“I’ll be in and out,” Gabriel started as soon as Lauren was out of earshot. Out of respect for her he’d kept silent.
He waited for Daniel or Jaden to argue. Neither did.
Daniel shuffled his feet and looked Gabriel in the eyes. “I’m a phone call away. I’m serious about that. You get into something you can’t handle and I’m there.”
“What about your honeymoon?” Gabriel was relieved at least one of his friends seemed to know when he would lose a fight. Besides, Gabriel was wasting time standing there. He knew exactly where the Presidential Library was, and he could hop in his plane and get there within the hour.
“We’re spending it low-key,” Daniel said.
“No beach? No sand and surf?” Gabriel asked.
“Honestly? I’ve had enough beach and jungle to last a lifetime and she would rather spend the week on a lake in a cabin than on a resort with other people. And, before you get any crazy ideas, we’ll be spending it as a family. My bride has a lot of catching up to do with her daughter.” Daniel motioned toward a teen who seemed to be watching out for another little girl.
“Who’s she?” Gabriel motioned toward the younger one.
“That’s our other daughter.” Daniel’s smile faded. “She lost everything in an earthquake in Haiti and we’re adopting her.”
“Looks like she gained a damn fine family,” Gabriel said.
“I’m looking forward to you meeting them both. But I know you have something to take care of first.” Daniel offered a man-hug.
“We good, Jaden?” Gabriel turned to his other friend after embracing Daniel.
Jaden had that look, like his wheels were turning.
And then he nodded. He’d been studying his cell while Gabriel had been talking to Daniel. “Her talk is at four-thirty. You’ll have to hurry.”
“This is my past. She’s special. I have to make sure she’s okay.” Gabriel didn’t need anyone’s permission. He was still standing there talking out of respect for his friendships.
Jaden’s gaze rose up to meet Gabriel’s. He already saw in his friend’s eyes what he needed to see. Words weren’t necessary.
“Go get her. Keep her safe until we can put together a plan. We’ll put our heads together tonight and touch base with you as soon as we have something solid.” It would do no good to argue with Jaden, so Gabriel didn’t. Instead, he man-hugged Jaden and thanked his friends.
“Best wishes on your big day, man,” he said to Daniel. “You deserve that family over there.”
No one deserved it more.
Gabriel paused for a moment, just long enough to watch Daniel walk toward his future.
And then Gabriel headed toward his past.
Kinsley Greer walked the wide concrete block path toward the entrance to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on Southern Methodist University’s campus.
She had plenty of experience speaking to classrooms full of fresh-faced college students every day. She’d finished her graduate studies in the prestigious northeastern university she’d attended a year early thanks to an insane work ethic and, basically, no life.
She’d given countless lectures during her time as a teaching assistant and now as an adjunct professor. So, getting ready to walk into a room full of people and having the cold clammy hands of a PhD candidate ready to defend a thesis caught her off guard.
Veering around the square fountain, she willed her fingers to loosen their grip on the book in her hands, her book, The Surprise of European Terror Groups.
Launching in the World Trade Center room of the library had been her publicist’s idea. Considering the amount of interest Blake Henderson had garnered for the sold-out event his plan seemed to be working.
Speaking of Blake, he was supposed to be waiting at one of the benches on either side of the glass doors. Kinsley glanced around in case he was off to the side making a call. Blake was practically glued to his cell phone and always had been. The two had met at university at a pub, dated for about two seconds before realizing that wouldn’t work, and had been friends ever since. Right now, she wished she knew where he was.
Kinsley shifted her weight from foot to foot as she scraped her teeth across her bottom lip—a nervous tick she’d picked up taking finals.
The sun would be out for another couple of hours or so. She scanned the area, tilting her head until her face was in the sun again. It felt good to be in Dallas with the sunshine warming her face.
Memories flooded her. Some of them were good. She’d gone to high school in Cedarville where she’d met a guy who’d turned her life upside down.
There were other memories, not so pleasant, that she wanted to ignore but couldn’t. She had a constant reminder of her past in a scar that ran along her cheekbone. She’d spent almost a solid month in the hospital after the car accident that had left the scar there. Her hip didn’t want to stay in place after the crash. There’d been a long recovery, months of waiting for her boyfriend to decide to visit, and then before she knew it, she was accepting an offer from a school as far from the Dallas area as she could get…Maine.
A clump of her hair fell into her eyelashes, fueled by the cool early October breeze. She tucked it behind her ear, thinking she should’ve pulled her hair up. Although, she never did that when she met new people and the room she was about to enter would be full of random people she’d never met before.
The scar that ran along her jawline from the base of her left ear to her chin made her self-conscious. But then so did the stylists’ work that Blake had insisted was a good idea. Tiffany Keller’s full-on makeover of Kinsley had her wishing she was home watching a movie instead of putting herself out
