Page 3 of Healing Home

Chapter 1

BB reachedfor her cell phone absentmindedly, fumbling a little, then let it be when she didn’t find it. Whoever it was could wait because she needed to get this done. With a calculated rush she made a few swipes of the pen, finishing off the awkward shape of the cartoon. Sonya Sniddlebee was bent over tying her little nephew’s shoe, when her other nephew thought it would be a good idea to poke her in the ass crack. Sonya’s face was turned to the offender and the expression was a cross between horrified and shocked.

Exactly what BB had been shooting for.

She sat back in her chair, glad that she’d caught the essence of the incident that had occurred to her last night when she’d been at her brother’s house. George and Harry, her wild nephews, named after the royals, were shits. Plain and simple. There was nothing royal about the two little men, no matter how much her straight-laced brother tried. They always found a way to shock and thrill her. They were endless material for her comic strip, The Mad Socialite, and they loved being a part of it. She knew they bragged to their friends at school and twice now she’d been invited in to speak to the student body about what she did. With Frankie, of course.

She looked down at the French Bulldog snoring beneath her art table. “Look, Frankie, I got it!”

Frankie rolled a dark eye her way, obviously hoping to hear the word ‘treat’ somewhere in the sentence, then maneuvered over onto her back, disinterested, when she didn’t hear it.

Reaching for her phone BB snapped a picture of the cartoon. It was a good one. It would be picked up all across the country, she knew, because it would speak to people.

She saved the pic in a file for her ‘toons then returned to the home screen to see who’d called. Ah, Carolina. Should have known. Her sister always picked the most inopportune times to reach out.

Even as she thought that, her phone rang in her hand.

“I was just thinking that you never call when I’m not busy,” BB laughed.

Carolina snorted. “That’s because you never stop doing stuff. What did I interrupt today?”

“I was finishing a ’toon. I’ll send it to you in a minute. Pretty funny, actually.”

“Cool. Hey, the reason why I called is, I need you to pick up a job for me. It’s out in your direction.”

BB frowned, rocking back in her chair. “Okay,” she said warily. “Last time you recruited me for a job I ended up with dog shit in the back of my Mercedes. Do you have any idea how hard that was to clean?”

“Yes,” Carolina laughed. “I paid the exorbitant detailing bill, remember?”

“But they didn’t get it all. I’ve had it in three more times, on my own dime, and I still smell shit.”

Her sister chortled, a very unladylike sound. “I think it’s psychological,” she said.

BB wasn’t sure. Maybe it was all in her head. She certainly wouldn’t agree with her little sister, though.

“So, you’ll excuse me if I’m a little leery with these little tasks.”

“Well, this one is a little more in depth.”

BB sighed, wondering what Carolina was going to get her into this time.

Carolina had created a pretty ingenious concierge business for herself. Helping Hands, Healing Hearts sounded like a government agency, but it was exactly the opposite. It picked up where the government left off in supporting its servicemen and women. She served all branches of the military and had even taken on jobs for former military. More than thirty people worked at the Quad, as BB liked to call it, plus double that many that worked on a per-job basis like BB did, and they did everything from walk a dog every day while a soldier was deployed to secure apartments on the other side of the world if there was a pending transfer. No job was too big or too small. As long as a family was willing to pay for a service, Carolina would find someone for the job.

“I have a Navy SEAL coming in to Coronado in a week, and his buddies have pitched in to buy your time for three days. They want you to welcome him home.”

BB frowned. “That sounds like something his family should do. And how is that in my direction? You’re way closer than I am.”

“He doesn’t have family. That’s the whole point. Everyone else in his team is settled with family and girlfriends, but this guy is divorced, no kids, and his family is up north. The woman that called me to set this up is one of the wives. They try to do for him what they can, including him in things, but at the end of the day he goes home alone, and just this once, they want to change that.” Her sister sighed. “And I know it’s not in your direction. I’m just maxed out with jobs right now, but this was one I didn’t feel like I could turn down.”

“Wow,” BB breathed, her heart aching for the unknown man. “That’s a lot to think about.”

“I know it is, but they read your bio and you were the only one that would jive with him, even at your rates. He needs a light-hearted, pampered few days, and they think you can do that for him.”

“No pressure, or anything,” BB murmured.

“I know this is a big commitment on your part, but I thought it might be good to break you out of your routine as well.”

“I like my routine,” BB said, though even she could hear the defensiveness in her voice.

---