“Who’s asking?”
“Kyle.Her boyfriend.”That was true, wasn’t it?Kisses like they had shared last night had to be boyfriend worthy.
“Her boyfriend, huh?”The man eyed Kyle skeptically.
“Yeah.”Although it must look strange to not be the type of boyfriend who knew where she lived.
The man’s expression cleared.“Has anyone ever told you that you look like that hockey player?”
“Hmm, which one?Sidney Crosby?Brent Karlsson?”He knew he looked nothing like them, but he’d take it.
“No, not them.It’ll come to me.I can’t remember his name.”
Ouch.That was good for his pride.“Are you a hockey fan?”
“I like it okay.Prefer baseball.”
“Many do.”Still, this was a conversation fraught with difficulties, so probably best to shut it down.“Anyway, I wanted to leave her a gift but needed to make sure I got the right house.”
“Yeah, well you got it.”He pointed across the street.“She lives there.Along with her mom.And Bella.”
“Bella?”
“She’s the daughter.”The man’s face softened.“Sweet kid.”
His pulse picked up.No.Minnie had to be too old to be the mother of a child the young girl’s age.He’d figured she was probably nine or ten.Under twelve, for sure.
So if she wasn’t Minnie’s child, that left only one explanation.
His heart spasmed.Gen had a daughter.
* * *
“Look what came for you!”Nancy crowed, thrusting a large bouquet of pastel blooms in Gen’s face.
“Wow.”She smiled.One guess who that was from.Sure enough, a quick check of the note revealed it was from Kyle.Her heart fluttered.He’d signed itLove from Kyle.
Did he actually mean that word?More importantly, would he actually mean it once she confessed the truth about Bella?Oh, she hoped he would.
“Here.”Nancy found a large plastic vase and filled it with water, then helped arrange the bouquet.“You’ve still got a few more hours on duty, so this should help keep it looking nice until you go home.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s good to have a spot of color in here.Makes a nice change.”
“Sure does.”A spot of hope, of joy, in an otherwise challenging day.Her weariness of earlier was banished.Maybe she would agree to having another meal with him tonight.These flowers were beautiful, but seeing him, kissing him, would be the highlight of her day.
She busied herself by multi-tasking by eating yogurt while writing up notes on her cases, but her mind soon flicked back to earlier today.It had started with Mom’s horror at seeing Gen’s inflamed chin at breakfast, and her whispered demand as soon as Bella was out of earshot, “Who were you kissing?”
Gen could lie, or tell the truth.And she knew it was way past time for that particular truth to be told, so she’d finally admitted it.“Kyle Tinker.”
“What?”
Bella had immediately trotted in.“Grandma, are you okay?”
Mom had shaken her head, her death glare piercing Gen.“Tell me you are joking.”
She’d sighed.“I can’t.”
