He sighs. “But keeping you safe would keep you from experiencing life. I try to step back, let you and your sisters make your own choices and have your own experiences. I will always be there for you, Mandy. There’s nothing I won’t do for you and your sisters, nothing you can do to make me stop loving you or make me angry at you.”
“I know. I just didn’t want you to worry.”
My dad sweeps his arm out. “Mandy, that’s my secret power. I will always worry. That’s what the lawn is for. It’s a healthy outlet.” He pats my hair. “You should try gardening. Lauren says you’re moving to a new apartment. You can have a balcony garden. I can help you make one. I’ve started building you a raised bed.” His voice is gruff.
I wipe my eyes. “I think that would be nice.”
He gives me one more hug. “Let me go get you a drink. Not wine. I don’t know how your grandmother is still here. All she does is drink.”
I’m balancing the rake against my shoulder and fishing in my pants for a Kleenex when I notice it—a black car parked across the street in front of the neighbor’s yard.
Apprehension floods me, but I force myself to relax. It’s probably someone visiting a neighbor. Jaxon is never going to hurt me again, right?
The car door opens. I grip the rake... and there is Salinger, looking perfect in his suit and with his hair neatly combed over his forehead.
I shake my head as he crosses the empty street. “Go away. I don’t want to hear what you have to say.”
“Good,” he replies, “because I didn’t come here to grovel.”
He tips my chin up.
I glare up at him. “Then why are you here?”
His perfect mouth turns down. “Mandy…” He takes a breath. “I’m sorry I scared you and made you think that you can’t trust me or that I don’t love you. Because I do, Mandy. I really love you. I’m not sorry for saving you, though. I’ll always save you. I’ll always protect you, even if you don’t like my methods.”
There’s whining at his feet.
“Dammit,” he swears, “how did that dog get out of the car?” Behind him, one of the car windows is open.
“Pepper!” I scream, bending down to scoop the dog up in my arms. She gives me whipped-cream-covered kisses.
Salinger’s smiling at us softly. “I was going to clean her up before doing the big reveal. I should have saved her whipped-cream shot until after you got your big moment, but she really had a hard time at animal control.”
“You were the one who took her from the pound?” The words are muffled in Pepper’s fur.
“I got off pretty easy. They foisted a bunch of decrepit animals on my legal team.”
“You didn’t want new pet friends?” I smile up at him.
“Hard pass. Pepper is blacklisted from the groomer near my office, by the way, and I think that ban might extend to me too.”
“You had a hard weekend, didn’t you, Pepper?” I pick grass off of Pepper’s fur then stand and force myself to meet Salinger’s eyes.
His expression is serious. “I swear on my life, Mandy, that Jaxon will not bother you ever again. I took care of it, and please note”—his voice is clipped—“no one is in jail anymore, and his corpse isn’t at the bottom of the bay. Contrary to popular belief, I am able to meet my goals legally, if not immorally.”
I stare down at the black earth. “Is this the part where you tell me I told you so?”
“You’re not stupid. You know the score.”
“I’ll…” My voice is small. “I’ll pay you back. I’m sure it wasn’t cheap.”
“Don’t bother. It’s a tax write-off.” He’s cold now, all business, just closing out a project. “Speaking of.” He reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a white envelope with my name on it. “Your bonus,” he says in response to my questioning glance.
“For what?” I take the check, confused.
“You helped me win. Linda was profusely apologetic about letting Jaxon manipulate her and offered Rainier the port contract. We’ll be negotiating the terms in a few days.” His fingers flex then relax.
I try to hand him the check back. “I quit, though, before the deal was made.”
