by Amy Vastine
“Me!” Avery was ready for everything. The child’s energy was limitless. “Don’t forget to make them super big, Kelly. These are not baby meatballs.”
“These are as big as your head,” Kelly said with a wink.
“Not exactly that big,” Donovan reminded them. He used his hands to mix everything together in one bowl. Grabbing a handful, he rolled it into a ball. “This is as big as we want them.”
The three of them made eight giant meatballs, so they could each have two. Into the oven they went. The rest of the meal Donovan would finish on his own. He had Avery wash up and Kelly went outside to make a phone call to her uncle.
It was frustrating to be on the sidelines in this investigation. Being the bodyguard meant he didn’t get to solve the crime. His only role was to stop anything else from happening to her. Donovan wasn’t a fan of being reactive instead of proactive, but his hands were tied. It was better than desk duty. He had to remember that.
Graham came downstairs and opened the refrigerator. “There’s no more soda?”
“I think the six cans you drank today were enough.”
His loud sigh was like nails on a chalkboard.
Donovan stepped in front of Graham before he could walk out. “I need you to behave yourself during dinner. Kelly’s uncle is my boss. It would be helpful if you could make a better impression or at least be civil.”
“I’m pretty sure your boss isn’t going to fire you because I don’t kiss up to his niece like Avery does. I don’t think they care about me that much. At all, really.”
“I’m not worried about being fired. I’d like Kelly and her uncle to know that I value respect and having pride in who you are.”
Graham didn’t flinch. “You don’t respect me. Why should I show you or anyone associated with you respect?”
Donovan didn’t know how to get through to him. “I’d give you respect if you respected yourself. You walk around here with this giant chip on your shoulder and take no pride in anything you do.”
He got nothing back but an eye roll. No comeback meant maybe he knew Donovan was right.
The sliding glass door opened and Kelly came inside. At the same time, Avery came downstairs all clean.
“Hey, Avery, can you help your brother set the table?” Donovan asked, hoping Graham wouldn’t leave Avery to do it by herself.
“I can help,” Kelly offered. “Can you show me where the plates are, Graham?”
“Oh, can I? Can I?” Graham said mockingly. Even though it was clear he was displeased with the chore, he went to the cabinet with the plates and pulled out four.
“What am I going to do?” Avery complained. Only this little one would be disappointed that she didn’t get a chore.
“You can watch the water in the pot and tell me when it’s boiling so we can cook the noodles.” There wasn’t really anything else she could do. The four of them worked together to get everything ready. It was disconcerting how normal it seemed. He’d known this woman less than a day and she was about to be a part of their family dinner.
Family dinners. That was the other big rule Jessica put into place. She wanted the kids to have dinner together as often as possible. That was the time for the three of them to reconnect, to hear about each other’s day and to show the children that the family unit was important.
Most of their family dinners had consisted of Avery monopolizing the conversation with the tales of her day. Graham didn’t seem to mind having to share less because his sister shared more. Donovan was trying his best to do everything the way his sister asked him to, but it was proving more difficult than he ever imagined.
Protecting the kids from unnecessary attachments seemed to be just as hard. There was Kelly engaging both kids in conversation about her job. Somehow this woman had insinuated herself into his family in a matter of a few hours.
“Do you listen to Finch and Wells?” she asked Graham.
“Sometimes,” Graham answered. He handed her forks to place by the plates on her side of the table. “They aren’t my favorite, though. I’m more into Boone Williams. He was my mom and dad’s favorite. They were always playing his stuff in the car and at our house.”
“For real? You’re not going to believe this, but your uncle met Boone Williams today.”
“No way.” Graham’s head whipped around with a skeptical look on his face. “You met Boone Williams?”
“Kelly’s station was doing her show from the new Great Barbecue that opened up in the city. He showed up and was trying real hard to go unnoticed.”
“Your uncle thought he looked suspicious and was harassing him until the restaurant manager came over and recognized him,” she said, ratting him out.
Graham smirked. “You had no idea who he was, did you?”
“He was trying very hard not to be noticed. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t the guy who was...being mean to Kelly.” He had to be careful about saying the wrong thing around Avery.
“There’s no hiding when your uncle is around. Boone was very gracious, though. He took pictures and signed some autographs for the people who were there. I’ve interviewed him once in the studio when his new album came out. He’s really a nice guy. You would like him.”
“That’s cool,” Graham said.
“Did you ever interview Piper Starling? She’s my favorite singer,” Avery asked without tearing her eyes away from the pot of water on the stove. The child was dedicated.
“I have interviewed her a couple times. She’s probably the nicest person I have ever met.”
That got Avery’s attention. She completely abandoned her duty and joined them at the table.
“You met her? Can I meet her? Do you have her phone number? Are you friends?”
There was something so charming about the sound of Kelly’s laughter. “I wouldn’t say we’re friends. I wish. She’s going to be a part of the Grace Note concert at the end of June. If your uncle is up for it, I might be able to get you tickets and backstage to meet Piper and Boone.”
With that one little promise, she managed to create a massive ruckus. Both of them were in his face, begging Donovan to let them go to the concert.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’ll look into it.”
That wasn’t a good enough answer. They continued with their pleading. Donovan glared in Kelly’s direction. Rookie mistake to mention it to the kids before asking him if they could go.
“Guys, let me give your uncle all the information before you attack him,” Kelly said, trying to rescue him. “I think we’ll have better luck convincing him if we back off.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Donovan said. “The water is boiling, Avery. Do you want to help me put in the pasta?”
“I just want to say one more thing,” Avery said, holding up one finger. “Piper Starling is the nicest person in the world. Don’t you want me to meet the nicest person in the world?”
She was good; he would give her that much. Too bad elementary school didn’t have a debate team. Avery would be the captain if they did.
“I will take that into consideration when I make my decision.”
“That means he’s going to say no,” Graham said. He tossed the napkins down on the table. “Of course he’s going to say no because it would be awesome and he never lets us do anything awesome.”
Donovan was offended by that comment. He tried to give them positive experiences all the time. “I do lots of awesome things with you.”
“Not as awesome as meeting Piper Starling. That would be the most awesome,” Avery said with a hand on her hip and a tilt of her head.
“I probably should have learned my lesson to mind my own business, but I would be remiss not to mention that a portion of the profits from the show are going to benefit Nashville’s Children’s Hospital. If you buy something at the show, it helps a really good cause.”
; He should have stopped her when she mentioned minding her own business. There was no going back now. The kids were back to pleading with their hands clasped and Graham even on his knees.
“You wouldn’t be doing it for us. You’d be doing it for the sick kids. Come on, Uncle Donovan, we’ll do anything,” Graham begged.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take you to the concert if you can manage to stay out of trouble for the rest of the school year. No more calls from your dean and the ticket is yours.”
Graham’s arms fell to his sides. All the excitement seemed to leave his body. Was it really such an impossible task? He never got in trouble when his mother was alive. Donovan believed he could do it if he would simply try.
Avery, on the other hand, jumped up and down with her arms raised victoriously. “I’ll stay out of trouble! I can do it! I want to meet Piper Starling!”
“What about you, Graham? Do we have a deal? There’s less than a month left of school. Three weeks. I think you can do it.”
Graham stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets as he stared down at his feet. It couldn’t possibly be more important to him to be a troublemaker than to do something that was apparently “so awesome.”
“Fine,” Graham mumbled at the ground.
“Fine? Did you say fine?”
Graham lifted his head and rolled his eyes. “I said fine.”
Donovan felt like he had actually won a small victory with that concession. Maybe Kelly had helped him instead of making things worse. Maybe Donovan would be okay with this tiny intrusion if it led to something positive for Graham.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SPAGHETTI WITH MEATBALLS as big as your head was now Kelly’s favorite meal of all time. It was so delicious she could hardly believe she had helped make it. Her skills in the kitchen were not something to write home about.
To show her gratitude for letting her encroach on his family time, she offered to help with the dishes. Donovan was reluctant but didn’t stop her. Avery was allowed to watch some TV while Graham, who was still grounded, went back to his room.
“I’m sorry I put you on the spot about the concert. I know I put being the cool lady at dinner above your rights as their guardian.”
“You were definitely the cool lady at dinner. I’m not sure any other dinner guest will ever be able to compete.”
Kelly had seized the opportunity to do something that could bring some joy into these kids’ lives. She hadn’t thought of it when Graham mentioned liking Boone Williams, but when Avery shared her love for Piper Starling, the lightbulb came on. She was relieved Donovan found a way to make it a win-win for both him and Graham.
“It’s sweet that Graham is such a big Boone fan like his parents were. I used to listen to Johnny Cash over and over because he was my dad’s favorite.” Music had this wonderful way of connecting people. It was one of the reasons she loved her job so much.
“My sister was definitely a country music lover,” Donovan said as he handed her another plate to dry. “Before she got sick, she had big Tennessee hair. It was platinum blond and covered in so much hair spray it probably could have doubled as a helmet. Every year for Halloween, she’d dress up like Dolly Parton. Dolly was her first love before this Boone character came along.”
Kelly smiled at his memory. Stories like that warmed her heart. “I think I would have liked your sister.”
“Everybody loved Jessica.” Donovan’s jaw tightened and his eyes closed for a second.
Kelly could feel his loss in the center of her chest. “How long has she been gone?”
“Three months,” he said barely over a whisper. He cleared his throat. “She and the kids moved in with me about six months ago so she could oversee the transition. She taught me how to do Avery’s hair and transformed my bachelor pad into something out of one of those shows on HGTV. The kids started at their new schools. She made sure they had everything they needed. Well, almost everything.”
Kids needed a mom. Kelly’s eyes began to tear up. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and tried to think of the right thing to say.
The doorbell rang, removing the need to say anything. Donovan dried off his hands and went to answer it.
“Captain Bonner.”
From one “uncle to the rescue” to the other. Kelly gave Avery a big hug goodbye before grabbing her purse and overnight bag by the door. Kelly’s uncle was a towering mass of a man. He reminded her so much of her dad, his brother. They had the same dark hair and build. They both had these long legs and arms. They could easily get their arms around more than one person at a time for a bear hug.
“Thanks for coming to get me, Uncle Hal.”
“Anything for you, Kell Bell. You know that. Detective, thank you for going above and beyond today. We can discuss a few things tomorrow morning at the station. Why don’t you come in around eight thirty? I’ll have Kelly come with me to the office so you can take her to work from there.”
It felt a bit too much like being a child passed between parents. As much as the note on her door had given her a fright, she still wanted to be able to take care of herself.
“I think someone should teach me some self-defense so I won’t need a babysitter at all. Unless, of course, you catch this guy. Then I’d really sleep easy.”
Uncle Hal dipped his chin. “He’s not your babysitter. You are not a baby. I want you to be able to go about your business without looking over your shoulder. That’s what he’s for. He does the looking, you do the living.”
“I get it, but if you don’t find this guy, I can’t have someone following me around the rest of my life. I will eventually need to learn how to fend for myself.”
“This man is a former marine, a trained police officer.” Uncle Hal put his hand on Donovan’s shoulder. “No amount of self-defense training is going to compare to having him watching over you. And I will make sure they catch this guy. Don’t you worry about it.”
Another way he was just like her dad had been—Uncle Hal believed he could do anything. Justice would always be served under them. He also thought he always knew better than Kelly.
There was no point in arguing with him tonight. “Thank you for your help today,” she said to Donovan. “And thank you for dinner and the hospitality.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Bonner.”
Kelly attempted to hold back a grin. Donovan was so formal in front of Uncle Hal. “Good night, Detective Walsh.”
Uncle Hal took her bag for her as they walked out to his car. “You should call your mother, by the way.”
“Please tell me you didn’t tell her what’s going on.” Kelly had purposely not called her because she knew her mother’s reaction would be over-the-top.
“Ha! You think I’m going to withhold this kind of information from Monica Bonner? I’ve known that woman longer than you’ve been alive. She’d be furious with me if I hadn’t informed her I was taking care of this.”
Kelly wasn’t surprised she didn’t have ten messages to call her mother immediately. It made sense that her mother was sitting at home in Knoxville, waiting for Kelly to call her. She was waiting and seething for sure. As soon as Kelly did call, her mother would unleash all her pent-up frustration.
“Thanks a lot,” she grumbled, getting in his car.
“What? I figured you told her what’s been happening. I thought I was only calling to assure her I was handling it.”
There was no putting off the call. The longer she waited, the worse it would be. She clicked on her mother’s contact information.
“Kelly Renee,” her mom answered. “What a surprise to hear from you in the middle of the week. I thought you could only make time for me on the weekends.”
Passive aggressive. Kelly’s favorite. “Hi, Mom. I know Uncle Hal talked to you already.”
“Oh, you mea
n when he called me to tell me that you’ve had some obsessive fan stalking you for almost a month and he finally crossed the line and damaged your car? Wouldn’t it have been nice if my daughter had thought maybe she should tell her mother what was happening right from the start so we could have prevented things from escalating?”
Typical Monica Bonner. She believed she could prevent all the bad things from happening to Kelly as long as she was in control of her daughter’s life.
“What were you going to do from Knoxville to stop this guy from sending me flowers? People send me gifts to the station all the time. I didn’t think he was going to cross the line the way he did.”
“This is what worries me about you. You are so naive, sweetheart. You think everyone has good intentions, that nothing bad is ever going to happen. You don’t realize there are sick people out there, especially in a place like Nashville.”
There it was. Her mom had always resented the fact that Kelly had chosen to move to Nashville. She’d assumed Kelly did it to get away from her parents. That had been one of the reasons, but there were others. True, it had been a relief to get some breathing room when she moved away. Being under her parents’ watchful eye was hard enough when she was young. As a grown woman, it was unbearable. The main reason for leaving, though, was to get on Nashville radio. The opportunity at K104 was huge. This was the country music capital of the world and where she wanted to have a career.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier, Mom.” Arguing never got Kelly anywhere, so she accepted defeat. “It would have been great if you could have stopped my car from getting vandalized.”
“I’m worried about you. Maybe you should come back to Knoxville. I’m sure with your experience in Nashville, you could get a job here at any station.”
Kelly didn’t want to work at “any station” in Knoxville. She wanted to renew her contract with K104. “I’m not going to let this person run me out of town.”
“You won’t even consider it? Even if it meant you’d be safe?”