Page 48 of One Night With You

No, from the way that the man kept being headline news, he was going to need us again.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts on our client and focused on Daisy. “I’m fine.” Not quite a lie.

“Did you get contacted yet?” my cousin asked, and I nodded.

“Prep work tomorrow. Hopefully.” A few more tests and discussions. And a heartbreaking chance.

“You’re a good man, Kingston.”

I sighed, not feeling it so much right now. “It’s a kid, Daisy. Akid.” In the day since the call, the family of the young boy with leukemia had agreed to tell me a little more about their son in hope and appreciation. They hadn’t wanted it to be anonymous and while I hadn’t reached out personally, I knew that I would.

Because of Eddie.

Because of a little kid who needed me.

A little boy named Buckley.

A nine-year-old who had fought to survive for over half of his life.

And I was his last chance.

Her eyes went somber, and she reached out, squeezing my arm in reassurance. With a tight nod, we went back to work, doing my best to keep all eyes on the exits. Today was pretty quiet, not that I ever say the Q word aloud. That was just asking for an issue.

“Hey, Kingston,” Ford said as he came toward me, and I tilted my head, keeping my eye on our client.

“We good?”

“We have a few more plans to deal with coming up. Depending on when you have to donate and how much time you have to take off, let us know. We have another client coming in.”

I frowned, darting my attention to him for a second before going back to work. “Anyone I know from the books?”

“They’re filming a huge hopeful blockbuster out in Boulder later in January, and they need to beef up security for a couple of their A-listers.” He rattled off a very familiar name, and I blinked.

“Really? Doesn’t she have her own team?”

“She’s in between teams right now, and the studio wants to hire us. We will be stretched a bit thin because we have two other events that week, but I figured, if you’re up for it.”

“It depends on the hospital I guess.” I winked. “I hate not knowing.”

“I understand. We’ve got Hugh there too, and a couple of our backups. So don’t worry, we’ll handle it. But I want you on point if you can.”

“No problem. And if I can’t?”

“Then Hugh can do it. He’s good,” he said, speaking of our British hire, who happened to be in love with Daisy.

“Sounds good. What time does this wrap up again?”

“In about ten minutes. You’re off if you want. We’ve got the rest of this. I know you have family dinner tonight.”

I snorted. “I swear, how do you know all these things?”

“Noah knew it. I’m just lucky that my husband keeps a spreadsheet.” Ford beamed as he saidhusband, and I just smiled at the man, before checking out and making sure that everything was set for my leaving.

I liked this job. I liked doing what I could to make sure that things just made sense rationally. I liked the adrenaline, and the puzzle solving. I didn’t like the fact that I felt as if I were on the outside looking in a bit more than I used to. Which wasn’t like me.

With an odd sigh, I said goodbye to the others and got in my car. As it had only been an afternoon event, it meant I still had dinner with my family which I wasgrateful for. We didn’t get to do core family dinners often. In fact, we would still have at least one straggler, if not more, for dinner. But the core group would be there. My two brothers and my three parents. I had a feeling Livvy would be there too, since she had been helping my mom with something at the shop earlier that morning, and that meant Mom would give Livvy an invite. And that meant her daughter Amelia would be there, and I loved that kid. She was fricking adorable.

Claire was working at an event tonight and would be working non-stop until a few of her events settled down. She worked longer hours than I did sometimes, and that was saying something. And it was odd to think that Claire would come to mind so easily. She’d always been on the periphery, a friend of a friend, but now she was someone I thought of first. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

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