Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold)

by Susan Mallery

  Patience had hoped for some reaction from Justice at the news of her not being married. A fist pump would have been perfect, but there wasn’t any hint as to what he was thinking. At least he didn’t bolt out of the building. She supposed she could take that as a good sign. And he had looked her up on his own. It wasn’t as if she’d gone looking for him or they’d run into each other.

  On the other hand, he’d probably left the witness protection program years ago and he’d never bothered to get in touch with her. The men in her life tended to leave. Her father. Lillie’s dad. Justice. A case could be made that Justice hadn’t chosen to leave, but he also hadn’t chosen to reconnect. At least not until now.

  She drew in a breath. She needed a bit of distance to gain some perspective. Justice was an old friend. She didn’t have to make any assessments of his character at this very second. She also had errands to run and a thousand life details to take care of. She wanted to spend more time with him, to get to know the man he’d become. Just not here in the middle of town.

  “Come to dinner,” she said before she could stop herself. “Please. I’d like to catch up more and I know my mom would love to see you.”

  His expression softened. “She still lives around here?”

  “We all live together,” Lillie told him. “Mom and me and Grandma. It’s a house of women.”

  Patience laughed. “Obviously a phrase she’s heard before.” She shrugged. “I’m back at home. I moved out briefly while I was married, then came back with Lillie. It works out for all of us.” Ava had company, Patience had support so she could feel less like a single parent and Lillie had the constancy kids craved.

  His dark blue eyes didn’t seem to judge, for which she was grateful. “How’s your mom doing?”

  “Pretty well. She has good days and bad days.”

  “It’s lasagna night,” Lillie told him. “With garlic bread.”

  Justice gave her an easy smile. “Well, then. How could I say no?” He turned his attention to Patience. “What time?”

  “Six work for you?”

  “It does.”

  She stood. “Great. We’ll see you then. You remember where the house is?”

  He rose and nodded. “I’ll see you at six.”

  * * *

  PATIENCE FORCED HERSELF to walk at her usual pace. She wanted to run, or at the very least, skip or jump. But that would require an explanation and probably some nervous phone calls from neighbors to local law enforcement.

  Lillie chatted about her day at school. Patience did her best to pay attention, but she had a difficult time. Her mind kept wandering back to her unexpected encounter with Justice. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that he’d shown up without warning. Talk about a blast from the past.

  They turned up the walkway leading to the house. She paused, looking at it with a critical eye, wondering what Justice would see.

  The color was different. Pale yellow instead of white. The winter had been late with the first snow not arriving until Christmas Eve, but then hanging around for weeks. Daffodils, crocuses and tulips had arrived in mid-March to brighten up the garden. The last of them were making one final effort before disappearing in the warming days of spring. The lawn wasn’t too bad and the front porch looked inviting. She’d put out the bench and two chairs just the previous weekend.

  The house itself was two stories. Like many homes in this part of town, it had been built in the 1940s and was a Craftsman style with big front windows and lots of little details like built-ins and moldings.

  Lillie led the way up the stairs and through the front door.

  Inside there weren’t many changes. A different sofa, a couple of new appliances in the kitchen. When Patience had moved back shortly after her divorce, her mother had made a few modifications. The three bedrooms upstairs had become two, with the smaller rooms being combined into a decent-sized master suite. A second master had already been added off the main floor. It jutted out into the oversized backyard. A necessary addition, given Ava’s condition.

  When Patience was thirteen, her mother had been diagnosed with MS. If there was a “good” kind, Ava had it. The disease progressed slowly and she was still mobile. But there were hard days and climbing the stairs had become too difficult. With the additional master downstairs, that wasn’t necessary.

  “Grandma, Grandma, guess who I met today?” Lillie asked as she burst into the house.

  Ava was in her home office. An open area with a desk, three computer monitors and keyboards. A technological marvel that could make NASA envious. Apparently computer smarts skipped a generation. Lillie could do almost anything on a computer, while Patience had trouble working her smartphone.

  “Who did you meet?” Ava asked, holding open her arms.

  Lillie ran toward her and retrieved her afternoon hug. They hung on to each other for several seconds, a daily ritual Patience always found gratifying.

  “Justice Garrett,” Patience said, standing in the doorway to the study.

  Her mother stared at her. “That boy who disappeared?”

  “That’s the one. He’s back in town, and he’s not a boy anymore.”

  Ava smiled. “I would hope not. As it is, he has plenty of explaining to do. What happened? Did he say where he’d been?”

  “He was in the witness protection program.”

  Ava’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  Patience glanced at Lillie, a signal that she didn’t want to go into the details right then. Her ten-year-old didn’t need to know there were parents awful enough to want to kill their own children.

  “We invited him to dinner,” Lillie said. “He said yes after I told him about the lasagna.”

  “Of course,” her grandmother said. “Who could resist lasagna?”

  Lillie laughed.

  “He’ll be here at six.” Patience glanced at her watch. That gave her barely enough time to shower, put on makeup and obsess about what to wear.

  Ava’s brown eyes twinkled. “You probably want to go get ready.”

  “I thought I might change my clothes. It’s not that big a deal.”

  “Of course not.”

  “He’s just an old friend.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  Patience grinned. “Don’t make this more than it is.”

  “Would I do that?”

  “In a heartbeat.”

  * * *

  AT TWENTY MINUTES to six, Patience was in her bedroom. She’d showered, blown out her long, wavy hair until it was straight, traded in her work T-shirt for a light green twin set in a fine-gauge knit and her black jeans for a dark blue fitted pair. Then she’d put on a dress, followed by a shirt and blouse before settling on jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt that proclaimed her the queen of everything. She was the single mother of a ten-year-old who also happened to live in the same house where she’d grown up, with her mother. There wasn’t an outfit on the planet that could disguise the truth. Not that she wanted to change anything about her life. Or apologize. She’d made a good life for herself and her daughter. It’s just that thinking about Justice made her nervous. He would either respect her choices, good and bad, or he would go away.

  She went downstairs and found her mother and Lillie in the kitchen. The table was set. The last of the tulips in the garden had been cut and placed in a glass vase. The smell of lasagna and garlic filled the house.

  “Relax,” her mother told her.

  “I’m relaxed. Shrill and relaxed. It’s a great combination.”

  Ava smiled with amusement. “So, is Justice coming alone?”

  “Yes. He said he wasn’t married.”

  “And he doesn’t have kids,” Lillie offered. “He should have a family.”

  Patience turned to her mother. “Don’t you start anything.”

  “Me? I’m happy to welcome one of your school friends back to town. Nothing more.”

  “Uh-huh. Let’s keep it that way.”

  “I am curious about his past, th
ough.”

  Patience held in a groan. “Please, Mom, you can’t.”

  “I’m the mother,” Ava reminded her with a wink. “I can do just about anything.”

  * * *

  JUSTICE STOOD ON the sidewalk and stared at the familiar house. Very little had changed. The color, maybe the garden, but nothing else. Off to the side, he could see a wheelchair ramp, but it led to the back door rather than the front. For Ava, he thought.

  As he walked up the stairs, he braced for what he might find. Patience’s mother had always welcomed him into their home. She’d been kind and motherly. As a kid who’d grown up surrounded by a lot of fear, he’d soaked up the affection she’d offered. She provided an emotional haven and he’d missed her nearly as much as he’d missed Patience when he’d had to leave.

  He didn’t know a lot about her disease, but he knew it was relentless and cruel. He told himself he’d seen worse. That his job was not to react. Then he rang the bell.

  Lillie opened it seconds later and smiled at him. “Hi,” she said cheerfully. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m starving and the garlic bread smells so good.” She stepped back to allow him entry, then turned to yell, “Mom, Mr. Garrett is here.”

  Patience walked into the living room. “Indoor voice, remember?” She glanced at him. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself. Thanks for the invitation to dinner.”

  She looked good. Her hair was long and sleek with the kind of shine that invited hands to touch. She wore jeans and a T-shirt with a girl in a crown on the front. “Queen of Everything” was written underneath. She was curvy enough to keep things intriguing, and when she smiled, he felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut. Fourteen-year-old Patience had made his voice crack. Grown-up Patience was physically beautiful, emotionally sweet and intellectually challenging. A lethal combination.

  He’d always tried not to be like his father. When in doubt he thought about what Bart would do and did the opposite. Now he realized that the decent thing was to walk away. Only he didn’t want to.

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “It’ll be fun to catch up.”

  He passed her the bottle of wine he’d brought. A nice California Cabernet the store owner had promised would go with pasta. Their fingers brushed and he felt a jolt of attraction. Swearing silently, he took a deliberate step back. No way. Not with Patience. He refused to screw up one of the few decent memories he had in his life. She was his friend, nothing more.

  “There you are. All grown up.”

  He shifted toward the voice and saw Ava walk into the room.

  She looked the same, he thought, accepting the relief as both truth and a statement that he really had to work on his character. But it was a flaw he was willing to accept. He needed Ava to be okay, not just for herself, but for him, as well. To keep his connection to the past.

  She was a couple of inches shorter than Patience, with the same brown hair. Hers was in tight curls that brushed her shoulders. She had big brown eyes and an easy smile. When she held out her arms, he moved into them instinctively.

  She hugged him close. He’d forgotten what it was like to be hugged by Ava. To be engulfed in a circle of acceptance and affection. She held on as if she would never let go, as if she would always be there. She hugged like a mom who genuinely loved all kids and wanted you to know. When he was a kid, Ava had been something of a revelation. The marshals had done their best to give him a stable home, but they’d been employees on the clock. Ava had been his best friend’s mom. She’d made him cookies and talked to him about going to college. Just as if he was a regular kid.

  “I was nervous about seeing you,” he admitted, speaking softly so only she could hear.

  She squeezed tighter, then released him. “I have good days and bad days.” She tilted her head.

  He followed her gaze and saw the wheelchair folded up in the corner of what was clearly her home office.

  “This is a very good day,” she told him, still holding his gaze. “We were so worried about you.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I would have told you if I could have.”

  “You came back. That’s what matters.” She turned to her granddaughter. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

  Lillie danced in place. “Yes. Very. I’m starving.”

  Ava held her hand out to the girl. “Then let’s get the salads on the table. Patience, why don’t you have Justice open that bottle of wine he brought?”

  Patience waited until they’d walked into the kitchen to lean close. “She’s still running the world, as you can see.”

  “She’s great and looks terrific. With her disease...” He wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask.

  Patience nodded and led him to a hutch in the formal dining room. She pulled open a drawer and removed a wine opener.

  “She’s had a couple of bad episodes, but then she went into remission. It came back, but it’s not aggressive right now. Most days she can’t do stairs. Technically she probably could, but it takes so much out of her. The issues have mostly been in her legs, which means she can still work with no problem.”

  Ava was a software designer. She’d started back when computers were novelties. Her job allowed her to work from home—a plus considering that her husband had walked out when she’d been diagnosed. When Patience had told him that, he’d realized that a father didn’t have to pull a gun or use his fists to hurt his family. Pain came in all forms.

  He went to work on the wine bottle. Patience collected glasses from the hutch.

  “She’s the bravest person I know,” she continued. “She’s always so cheerful and caring. I would want to scream at the unfairness of it all, but she never does.” She smiled. “I want to be like my mom when I grow up.”

  “She inspires me, too,” he admitted. “When I was in a tough spot, I would think about Ava and remind myself I had it easy.”

  Patience blinked several times, as if fighting emotion. “You’re very slick, Mr. Garrett. You could have flattered me with meaningless compliments, but instead you slip right past my defenses by saying that about my mother.”

  “I meant it,” he said, looking into her eyes and inhaling the scent of something clean with a hint of flowers. Not perfume, he thought, remembering. Essence of Patience. “I’m not slick. I’m telling the truth. I’ve seen what it takes to be brave, and your mom has it.” He knew the danger of getting close, but couldn’t help reaching out and lightly touching her cheek. “It’s me, Patience. I know it’s been a long time, but no defenses required.”

  Although as soon as he said the words, he realized he should have kept his mouth shut. Patience was right to be wary of him.

  Something clattered to the floor in the kitchen. Patience turned toward the sound. Justice used the distraction to pick up the wine, thereby putting distance between them.

  Fifteen minutes later they were all seated at the table. Lillie had sniffed her mother’s glass of wine and wrinkled her nose, declaring the smell “icky.” The lasagna was sitting on the counter, ready to be served, and they had their salads in front of them.

  Patience 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 hazar
dous 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?”