Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold #10)

“You can’t know that.”


“Sure I can. I have a daughter. Kids grow and separate. One day Lillie will roll her eyes at me. It doesn’t mean we aren’t close.”

“I think my father killed her.”

Patience stared at him. “What? How?”

“She died in a car accident. The brake line was cut. They said in the report it was inconclusive, but when I was a little older I went to the junkyard, found the car and saw the line myself. He did it.”

She saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel as they drove toward town.

“Justice, I’m so sorry.”

She tried to think of something else to say, but couldn’t. Was it possible he was right? That Justice’s father murdered his wife? Her worldview made the concept inconceivable, but the truth was hard to deny. Justice had been in the witness protection program because his father had broken out of prison and come after his own son. The U.S. Marshals didn’t take care of someone on a whim. There was a real reason. Bart had been put away for killing a man. Sadly, that made the concept of him murdering his own wife much more real.

“Once she was gone, I was biding my time until I could leave,” he continued. “Trying to stay out of the old man’s way. I was big enough that he didn’t try to beat me very often, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous.”

“Then you came here.”

He nodded. “It was like an alternative universe.”

“I must have seemed really foolish to you.”

“No. Never that. You were an anchor. You showed me what was possible. I knew I didn’t want to be like him and that I’d have to always be on guard.”

“You’re nothing like him.”

He glanced at her. “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve done.”

“I might not know the details, but there are plenty of clues. Look at you. You just came with me to deliver a casserole to a formerly pregnant woman you’ve never met. Tomorrow you’re going with me while Lillie has her first meeting with her grandfather. You’ve worked in the store. You care about my mother. How can you worry you’re anything like your father?” She knew she had to lighten the mood.

“Is this a Star Wars thing? Do all boys pretend to be Luke Skywalker?”

He chuckled. “No, and my father isn’t Darth Vader.”

“It kind of sounds like he is.”

“There was no good in him.”

“There’s good in you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

* * *

PATIENCE FELT HER stomach turning over and over. “I brought a Q-tip,” she whispered to Justice as they walked toward the park. “In case, you know, Steve gets out of hand.”

Justice put his arm around her shoulders. “I can subdue him without a weapon,” he assured her. “Keep the Q-tip for your own protection.”

“But I don’t know how to use one that way.”

Lillie looked at her. “Mom, are you really talking about Q-tips?”

“Yes, and it’s weird. I accept that.”

“Is it because you don’t know what to say to my grandfather?”

“Mostly.” Patience stopped and dropped to one knee. She faced her daughter. “Are you okay with this?”

She and Lillie had talked several times about Steve wanting to meet her. Lillie had been accepting from the beginning and hadn’t asked many questions. That worried Patience. Had Lillie disconnected from the thought of more family? Or was she simply a normal kid who took things as they came?

“I’m fine,” Lillie said. “Mom, it’s okay to have more family.”

“I know.” Patience had continued to tell herself that Steve was simply some old guy who wanted to get to know his granddaughter. That was hardly newsworthy. But she couldn’t shake the sense of impending disaster.

Patience stood. Lillie took her hand. “Don’t be scared, Mom. Justice and I will be right here with you.”

“Aren’t I supposed to be comforting you?” Patience asked.

Lillie grinned. “I’m very mature for my age.”

“Yes, you are.”

Lillie took Justice’s hand as well and walked between them.

The park was close and they reached it a few minutes later. Steve was waiting where they’d arranged, on a bench by the duck pond. Lillie’s grip tightened as they approached, and when they were within speaking range, Steve rose and the three of them came to a halt.

Patience saw that he was exactly what she’d been telling herself for days. A man in his sixties who looked nervous and tentative. Not a monster. Just an ordinary man who had made awful choices and was now paying for them.

“Hello, Lillie,” Steve said quietly. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me today.”

Lillie studied him. “I’ve seen you before. In town.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “I’ve been living around here for a while.”

“Okay.” Lillie pulled her hands free and walked toward Steve. “You know my dad, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you ever see him?”

“I don’t. We haven’t spoken in many years.”