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This couldn’t be real.
“Dad, I’m home. I’ll be ready in a minute.” Trevor’s voice carried down the hall from the living room. Cooper shut down his computer. If Jess had wanted people to know about her past, she would have said something. For now, until he knew more, he would keep her secret. But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d learned the whole truth.
* * *
When Cooper drove up to Grace’s house and parked at the curb, the first thing he noticed was Jess’s silver-gray Taurus parked across the street.
She was here. But this was no time to put her on alert about what he knew. The full story would have to come from her, and that wouldn’t happen until she learned to trust him.
He walked into the house with Trevor, carrying the double-chocolate-chip ice cream he’d brought for dessert. Grace and Jess were in the kitchen. He could hear the low, muffled murmur of their voices.
Maggie had welcomed them at the door. “Put this in the freezer, please, Maggie,” Cooper said to her.
“Sure. We don’t want it to melt.” Her green eyes sparkled as she took the carton and danced off to the kitchen with it. Cooper knew that look. His niece was cooking up some kind of surprise.
Sam was watching a college basketball game on TV. Trevor joined him. After a few minutes, so did Cooper, although it was an effort to concentrate on the game. Anytime now, Jess would come out of that kitchen. How would he look at her now? What would he say to her?
How would he keep her from sensing that something had changed between them?
Did Grace know about her friend’s past? The question rose in his mind as they took their seats around the table. Grace had lived with Jess for nearly a year before her marriage. Surely the two of them would have shared some secrets.
But what if Grace didn’t know? For now it would be safer not to alert anyone to his discovery.
They bowed their heads over the blessing and passed around dishes of steaming pasta and meat sauce, crisp green salad, and buttery garlic bread.
Cooper stole glances at Jess, who was seated across from him, next to Maggie. She looked beautiful tonight, in a jade-green cashmere sweater that matched the polished stones in her earlobes.
Jessica Graver, former FBI agent. He could still scarcely believe what he’d read. What had she done in those years with the bureau? Why had she left what had to be a well-paid position for a job with a small, poor school district in the middle of nowhere? Was she in danger? Was this something like witness protection? The urge to corner her and demand answers was driving him crazy. But unless Jess chose to offer information, her past was none of his business.
By now the plates were empty. Once they were cleared away, it was time for ice cream, served in pretty glass bowls with sturdy stems.
As spoons were digging in for the first bite, Maggie stood up and clapped her hands for attention. “Listen, everyone,” she said. “I have an announcement to make.”
Her parents exchanged puzzled glances as she lifted a manila folder from the seat of a chair. “This is for the mayor of Branding Iron, who just happens to be my dad,” she said, opening the folder to show a sheaf of papers inside—lined pages containing what looked like signatures.
“Mister Mayor,” she continued, sounding very grown-up, “my friends and I collected more than three hundred names—school kids, parents, and businesspeople—all in favor of having a Christmas parade this year. To get things started, on the last page is a list of people who’ve signed up to help.”
She thrust the folder at her father. “I’m giving you this petition to show the town council. We want our parade!”
In the hush that followed, Cooper surveyed the faces around the table—Sam looking floored, Grace showing pride in her daughter, Jess mildly amused, and Trevor amazed.
Sam recovered his voice. “Well, Maggie, if the council approves, you’ve got yourself a parade. But it’s going to take a lot of work, and we still don’t have a Santa Claus. I’m putting you in charge. So get busy.”
Chapter 7
“I’ll walk you to your car, Jess.”
Cooper’s offer no longer caught Jess by surprise. Knowing better than to argue, she gave him a shrug. “Why not? I’ll be fine, but it’s easier than trying to talk you out of escorting me.”
“Hey,” he joked. “You never know when some bogeyman is going to jump out of the shrubbery and grab you. Better safe than sorry.”
“If it happens, you can say, ‘I told you so’—before I deck him with my unarmed combat training.”
Had she said the wrong thing? The startled expression that flashed across his face was swiftly replaced with a smile. But Jess couldn’t help wondering what he’d read into her accidental slip of the tongue. She would have to watch herself around him, or the next thing she knew, he would be firing questions at her like the journalist he was.
He lifted her trench coat off the rack and held it for her. “Good night, Grace,” she called back toward the kitchen. “Loved the spaghetti. Next get-together is on me.”
The reply from the kitchen was muffled by the sound of the TV sports commentator doing the game wrap-up. “I’ll be going home soon, too,” Cooper said. “But I won’t be able to drag Trevor away from the TV till the post-game show’s over.”
