago. Seems he wants an additional guide to go along with the youth group. I told him you’d be happy to fill in.”

  Mr. Newton had been bringing inner-city kids to the mountains for as long as she could remember. They’d always given his organization a special discount and made sure to show the kids a good time.

  “I’m not a guide, Nathan.”

  “No one would ever confuse you for one.” Her brother chuckled in his raspy morning voice. “But are you willing to lose a longtime client because you’re stubborn?”

  She rubbed her forehead. “You’re going to have to explain.”

  Nathan pulled a chair out, sank down and lifted his feet to rest on the desk. “Mr. Newton is bringing a coed group this morning. Apparently he wants both a male and female guide for the mix of kids. Deke had already signed on and the last time I checked I’m not a female so...” He held out his hand to indicate Grace was the next choice.

  Grace considered her options and came up empty. Faith certainly couldn’t do it, not unless she found a babysitter. And since she brought the children to the office because she couldn’t afford one, that put her out of the running. And Mama was out of commission. As much as she could come up with many different reasons not to be in the outdoors, Grace was the only one available.

  Resigned, she said, “I’m the guide.”

  “You got it.”

  She glanced at her watch again. “You could have called instead of driving over. I need to run back to the cabin for a change of clothes.”

  He hefted the bag and tossed it on the desk. “No need. Since I was at Mama’s, I packed for you.”

  She stood to unzip the bag and riffle through it. “I don’t recall leaving anything there. I can’t—” She stopped short when she pulled a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved, red-and-black plaid shirt from the bag. Recognized them from the last time she’d lived at home. “Nathan, I don’t even know if these clothes are my size.”