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Famous last words.
Within five minutes her steady, even breathing said she was lights out. Curled on the sofa with her hair splayed out on the pillow, she looked peaceful. Gina was beautiful, and time had only improved her looks. So much of which came from inside a person.
The word angel came to mind as he glanced over at her. He took a hit square in the chest, so he looked away, not wanting to give away his reaction. Seeing her again, being with her again felt a little too right for a man in his position. He had no idea which direction he was heading or where he’d end up after his meeting with T.J. and his brothers.
Shame he didn’t have plans to stick around in Gunner. Get reacquainted with Gina. Get to know her daughter.
Time had marched on after their brief relationship in high school. The two of them had gone down different paths. Gina was a mother. Based on the concern she had for her daughter, she was a damn good one.
By the time Gina opened her eyes again, her mother had whipped up a dinner appropriate for a one-year-old, chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese. The woman had given Everly a bath and dressed her in her pajamas.
Isaac, on the other hand, had arranged grocery delivery with enough supplies they could stay put for the next couple of days to let that ankle heal. He didn’t want her to leave the house. He didn’t want to put more of a scare in Gina, but he didn’t agree with her assumption the man wouldn’t return. She was the only person who could positively identify him.
“What time is it?” Gina sat up and rubbed her eyes.
“Seven-thirty.”
“I slept four hours?”
“You looked like you needed it.” He had no plans to leave her side until he knew she was safe. “I got a text from Griff. He’d like us to stop by tomorrow morning.”
“Does he have news?”
“Nothing he wanted to discuss over the phone.”
“I wish there’d been photos or something to go on from our internet search earlier.” She jumped straight into the case.
“Hold on a minute. How about a cup of coffee? It wouldn’t hurt to give yourself a minute to wake up.”
She glanced around, no doubt checking for her daughter.
“She’s in her room with your mother. Last I checked, they were on the floor playing with blocks. The room looked like a tornado had rolled through and the two of them couldn’t stop laughing.”
Gina smiled and her face lit up. Damn if he couldn’t get used to being around her again. He thought about missed opportunities. If he could go back and change the past…
Isaac stopped himself right there. He didn’t do regret. Regret was counterproductive. Regret would just have him spinning his wheels about things he couldn’t change.
Besides, thinking about what might have been with Gina wouldn’t get them any closer to figuring out who’d murdered Brittany. Brittany deserved their full attention. Brittany deserved justice.
He poured a cup of coffee and brought it to Gina.
“Thank you.” When her green eyes caught hold of his, his damn fool heart clenched. “For everything. And don’t say it’s nothing. That little girl in the next room has a mother tonight because of you. And thank you for your service to our country, Isaac. I meant to say those words earlier and got sidetracked.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Would it be weird if I said how proud I am of you? You risked your life for strangers. I can’t imagine anything more noble.”
He acknowledged her compliment with a smile. “I’d say you have some idea about giving your life over for someone else. I saw you with your daughter earlier. It’s easy to see how much you live for her.”
A mix of emotions stirred behind Gina’s eyes that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“That might be the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time.” This time, she beamed.
“Shame.”
Gina pushed off the sofa. “A shower and clean clothes sound like heaven right now.”
He smirked. The last thing he needed was the image of her in the shower naked. Isaac hadn’t done casual sex since his first year in the military and his last relationship had soured him for dating. He figured that was the reason his hormones were at it again. And it had absolutely nothing to do with the sway of full hips walking in the opposite direction.
While she showered, Isaac cooked up steaks and potatoes for the three of them, a meal he’d perfected in the past year and a half.
When Gina returned wearing warm-ups and smelling clean and fresh like wildflowers, he instructed her to sit. “We can eat in shifts so someone will be available for Everly. The other potatoes are warming in the oven. I figure it’s best to let you and your mother take turns. Everly isn’t familiar with me yet and I don’t want to upset her.”
“How’d you learn to cook like that?” Gina’s mother cleaned her plate. Coming from someone who’d owned a restaurant for the past twenty-five years, hers was quite the compliment.
“There were periods overseas when we had more time on our hands than we knew what to do with. Some guys went out and partied every chance they got, which I did in the beginning. After that got old, I hung back at the barracks and taught myself how to cook. One of my buddies grew up in a family of firemen. He joked that he’d been handed a spatula not long after learning to swing a baseball bat.”
Gina didn’t look him in the eye. “Excuse me. I should put Everly to bed.”
What had he said wrong? He’d skipped the part where his relationship with Brooke had been the reason he’d hung back. Going out and getting drunk with the guys had held little appeal once he and Brooke decided to get exclusive.
“Thank you for a wonderful meal, Isaac.” Gina’s mother picked up her plate and started toward the sink.
“Don’t worry about dishes. Leave your plate on the counter and I’ll take care of it.”
“You are an angel.”
“Hard not to end up self-sufficient when you spend months at a time in a tent on foreign soil.” Isaac chuckled. He’d also grown up under the iron fist of T.J. Quinn. His father ran a tight ship. Quinn boys were up by four a.m. every day for chores before school. Isaac had practically grown up on an ATV, checking fences on his father’s cattle ranch. He’d spent enough time on a ranch to know he had no intention of ever running one.
Isaac’s cell buzzed. He excused himself and took the call.
“What’s up, Griff?”
“Can you bring Gina down to my office tonight? I have a few more questions for her and I’d like her to look at some profiles while everything’s fresh in her mind.” Isaac glanced up and saw Gina’s mother hovering at the door.
“She’ll have to get coverage for her daughter.” Mrs. Williams set her purse on the loveseat and took off her light jacket.
Gina must’ve walked into the room because her flowery scent filled his senses when he took in his next breath. He was already in trouble. Spending time one-on-one with her was probably a bad idea. So, it was probably a good thing he needed to get her down to the sheriff’s office. Probably.
“What is it?”
He turned around. “Griff asked me to bring you to his office. He wants you to look at some pictures.”
Panic darkened her features for a split-second. He could only imagine the fear she felt in the possibility of seeing her abductor’s face again.
Mrs. Williams put down her purse and took off her windbreaker. “I can stay. Go do what you need to.”
“You have an early morning.” The protest wasn’t heartfelt.
“True. I’ll call my friend Berta.”
“Mrs. Weber was here all morning, she—” Gina barely got the words out. Her mother was already digging around in her purse. She pulled out a cell phone and held a finger up to shush her daughter.
“Between myself and Berta we’ve got this covered. Everly’s asleep. It’s no trouble. You two go on.”
Isaac had no plans to get in the middle of their conversation. So when Mrs. Williams looked to him for reinforcement, he stood down. “It’s up to you, Gina. If you’re not up to it we can go in the morning.”
Him checking with her seemed to catch her off guard, which left him wondering if what he’d heard about Des was true. Thinking that Des might not have given her the life he’d promised tightened a coil inside Isaac’s chest.
“He might go free if you don’t do everything you can to lock him away.” Mrs. Williams had a point.
“Okay. You’re right. It’s important.” She nodded toward Isaac.
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