Page 21 of Bewitched

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Mark said. Leaning over, he kissed Lexi and Bella. “Why didn’t you go over to the house for the spa day that Birdie organized?”

“I have to cheer on Chase and give Bella a chance to see her favorite uncle beat the crap out of another man. For some reason, she likes it and claps. I just have to make sure when she goes to preschool that she doesn’t use any of the techniques on the other kids.”

Laird wrapped his arm around his wife and shook his head. “I like the idea of her being able to take care of any bullies.”

Mark lifted Bella’s hand and laughed. “You’re not even two and your dad is already making sure you can fight.”

Lexi kissed her daughter’s head. “She can’t even walk yet, so the MMA training is going to have to wait.”

Before Laird could respond, an older gentleman stood on a platform next to the octagon and spoke into a mic. “Welcome, everyone, to our second exhibition. We’re going to have these at least once a month. My wife wanted me to remind you to sign up for the mailing list so we can keep everyone updated. Thanks for coming. We’ll start in about ten minutes.”

Laird turned to the men. “That’s Harry Bennett. He’s a retired marine. He bought the gym with his two sons, who are both fighters.”

When Blake heard the name Bennett, he thought about Paige and knew that once he saw this thing through, he could let it go. Just one conversation with her and he could move on.

The group grabbed some seats, settled in, and waited for the fight to begin. Mark collapsed next to Blake and elbowed him. “Are you coming tomorrow to the base?”

“Yeah, I’ll help out with the O-course. Don’t have a lot going on, so it will be my pleasure to make sure those tadpoles do it correctly.”

“Any progress on the advice I offered the other day? You’re going to have to come up with something because you’re not going to be ready for combat for at least six months.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Blake huffed. “Since you’re interested in gossiping like a teenager, I will tell you that I’m headed home for a visit. The doc told me that he’d see me again eight weeks.”

“Good idea. Nothing like a little family time to give a man a new perspective. I’m assuming you’re going to do something about the woman you never talk about while you’re there.”

“Shut up,” Blake responded. Looking across the gym, his eyes narrowed. “She’s probably posted on the other side of the world. The chances she’s still in Texas are slim to none.”

“Slim is still a chance, and sometimes that’s all it takes,” Mark responded quietly.

Laird made his way over, sat down next to Blake, and grinned. “I worked on that information you were interested in, and I got lucky.”

Chris snorted. “There’s no such thing as luck when it comes to your skills.”

Travis leaned forward. “Did you know that he had a box full of intel on Lexi before they even had a date?”

Laird flipped him off. “Why do you always bring that up?”

“Go ahead. Tell the group what grade Lexi got in her algebra class freshman year,” Travis responded.

Lexi stood, rocked Bella back and forth in her arms, and gave the group a disapproving look. “You leave my husband alone. I think it’s sweet that he was so interested in me.”

“In a total stalker kind of way,” Mark said under his breath.

“If you all are done, I have some intel for Blake,” Laird said loudly.

“Go ahead, man. Ignore the animals,” Blake replied.

“Paige is living in Dallas and has been there since December. The Foreign Service directory has her listed as nonactive, which means she probably took a leave of absence or quit. I’ll send the intel file I put together when we get home tonight. I looked up her current address and she lives not far from her parents’ house. It seems that her family all live within a twenty-mile radius. Did you know that she has four sisters?”

“Had no idea,” he mumbled. Before he could say more, the owner announced the start of the fight.

Laird stood and slapped him on the back. “Call me after you read it and let me know if you have any questions.”

The lights went down, and music started blaring in the gym as the fighters were announced. Blake could only think of one question: Why hadn’t she called him? Well, it seemed his stop in Dallas was going to answer that. One way or another, he would know if they had anything.

---