by Jill Gregory
A few boys about Grady’s age played catch in the park. An elderly couple shuffled from the Toss and Tumble Laundromat with a basket of folded laundry clutched between them. Chatty young mothers pushed their babies on swings near the rock garden in the park.
Three blocks down, on Main, he could see people flowing in and out of Benson’s Drugstore. He heard ranch hands calling to each other in greeting as they paused outside the hardware store or parked their trucks down the street from Tobe’s Mercantile.
Through the open window he saw Sheriff Hodge amble out of Pepper Rony’s Pizza with a carry-out box, and a bunch of teenage boys jostling and shoving and goofing off outside the Lickety Split Ice Cream Parlor.
He was sure that, a few blocks over, A Bun in the Oven was bustling with people munching on cinnamon buns, sour cream coffee cake, and fresh baked cookies as they sipped specialty teas and cappuccinos.
He’d be headed there himself soon to pick up Grady. He’d left him sitting at one of the smaller booths in the rear of the bakery with his backpack, a comic book, a handheld video game, a roast beef sandwich on sourdough, and a peanut butter cookie.
Sophie and her grandmother, who helped her run the bakery, and Brittany, who’d been working the cash register and mentioned something about Mia spending the morning preparing for the tutoring session, had all promised to look after him.
Glancing at his watch, Travis realized it was almost two. He needed to get Grady over to Mia’s house pronto.
“Yeah, yeah, in your next life,” he interrupted Marcus, unable to keep from grinning. Marcus Belmont, a forty-one-year-old, six-foot, four-inch former Navy SEAL who’d retired from the Secret Service the previous February, was a master at the art of bullshitting. “Tell them to call me and I’ll set up a video meeting. If I hire even two of them, I’ll buy you dinner at the Golden Fox the next time I make it back to Georgetown. Maybe five, six years from now. At the earliest.”
He laughed at Marcus’s reply. The guy should get a medal for being able to string that many four-letter words together in a single sentence.
“Yeah, more than a dozen clients lined up already. Some real heavy hitters,” he told Marcus, one eye on his watch. “So I need guys who can get off to a running start by the end of the month. One client is headed to Greece for that economic summit and needs round-the-clock protection for six weeks minimum. I’ll let you know the details tomorrow. Sure thing, get back to me in the morning. Anyone you think is up to it, have them fax me their resumes.”
Ending the call, Travis glanced around the office space he’d rented. He only had two desks and office chairs so far—one here in his own office, with a view that included Oak Street and a section of the park, the second set in the reception area. The rest of the furniture and all the computer and video-monitoring equipment would be delivered by the end of the week.
In the meantime, he had his fax, his laptop, and his cell phone—and it was enough for now. Things were coming together very quickly in a short space of time. Word had gotten out that he was hiring and wanted only the best. His contacts in the military and the Justice Department had been referring clients to him right and left. He was interviewing for an office manager tomorrow, but for the rest of today, it was all about Mia and Grady.
He was praying his son would take the tutoring as seriously as he needed to.
Locking the office door behind him, Travis sprinted down the stairs and stepped out onto Oak Street, crossing quickly toward Main.
When he entered the bakery, the delicious scent of fresh-baked bread and pastries filled his nostrils. Sophie’s grandmother, Ava Louise Todd, peered at him from the cash register with a welcoming smile.
“Hello again, Travis. Your young man’s right back there where you left him—hasn’t made so much as a peep.” She chuckled. “He’s all caught up in that comic book of his. Just let me know if either one of you needs anything else.”
“I’d love a dozen or so of every cake, pie, and cookie in the place, Mrs. Todd, but then you’d be out of business before closing time.”
“Goodness, no, I can whip up more before you blink.” She chuckled, then slanted him a sparkling glance. “I heard you and Mia Quinn were dancing it up at the Double Cross the other night.” The keen glance she sent him was full of equal parts kindness and avid curiosity. “Folks are saying you two might be getting back together. Is that true?”
“Mrs. Todd, you know a gentleman never tells.” Travis’s eyes gleamed at her. “Guess you’d have to ask the lady.”
A smile spread across her gently lined face. “I might just do that,” she told him with a nod. As Travis turned toward the booths in the back of the bakery he swore he could feel her vibrant green eyes piercing into his back.
The town matchmakers must be having a field day, he thought. Mia was not going to be amused. Somehow the idea only made him grin.
Most of the tables and booths were full, but he had no trouble spotting Grady in the last booth, his nose still in the comic book. The boy hadn’t even looked up when Travis entered.
As he moved toward the back, Brittany breezed out of the kitchen carrying a fresh-baked cherry pie in an open white bakery box.
“Hi, Mr. Tanner—I mean, Travis,” she said as she passed him. “Your son is so cute. He hasn’t budged once from that booth.” She rushed past him toward the front counter.
But as he reached Grady’s table he heard a shriek and a loud thump from the front of the bakery, and a gasp went up among the customers even as Travis wheeled around.
It was Brittany who’d shrieked. She’d dropped the pie on the floor and it had spilled out of the box. Bright cherry filling and juice and pastry oozed in a red gooey puddle across the previously spotless floor.
She stood beside the disaster but she wasn’t looking down at it. She was staring instead at the smiling young man coming through the doorway of the bakery.
“Geez, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, his voice full of contrition as he approached the counter.
Travis had never seen him before but he looked to be about nineteen. Twenty at most. He was clean-cut, with a husky build, fair hair, long jaw. He wore flashy cowboy boots. Expensive looking, Travis thought. In contrast, the kid had on a plain gray T-shirt and a well-worn pair of jeans.
He looked pleasant enough, but for some reason Mia’s niece stood frozen and, oddly, she couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from him.
“I’m sorry,” the guy said again, his smile turning more concerned. “Can I help you clean that up?”
But Mrs. Todd bustled forward.
“Never mind, young man, I’ll take care of it. Brittany, dear, don’t you worry. I’ve dropped a few pies in my day, too—and so has Sophie. That goes for Karla McDonald, too—and for that matter, Seth, and everyone else who’s ever worked here. It happens now and then. You just go ahead and wait on this young man.”
“I’m s-so sorry, Mrs. T-Todd,” Brittany stammered.
“Not a problem. Now, if you start getting the dropsies twice a day, that’s a different story.” The white-haired woman laughed and patted the girl’s arm before heading in back for a mop.
“Dad, can I have another cookie?” Grady asked as Ava Todd disappeared into the kitchen. Travis dragged his gaze away from Brittany and the guy at the counter to glance down at his son.
“What did you say?” He was still distracted. Something about what had just happened struck a strange chord somewhere in his gut. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“I really want another cookie. Please?”
“Oh. Sure.” He ruffled Grady’s hair. “Peanut butter again? How about we get you one for the road?”
Brittany was talking to the kid at the counter. He was pointing at something in the display case, a smile still on his face. Their interaction seemed perfectly normal, but…
I’ve been on the FBI payroll too long, Travis told himself. Mia’s niece was obviously just the jumpy sort. She’d been on edge the night Travi
s first met her, too.
Stuffing his gear in his backpack, Grady slid out of the booth. “I just hope it won’t be too hard,” he said in a low tone, looking worried.
“Hope what won’t be too hard?”
“English and earth science. The tutoring.” Grady sighed. “All the homework and stuff.”
Travis studied the uneasy expression in his son’s eyes. “It might be hard,” he told the boy steadily, “but I know you can handle it. You want this, don’t you?”
“I want to pass into sixth grade more than anything.”
“Then you’ll make it happen.” Travis hated the self-doubt he saw in Grady’s face. “Just take your best shot. Don’t waste it. Grab it and make the most of it.”
The same could be said, Travis realized, about his relationship with Mia.
Not that he and Mia actually had a relationship. Yet.
But he was working on it. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was, or where it was going…but they were feeling their way. He knew, though, that he could only afford to take things day by day for so long. Whatever happened, he didn’t want to hurt her ever again. He’d have to figure it all out soon—before one or both of them got in too deep.
He needed to give it his best shot. If they were starting over—and not just getting each other out of their systems once and for all….
As they moved up the aisle between the tables and booths, his attention shifted to the husky kid leaving the bakery. Travis watched him lope off down the street with a white pastry sack in his hand.
“We’ll take another peanut butter cookie to go,” Travis told Brittany, noting that she looked upset.
Her hand trembled as she reached for the cookie and stuffed it into a bag.
“You okay?” Travis asked. “You know that guy who just left here? Did he say something to upset you?”
Her eyes widened. “N-no. I’m just having a bad day. I think I had too much caffeine or something.” Her smile looked forced. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
If you say so, Travis thought. Something was off. He didn’t press her, though, not now, while she was at work. He made a mental note to mention it to Mia later when they had a moment alone.
If they had a moment alone.
He hoped like hell they would. Actually, when it came right down to it, he hoped they’d have a whole lot more than a moment.
Chapter Sixteen
“I have to read this book by when?”
Mia pushed the copy of Louis Sachar’s Holes closer to Grady. She’d checked it out from the Lonesome Way library so he could get started right away.
“Next Monday. A week from today. And write a two-page book report on it.”
She couldn’t help but smile at the shocked expression on his face. Grady dragged a hand through his hair in a gesture so much like one she’d seen Travis use that she almost laughed out loud.
“Oh, man,” he groaned.
“According to your dad you used to love to read.”
“I did…I do. But now I like riding horses, too, and working in the barn and stuff.” He set his elbows on the table, his long-lashed green eyes intent. “Uncle Rafe’s going to teach me how to start a horse. I have to just watch for a while first. That means I need to spend a whole lot of time in the corral with him or Will so I can see how they do it—” He broke off and peered at Mia with a hopeful smile. “Are you sure I have to finish the whole book by Monday?” he asked. “And do all that science homework?”
“Are you sure you want to pass that proficiency test?”
A slow grin spread across his face. “Positive.”
“Then I guess you know the answer to that question. How about some more lemonade?”
“Sure. I mean…thanks,” he added.
Mia moved to the counter and brought the lemonade pitcher to the kitchen table, refilling his glass as birds sang outside the open window, almost as loudly as the shouts coming from across the street. It was after four and Ellis Stone’s twin grandsons were playing catch in her front yard, laughing and hooting over every dropped ball or bad throw.
She’d found herself surprised when Travis dropped Grady off earlier. She’d seen little today of the lost-looking boy who’d barely glanced up the first time she met him at Sage Ranch. The boy Travis ushered into her house two hours ago was surprisingly pleasant—and more talkative than she’d expected. He’d asked her several rapid-fire questions about Samson after the dog raced over to him when he walked in the door. And he’d sat patiently, even attentively, at her kitchen table during the first hour as she’d reviewed with him the names and characteristics of all the planets—the first section of the core fifth-grade earth science curriculum he needed to master.
“Can I see any of these planets when I look at the sky?” he interrupted at one point.
“Several of them—if you look at the right times. Venus, Jupiter, and Mars are three of the brightest. You can also see Saturn and Mercury with the naked eye.”
Mia had smiled at the excitement in his face.
“Maybe your dad will show them to you one night. And if he doesn’t know where they are, I can point them out to both of you. But once you learn, you’ll always know how to find them in the sky.”
“Cool.” Grady’s eyes lit up. “You know what would be fun? To ride way up into the mountains one night and be really high up. You know, closer to the planets, and see them from there. With no buildings around, or other people or anything…just the sky.”
“That would be cool.” Mia smiled. Travis’s son might not have been born in Montana, but he had the soul of a cowboy. “I bet your dad would take you up into the mountains for a camping trip sometime if you asked him.”
“Yeah, he told me he would. He promised me we’d go camping before I have to go back to L.A.”
The face he made showed clearly what he thought of that idea.
“Do you miss your friends there and your mom?” Mia asked lightly.
He shrugged, looked down. “I don’t have that many friends and…yeah, I miss my mom sometimes. But I don’t see her too much anyway. Not like when we lived in Arizona. She’s always going out someplace with my stepdad—or getting dressed to go someplace. Or shopping for clothes to go someplace. We have a housekeeper, Mrs. Landen. She’s okay. She watches TV a lot in her room. So I just play video games or watch my own TV. I have a big flat-screen in my room—fifty inches.”
“That must be nice.” But a fifty-inch TV was no substitute for family time. Or attention, Mia thought.
Her heart went out to this little boy with the long eyelashes and an innate sense of curiosity. Grady had a love for horses and dogs and the outdoors. He was smart and sweet and just a little bit young for his age. There was a vulnerability about him that suddenly struck her like a dart to the chest and made her more determined than ever to ensure he passed that proficiency test.
Travis had better be able to talk his ex-wife out of sending Grady away. The boy loved the outdoors too much to be cooped up in a boarding school night and day, with corridors full of other kids, and pranks and pressure, and little chance to just be a kid himself.
If Grady found out his mother and stepfather intended to send him away…
She closed her eyes a moment at the thought. Her throat ached imagining the effect it would have on him.
Travis was right. Grady wasn’t a child who didn’t want to learn. He was a child who’d flourish with the right guidance, someone taking the time to nurture him, encourage him. All he needed was someone to show an interest.
Travis will convince Val not to do this. He has to.
And at that moment she heard his Explorer pull up into the driveway.
Ever the faithful guard dog, Samson hurled himself toward the front door and Grady bolted from his chair. Boy and dog raced for the front door and, amused, Mia followed them.
Grady wasted no time flying across the lawn to greet his father.
“I’ve got tons of homework,” he announced. “But I’l
l do it,” he added quickly, with a glance over his shoulder as the screen door banged shut behind Mia and, smiling, she walked across the porch.
“What’s going on at the cabin?” the boy asked as Samson dashed in circles around Travis, his tail wagging furiously. “We’re still moving in tomorrow, right, Dad?”
“If our beds and the new fridge get delivered on time.”
“All right!”
Travis grinned at his son’s enthusiasm, then his gaze shifted to Mia. He felt something clench in his heart at the sight of her in that sweetly sexy yellow sundress, her shoulders bare, her hair loosely twisted atop her head.
“How about the three of us going out to dinner?” he said.
Surprise flashed in Mia’s eyes but before she could reply, Samson began to bark again and two skinny figures bounded onto Mia’s front lawn.
Evan and Justin, Ellis’s twin grandsons, screeched to a halt. Evan threw himself to his knees in the soft grass to pet Samson while Justin said, “Hi, Ms. Quinn.”
“Hi, Justin. Hi, Evan.” She smiled as the boys eyed Grady with friendly curiosity. There weren’t any other kids their age on the street. She introduced Travis first, then his son.
“Want to come over to our grandma’s house and play ball?” Evan asked Grady as Samson licked his face, ears, and neck.
He turned eagerly to Travis. “Can I, Dad?”
“Is your grandmother at home?” Travis asked the boys.
“Yeah, she’s on her laptop, working on her blog,” Justin said.
“She likes us to play outside while she’s writing. So we’re out of her hair,” Evan added.
Travis turned back to Grady, saw the hopeful gleam in his eyes. He remembered that back home Grady said he had only one friend. Scott. One friend could be plenty if it was a good one, but right now he had a shot at two.
“Sure, go ahead. I’ll call you when it’s time to head out.” He was rewarded by a huge grin. An instant later all three boys were running back across the street, whooping just for the fun of it.
“How’d it go?” he asked Mia, coming up to join her on the porch. Somehow they ended up sitting side by side on the swing. Samson had looked like he wanted to run across the street with the kids, but in the end decided to chase a butterfly around the lilac bush instead.
