Julian had been such a bright light in the midst of incredible darkness.He’d come along at a time when she’d never felt so lost and shown her what might be possible.To lose him on top of everything else was nearly unbearable.
He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of hers.
With the breath stuck in her throat, it was all she could do to think or function when all she wanted was to crawl into his lap, let him wrap her up in his warm, loving embrace and stay there for as long as he’d have her.
A silent hour later, she could no longer remember why it had once been important to her to remarry someday, to give her children a stepfather to help raise and guide them.If it meant living without Julian Remington, none of that stuff seemed as important as it might’ve been if she’d never met him.
He took a call from Carson without releasing her hand.“Hey, what’s up?”
“Where you at, bro?”
“Almost to Santa Barbara.”
“What’s there?”
“I’m taking a friend to a wake.”
“Oh.”
Carson’s single word held the weight of everything that’d come between them.In it, she heard disapproval, concern and perhaps a hint of anger.All that from a single-syllable word.
“What do you need?”Julian asked him.
“Just wanted you to know that we had Beckett served with the RO and the C&D.He’d gone underground since the altercation with C, but we found the slippery little fucker and let him know we’ll be watching to make sure he stays the hell away from her and her son.”
“Great job, bro.Thanks.”
“It’d be my pleasure to update the client, if you’d like me to.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Anything else going on?”
“Did you hear why Dad is out of the office today?”
“I didn’t know he was out today, so no, I don’t know why.”
“Hmm.When was the last time he took a day off?”
“I can’t remember.Not in years.”
“I hate to say that Kaidan’s theory may have merit.”
“I can’t even think about that right now.”
“Me either.I’ll check in later.”
“Sounds good.”
Julian ended the call and then changed lanes to take the exit to downtown Santa Barbara.
Isla hadn’t been there since elementary school, when she’d spent a day there with her parents while they were shooting a commercial at Stearns Wharf.Signs for the wharf took her right back to a day she hadn’t thought about in years.
“Have you been here before?”Julian asked.
“Once, with my parents, when I was very young.They were shooting up here for the day and brought me with them.”
