Page 47 of Justice Denied

“Oh, you poor dear. Come inside to wait for the ambulance. Is your baby okay?” Dolores fluttered her hands.

“I’ll sit on the step.” Jetta sent him a look he interpreted as needing his help, and he leaned down to assist her to her feet. Her body, with its distended belly, pressed against his side.

With the utmost care, he assisted her to the top step leading to the sidewalk. “Here you go.” He looked over his shoulder at Dolores. “Would you bring Jetta a glass of water?”

“Of course.” Dolores disappeared inside the house as sirens rent the air, sounding close.

Bits of grass tangled with Jetta’s strawberry blonde hair, and she had a few cuts on her arms and one on her cheek from flying debris, but thank God she appeared otherwise unharmed. He couldn’t live with himself if he hadn’t been able to protect her. Her arms crossed across her stomach, drawing his attention to her midsection. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, just shaken.” Her sharp tone almost made him smile. “I’ve had a rough day.”

“That you have,” he agreed, his tone mild. “But maybe you should get checked out by your doctor to make sure the baby’s okay.”

“I said I’m fine.” The glare she sent him could have curdled milk, but he couldn’t help the worry nibbling at his mind like a mouse with a hunk of cheese. A flash of memory pummeled his mind. His mother, holding her middle as blood pooled at her feet, her eyes begging him for help he couldn’t give. His seven-year-old self scrubbing the evidence from the bathroom floor. The baby sister he never got to hold.

“Seth?” Concern knitted her brow, her lovely blue eyes pools of worry. “I’m really okay, and so is my baby. See?”

He dragged himself from the memory pit that threatened to swallow him whole and cleared his throat as she reached for his hand and pressed it to her stomach. A firm kick from the baby startled him, followed immediately by what felt like a punch. His eyes widened.

She laughed, leaning closer to him with her hand still on his resting on her belly. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

“It is.” The baby kicked again, bringing a grin to his face.

Jetta moved her hand from his and touched his cheek, her fingers lightly caressing the smoother part of his face.

Seth sucked in a breath, his chest tightening as her hand cupped his jaw. The desire to kiss her made him drop his eyes from her face to her mouth. His breath whooshed out as she raised her lips and touched his own.

The shock of Jetta’s mouth against his reverberated through Seth’s body. The very action he’d only dared think about was happening. The softness of her lips, the feel of her body resting lightly against his, spiraled through him. His very first kiss wasn’t at all what he’d expected. It was so much more. His internal body temperature shot up so fast, he groaned against her lips. A warning bell chimed incessantly in his mind, and somehow, he managed to heed its call. Breaking off the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers.

“Oh, my.” Dolores’s voice doused him with cold water. “I, um, brought Jetta’s water.”

“Thank you.” Jetta moved away from Seth, accepting the glass with a smile while Seth could barely catch his breath.

His first kiss had been everything and nothing he’d ever imagined. Despite Dolores hovering behind them, he had to tell her so. “I never imagined my first kiss to be so wonderful.”

“Your first kiss?” Her jaw dropped, then snapped close.

“Yep.” He leaned back on his hands, trying to project confidence with the statement. “I’ve never been kissed before in my life. Well, I don’t think I can count the pecks my mother or grandmother bestowed on me as kisses, right?”

“But you’re a good-looking guy.”

Good to know she thought so, but he merely shrugged. “Guess no one’s noticed until now.” He added a wink.

His phone buzzed, and he grabbed it from his back pocket, thankful their dive onto the ground hadn’t cracked the screen. Caller ID showed it was Fallon.

“My boss.” He answered the call as the sirens grew louder. “Yes, sir?”

“Where are you? You’re supposed to photograph the winners of the Meadowlark Gardens flower arrangement contest, but I got a call from the organizer to say you hadn’t arrived yet.”

Seth groaned. He’d forgotten about the assignment in his haste to visit Dolores Green. “I’m sorry. I’m in south Arlington and am not going to make it.”

A police car turned onto the street, sirens blaring.

“Is that sirens I hear? What’s happening?” Fallon clipped out the questions in his trademark staccato.

Seth gave his boss a quick overview, adding he needed to go as an ambulance arrived, followed by more police vehicles. His boss harumphed once, then snapped, “You’d better be in my office as soon as you’re able—with all the details on the shooting for Brogan to write up.”

Fallon hung up before Seth could agree. The next hour whizzed by as more officers and crime scene techs arrived, and Seth and Jetta gave statements to uniform police officers as to why they were at Dolores’s home. Dolores confirmed their story and plied the emergency responders with tea and homemade oatmeal cookies, which Seth found quite tasty. Dolores had finally convinced Jetta to return to the house, but Seth stayed outside to record the details for a potential story.

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