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Gabe stared for a moment, then laughed so loudly that it startled Shoe in the back seat. “Get outta town. Really?”
“Really. When Harper saw her skate? Well, let me tell you. After seeing Val on the track, she now wants to do roller derby when she grows up. Chelsea was beside herself, but I told her to chill. Harper’s only eight. She’ll change her mind a million times before she’s grown.”
“I didn’t,” Gabe said. “I always wanted to be a chef.”
“I’m glad. Your dream is delicious.”
Something wistful in her tone had him regarding her thoughtfully. “What’s your dream, Miss Molly?” he asked, making his tone teasing enough that she didn’t feel too obligated to share if she didn’t want to.
“I wanted to be a farmer, like my dad.”
That was not what he’d been expecting. “Really? Why didn’t you?”
She shrugged. “My mom wanted me to go to college because she and Dad never were able to. To do that, I needed money from Uncle Sam, so I did my time in the Corps. By the time I got back, Chelsea had met Jake and they’d moved into the farmhouse.”
“They didn’t get their own place?”
“Nope. Jake said he wanted to save money so that they could buy a place, but he was always gambling it away. Then, by the time I graduated from college, Harper was born, and the house was a little too full. I needed to find a place for myself and law enforcement was the route Burke had taken, so I...”
“So, you kind of fell into it.”
“More or less. My first assignment was in Charlotte, which meant I was far enough away that I wasn’t tripping over Chelsea’s new family but close enough that I could be part of Harper’s life.”
He read between the lines. “You didn’t like Jake.”
“No, I never did. I liked his best friend. Thought I could grow to love his best friend, in fact, but I never could stand my brother-in-law.”
“The best friend who you dated after your old boss’s son.” And he hated that she’d had those relationships. Which wasn’t fair. He’d dated people in the past. But this feels different somehow. It felt like... more.
“The best friend who I’d briefly considered marrying one day.”
He frowned, his thoughts veering from his own jealousy to how abruptly her life had changed. “You lost a lot that night. Your dad, your job”—because she’d killed the fucking brother-in-law—“and your boyfriend.”
“And my home. The farm had been in my family for almost a hundred years. But we were the last of our line and we couldn’t stay. Even if Harper hadn’t been traumatized and molested, we couldn’t stay. Dad was murdered there.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “It happened. Can’t change it. And I wouldn’t change anything I did. Except for maybe getting to the farmhouse earlier. It wouldn’t have changed Harper’s reality, though. The damage Jake did to her had already been done.” She drew a breath and gave herself a little shake. “The break’s been good for us. I like working for Burke, and I’m good at it. And I can grow some flowers and veggies in pots on the balcony. So, it’s fine.”
He almost offered her part of his backyard for a garden but bit it back in time. Too soon. He’d see how it went between them. If it became permanent when all this was over, he had a plot of land he’d been planning to till. Until then... “How about a community garden?”
She glanced over, startled. “I never considered that.”
“There are several in the area. And one of my suppliers runs his own organic farm north of Lake Pontchartrain. They probably couldn’t pay you, but if you get a yen to get your hands dirty, they most likely wouldn’t say no to some volunteer work.”
The smile she gave him seemed to brighten the dark interior of their borrowed car. “When this is over, I’ll get their names. Thank you, Gabe. I mean it. Thank you.”
He reached over to stroke a finger down her cheek. “You’re very welcome.”
They quieted then, Molly becoming more on edge as they approached the city. She was alert, vigilant, her gaze always searching, one hand white-knuckled as she gripped the steering wheel. The other held her handgun in her lap.
Just in case.
Gabe remained silent, not wanting to distract her. He found himself searching as well. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but if there was a strange movement maybe he could warn her before it was too late. And he did have her extra gun. He removed it from its lockbox and followed her lead, holding it on his lap, his hand clutching the grip.
Just in case.
The pace of the city had wound down a little as they exited the highway and passed the Superdome. It was the time of night that he was usually just finishing up at the Choux. Which he hadn’t thought of in... he couldn’t remember.
