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“What do you mean…asking?” Jenny looked at Ari, and then she turned to look at him and then Dale. “Like…they were trying to find me?”
“Linda doesn’t know for certain. You know that she’s Director of Nursing now. She only learned of the inquiry by happenstance, when a colleague mentioned a private investigator had been asking questions. Linda couldn’t dig too deeply or ask too many questions without raising suspicion.”
“Your mother and I wanted you to know. To be aware, in case someone comes here, looking for you. Though I don’t know if anyone will. And I don’t know for certain if that person would be a danger to you, or not. If they would cause trouble for us because our adoption of you didn’t go through proper channels.”
“So, you have no idea if someone means Jenny harm. Just that they’re looking for her.” Parker kept his hand holding Jenny’s and his gaze on her parents.
“I know this is a mess,” Camille said. She looked at her daughter. “One of the reasons we wanted to come here was to meet your friends, to see your support group, face to face. You’re not alone, and that’s the biggest blessing of all.”
“Though I don’t know if anything can be done about this situation if someone does come here,” Jason said.
“Of course, something can be done.” Jackson looked at Parker then turned to address Jenny. “You know the way things are here, right?”
“Adam keeps a close eye on security,” Jenny said.
“Adam? I don’t think we’ve met him,” Camille said.
“Adam Kendall. He’s the sheriff. Long before we came to live here,” Jackson said, addressing Jenny’s parents, “Adam started keeping track of strangers who came to town. A few incidents had occurred when people’s lives had been at risk, so it seemed a wise thing to do. We witnessed this town’s response up close and personal when Ari was in danger. Everything is going to be okay.”
“I know there may be consequences to be faced, for the actions I took all those years ago.” Camille’s words, quiet yet certain, touched all of them. Jason slipped his arm around his wife.
“What actions?” Jackson asked.
“You’ve lost us.” Cord did a credible job of looking confused.
“Adopting a baby that had been left, orphaned and all alone in the world?” Trace said.
“A poor little baby girl with no one in the world to care for her and then giving that baby a loving family?” Addison looked around the table. Every Benedict Parker was related to did a damn fine job of appearing completely guileless.
Then everyone looked at the Collinses. They seemed to understand the message they’d just been sent.
“I…we don’t know what to say.” Jason tucked his wife in closer. Tears shimmered in his eyes. The man was clearly too choked up to say anything else.
“We’re all family, here,” Ari said.
“And this is Lusty.” Shar smiled.
“And Lusty takes care of her own.” Laci raised her coffee cup in a toast.
Jenny looked around the table. Parker read love and gratitude on her face. He squeezed her hand gently. When she turned to him, he nodded.
There really wasn’t anything more to say. The family had just pretty much said it all, and he and Dale were with them one hundred percent.
Chapter Eight
The house, upper middle class, was set in a suburban Dallas neighborhood comprised of like-aged homes—April figured no more than thirty years old, max. The yards on this particular street showed well-tended neatness. Dotted with flower beds and trees, these yards whispered home. A harried executive could wend his way through Dallas’s busy, rush-hour traffic, through the ever-present stop lights and hold-ups, and the occasional blared car horn, until eventually arriving in this neighborhood, driving down this street, pulling his vehicle into the driveway and probably on into the garage. These yards surrounded houses that provided a necessary escape, a sanctuary against the frantic busyness of American urban life. Inside the walls of these homes, one could completely forget there was such a thing as urban sprawl.
This particular house had a live oak in the front yard, and the grass was trimmed, lush green, and devoid of weeds. The outside of the house appeared to have been recently painted, and April Bixby took a moment to appreciate the planting beneath the wide picture window.
