Page 33 of Island Homecoming

She and Frasier had met privately with Caldwell the day after the incident. And the lieutenant agreed with her that everything about it screamed inside job. No one believed Nash was involved and she was willing to give his employees the benefit of the doubt. Caldwell and Frasier chose to handle the interviews themselves and Jess was grateful for it. She specifically hadn’t discussed the situation with Nash, mainly because she was sure the culprit was not part of his staff, no matter how the scene had been staged.

Frasier had reminded her that despite the lingering questions, the evening was a personal win because she’d pulled her gun and handled herself. But was it that simple? She wasn’t sure one well-trained response was the sign to return to work. Although it was possible she was getting too attached to Nash and the comfortable pace here in her hometown.

“Hey, you’re thinking too hard again,” Nash murmured in her ear as he opened the pub door. “You okay?”

She squeezed his hand. “Sorry. I’m turning it off, I promise. Do you want to tell me about your day?”

“Not even a little bit.” His lips tilted into a teasing grin and he slid his arm around her waist. They found Nina, sitting in a booth close to the band stage, with a woman Jess didn’t know.“Hey!” Nina popped to her feet. “This is Celeste Hargrave. Celeste, meet Jess Keller. You know my brother, Nash.”

They exchanged hellos and sat down. Nash pressed his thigh close to Jess, as if reminding her she was here to relax rather than get lost in thought.

“Celeste and her sisters just redesigned their family vacation home and opened it as a bed and breakfast.”

“And we hired Nina and Nash to keep us in flowers inside and out,” Celeste explained. “They both do great work.”

The name finally clicked for Jess. She’d heard the sisters had lost their mother to cancer not too long ago. “Hargrave,” she said carefully. “I heard about your loss and I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.” Celeste’s gaze dropped to her hands for a moment and then she seemed to pull herself up. “Grief is a weird thing. We’re just working through it a day at a time.”

“That’s all you can do,” Jess agreed.

“They have their own private beach on that end of the island,” Nash said. “We just finished up a new path for them.”

“It’s beautiful.” Celeste beamed and her pride chased some of the sadness from her eyes. “We intend to make the most of it.”

“So what are we drinking?” Nash asked as the band came out to warm up.

They gave him their preferences and he went to get drinks. The pub was surely over capacity when the lead singer got things started. The man knew how to work the crowd and he had a voice that could blow the roof off or croon a ballad.

Nina couldn’t be the only person crushing on him.

“They’re amazing!” Jess exclaimed after the first set.

“I know! I’m really excited for them.” Nina bounced in her seat. “Too bad they don’t need a floral contract.”

“I don’t know,” Celeste said. “That group might be in the market for regular morning-after bouquet deliveries.”

“There’s a business model I hadn’t considered.”

The women chuckled and the band started up again with a song perfect for shag dancing. She and Nash couldn’t resist, despite the crowd. As they moved in and out with the steps of the dance, grinning like they’d done as kids, Jess spotted trouble brewing near the bar. She caught Nash’s gaze and tipped her chin in that direction. Deftly, he adjusted and they moved with the music until they were close to the situation.

One of the things she enjoyed most about her new relationship with Nash was this rediscovered ability to communicate without saying much at all. That connection was special, though she hadn’t understood it back then. Maybe going away allowed her to see it better, to appreciate it more. To appreciatehimmore.

Every time they were together, she felt that rough antsy edge she’d been carrying smooth out. He was good for her, she couldn’t deny that.

The packed pub had her watching the room like a cop and unless her instincts were completely warped, two men were about to brawl over a woman. If she could head off a fight or prevent it from rolling through the bar, she would. Having a badge didn’t matter to her. She had the skills to make a difference.

In the back of her mind, she recognized this was the same kind of thing that created her legal mess in Georgia. But she just couldn’t turn her back and let people get hurt. Not when she could help.

Behind the bar, she saw Reed signaling his bouncers, anticipating the same problem she did. Good. She could count on him to back her up if she did intervene.

The song ended and Nash reeled her in close to his body, then dipped her back with a flourish. In that beat of silence as the applause faded, Jess saw one man, wearing a t-shirt given out by a local fishing charter to celebrate a big catch, drive his fist into his rival’s face.

She was in the best position to interfere before things got out of hand. And she did. To his credit, Nash jumped in too. They wedged themselves between the men and roughly pushed them into the arms of the responding bouncers.

But the fisherman slipped an arm free and, in his fury to get loose, he managed to knock Jess off her feet. Annoyed, she was determined to cool things down. Standing, she laughed it off, dusting her hands on her denim skirt.

Nash was at her side in an instant, his temper locked and loaded as he shoved the man back. The bouncers regained control and hauled the men out of the crowd and down the hall. Unless Reed had changed his methods, they’d be held out back for the police to sort things out.

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