She swung open the door and came face-to-face with a stranger. “Uh-oh.”
If the commander found out she’d opened the door without asking who it was, she’d smack her over the head with her cane, so Jessie immediately slammed the door in the stranger’s face.
The doorbell rang again.
“Who is it?” Jessie asked.
“Daniel Hunter,” the stranger said through the closed door.
She didn’t know anybody named Daniel Hunter, which meant he was still a stranger. She glanced around but neither Molly nor her sister or grandmother seemed to be coming down to see who was at the door.
“I’m a friend of Molly’s,” he said loudly.
Well, that changed things, Jessie thought, and she yanked the door open wide. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“You slammed the door in my face before I had the chance.” He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and grinned.
Jessie’s stomach fluttered like it did when the hottest guy in school winked at her as she passed by his locker. Not knowing what to say, she looked him over instead. He wore a black leather jacket and dark jeans, and behind him on the street she caught a glimpse of a motorcycle. Cool. She didn’t know anyone who rode a bike.
He studied her right back, looking at her for so long, she shifted from foot to foot. His eyes were really a golden color and he was cute for an older guy. Not just cute. Hot.
“Is Molly here?” he finally asked and the flutters in Jessie’s belly disappeared.
Molly. Jessie had forgotten that’s why he was here. It always came back to Molly. “Yeah,” she muttered, not pleased this cute guy wanted her half sister.
She turned toward the stairs. “Hey, Molly, there’s an old guy here to see you!” Jessie yelled loudly because when she’d passed it, the guest-room door had been closed. Jessie refused to think of it as Molly’s room. She couldn’t stay here forever. At least Jessie hoped not.
“Old?” He burst out laughing.
Jessie’s cheeks flamed. “Older than me,” she said, embarrassed.
Molly’s footsteps sounded at the top of the stairs. “Who is it?” she asked.
“A guy named Daniel who wears a leather jacket and rides a Harley. If you ask me, he’s too cool to be your friend.”
“I don’t know anyone who rides a motorcycle or whose name is Daniel.” Molly hit the bottom step and looked up at her visitor. “Hunter!”
“That’s what I said. His name’s Daniel Hunter and you obviously do know him,” Jessie said.
Because her half sister’s eyes had opened wide and she ran her hands through her hair as if she suddenly cared about what she looked like. Jessie’s gaze flew from Molly to leather-jacket man and back to Molly again. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Molly and vice versa.
Very interesting.
“You’re going to take my father-our father’s-case?” Molly asked him.
Jessie’s mouth opened then shut again. “He’s the lawyer? The guy you-”
“Do not say it,” Molly said, warning Jessie in a stern voice she’d never heard from her half sister before. Not even the other day when Jessie had deliberately crossed the behavior line.
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to say…you know.” Jessie stepped closer to Molly.
For some reason, she didn’t want to piss off her half sister right now. She wasn’t sure she understood why, but she did know she wanted to watch what happened between these two. It was better than an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, she thought.
“Are you saying I don’t look like an attorney?” he asked.
Jessie turned toward him. “I haven’t seen many that look like you,” she said, feeling herself blush at her admission.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He treated her to that grin again, the one that made her feel all warm and special inside.
“So are you going to take my dad’s case?” Jessie asked. The guy might not look like a lawyer but he had loads of confidence and Jessie would bet he was good at what he did.
“Your…sister and I are going to discuss that.”
Jessie tossed her hands in the air. “So whatever you decide depends on her? That’s just great.”
The hunk raised an eyebrow. “Trouble in paradise?”
Molly sighed. “She hates me, just like you do,” she said to him. “And you’ve both got good reason, but right now the only thing I care about is clearing the general’s name. I’m asking you to put your personal feelings aside, listen to the facts and agree to represent my father. After you do that, I won’t ask anything else from you. Ever.”
“Do I get the same deal?” Jessie asked hopefully.
Molly turned Jessie’s way. She didn’t speak. She didn’t have to. The disappointment in her expression said it all.
IT HAD TAKEN Hunter a few days to wrap things up at work and reassign his cases to free himself up for an extended stay in Connecticut. Taking the time to organize his life had also given him the opportunity to build his walls and immunity to Molly Gifford.
Or so he’d thought. Just like he thought he’d seen all of Molly’s moods. But the mixture of outright hurt and exasperation in her expression when she looked at her half sister sucker punched him in the gut. He didn’t like that despite his vow to remain indifferent, he felt her pain. Didn’t like that each time he looked at her, all the old feelings washed over him.
The unexpected emotions meant one thing. He needed a new plan and he needed it fast. He swallowed a groan and accepted that he’d just have to admit and cope with the fact that he hadn’t put her behind him the way he’d hoped. But he would. By the time this situation with her father was resolved, Hunter promised himself that he’d bury his feelings for her once and for all.
Molly finally turned away from her sister and faced him directly. “You came,” she said, shock obvious in her tone and expression.
Hunter nodded, still off balance himself. “We need to talk.”
“I know.” She glanced at the teen who stared at them with undisguised interest. Apparently she had no intention of leaving them alone. “Jessie?” Molly asked pointedly.
The young girl flipped her long dark hair back over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Go away. Now.”
“Nice way to talk to your sister,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m only your sister when it’s convenient or you want something. Right now, I’m sure I hear the Internet calling you.”
She frowned. “Fine.” Jessie turned and stomped her way up the stairs with more force than necessary.
Molly sighed. “Okay, the Drama Queen’s gone and my grandmother’s busy learning knit one, purl two. We can talk alone for a while. Come into the kitchen.” She gestured for him to follow and they walked through the entry hall filled with pictures and past a decorated family room.
He absorbed his surroundings, admiring the very lived-in, nicely put-together home. The brief tour ended in a cozy kitchen and she settled into a chair, gesturing for him to do the same.
He sat in the chair beside her and decided to jump right in. “I’m not used to seeing you juggling family.”
“A lot’s changed.” She inclined her head, her gaze uncertain.
Considering how they’d parted in the parking lot of his building, he understood her wariness. But he’d already decided that in order to take this case, they had to make peace, and in order to make peace, he had to be civil.
Silence echoed around them and he knew the time had come to address the question that had been on his mind, the one that had kept him up nights.
He cleared his throat. “So, has finding your family given you everything you were looking for?” Everything she’d left him to find, Hunter thought.
