LITMIR.BIZ

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you bring her to see me.”

      Ford gave her a salute with two fingers, and muttered to Gemma, “She doesn’t understand that when my work is finished, I won’t be staying with you anymore.”

      “No?”

      He turned a startled look to her. She was just as startled.

      “I heard that,” Lacy said as she approached, sparing Gemma further embarrassment.

      She couldn’t believe what she’d said. Of course, she didn’t want Ford to stay after his work was finished … after Jed was taken care of. It was just that Anna seemed so sure.

      Hooking her arm with Gemma’s, Lacy was about to take her toward the door when all three of them saw Anna pass outside the café window. She winked.

      “She may have a point,” Lacy said.

      “What point?” Gemma asked.

      “Are you two ready to go?” Ford stopped the banter irritably.

      “When I told her you were staying with Gemma her whole face lit up and she went into this long explanation about how she thought fate had finally stepped in to guide you.”

      “When did you tell her that?” Gemma asked while Ford’s mood darkened all over is face and body language.

      “This morning when she came in for coffee.”

      “That sounds like Anna,” Ford said, his mood boomeranging in a way that captivated Gemma.

      Lacy grinned her entertainment. “I told her about the day the two of you met. Imagine how intrigued she was.”

      Ford’s mood returned to annoyance. “No imagination necessary. Are you two ready to go now?”

      Gemma wasn’t. “What did you tell her?”

      “Exactly what I saw.” Her now mischievous grin left no doubt as to her meaning.

      She and Ford had noticed each other. “Ford has orders to stay with me. There’s nothing more going on than that.”

      “Orders,” Lacy cooed. “Now that’s romantic! Anna thinks so, too.”

      “You’re going to be late.”

      Gemma noticed Ford’s more consistently flat demeanor and Gemma, seeing that, asked, “Are you sure you want to drive us?”

      “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t.” He looked right at Lacy.

      Lacy breathed a single laugh and, arm still hooked with Gemma’s, headed toward the door.

      Ford followed them outside, scanning the street for anything suspicious. He opened the passenger-side door for Gemma. Lacy opened the rear door herself, beaming a knowing smile.

      “In all seriousness, Ford,” Lacy said from the backseat, “It’s truly impressive how well Bo Fargo runs that police department. Gemma is a lucky woman to have your protection.”

      Only Ford’s eyes moved to the rearview mirror.

      “You must be so relieved, Gemma. I don’t know what I’d do if a man came after me like that. It’s so rare when we have that sort of thing in this town. But so comforting to know we have policemen like you, Ford.”

      Again, Ford’s eyes shifted to the rearview mirror. The compliment rolled off him as though he didn’t believe her. Didn’t he think Lacy was being sincere? Wasn’t she?

      Gemma looked into the backseat. Lacy’s eyes shifted from the rearview mirror. Her smile seemed genuine but her gaze held something else. She turned to the window, leaving Gemma wondering what she was thinking as Ford pulled to a stop in front of the community center.

      “I’ll be waiting for you when you get out,” he said.

      Jed would be foolish to try and attack her in a crowd.

      “Why don’t you come in with us?” Lacy gathered up her purse.

      “I don’t attend these seminars.”

      “There’s something for everyone. You really should try it,” Lacy said.

      “No thanks.” His gaze pinned her in the rearview mirror.

      Gemma stepped out of the front seat and waited for Lacy to come around the SUV, watching Ford walk toward the café where he’d questioned her.

      “He’s always been the quiet, brooding type,” Lacy said as she joined Gemma. “Sexy, though.”

      Gemma headed for the community center entrance. She refused to talk about sexy. There was something that she did need to know, though. “What happened to his parents?”

      “His whole family was murdered when he was a teenager.”

      Gemma sucked in a breath while Lacy opened one of the community center doors. Murdered? His entire family? No wonder he didn’t want to talk about it.

      “You can read about it in the newspaper archives at the library. Everybody knows about it. I’m surprised you don’t by now.”

      That was because Ford couldn’t talk about it. He kept the pain locked inside.

      “There’s no question about why he became a cop. And it’s no wonder the crime rate in Cold Plains is so low. Ford may not talk about losing his family the way he did, but everybody knows that’s why he’s such a stickler for the law. Everyone likes that about him. Crime doesn’t fit here and he keeps it away.”

      Gemma liked that about him, too. And Cold Plains as a whole. How could she not? She may have inadvertently led crime to this quiet, peaceful town, but Ford would fight it for her.

      She walked beside Lacy into the bustling community center. People were everywhere. Leaving or entering the building, emerging from a hallway, moving into an auditorium and socializing near the tonic-water counter. Lacy told her the water came from Cold Plains Creek and had some kind of healing power. Fountain-of-youth type of thing. She’d have to remember to buy another case of it. At twenty-five dollars a bottle, Jed would be furious if he ever knew.

      “I could see you winding up with someone like him,” Lacy said, waving to a woman holding a bottle of tonic water.

      “Ford?” They entered the auditorium where tonight’s seminar was being held.

      “He’s a cop and he’s great-looking.”

      Yes, a little too much of both. “I don’t want to see anyone for a while. I’m still so messed up. I need to figure myself out first, you know?”

      Lacy smiled and they took a seat. “Well, you’re off to a good start by coming here.”

      Gemma agreed. “This does make me feel better. I may have made bad choices in the past, but that doesn’t mean I have to keep making them.”

      “That’s my girl.” She patted Gemma’s thigh, as if they were old friends. “That’s what Samuel noticed about you. You’re eager to improve. I think that’s why he’s so partial to you.”

      “He’s partial to me?” And why did he care if she was eager to improve? “How do you know that?”

      “He told me. He admires anyone with that kind of strength and initiative. He wants you to succeed. The more people who succeed in this town, the better it will be.”

      While Lacy intended to convey Samuel’s good intentions, there was an odd note to the way she spoke of him. Hero worship. Over the top. Samuel admired Gemma and wanted her to succeed. Why did he care that much? As a quite popular motivational speaker, she supposed he would have personal interest in anyone who was striving to go from being abused and downtrodden to thriving. Part of his work. Overcoming the mental side effects of her abuse was her goal. She hadn’t known Jed would become violent after she married him. Once she’d discovered that dark side, she’d felt stuck with him. Looking back, she realized that was because he’d

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