by Terri Reed
He’d had his mom and a slew of “daddies” over the years, but only one had ever shown any genuine interest in Gabe. Officer Mark Peets. Gabe had idolized him. But he’d been killed in the line of duty.
Gabe had stood by the grave and vowed never to let himself get that close to anyone again. Doing so hurt too much.
Peets’s death left Gabe’s mother to weep alone, then search again for true love. She was always searching for true love, and was still alone.
Guilt sneaked its way into his mind. When was the last time he’d contacted his mother? Checked on her?
Long enough that he couldn’t remember. Shameful.
He made a mental note to call her later, after he had Kris situated.
Mrs. Worthington stood up. “The downstairs room will need to be readied. We could put a door between the guest room and the bath to make her a private suite. She’d like that. It might make it more tolerable for her. I wonder how fast the remodeling would take?”
“At least a couple of days,” Mr. Worthington stated.
Gabe tuned into the conversation. He cleared his throat. “That wouldn’t take care of the immediate safety issue.”
Mr. Worthington inclined his head in agreement. “Then we’ll get Sadie a bodyguard, as well.”
“Oh, she’ll like that,” Kris quipped in a tone that suggested the opposite. She sighed. “Though I think she’d probably be more amenable to a babysitter than moving.”
Mrs. Worthington’s expression turned a bit sad. “You’re probably right.”
“Then that settles it,” Mr. Worthington insisted. “I’ll call Trent now and set it up.” He exited the room.
“I should probably go tell Grams,” Kris said as she stood.
Her mother patted her arm. “I agree. She’ll take the news much better from you. But please invite her to come here. Besides, once she learns that you’ll be living with us, she might be more agreeable.”
Anger sparked in Kris’s eyes. “Uh, I figured I’d go home to my apartment since I’ll have my own babysitter.”
Mrs. Worthington’s expression turned stern. “Nonsense. Until the man who tried to kill you is caught, you’ll stay here.”
Kris flung a look at Gabe, her silent plea for him to intervene obvious. He could only nod his agreement with her mother. As much as it galled Kris to be under her parents’ thumbs, Gabe had no doubt she’d be safest here.
She scrunched up her nose at him. “Fine. I’ll sleep here only until this is over. But I still have work to do, so I’ll be at my studio during the day.”
Mrs. Worthington opened her mouth to reply, but Gabe interjected, “With the bodyguard in place, working at your apartment should be all right.”
“Should be?” Mrs. Worthington intoned. She gave him a pointed look. “It had better be.”
Gabe met Kris’s mother’s gaze dead-on. “She will be protected. I will make sure of that. You have my word.”
She assessed him for a moment, her conflicted blue eyes seeking something. She must have liked what she found because she gave a sharp nod of her head. “Very well. I will trust you. I’m sure you will explain to the bodyguard how important my daughter’s safety is.”
“You can count on it,” he replied.
“Thank you.” Mrs. Worthington touched Kris on the arm as she passed her on her way out of the living room.
As soon as they were alone, Kris said, “That was so weird.”
“How so?” Gabe asked.
“My parents. I mean, do I even know these people? Have I ever known them? I had no idea they’d wanted Grams to move in with them. I assumed—”
“You assumed the worst,” Gabe gently finished for her.
Guilt flashed across her pretty face. “Yes. Why do I do that?”
He didn’t have an answer, though he wondered about the validity of the assumptions he’d made about his mother.
“Can you take me to see Grams now?”
He smiled. “How did I know that was coming?”
“Because you’re smart.”
He snagged her elbow as she strode past him. She stilled. Her gaze lifted to his. “Thank you,” he said.
Two little creases appeared between her pretty arched eyebrows. “Why?”
“For being willing to see how important you are to your family. And me.”
She blinked. “I am?”
More than he could say. “Yes. And we will find the person behind the attempts on your life.” He had the warrants for the personnel and resident files in the car. He didn’t intend to leave Miller’s Rest without the documents. He’d already called Ms. Faust, letting her know he was on his way. He expected the files to be waiting for him.
Kris’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Right. Because that’s your job.” She tugged her elbow away. “Let me get my coat and purse. I’ll meet you outside.”
Then she disappeared up the stairs to the second floor. Not sure what to think of their last exchange or how badly he’d had to fight not to dip his head and kiss her again, Gabe headed for the front door.
“Detective Burke,” Mr. Worthington called out as Gabe passed the study.
Gabe stopped in the doorway. “Sir?”
“Please, call me Charles,” he said and waved Gabe in to the room. “Have a seat.”
Gabe did as requested and sat in the armchair facing the desk. Was Mr. Worthington, uh, Charles, actually starting to approve of him?
“I appreciate the concern you have for my daughter,” Charles said as he steepled his fingers on the desk.
Uh-oh, here comes the “you’re not good enough for my daughter” speech. The speech Gabe had hoped to avoid eight years ago. So much for acceptance. Gabe braced himself.
“I know my daughter can be a bit impulsive and flighty,” Charles mused in a tone rife with parental patience.
An assessment Gabe didn’t agree with. The need to defend Kris rose sharply. “She’s kindhearted and totally loyal, not to mention hardworking with a strong sense of purpose,” Gabe countered, his voice gruff even to his own ears.
Charles smiled slightly, his intense gaze speculative. “Yes, she is that, too.”
The urge to squirm under the man’s scrutiny had Gabe’s blood pressure rising. He wanted to loosen the tie suddenly choking him. He cleared his throat and fought to stay professional. “Were you able to secure a bodyguard for Kris? If not, I know several good retired officers who would be a good choice.”
“Indeed.” Charles sat back. “Trent Associates will be sending over a man later this afternoon. I’d appreciate you being here to meet the man and assess his worthiness.”
Once again Gabe was taken aback by Mr. Worth—Charles’s—request. Obviously he valued Gabe’s opinion. Who would have thought? “Of course. Whatever I can do to help.”
Gabe didn’t need to turn around to know Kris stood in the doorway; maybe it was the soft powdery scent she wore that teased his senses or the fact that he was so attuned to the pattern of her walk or the slight huff she let slip when she was upset. How much of the conversation had she overheard? Heat ringed his collar. Had she heard him defending her?
Her father smiled. “Come in, sweetheart. Detective Burke and I were just discussing your bodyguard.”
“Please, call me Gabe.”
Charles acknowledged the courtesy with a nod.
“Really?” Kris said as she came to stand beside Gabe’s chair. Her hip bumped against his shoulder. “And?”
“Gabe has agreed to interview the man Trent Associates is sending over.”
She deliberately knocked against him. “I thought you were going to take me to see Grams?”
He glanced up at her. “I am. Right now.” He turned back to Charles. “Your wife thought it would be best if Kris explained the situation to Sadie. We’re going there now, and we’ll return before the bodyguard arrives.”
Charles’s gaze jumped between the two. More speculation entered his gaze. “Hmm. Well, as long as Meredith has agreed.”
Gabe felt Kris straighten. One glance at her face told him that she was going to let loose some retort about not needing anyone’s permission. Abruptly, Gabe stood and put his hand to the small of her back. “If you’ll excuse us, Charles.”
The corner of his mouth tipped in amusement. “Of course. I know my daughter is in good hands. We’ll see you both back here in a few hours.”
Guiding Kris out of the house, Gabe could feel anger simmering in Kris’s blood.
“My, you two became quite cozy,” she jabbed as she slid into his vehicle.
“We have a common interest,” he replied and started the engine.
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the passenger window as he drove through the city.
“Look, I know you don’t like this situation, but it can’t be helped. Staying at your parents’ is the logical and most practical solution.”
“I know,” she said and sighed. She turned to face him. “It’s just they treat me as though I’m still a kid. I hate it.”
“Granted, they can be overbearing, but they do it because they love you. Besides, to them you are a kid. Their kid. That’s never going to change. But you’re in control of how you react. Which in turn might help change how they treat you.”
She narrowed her gaze. “How I react?”
He flipped on the windshield wipers to combat the falling snow. “Instead of getting upset, reason with them. Explain how you feel.”
Her lips curled upward. “You sound like my therapist. I know, logically, occasionally we all revert to our childhood roles when we’re with our parents. But when I get in the same room with them, all that head knowledge deserts me and I just…react.”
His lips twitched. She did that with him, as well. “So I noticed.”
She gave him a sharp glance. “Does your mother treat you like a kid?”
“No.”
“You’re blessed then.”
He glanced at her. Not exactly. “When it comes to my mother, I’m the grown-up and she’s the kid.”
Kris didn’t know what to say. He’d never really talked about his childhood. Pretty much all she’d gotten out of him years ago was that he didn’t know who his father was. “Has it always been just you and your mom?”
He made a noise deep in his throat. “No. There’ve been a lot of potential fathers in and out of my life. My mom has been chasing love since…well, forever. She doesn’t live in reality.”
Thinking back to his comment that love didn’t exist, she said, “You really don’t believe in love?”
“No.”
Sadness filled her. Sadness for her and Gabe’s past, which apparently had been doomed from the beginning. She could now see that. And sadness that a future together wasn’t possible. “And you don’t believe God exists?”
He frowned. “I never said that.”
“But you’d said you didn’t believe in Him.”
With a sidelong glance, he replied, “Totally different.”
“How?”
“I know He exists. But believing that He cares about me? No. No way.”
Her heart ached to think Gabe felt unloved by God. “Why would you think that?”
“You don’t grow up the way I did and believe some supreme being cares about you. Especially now, after years on the job. I just think God helps a select few and the rest He’s turned His back on.”
His words were sharp barbs to her soul. The God she knew, the God of the Bible, wasn’t like that. How had Gabe come to such a bleak outlook? She could only imagine the horrors he’d seen as a police officer, but his animosity went further back. Barely able to keep her tears of sorrow for the bitterness in his voice at bay, she managed to say, “How did you grow up? You’ve told me so little about your past.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Does to me. You matter to me,” she confessed even as heat flushed up her neck.
The wounded, wary expression in his eyes as he studied her had her holding up a hand to ward off his words. “I know. I know. You don’t believe in love and I shouldn’t fall in love with you again. Believe me, I have every word dialed in already.”
He returned his gaze to the road ahead. His hands gripped and regripped the steering wheel. “Good to know.”
The tone of his voice was odd, a strange mix of resignation and yearning. Not letting her curiosity be sidetracked, she moved forward with her quest to find out exactly what made him believe God had abandoned him. Because there had to be a way to convince him otherwise. “Please, tell me about your childhood.”
“Seriously, there’s nothing to tell. No big traumatic incident, no abuse. No nothing. Just a single mom more interested in the fantasy of love than in her son.”
“You must have felt very alone.”
He brought the car to a halt in a parking spot outside Miller’s Rest. He shifted to face her, his expression hard yet so painfully vulnerable. “Yes. It made me feel very alone. I have always been alone and will always be alone. Now, enough psychoanalyzing me. Let’s go tell Sadie about the bodyguard.”
Kris’s heart ached for him as she followed him from the car. Please, Lord, help me to make him see how much You love him.
They found Sadie in her room in bed.
“Grams? Grams, are you awake?”
Sadie stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. “Oh, Krissy. I’m so tired today.”
Kris shot a worried glance at Gabe. “This isn’t normal.”
“I’ll find a nurse,” he said and left the room.
Kris took Sadie’s hand. Her skin felt clammy and cold. Kris touched her wrist to Sadie’s forehead to determine if her grandmother had a fever.
“Grams, do you feel sick? Nauseous? Pain?”
Sadie shook her head. “No, dear. Just sleepy.”
A red-haired nurse wearing green scrubs hurried in with Gabe on her heels. Kris moved aside to allow the nurse to check her grandmother’s vitals with the stethoscope she removed from around her neck. Gabe stepped closer and put his hand low on Kris’s back. She leaned into him, appreciating his support.
After a moment the nurse straightened, her gaze kind. “She seems to be fine. Her temperature is a little low. Does she have another blanket?”
Kris found a thick fleece blanket in the closet and spread it over Sadie.
“It’s okay for her to rest, if she feels the need,” the nurse assured her.
Kris gave the woman a wan smile. Okay, maybe she’d worried unnecessarily, but with all that had happened, who could blame her? “Thank you for checking her,” she said as the nurse left the apartment.
“Are you all right?” Gabe asked Kris, his tone reflecting concern.
She shrugged. “I guess I’m still a little shaken by what happened earlier.”
“That’s understandable.” He gave her a quick hug. “I need to speak with the director. Why don’t you explain what’s going on to Sadie,” Gabe suggested before he, too, left the room.
Missing his arm around her, Kris sat on the edge of Sadie’s bed. Her grandmother looked so fragile lying there tucked beneath her covers. Her eyes had closed again. “Grams?”
Sadie opened her eyes. “Krissy, you’re still here.”
“Yes, I’m still here. I have something I need to tell you.”
“Yes, dear?”
She hesitated, unsure where to begin or how much to reveal. Her mother’s request that she at least offer their home to Sadie played in Kris’s mind. “Grams, with all that’s been going on, would you be willing to move to Mom and Dad’s house?”
A small frown appeared between Sadie’s eyebrows. “Why? Your mother doesn’t want me there.”
Her heart squeezed tight. “Yes, she does. Mom really does love you, Grams.”
Sadie gazed at her patiently. “I know that. But she shouldn’t have to care for me. I don’t want to burden her like that.”
“Oh, Grams, you’re not a burden. No one thinks that. We just want you to be safe and well cared for.”
“T
hey take good care of me here.”
Kris thought of Sadie’s suspicions of the center’s staff mere days ago. “We want you with us.”
“Us?”
“I’m staying at Mom and Dad’s for a few days.”
“Why? I thought you liked your apartment.”
“I do.” Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Kris knew she’d have to tell her the truth. “Grams, we think you might be in danger here. Someone doesn’t want us to find the missing residents.” Kris stopped short of telling Sadie about the shooting. “I’m worried they’ll hurt you in the process. So Mom and Dad are going to hire a bodyguard for you until you can move into their house.”
“Missing residents? Bodyguard?”
Kris’s stomach squeezed tight. “Carl, Lena, Denise.”
Sadie stared blankly at her for a moment. Kris’s shoulders sagged with distress. Then Sadie’s eyes widened. “Right. My friends. They’re missing. Krissy, we have to do something. Call the FBI or something.”
A measure of relief tingled through her. At least Sadie remembered her missing friends, if not the past few days. Maybe with prompting her memory would come back. “Gabe is helping us. Remember? He’s a police officer.”
A soft smile spread over Sadie’s face. “Gabe. Such a nice young man. A keeper, that one.”
A stab of longing hit Kris. Not a keeper for Kris. I’ve always been alone and will always be alone. His words ran through her mind like the teletype at the bottom of the TV news screen. Over and over again. Leaving no room for any argument.
The memory of their kiss rose to taunt her.
Surely there was hope that one day…She pushed away the thought. One kiss wasn’t enough to build a dream on.
Only heartache lay in that direction. She couldn’t change his mind. He’d made it clear love and God were not going to be a part of his world. Neither would she be after his job was done.
Yet she held out hope that God would one day win him over. Nothing was impossible for God.
