Sanctuary (Family Justice Book 3) (50 page)

Heather smiled. “Yeah. I don’t get the kiwi either. It’s great in a smoothie but raw?” She shrugged. “Clueless.”

They were standing around a small table with a secured tray piled with fruits and baked goods. This new face in the Justice Camp intrigued Stephanie. Undeniably pretty and awfully smart, she was fun to talk to and had a shy but charming personality.

Heather Clarke was quite fascinating. It wasn’t hard to imagine her fitting right in with the close group of women at the center of Family Justice. As their conversation deepened, Stephanie picked up a hint of something dark and unpleasant hovering inside the newcomer. The instant realization that she was another wounded soul being drawn to Justice made everything much clearer. Of course. Why not?

Heather was staring a hole through Brody’s back. The men were sprawled across a couple of big seats with Zeus right at their feet. Calder was playing the guitar as they both ripped through a rousing version of John Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses.”

“Did you know he could sing?” she asked.

Eyes of an unusual bronze color swung to hers. “No. I mean, I guess everyone sings along. To the radio, stuff like that. But to answer your question…” She looked back at Brody then to Stephanie again. “No. Not like this. I had no idea.”

“What about you, Heather? Got any hidden talents?”

“I make a mean margarita and can bar dance with the best of them.”

“Oh, lord! A bartender? For real?” Stephanie roared with laughter. Calder looked up at her and grinned.

“Tell me,” she asked. “What’s your take on the Jameson’s and Glenfiddich rivalry?”

“Well,” Heather answered with a mouthful of strawberry. “I’m a Kentucky bourbon girl, myself. Fastest bar fight I’ve ever seen started over what’s better. American bourbon or Irish whiskey.” Her smile was droll when she wisely concluded, “So I keep out of that one. No dog in the fight. You know?”

Nodding, she considered her next question and went with an easy one. “Ever been to Boston? I did a pageant there years ago. Daughters of the American Revolution and all that. Interesting from a Southern gal’s point of view.”

“I can’t believe this myself, but the answer is no. Never been and that’s saying something since I’m an East Coaster. Born, raised, and planted. My whole family lives along the I-95 corridor.”

Hmph.
What was Brody up to? This girl didn’t sound like someone about to embark on a Southwest adventure.

“Um, Stephanie,” Heather hesitantly asked. “I’m not usually this insecure, and I’ve asked Brody this a dozen times but you know men.”

“What’s the problem, shugah?”

“Am I dressed all right?” she blurted out anxiously. “He’s no help,” she snapped. “One minute, he was a buttoned-down, conservative English teacher, and the next, he’s …”

They both turned and looked at the object of the discussion. Ohhhh. Stephanie got it now. Brody Jensen was the double life poster child. Now that he’d finally chosen, he was undergoing something of a change. Any woman with a brain would find that confusing.

“Oh, pfft,” she groused. “Pay no attention to these overgrown boys. You’ll see. A Justice man? You can dress him up real nice and even take him out in polite society. He’ll use the proper fork and remember not to pass wind in public. But, oh lord. Once they’re in that Arizona compound? All bets are off. It’s blue jeans and flannel for dress occasions.”

“That’s not really an answer,” Heather complained.

“Shugah, you look lovely. And since you need some reassurance, let me give you the four-one-one on the Family Justice.”

Stephanie wanted to twist Brody’s earlobe off for throwing this poor girl into the deep end without proper vetting.

“Ignore the men. Well,” she drawled. “Everyone except the Major, of course. Him you can’t ignore.”

“That would be the groom, right? Alex Marquez.”

“Yes. That would be him. Tech genius. The only man, other than Calder, who I easily bow before. They don’t make them like him anymore.”

“Got it.”

“Like I said, ignore the rest of the desert rat pack. Now … the women. That’s another matter. We have Lacey Cameron. She’s the youngling of the group and the most senior Justice wife. When God passed out sweetness and fairy dust … she got it all. Then there’s my contribution to the ladies’ posse. Victoria. Despite having a pageant queen for a mama, she’s what you would call a no-nonsense geek. Started as Alex’s assistant before she lost her damn mind and fell for that devil she’s married to.”

Heather chuckled. “So … Tinkerbell and an Amy Farrah Fowler?”

Oh, my god! Stephanie almost peed herself at the comparison. She couldn’t wait to share it with Calder who would no doubt rub Draegyn’s nose in the spot-on joke. When Tori first came to Justice, she was hiding behind big, clunky glasses and sensible shoes that should have been declared a crime against humanity. Amy Farrah Fowler, indeed.

“There’s also Betty, who runs the business. Carmen is the intrepid Latino housekeeper and she knows exactly everything about everybody. Ria is the cook. Does all the food planning for the agency and Villa. She’s married to Ben. Ben is the go-to for everything. Gus is the stable master and the keeper of a massive fleet of cars, trucks, carts, ATV, scooters. You name it. As you can see,” she said. “Not exactly a fashion runway.”

“You didn’t mention Meghan.”

Well, my goodness
, Stephanie thought. That sounded a bit like jealousy, and if it was, this was too delightful to be true. Alex jealous of Brody and Brody’s lady friend jealous of Meghan. Instant Karma!

“Well. Meghan. Hmm. She’s a force of nature, that one.” Wearing a lighthearted expression, Stephanie considered how else she could possibly explain. “You know how people always say that for everyone there’s that one person who fits? Like a twin or a missing half? That’s Meghan. When I first met Alex Marquez, he was barely functioning, and I mean that in an injured soldier way. Justice was new back then, and he was personally involved in nearly every assignment. Our national pageant office hired them to do security. I knew the moment we met that he was a giant among men. You’ll see what I mean. He has this old-world charm and the sort of manners every mom hopes she passes on to her kids.”

“How long has he been with this Meghan?”

“That’s the thing. According to their official biography, they were acquainted by mail … a long story … but they’d never met. Then one day last summer, she dropped by the Villa while traveling through the Southwest. Courtesy call. A luncheon was all it was supposed to be.” She looked Heather straight in the eye. “She never left, and now, they’re making it legal.”

“Wow. She never left?”

“Oh, well, I should add that she did leave once. Actually, the Major all but packed her bags and sent her away. Sometimes, a couple needs the fear of God put into them before they find their way.”

“You sound like you know what that’s like.”

“I do,” she admitted. Looking wistfully at Calder, she confessed, “I thought I was too old for love. Too set in my ways with a career. Took a separation and a man with balls to bring me to my senses.”

Heather looked at Calder and then at Stephanie. “How’d he change your mind?”

“He came back for me,” she declared. “After I pushed him away, he came back. He dropped everything and was the one to give in. That man was willing to give up his future and move to a city he’d hate because that’s where I was.”

“Wow.”

“If it ever comes to that, my dear, take it from someone who knows. Don’t waste time worrying about the past. Nothing can change what’s already happened. The only thing we really control is how we meet the future.”

“Thank you, Stephanie. I think I needed to hear that.”

Stephanie regarded the dog guru. The happy, smiling man she saw was a far cry from the bookish loner she’d known in Arizona. This introverted woman with the confidence problem was changing him. For the better.

Good for her.

“I
S EVERYONE SAFE
and sound, Meggie?”

Meghan looked up from her phone and smiled broadly. “Almost. The plane arrives soon, and Alex and his dad are due on the six o’clock train. Everyone else is settled in at their hotels. Squee!”

Smoothing Meghan’s tumble of auburn curls, Maggie O’Brien’s gentle, loving touch calmed Meghan’s emotions.

“You’ve missed your man,
mo stoirín
.”

Throwing her arms around her ma’s waist, Meghan buried her face in her middle. “Mom, I can barely breathe without him. Was it like this with you and Da?”

“Ah, sweetie. It still is, daughter. After all these years, it still is.”

With a tone that sounded like the beginning of a fishing expedition, her mother coyly asked, “Will you be spending the night at the hotel, then?”

Sheesh. Why did she feel like she’d just been zinged? “Um, actually … no.”

“No?” Meghan understood the shock in her mom’s voice.

Taking her mother’s hands, she remained seated but looked up into a pair of green eyes exactly like the ones that looked back at her in the mirror.

“Ma, don’t freak out, okay?”

“Are you pregnant?”

“What? No!” She shook her head vehemently.

“Oh.” She didn’t miss the disappointment in her mother’s voice. “Pooh. I was hoping …”

“Oh, my god.” Meghan laughed. “Talk about taking the wind out of my sails. Ma!” she exclaimed. “I’m not pregnant, but we are going to start trying right away.” She couldn’t believe she was starting to blush, but she was. “And because I had my period since leaving Arizona, we decided to abstain until after the wedding. I know it sounds silly.” She shrugged. “But I really want our wedding night to be special. And if we make a baby …”

“After you get married.”

“Right. Exactly the point.”

Why was her mother smirking at her like that? “So this abstaining arrangement. Was this your idea? You know what you’re doing, right?”

“Alex understands.”

Ma burst out laughing and pulled her up into a hug. “You’re a terrible liar, my daughter.”

“What do you mean?” She really didn’t know what in the world her mother was referring to.

“Really, Meggie?” Her mom’s headshake and pursed lips looked like censure. Then she dropped the mother of all bombshells. “I really wish you’d have let me meet you in New York.”

Meghan eyed her suspiciously.

“I was thinking a small tattoo, maybe here,” she said pointing at her shoulder blade. “Either a shamrock or a Boston PD shield. Can’t decide which.”

She was pretty sure all the air just got sucked out of the room. “Whaaat?” she muttered.

“Maybe I’ll surprise Da for his birthday. Just like you’re surprising the Major.”

“How did you find out?” Meghan wailed.

Her mother’s laughter rang out. “You gave this address on the tattoo release form. I figured it was a wedding gift, so I opened it. They sent an instruction packet in the mail. By the way, if you need any more Neosporin, I have plenty.”

She felt like a fish out of water, standing there, opening and closing her mouth like an idiot. “Oh, uh … actually, I’m past the ointment phase. It’s healing nicely.”

They walked arm-in-arm to the front parlor and sat down on the loveseat together. “Sweetie, did you do this for Alex?”

Now that her secret was out, she was excited to share what she’d done. “Of course, Ma! Why else does a woman put ink on her ass? I got some symbols from his family crest done. Angie says it’s fantastic, but I can’t really see it without a mirror.”

Patting her hands, Ma sat back and regarded Meghan with a smile. “You keep that surprise under wraps, ya hear? No showing the girls. Your husband should be the first one to see the finished design. And unless you’ve lost your damn mind, I’m fairly certain this crest, as you call it, is somewhere that only your man is going to see.”

Meghan smirked. “What was the point if everyone could see it? Dad doesn’t know, does he? I’d die. Truly.”

Meghan melted into a warm mom-hug when her ma pulled her close. With her head upon a shoulder that had always been there for her, she drank in the special private moment. Tears stung at her nose and eyes.

“Ah, the million shamrock question. Does Daddy know?”