Page 152 of Masters of Secrets

Julie started. She didn’t even know where her dad had gotten off to, but now that she looked in the direction Connor was headed, she could see her dad trying to get out the back door with a huge tray of meat in his hands. Normally, her mom would have been helping him with the door, but she’d been too busy talking to John.

Connor had both noticed and immediately gone to help.

It didn’t sweep away her annoyance with him entirely, but it didn’t hurt, either.

“Hmph. Well, if you want to come in for some x-rays, just let me know, Sun,” John said.

“Thank you, John.” But her mom wasn’t looking at him. She was watching Connor as he intercepted Julie’s dad, taking the whole tray of meat in one hand. Making a face, John turned away and walked over to where some of Julie’s other cousins were talking. Annoyingly, they welcomed him immediately.

Sandra stepped up beside Julie. Terry was now making his way over to her dad and Connor, probably to see if he could help with anything.

“Aren’t they great?” Sandra asked, sighing happily as Terry joined the other two. Now, all three of them were standing around the grill, talking about who knows what.

“Yeah,” Julie echoed, wishing she felt it to her bones the way Sandra seemed to. The way she had before this afternoon. “Great.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Connor

Straining his muscles, Connor gritted his teeth as he stood up straight, forcing his arms to rise into the air to the delighted screams of the children hanging from them. He had four hanging from each arm.

They’d been adding one kid on each lift, and he wasn’t sure that he could take five on each arm. He also wasn’t sure they’d be able to fit, anyway.

Holding the pose for a moment, he dropped back into a squat, so their feet were back on the ground—though the shortest ones had to drop an inch or two when they let go. Applause broke out around them from the watching adults—sadly, Julie wasn’t one of them. She was across the yard, talking to some of her cousins.

John was there, though, scowling at Connor. Likely because his conversation had been interrupted when the people he’d been talking to had turned to see what was going on. Connor ignored the man. He could tell a bitter ex when he saw one. John wasn’t his problem, though, other than the obstacle he posed to Connor’s goals.

He wanted to make this afternoon nice for Julie. John’s presence had definitely thrown her and made the afternoon more of a chore than a joy. Why the man was still hovering around, Connor didn’t completely understand.

The only conversation Connor had overheard him having had been bragging about a particularly difficult surgery he’d performed recently. Which was impressive, but Connor had overheard the story at least three different times now, and he wasn’t even trying to listen to the man. Quite a few people seemed impressed by him, though.

He did notice that Sandra and her husband weren’t part of any of the groups talking to him. Whether that was in support of Connor or just because they didn’t like John, he wasn’t sure.

“You’re so strong!” One of the little girls, he was pretty sure her name was Mari, wrapped her arms around his leg, beaming up at him. “How did you get so strong?”

“Eating lots of veggies,” he said, winking down at her.

There was a whole play area set up for the kids, but somehow, he’d become the more interesting toy. He wasn’t sure how it had happened. One of the little boys had asked him how much he could lift, and it had snowballed from there.

“I need some veggies! Where are the veggies?” One of the other kids yelled and started running toward the food table. It started a bit of a stampede, which made Connor laugh. As he was watching the kids, he noticed Julie’s dad at the very full trash can on the edge of the patio, pulling up the edges of the plastic bag, then struggling to actually pull the bag from the trash can.

Connor headed over, crossing the distance in a few short strides.

“Can I help?” he asked.

“If you can get it out, I’ll put the new bag in. I think I accidentally vacuum-sealed this one in the can.” Daniel chuckled, straightening up and stepping back.

He had, but it still only took Connor a few seconds to work it out of the trashcan.

“Thank you,” Daniel said, shaking out the new bag and eying Connor.

“Of course.” He hefted the full bag. “What should I do with this?”

“I’ve got it. I just needed help getting it out.” Daniel slid the new, empty bag into the trashcan, pulling the edges over the lip to keep it in place.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

Pausing, Daniel looked up at him. “Are you trying to impress me?”