“She told me how you met. She said you carried in that big dog even though it was in pain and could have bitten you.”

Gideon chuckled. “Yeah, she yelled at me about that. Said I should have known better.”

Without meaning to, he glanced at his son. Carter was staring at his hands. “Did you love her?”

Gideon instinctively wanted to surge to the door. He stopped himself in time and stayed where he was.

He knew the correct answer to the question, and he knew the truth. They weren’t the same. Felicia would tell him this wasn’t about him. That Carter was the one who mattered. For someone who’d never been around children, she seemed to have the instincts of a natural-born mother.

“I loved her,” he lied.

Carter looked at him. “But you had to leave?”

He nodded. “I warned her from the beginning that I would be shipping out, and I didn’t know how long I’d be gone. I never knew she’d gotten pregnant.”

“She told me that. She said she thought about finding you, but by then 9-11 had happened and you would have been sent to war. After a while she stopped talking about you.” Carter turned the card over in his hands. “When she got sick a few years ago, she told me your name. You know, in case she didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Me, too. It was cancer. For a while we thought she was going to be fine, but then it came back and she died.” He pressed his lips together. “She dated some, but she always said they didn’t measure up.” He raised his chin defiantly. “She wasn’t waiting for you or anything.”

Gideon hoped not. He wasn’t worth waiting for. Worse, he’d never once thought of going back. Ellie had been in his past.

His son stared at him, as if waiting, as if needing something more. Gideon tried to figure out what he was supposed to say, but there was nothing. After a few minutes Carter got up and walked away, and Gideon was left sitting by himself.

* * *

FORD AND ANGEL started up the ropes. Consuelo watched them intently. The two men kept pace with each other, then as they reached the end, Angel surged upward and hit the bell first.

Consuelo groaned. “How is that possible? Angel broke his shoulder years ago. That limits his range of motion. Ford should have won easily.”

“Maybe he’s distracted,” Felicia said. “Or you’re wrong about the shoulder.”

Consuelo rolled her eyes. “Really? Wrong about it?”

“Sorry,” Felicia said, grinning. “I forgot that you’re never wrong.”

“I can be wrong. Just not about stuff like that.” She turned away from the ropes hanging in the outdoor workout center behind CDS. “At least this time the bet wasn’t about cooking. I don’t think I could stand another week of Ford’s idea of gourmet cuisine.”

“Pretty bad?”

“He’s fine on the barbecue, but everything else is horrible.” They headed for the offices. “This competition is getting out of hand. If they keep at it, one of them is going to kill the other. I told them one of them has to move out. They flipped for it. Ford’s going to look for a place.”

“Does that mean he won or lost?”

Consuelo considered the question, then laughed. “I don’t know and I’m not sure if I care. Although Angel is the better cook. The things that man can do with pasta.”

A plate of his seafood linguini meant doubling her workouts for a couple of days, but it was worth it.

They stepped inside. The temperature was immediately cooler, the light dimmer. She led the way to the break room and pulled two bottles of water out of the refrigerator.

Felicia studied her. “Don’t you find it interesting that you live with two very attractive men and you’ve never dated either of them?”

“Neither have you.”

“I don’t know Angel very well, and Ford always thought of me as a sister.”

Consuelo raised her eyebrows. “Meaning you would have said yes if he’d asked?”

Felicia tilted her head to the left, then the right. “Maybe when we first met but now I don’t have any sexual interest in him.”

“He’s not my type, either.” She wanted something else. Something impossible.

A normal man, she thought wistfully. One who didn’t know a Glock from an M-16 and had never had to slit even a single throat in his life. A guy who watched sports on weekends and grumbled about taking out the trash. A man who called his mother every week and remembered birthdays and thought dinner and a movie was a pretty hot date.

Unlikely, she thought. She was sure such men existed, but they had no reason to be interested in her. Not if they knew the truth about her.

“How’s it going with Carter?” she asked.

Felicia smiled. “Good. Even if I’m scared I’m doing everything wrong and Gideon spends his time with one foot out the door. This isn’t anything he’d planned on.”

“No one expects a kid to show up. Women have an advantage with that one. We always know if we have offspring.”

“You have brothers,” Felicia said. “What did they like to do?”

“Get in trouble. How old is Carter?”

“Thirteen.”

Consuelo shrugged. “I’m not the person to ask about this. By the time they were thirteen, each of my brothers had already been arrested.”

They’d taken the easy path—joining a gang. She wanted to blame them, but knew she hadn’t had to make their choices. As a girl, she’d been able to avoid a lot of trouble. Her interest in getting out of their urban neighborhood had been concealed behind study and reading. Sure, the neighbor kids had thought she was weird, but because she was female, they’d left her alone. Her brothers had been forced to make a choice early. Join a gang or spend every day getting harassed. Sometimes worse. Sometimes kids who didn’t fit in got dead.

“Has he made any friends?” she asked.

“He’s been up at the summer camp for the past three days. They assigned him a buddy. Reese Hendrix. His grandmother was the one with the booth.”

“I remember,” Consuelo said. Reese’s father had been the handsome man with the kind eyes.

Felicia sipped her water. “Are you still thinking about offering a self-defense class for people in town? What if you had a class for kids his age? I’m sure it would be popular, and then he could meet his fellow students before the school year begins. That would help a lot. I know how difficult it is not to fit in.”

Consuelo groaned. “That’s a lot of guilt in only a couple of sentences.”

“Did I make you feel guilty?” Felicia asked, sounding delighted. “I wasn’t trying.”

“That makes it worse. You were stating the truth as you know it. Come on. Let’s go look.”

They walked out of the break room and into the largest office. There were several desks pushed together, along with a big dry erase calendar on the wall.

“Yes,” she said, crossing to it. “We’re doing this the old-fashioned way.”

Felicia winced as she stared at it. “Why isn’t this on the computer? There are several excellent scheduling programs that could—”

“Spare me,” Consuelo told her. “I don’t do office and I don’t want to hear about it. If you find this painful, talk to the boss.”

She pointed to the column with her name. “I’m free on Tuesday evenings. Let’s schedule it then. Get the word out and let me know when to be here. I’ll teach them all how to kill each other.”

Felicia wrinkled her nose. “That was humor, wasn’t it? You wouldn’t actually teach thirteen-year-olds how to kill each other.”

“Only if they get on my nerves.”

* * *

CARTER SAT AT the picnic table, his lunch unwrapped in front of him. Reese Hendrix was across from him. They’d already exchanged sandwiches and discussed getting ice cream when they were back in Fool’s Gold.

“Have you always lived here?” Carter asked his new friend.

“Nah. We moved here a couple of years ago. After my mom split, my dad wanted to be closer to family. Mostly for me, I think. I have a bunch of aunts and an uncle.” He grinned. “Two uncles, now that Ford’s home.”

“Your mom left?”

Reese nodded, then took a bite of his sandwich. “One day she was gone. My dad was pretty broken up about it. He didn’t date or anything for a long time. He was waiting for her to come back.”

Carter had also grown up without a parent, but he’d never expected his father to return.

“You don’t see her on weekends and stuff?”

Reese put down his sandwich. “Never. She doesn’t remember my birthday or anything. My dad tries to say she still loves me, but I know the truth. She bailed and it’s done.”

“I’m sorry.”

Reese shrugged. “Whatever. I’m over it.”

Carter thought his friend was probably lying, but wasn’t going to call him on it.

“I didn’t know who my dad was for a long time,” he said. “When my mom got sick, she gave me his name so I could find him if something happened to her. She’d made arrangements for me to live with some friends, but they weren’t adopting me.” He thought about how they’d divorced and he’d been put into the foster system.

“You found him by yourself?” Reese asked. “Wicked.”

“It wasn’t that hard. With his name and knowing he was in the military, it was a pretty easy search.” He gave a halfhearted grin. “It was harder to find Fool’s Gold on a map.”

“Yeah, the town is pretty small, but it’s okay here. There’s lots to do and we can go out by ourselves. I’ve only seen your dad a couple of times at festivals and stuff. He seems cool.”

“He’s okay,” Carter said. “Felicia’s nice. She likes to take care of me.”

He was probably too old to allow much of that, but he liked her fussing. She worried he was eating enough and eating the right stuff. She’d done over his bedroom and the bathroom.

“She bought me this dinosaur trash can and toothbrush holder for the bathroom,” he said. “Little kid stuff. She said it was to make me laugh and we’d get something better later.”

Reese grinned. “Is it funny?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“You get along with your dad?”

“I don’t know. He’s busy a lot.” Avoiding being at home, Carter thought. He wasn’t sure what was Gideon’s deal. If he didn’t like all kids or just didn’t like Carter. Either way, it was uncomfortable.

“You gonna stay around?” Reese asked.

Carter nodded. The truth was, he didn’t have anywhere else to go. A thought that terrified him. But he was a guy, and he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone that. He probably shouldn’t even admit it to himself.

His friend handed him a chocolate chip cookie. “It could be worse,” he said with a sigh. “Your dad could be a math teacher. Let me tell you, that does not make homework time fun.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

PATIENCE LOOKED AT the rack of white dresses. “This is silly. I shouldn’t be here. I was married before.”

“Very few women are virgins when they marry,” Felicia said.

Patience stared at her. “Thank you for that interesting fact, but what does it have to do with anything?”

“I thought you were concerned about wearing white and how it represents innocence and virginity. Your previous marriage and, of course, your child would preclude anyone from assuming...”

Felicia stopped talking. Patience was staring at her as if she’d sprouted several heads like the mythical Hydra.

She mentally backtracked, searching for another reason why Patience would worry about buying a wedding gown. She was engaged, so it wasn’t that she didn’t expect to have a wedding in her future. She doubted there was a money issue. While Patience might not have a huge financial cushion, Justice had made large sums while working for his previous company. So it wasn’t financial.

“You’re thinking a second wedding should be smaller?” she guessed. “Not a big wedding gown event?”

Patience relaxed. “Exactly. I don’t know if I’m being silly.”

“It’s Justice’s first wedding,” Felicia pointed out. “Won’t the larger event make him feel special?”

She glanced around, hoping to be rescued by someone. Anyone. Reassurance wasn’t her forte. But Isabel had run home to deal with a plumber, and there were no other staff on duty right now. Felicia had promised to explain that Isabel would be right back to any customers who might wander in.

Patience sighed. “You’re right. He’s talked about a big wedding, and I secretly want one. I guess I think I don’t deserve it.”

“Why not? You’re getting married to a wonderful man who loves you. I would think a celebration is called for.”

“Thank you. That was exactly what I needed to hear.” She pulled a dress off the rack and studied the lace. “I like this one. Maybe I should try it on.” She put the dress back, then turned to Felicia. “But watching me look at dresses isn’t why you wanted to talk to me, is it?”

Felicia shook her head. “I wanted to talk to you about Carter.”

“Gideon’s son? I haven’t met him yet, but Lillie says he’s really cute and all the girls have a crush on him. Lillie’s only ten, so she still thinks boys are a little bit weird. For which I’m grateful, by the way. I know the teen years will be here soon enough.” Patience motioned to the padded chairs by the mirror and took a seat. “What do you want to talk about?”