Page 22 of Threat of Danger
“I have to go back to work.”
His grin widened. “We watch all your movies.”
“We, who?” She squinted at him with confusion.
“Rose and Zelda and Kaylee and me. Sometimes Derek comes over. We do movie night. Zelda still makes a mean pizza.”
Jess stared, feeling lost for a second. “I thought Mom hated my job.”
“She worries that you might get hurt. But she’s proud of you as anything. We all are. And since we’re old friends and all ...” He winked. “What do you say you set me up with that Angelina Jolie?”
“I can’t believe you’d cheat on Zelda.” Jess feigned outrage.
Chuck’s smile disappeared. “She won’t have me. She’s the most stubborn woman in three states.” He gazed toward the house as if he could see through walls. “Most beautiful too. Isn’t she?”
“She sure is.”
“Got her a new ring last week.” Hope crept into Chuck’s tone. “Used the last one for the last three proposals. Jamison Jewelers in town trades them right in. I’ve been going to them for decades.”
“That long?” The question slipped out before Jess could stop herself.Decades. What would being loved like that feel like?A love that never stopped, never even slowed for obstacles, but just kept going.
“Not long enough.” Chuck gave a frustrated grunt. “Fell in love with her the first time I saw her. We had a summer. Happiest summer of my life. Then I got scared and I ran. She was a single mother. I was stupid as shit, I don’t mind admitting.”
A rugged, manly sigh that ached with regret escaped him. “Peter, her son, was the terror of the high seas. He was five and screamed at the top of his lungs every time I went near his mother. I was twenty. I didn’t think I was ready to be a father. I ran all the way to Burlington, got a job in the city for the summer. I came back, but by then it was too late. Zelda didn’t trust me. She thought I was the kind that’d up and run away.”
Zelda’s son, Peter, had died in a snowmobile accident while in high school. The accident had happened before Jess was born, but she knew the story. Zelda never had another child. She never married. Even though Chuck had spent years and years—after his own brief, failed marriage—proving that he was the kind who’d stick by her through thick and thin.
A rumbly truck pulled up outside. A few seconds later, Kaylee burst in.Wow.
Jess opened her arms. “Oh my God, look at you!”
Kaylee flew into the hug, all bouncing red curls and madly twitching freckles, two feet taller than the last time they’d seen each other. “Jess!”
Jess used to babysit her, back in the day. She loved the girl. Why hadn’t she stayed in touch? What must Kaylee have thought of her? She’d been too young to fully understand why Jess would suddenly disappear.
“You’re back! Oh my God, did everybody know you were coming? Nobody told me! Is this a surprise? Best surprise ever!” She didn’t take a breath, and was clearly not holding a grudge. “Are you staying? Please stay. Can you do my makeup for the spring dance?”
Years ago, Jess must have put makeup on her a thousand times. At age seven, Kaylee had loved playing the diva.
“You look so beautiful! I brag about you at school all the time. You’re in all the movies!” Kaylee danced around Jess, squealing like a cheerleader with her pompoms on fire.
She had a bag hanging from her arm, and Chuck said, “Let’s see what you bought.”
Kaylee stopped long enough to pull out a stunning pair of pumps—fire-engine red.
Chuck frowned, not nearly as impressed as Jess was. “Stripper shoes for a school dance?” He clucked his tongue. “Five-inch heels?”
Kaylee bit her lip as she tried to come up with something that would make her grandfather not order her to return the shoes. She cast a begging look at Jess, but Jess shook her head. The kid would have to get out of trouble on her own like any other teenager. Didn’t feel right for Jess to stick her nose into family business.
Kaylee blurted out, her tone desperate, “They lift me closer to Jesus?”
Jess bit back a laugh.
Chuck shook his head. “You can keep the shoes. Creativity ought to be rewarded.” His expression turned serious then. “But don’t you take the Lord’s name in vain again, young lady. We don’t cotton to that kind of talk around here.”
Kaylee ducked her head. “Yes, sir.”
“Homework done? Chores done?”
