“I don’t know if it helps, but I had trouble readjusting to civilian life, too. Why don’t you come with Bill and me on some visits to the hospital? He’s a great therapy dog. I think you’ll like it.”
“Thanks, Miles. That means a lot. Let me know next time you go and I’ll tag along.” Cy’s attention was drawn to the door as Cade came hurrying in.
“You have a cell phone for a reason,” Cade yelled impatiently. “I found something. Hey, where’s Gemma?”
“At Miss Lily’s. I’m surprised Annie didn’t call you since she almost shot me earlier,” Cy informed him. When Cade grimaced at his own cell phone, Cy just smirked.
“I’ll ignore that. What did you do?”
“She may have misinterpreted a zealous hug from a friend,” Cy hedged.
“From Taylor Jefferies to be specific.” Paige smiled as she happily filled in the blanks.
“I can’t wait to hear the details, but now’s the time for you to kiss and make up. I found a thread, but now I need to figure out how to pull on it. It’s a company name. Happens to be the same company name that rented the house Mr. Goatee Man was staying at.”
“That’s fantastic. What’s the problem?” Cy asked as he stopped to kiss his mother and sister goodbye.
“It’s a legal game of hide and seek. There’re so many shell corporations and different names of officers that I’m having trouble finding a real lead,” Cade told him.
“What about asking Henry and Neely Grace if they can help. As much as you get distracted by the shiny suits, Henry’s pretty smart. And from what I’ve heard about Neely Grace, she puts him to shame.”
“Good idea. I’ll talk to them while you’re begging Gemma to believe you,” Cade chuckled.
* * *
He paced the large office at his newest home in Kentucky. He had homes all over the world, but never one in such a small, out-of-the-way place like this. The quiet was getting to him. He heard things at night, things that he knew weren’t real. Even though his team surrounded him, he felt more and more isolated. There was no one he could trust anymore.
“Sir. There’s been activity on that account you wanted me to watch.”
He nodded and the guard hurried from the room. Taking a breath, he made his way to the massive desk and turned on his computer. He pulled up his account and searched out Sarah Flannery’s page. A picture was front and center that caused him to throw his glass of whiskey into the fireplace. In the middle of his screen sat a picture of his beautiful daughter with that son-of-a-bitch spy and no-good journalist determined to bring him down.
“Sergei!” he roared as he slammed his fist on his desk. He was going to take care of this himself.
* * *
Gemma opened her eyes to a room of women. The smell of coffee whiffed through the air along with a huge tray of brownies. And then she remembered what happened. Taylor Jefferies leaping into Cy’s open arms.
“Oh no,” Gemma groaned and rolled back into her pillow.
“Here, dear. Have some coffee. It’ll help clear your head. Cyland is downstairs and needs to talk to you,” Miss Lily told her.
“I don’t want to see him.”
“You really should. We might have misjudged the situation,” Katelyn told her.
“Yeah. It turns out that Taylor really is just a friend. Trust me, I would've shot him if it were otherwise,” Annie said reassuringly while patting her sidearm.
“Thanks. That’s very nice of you.” Gemma attempted to laugh but it hurt her head to do so.
“And I should tell you that little Miss Jefferies is staying in the room on the third floor,” Miss Lily said hesitantly.
“No,” Gemma squeaked as she hid her head in the pillow. “I made such a fool of myself.”
“There, there. She’s actually quite sweet. Poor dear, she’s never been a teenager before. She acts as if she’s already forty years old instead of eighteen,” Miss Lily clucked as she shook her head.
“Thank you all for your help. Now if only I could get over the embarrassment of it all, I could leave this house again.” Gemma sat up and took a sip of the strong coffee.
“Oh, we’ve all been there. It’s nothing compared to that time I walked through school with my skirt tucked into my drawers,” Miss Lily shrugged. “It happens.”
Katelyn and Annie shook their heads as they grinned at Miss Lily. “It does happen. Especially when the Rose sisters’ special iced tea is involved. We’ll meet you downstairs.” Katelyn smiled in a way that had Gemma thinking there was a story to be told there.
Gemma took another drink of coffee as the room cleared and finally stood up to take a quick shower. The hot water felt good as she began to wake up. Unfortunately, now the only thing she felt was foolishness for getting so upset over someone she didn’t even have a well-defined relationship with. They were sleeping together and sometimes he called her his girlfriend. But she knew the real reason she was so upset. She loved the man.
Not the incredibly hot Hollywood stunt hero and international spy, but the kind, caring gentleman he was when they were alone together. The one who loved his family and wanted to take care of her. The one who told her corny jokes and helped Miss Lily carry in the groceries. The one who snuggled with her tiny fur ball of a dog and then took him to playdates with his brothers’ dogs. That’s the man she loved.
Gemma turned off the shower and slipped on a skirt and shirt before brushing out her hair and quickly braiding it. She knew she had kept him waiting. But quite honestly, she was scared to see him. What would she do if he looked at her with pity or worse, without that spark in his eyes?
Cy paced back and forth on the porch as his brother and sisters-in-law laughed in the parlor. He didn’t see what was so funny. He had never been this nervous before. Waiting to see if the woman he loved with all his heart would even talk to him was worse than the time he had to lift a passkey from a warlord in the Sudan.
The screen door opened and Cy turned around to see a freshly washed and barefoot Gemma standing shyly by the door. “Gemma, please believe me. There’s nothing going on with Taylor. I . . .”
Gemma cut him off. “I know. The girls told me. Can we forget it happened? I’m so embarrassed I don’t think I can stand it.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I would've done the same thing had a man hugged you like that.” Cy paused. “Well, after I punched him.” Cy opened his arms and relief flooded him when she tucked her head under his and placed it against his chest. He closed his arms around her and never wanted to let her go.
“Good. Glad that’s settled. Now we need to discuss something important,” Cade said as he pushed open the door. “Ow.” Annie and Katelyn both slapped Cade against the head at the same time while they shot Cy and Gemma an apologetic look.
“It’s okay. What’s going on?” Gemma asked from where Cy kept her tight against him.
“First, we discovered that Sarah is very popular. But, we found an IP address from Lexington. It’s registered to the same company that rented the house for the Goatee Man. Someone in that house saw the picture.”
“Mr. X?” Gemma asked.
“Someone did. I’m guessing you’ll find out soon enough if Cy’s plan works the way he thinks it will. Henry and Neely Grace are making progress, but it’s slow work. Maybe they’ll have something by Noodle’s wedding tomorrow, but Neely Grace warned that it could take time. I’ll let you know if we find anything else out.”
“We’ll see y’all there, won’t we?” Katelyn asked, as she looked him right in the eyes, making it more of a statement than a question.
“Yes, of course. Noodle invited me the other day and I happily accepted. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a Keeneston wedding.” Cy looked down at Gemma and smiled. “They’re a blast. The whole town is there and there’s food galore, music, dancing, and more gossip than you can shake a stick at.”
“Sounds fun. But what about Mr. X?”
“The whole town will be there. By the time the reception starts, we’ll know all of Dr. Francis’s family. It would be very difficult to slip in unnoticed. Hopefully, Mr. X will act before then.” Cy gently ran his hand down her back and wished this were over. He couldn’t move on with Gemma until it was.
* * *
Gemma stroked her fingers down the back of Cy’s neck as they swayed to the music. His hand gently rested on the small of her back as he held her to him. The wedding had been beautiful and packed with every person in
