Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold #10)(39)

Simon and Tucker were glaring at each other. “It’s a thirty-second of an inch off,” the surgeon said. “Do you know what that means?”

“Nothing,” Tucker told him. “Because it’s not off. It’s even. Look at the level.”

“I’m measuring and that’s more accurate than a bubble.”

Finn leaned back against the wall, enjoying the show.

“The curtains look great,” Patience said. “I love them.”

“See?” Tucker said.

“You have to be on a ladder to see the difference,” Simon informed him.

“I’m thinking not many of my customers are going to do that,” Patience said; then she smiled and kept moving.

As she circled around the room, she passed by Kent Hendrix and his mother. Denise was staring up at her son.

“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice hopeful.

“It’s been long enough,” Kent told her. “I want to move on. Lorraine is gone and not coming back. I need to get going with my life. I’ve wasted enough time on her.”

Denise reached for him.

Patience inched away, not wanting to intrude on such a private, family moment.

She knew the basic facts. Kent had been married. He and Lorraine had a son, Reese. Several years ago Lorraine had decided she didn’t want to be married, or a mother, so she’d taken off, leaving her husband and her son. Sort of like Ned, Patience thought.

Josh and Ethan came by with two-by-fours over their shoulders, trapping her in place.

“I’m so glad,” Denise told her son. “You need to start the next chapter of your life. Are you dating?”

“Mom, let it go. I’ll find my own girl.”

“But I want to help.”

Patience looked around frantically, still pinned in by moving wood. Any second now Denise was going to start searching for a suitable future Mrs. Kent Hendrix, and she didn’t want to be the one the other woman saw first. Kent was a great guy, but they’d only ever been friends.

She finally managed to duck under the wood and make her way to the back room. She would hide out until the danger passed, she thought humorously.

Now that she was safe, she could almost pity Kent. Denise was a formidable woman. If she decided she was going to get Kent involved with someone, he was going to find himself with a parade of women moving past his house.

She looked into the main room and saw Justice with her mother. They were speaking intently, heads bent together.

Although she wondered what they were discussing, her real attention was on how much she wanted to walk over and stand next to Justice. To be close and have him smile at her. She knew she was getting too involved, too quickly, and didn’t know how to slow things down.

With the business only a week or two from opening, she was frantically busy, yet still found time to dwell on Justice. Maybe it was good that he was going to be gone a few days on an assignment. She could try to forget about him. Or if that wasn’t possible, maybe gain a little perspective.

Mayor Marsha walked up to her. “Everything is turning out so beautifully,” the mayor said. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Patience took in the skirted suit the older woman always wore. “No pants, huh? I was hoping.” Mayor Marsha had worn pants to a work party over the holidays. It had made quite the impression on everyone.

The mayor smiled. “It was very cold out. I made an exception.” Her head tilted. “Hmm, I wonder what that means.”

“What?”

The mayor pointed.

Patience turned and saw Charlie pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. She pressed it to her ear, then shook her head.

“Everyone, be quiet for a second, please,” Charlie yelled. “This might be important.”

The room went silent.

Charlie listened. Everyone around her watched, waiting to hear. Was the news good? Was there a problem?

Charlie grinned. “Okay. I’ll spread the word.” She lowered her phone. “It’s Annabelle. She’s in labor!”

CHAPTER NINE

JUSTICE TURNED DOWN the road leading to the ranch. If there was a hot spot in the world, a dangerous place, he’d probably been there. He knew how to get in, get the job done and get out. He’d faced soldiers, assassins and dictators. He knew how to take care of himself. None of which explained why he was going to a ranch to visit a woman he didn’t know, who had just given birth to a baby he had no interest in, with a casserole he hadn’t made.

“You okay?” Patience asked. She sat in the passenger seat and watched him curiously. “You have a scrunchy face.”

“No, I don’t.”

“I’m the one who can see your face, so I get to say.”

Justice surrendered to the inevitable. “I’m trying to figure out how I got here.”

“On earth at all, or here with me at this particular moment?”

“The latter.”

She flashed him a smile. “You offered to drive me.”

“What was I thinking?”

“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun. Annabelle had her baby. Now we have to be a part of the celebration.”

“Why?”

“It’s what we do. We visit the new mother, take over food so she doesn’t have to cook. Coo over the baby.”