To Protect Her Son. Stella MacLean

didn’t flinch, nor did she offer up any information, as so many people did when they were offered a sympathetic response. This lady had the kind of focused determination he usually experienced with his law enforcement friends and colleagues. Not a woman who was worried about her son.

      He hadn’t expected her to be so self-contained, so in control. She wasn’t the typical mother of a son on the verge of trouble with the law.

      There was something going on here...

      Or was he simply feeling the effects of her total lack of interest in him as a man?

      * * *

      GAYLE GRUDGINGLY ADMITTED she liked this man, despite his questions. After all, he was only doing his job, and she had to believe that he would help her son, that his questions would lead to a better life for Adam. “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but I know your sister, Anna. We belong to the same single-parents support group.”

      “No, I didn’t. She’s been busy and so have I.” He crossed his arms over his chest as he met her questioning gaze.

      “She’s really great. So brave to be raising her boys alone after losing her husband in Afghanistan. She’s amazing.”

      “She is. When Kevin was killed we were afraid that she might not be able to cope. Sherri was really supportive, and her mother, Colleen, moved Anna and her family into her house for those awful first weeks after we’d learned about Kevin’s death.”

      “Were you living here at the time?”

      “No. I was still in Boston recovering from my injuries.”

      She couldn’t look at his leg or the cane leaning against the counter without wondering about the officer Harry had shot. “I’m sorry you were shot. It must have been really awful.” She desperately wished she could change the subject without appearing heartless.

      “It was, and there are days when it still is. But life goes on. The one good thing that came out of it was that I made the decision to move back here where I have family and friends.”

      He didn’t say anything for a few minutes, leaving Gayle to wonder if the memories of the shooting still haunted him. Yet she didn’t want to know more about that day. She didn’t want to know his story. That would only heighten her guilt about what Harry had done fourteen years ago. “Yes, friends and family can be so supportive,” she said to comfort him and to keep the conversation moving away from her.

      Many times she wished that she’d gone to see Officer Perry and apologized for what Harry had done. But back then she was too afraid that she would be seen as an accomplice. She had been almost eighteen at the time and had lived in fear that somehow she would be implicated. Her ignorance of the law had held her back from acting on her need to somehow make it right with the officer, and then time passed until it was too late for her to say anything.

      “How easily a single event can change everything for so many people,” she said, feeling an odd attachment to this man—and an even more unusual curiosity about him. “Was it difficult to pick up and move home, leaving your life in Boston?”

      His eyes were kind as he spoke. “I had been thinking about making a change. After my injury I wasn’t really happy sitting at a desk all day. When Kevin died I was needed here. Anna’s two boys had lost their father, and that was something I felt I could help them deal with. When I suggested it to Anna, she tried to dissuade me, but I convinced her that it was what I wanted.”

      This man cared deeply about his family, a trait she admired very much. A caring family was something she’d never experienced. She envied the family life Nate, Sherri and Anna shared. She longed for the same thing for herself and Adam. How different their life might have been if they’d had a supportive family.

      But there was no going back, no wishing for what could never be. This was her new life, and this man had come here to provide support to Adam. With his professional experience and family history, he might make a big difference in her son’s life.

      * * *

      GAYLE SAWYER SEEMED so understanding. Yet it was more than that. She seemed to genuinely care about people, and that included Anna. He’d seen the look in her eyes as he talked about his sister. Gayle was a friend Anna could count on, and it made him feel...pleased. Yeah, that was it. He was pleased that his sister had found a friend she could rely on—not that Anna didn’t have friends in Eden Harbor. After all, she’d lived here her entire life. But something made him realize Gayle would be special.

      And that realization increased his desire to do everything he could for Adam. Not that he hadn’t been committed to this case when he’d come here. But Gayle was a friend of both his sister and his cousin. That gave him a whole other reason for wanting to see Adam a happy, well-adjusted teenager.

      Although he was fascinated by this woman, that was as far as it could go. His life was just fine the way it was. He wouldn’t allow himself to see Gayle as anything other than a client and a friend of the family.

      Returning his focus to the present and what he needed to do, he glanced at his watch. How had he lost track of the time? That never happened to him. “I have to get out of here if I’m going to make my next appointment. Thanks for the tea and cookies.”

      “Of course.” She walked with him to the door, her expression warmed by the sudden smile on her face. “Have a nice day,” she said as she opened the door.

      He could have sworn she was about to say, “Have a nice life.”

      Was Gayle hoping she wouldn’t have to see him again? Did she find his presence in her life an unwelcome necessity? He hadn’t considered the possibility until this moment. Yet she had to have serious reservations about the whole process they were involved in. Could her private chat with Ted Marston have been about him? He smiled to himself. Necessity had forced her to accept him into her life. Professional responsibility had guaranteed that he would act in her son’s best interests. In other words, the relationship between them was all business.

      He had started out expecting that to be the case—counting on it, actually. Yet now as his eyes met hers, he was struck by an idea. She welcomed his leaving. She wanted her space back, free of his interference. The thought made him feel off balance, shaken and for some reason more than a little disappointed.