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His gaze narrowed at that even as he was already reaching into his desk drawer. “As a matter of fact, I have both.”
He handed her both packages, curious to see one more string of expressions cross her face.
Gratitude. Hunger. And unmistakable relief.
He’d
deal with sharing stories first and then he was going to do something about the hunger. He didn’t want to leave a pregnant woman hanging but the protein in the peanut butter would likely hold her for the half hour it would take to get her story. Then he’d get some real food into her and the baby.
Besides, he figured he’d need to earn a bit more of her trust to convince her to let him buy her lunch. And if she was hard up enough to gaze longingly at a bag of crackers he figured that would extend to a lack of hotel arrangements, too.
“Thanks. And thank you for the offer to work my case. We have a deal,” she added hastily before tearing open the crackers. She took a dainty nibble off the first one. He nearly smiled at the restraint as he reached for a pack of his own.
“Like I said, client confidentiality. I do maintain it. But I can tell you I’m working on a case involving Ace Colton.”
“What are you doing, exactly? Or what can you share?”
“I’ve been tasked to find any information on his guilt or innocence. And if I get lucky enough to stumble upon him, I’m to get him back into town if at all possible.”
“Where is he?”
“No one knows. He wasn’t supposed to leave Mustang Valley, but with the rumor mill working overtime it’s hard to fault the guy for hightailing it out of here.”
“Is he a criminal?”
“Not yet, but suspicions are rising.”
“That he shot his father?” she asked him.
“Yes.”
Nova pulled another cracker out of the sleeve, her expression thoughtful. “Thanks for telling me. And consider this question rhetorical, but why shoot his father? What is there to be gained?”
Quite a lot, actually. Nikolas briefly considered saying something to that end but held back. He did need to manage his confidentiality with Selina, and despite the rumors flooding the town, the family had been keeping Ace’s status quiet.
So he shifted gears to her last comment, asking a rhetorical one of his own. “Why do people do lots of things?”
“I suppose you’re right about that.”
Nikolas stood and walked to the small fridge he kept in the corner of his office, snagging two waters. He handed her one and she took it with a smile as she chewed the rest of her cracker, a considered look on her face.
“You shared with me,” she finally said, “so it’s only fair I share with you.”
“Okay. Shoot.”
Although he’d only noticed how attractive she was when she’d walked in, that small, sweet, pixie face sort of blinding him momentarily, he could see the food had restorative properties. Her cheeks had brightened and he could see a gleam in her deep green eyes. All of which only reinforced his determination to get a full meal into her.
“My mother died about ten months ago. She was diagnosed with a fast-growing cancer and didn’t have a lot of time there at the end.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I am, too. She was about to be forty and I’d believed we’d have a long time together, you know?” Nova brushed at a stray tear that leaked from the corner of her eye. “She had me when she was seventeen.”
“It’s hard to lose a parent.” His eyes drifted to the photo of his mother he kept on the corner of his desk. Her vivid smile and warm, compassionate eyes always made him feel like he was looking at love. Or what love was supposed to be.
Generous. Understanding. And the brightest of lights.
“It is. And that was on the heels of my father’s passing a few years before.” She rubbed a hand over her belly, a gesture he’d seen her now do so often he suspected it was subconscious. “I’d always thought he was my father until she told me otherwise.”
