Page 61 of Into the Fire

She peeked at Marc. He’d finished with his photos and was looking at his watch.

“No comment. Much as I’d love to continue this conversation, I have to get to work.”

“Is the mystery man still there?”

“Yes, but I think he’s getting ready to leave.”

“This subject isn’t closed.”

Bri huffed out a breath. She should never, ever, ever have sought his advice about her problems with Travis.

“Yes, it is.”

“TBD. I may swing by and take a look at the branch myself.”

“I’m calling my landlord momentarily. If he’s as responsive as usual, it won’t be here long.”

“I can be there in twenty minutes.”

She swiveled away from the car, keeping her volume low. “I’ll be gone.”

“I don’t need to see you. Just the branch.”

“Marc already took photos. I can send you copies.”

“I’ll take my own. I want to nose around.”

Of course he would.

“Fine. Anything else?”

“Yeah. Be careful.”

“Always.”

“Good. If anything happened to you, I’d miss our Tuesday night dinners—and Cara’s too far away to fill in for you. Besides, she’d want to drag me to the Thai place she likes that sets my tongue on fire.”

At his gruff comment, the corners of her mouth rose. Typical Jack. Under his wisecracking, tough-guy veneer, he was a total softie. “You should find yourself a wife. Dinner every other week with your sister isn’t much of a social life.”

“I’ll get around to that one of these days.”

“To borrow Danny Kaye’s line from our favorite vintage family Christmas movie, my dear fellow, when what’s left of you gets around to what’s left to be gotten, what’s left to be gotten won’t be worth getting whatever it is you’ve got left.”

“Very funny.”

“Very true. You’re not getting any younger.”

“Neither are you. But with that ATF guy hanging around, you could be closer to the altar than I am.”

She checked on Marc again. He’d pulled out his keys and was clearly ready to leave. “That may be a bit premature.”

“I don’t know. Mom always said she knew Dad was the one the first time they met.”

“I have no intention of jumping to conclusions too early in the game. Not ever again.” She suppressed a shudder as an image of Travis during their last encounter strobed across her mind. Getting friendly with a man who had obvious control and anger management issues—obvious in hindsight, that is—had been the biggest mistake of her life up to that point.

At least there’d been no lingering repercussions from that lapse, though. Unlike the second one a few months later.

“It’s smart to be cautious. Keep that in mind with your ATF friend.”

---