“Momma…” Chelsea scolded. But Dagan was quick to acquiesce. Grace Duvall didn’t strike him as the kind of woman to be crossed.
“Yes, ma’am.” He quickly climbed the steps. Once he reached the top, he extended his hand. “Mrs. Duvall, I’m Dagan Zoelner. I promised you I would come meet you. And I’m a man who keeps his word.”
Grace tilted her head, regarding him intently. She was a beautiful woman. The lavender dress she wore paid homage to her dusky skin. Her cheekbones were high. Her brown eyes were large and almond-shaped. And her handshake was firm. Maybe a touch too firm?
“Are you, now?” She pursed her lips. “Well, that’s good to know.”
“Momma,” Chelsea chastened again.
Grace dropped his hand, squared her shoulders, and took a deep breath. Her tone was a little less sharp when she said, “Well, I thank you for bringin’ my Chelsea Lynn back in one piece.”
“My pleasure.” He nodded.And my pain, he thought.Because that crazy twenty-four hours in England had brought him a heaping helping of both.
Glancing at Chelsea, he noted the heightened color on her cheeks and the trepidation in her eyes. The way she looked at him, like he was seconds away from biting her head off, made his stomach ache. Maybe Becky had been right not to want to give him Chelsea’s location. Maybe hedidlook like the Big Bad Wolf waiting to swallow Little Red Riding Hood whole.
He worked to soften his expression when he said, “Chelsea, you look like you’re recovering from all the excitement of this week.”
Okay, and seriously? After all they had been through together, after all they had done to each other, after he’d ridden Redemption like a bat out of hell all this way,thatwas the best line he could come up with?
“I am.” She nodded. “I hope you are too, Z.”
If her husky sex-operator’s voice was like velvet to his ears, then the hated nickname was like an ice pick. For a couple of seconds, they simply stared at each other until the silence between them was broken by a man in blue coveralls who came around the corner of the house asking, “Do you have a preference which end of the side porch you want the swivel camera mounted on?”
When Coveralls saw Dagan, he skidded to a stop. “Oh, hello.” He doffed a dirty baseball cap sporting the logo for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. “Sorry to interrupt, missus. Didn’t know you had company.”
“That’s fine, Charlie,” Grace said. Her brow puckered. “It was Charlie, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, missus.”
“Good. I’m usually terrible with names, but yours rang a bell because my daddy’s great-uncle was a Charlie.”
“It’s as good a name as any, I reckon,” Charlie said.
“Sure enough,” Grace agreed.
Dagan couldn’t hide his smile. Good ol’ Southern charm on full display and dripping with banality.
“I’ll come ’round and take a look here in a bit,” Grace said. Charlie nodded, and after he disappeared back around the corner, Grace turned to pin Dagan with a keen-eyed stare. “Now, usually I’d cotton to the social niceties and make small talk with you before gettin’ down to the nitty-gritty. But as you can see, I got a lot on my hands at the moment. So I reckon I’ll just get to it.”
“Momma—” Chelsea tried to cut in.
“No.” Dagan stopped her. “That’s okay.” He nodded at Grace. “Go on and say whatever it is you have to say.”
“Good.” Grace dipped her chin. “I like a man who isn’t afraid to let a woman speak her mind. So here it is. My Chelsea is a good woman. Not perfect, maybe. But none of us are. And you could do a lot worse than her, but I’m thinkin’ you couldn’t do much better.”
Chelsea groaned. “Momma, please.”
“No.” Grace raised her hand. “No need to call me off. I’ve said my piece, and now I’ll leave you two to talk.”
With that, Grace turned and vanished around the corner of the porch. Dagan watched her go and considered the fact that she’d passed on more than her flashing smile and rhythmic, hip-swinging walk to her daughter. She’d passed on her smart, no-nonsense mouth too.
“Sorry about that.” Chelsea shook her head. “Her rose-colored glasses are deeply tinted when it comes to me.”
“As every mother’s should be,” Dagan said. It hurt to look at Chelsea. Looking at her made him want her. And wanting her made his love for her rise up so fast and so hard, it nearly choked him. Fearing that what he was feeling was written all over his face, he latched on to the first subject he could think of. “So what are you having done to the house?”
“Getting a security system installed.”
Fear trickled down his spine. “What? Why? Has something happened? Have you heard something that leads you to believe you could still be a target?” He suddenly wanted to march around the corner and check Coverall Charlie’s work. He’d seen and overcome many a security system in his day. He could give Charlie some pointers to—
