Page 79 of Nate

As they entered the lobby, Markie saw Tess approaching.

“Tess, this is my mother, Stella Knowles and her husband, Jarrett. Mom, Jarrett, this is Dr. Tessa Garrett, my boss.”

Tess smiled as she shook their hands, and Jarrett seemed to hold it a little too long. Markie saw Tess narrow her eyes at him, then the door opened, and Sam entered. She saw him frown at Jarrett holding his wife’s hand. Tess pulled her hand away and walked to Sam and put her arm around his waist, and he slipped his arm around her shoulders.

“This is my husband, Sheriff Sam Garrett. Sam, this is Markie’s mother, Stella and her husband, Jarrett Knowles.”

Sam smiled at Stella but stared at Jarrett.

“Ma’am, it’s nice to meet you.” Sam shook her hand, then just nodded at Jarrett.

“You too. Markie seems to love this little town. Jarrett and I are staying at the Clifton B and B for a week. I wanted to see where she worked.”

“Yes, ma’am. Clifton loves Markie too.” Sam grinned.

Stella laughed. “Well, I can certainly see why you love it here, Markie. First Nate, now the sheriff.”

Markie laughed and saw Jarrett clench his jaw. Knowing him, he thought he was much better looking than Nate and Sam. She snorted out a laugh.

“There are a lot of handsome men around here, Mom.” She laughed when Tess did.

“Let’s go for now, Stella. I’d like to look around this dot on the map,” Jarrett said, and smirked when Sam looked at him.

“It might be a dot on the map to you, but in my opinion, there is no better place to live. We’re all family here,” Sam said. “You probably wouldn’t fit in.”

“Sheriff, I have no desire to live here.”

“And we have no desire to have you.” Sam said in a low tone, but Markie heard him, then he looked at Stella. “Have a nice day. There’s plenty of shops for you to explore.” He looked at Tess, then lightly kissed her lips. “I stopped in to tell you I’m heading home. I’ll see you later, angel.”

He nodded at Markie, then walked out. Markie looked at her mother.

“Mom, I’ll see you later. Have a wonderful day.”

“I’m sure we will, honey. Come on, Jarrett. I want to go shopping.”

Markie watched her mother walk out with Jarrett behind her, but he turned to look at her and winked as he left.

“That man gives me the creeps,” Tess said.

“Now you know how I feel.”

“I understand now. Sam sure didn’t like him and he has great instincts about people.”

Markie grinned. “I think Sam would have loved an excuse to lay him out.”

“You’d think your mother could see Jarrett for what he is. I mean, no one seems to like him.”

“I don’t understand it, Tess.” Markie shook her head.

As they both got back to work, Markie couldn’t get what Tess said out of her head. Why did her mother not see it like everyone else? Markie was sure she’d never understand why her mother stayed with such a narcissist, and she probably never would.

Chapter Eleven

Friday evening, Nate pulled his truck to a stop beside the steps leading up to Markie’s apartment. Gravel crunched under his boots as he opened the door and stepped out, sighing heavily as he climbed the stairs. He dreaded going to dinner with that insufferable pain in the ass Knowles, but Markie wanted to spend time with her mother, and he wanted to tag along. Nate didn’t trust Knowles one bit, and if he laid a hand on Markie again, there would be consequences.

Thankfully, they had agreed to meet at the restaurant instead of riding together. The thought of being cooped up in a small space with Knowles would probably be enough to make Nate want to pull over and punch him right then and there. He had made reservations through Grant, eager to get them into the restaurant as quickly as possible. Markie was always a bundle of nerves around Knowles and Nate would keep an eye on him tonight.

At last, he reached the top of the steps and knocked on Markie’s door. It swung open, revealing her smiling face.

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