“Yes, the way I promised him,” she said between gritted teeth. And then she willed herself to calm down. Jerry meant well. There were just times that he didn’t know how to go about it. “What did I do for a conscience before you came into my life?”
Jerry never hesitated. “My guess is that you were depraved and conniving.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. “At least I didn’t have to worry about someone eavesdropping on my conversations.”
“Consider it a trade-off.” He drew his chair in closer. “So how did you wind up saying you’d meet his niece?”
She smiled. “Seems his niece is a fan. At least, that’s what it sounded like.”
“So you’re giving her a tour of the studio?” Colin asked.
From what she’d heard, the weekend promised to be rather hectic at the studio. Besides, this could be something she could save for a later date, like a virtual ace in the hole to be played when she felt she needed it.
Why was she making long-range plans about this man anyway? she silently asked herself. This was most likely going to be just a one-time thing. Done and over with. No reason to think otherwise.
She sounded like the typical distant celebrity as she said, “I thought it might be better just to do a little one-on-one. You know, answer her questions, give her an autographed photo, that kind of thing.”
Jerry nodded. Crossing his arms before him, he gave her a penetrating look. “Any reason for the special treatment? Or do you feel that guilty about lying to our local hero?”
She frowned, enumerating it for her cameraman one more time. “A, I didn’t lie. The station manager overruled me. B, I don’t feel guilty about anything. And C, he isn’t my local hero.”
“Okay, then why are you doing this?” he asked.
“Maybe I’m just a nice person,” she replied.
“Look, Ellie, I’m the first one in your corner—you know that. And yes, you’re a nice person, but this is an extra mile here you’re going. Maybe two. I’m just curious as to why.”
He knew her too well, Ellie thought. Seeing no reason to keep this from him, she told him. “The girl lost both her parents six months ago. Maybe I feel like we’re kindred spirits,” Ellie said. “Anyway, he made it sound as if she was excited to meet me. I didn’t see why I couldn’t meet her. Satisfied?” she asked.
He gave her what his wife referred to as his “electric smile.” It lit up his face and the immediate area. “Always.”
“Uh-huh,” she said dismissively, on her feet. “Let’s get going. We’ve got another segment to film.”
“I hear and obey,” he told her as he followed her out.
* * *
For the rest of the week, the rendezvous she’d made with the detective over the phone to meet his niece was never far from Ellie’s thoughts. It seemed to hover over her like a distant hummingbird that just wouldn’t find a place to alight no matter how long it fluttered.
At least once a day, if not more, Ellie thought about calling and “regretfully” rescheduling. As the days until Saturday steadily disappeared, the idea of rescheduling grew more tempting.
In all honesty, Ellie had no idea what she was afraid of but her nerves were definitely on edge. It was somewhat akin to being aware that an earthquake was imminent and just waiting for the tremors to begin—without having a clue as to when they would hit.
It wasn’t the prospect of meeting a ten-year-old that unsettled her. She got on fairly well with children, as well as with adults. But for some reason, it was the girl’s uncle who had made her nervous.
Maybe she unconsciously blamed the detective, she theorized. Maybe, deep down in her soul, she felt he could have done something more and saved Brett. Or if he’d just arrived two minutes earlier, he could have prevented the robber from shooting Brett altogether.
No, she told herself fiercely, staring at her reflection in her bedroom mirror, she had to stop doing this to herself, had to stop coming up with what-ifs. Because it didn’t matter “what if.” What mattered was that it hadn’t happened according to any one of the dozen scenarios she’d created. It had happened just one way and that way had resulted in Brett being the hero he always was and paying for that quality with his life.
To wonder about some other possible outcome was just going to make her crazy and she had to stop. Brett wouldn’t have wanted her to continue to do this to herself. He would have wanted her to be happy. To live her life, she silently insisted.
So why was she looking into the mirror and crying? Ellie upbraided herself, angrily brushing the tears away with the back of her hand.
“Damn, now I’ve got to put my makeup on all over again,” she complained. “You can’t go meet this fan looking as if you’ve been peeling onions all morning,” she told herself.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Ellie went into her bathroom to wash her face and put on a fresh one. If she didn’t hurry, she was going to be late.
* * *
“She’s late,” Heather observed, frowning, clearly worried about being stood up. They were sitting at a table in the café and it was fairly crowded, the way it was every Saturday at this time of day. Heather’s eyes had been glued to the front door since they had arrived. She spared half a glance in her uncle’s direction before her head whiplashed back into position. “Is your phone on?” she asked him.
“My phone’s on,” Colin assured his niece.
She put her hand out, still watching the front door. The hot chocolate in front of her was half-consumed and growing cold. “Can I see it?”
“Certainly not a trusting little girl, are you?” Colin quipped, shifting so he could get his cell phone out of his pocket.
“Trust but verify—you taught me that,” Heather reminded him.
He laughed softly. “I didn’t think you were listening.” Rather than hand her the phone, Colin held it up in front of her so that she could see for herself. “Satisfied?”
She saw that it was active. “And you’ve got the ringer on?”
“Yes,” he answered her patiently, “I’ve got the ringer on.”
Heather frowned again. The door opened, but it was just a couple coming in. Heather sighed. “She said she’d call if she wasn’t going to be here, right?”
“That’s what the woman said. Heather,” Colin said kindly, “she’s probably just held up by traffic.”
Instead of agreeing with him, Heather took the phone he still held in his hand and deftly pulled up the Sigalert app on it. Looking away from the door for a moment, she scanned the various routes.
“No traffic jams,” she informed her uncle, handing the phone back to him.
“Then maybe she got a late start.”
Colin looked at his niece. She was both old and young at the same time. An old soul trapped in a preteen’s body and dealing with all those strange new feelings that were colliding with one another. Most likely, he was going to be in big trouble in about another year or two—if not sooner.
He supposed he should get Heather prepared just in case this didn’t play out the way she hoped. “And even if she doesn’t come, Heather, it’s not like it’s the end of the world.”
Wide green eyes turned to him, clearly distressed. “I told my friends I was meeting her,” she lamented.
Something didn’t sound right. “Wait, I thought when I asked you just recently how things were going, you told me that you weren’t making any friends.” That had caused him some concern at the time.
Heather lifted her chin defensively. “Well, I made them.”
“When?” he asked suspiciously.
“When I said you were bringing me to meet Elliana King,” she told him, striking an innocent air.
“Heather, those aren’t really friends,” he said gently.
She was way ahead of him.
“I know that, Uncle Colin. But I’ve got to start somewhere.”
An old soul, he thought again as he rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I wonder who’s raising who here.”
“You’re older, so you’re the one raising me,” she said matter-of-factly. Her heart-shaped face turned up to his, a hint of sadness welling up in her eyes as she made herself face the truth. “She’s not coming, is she, Uncle Colin?”
“We don’t know that yet.” But if she didn’t, he intended to go down to the news studio and make the woman realize how much she’d hurt his niece.
“But she’s not,” Heather insisted.
“Tell you what,” he suggested. “Why don’t I order you another hot chocolate? And when you finish drinking that, if that fancy news lady isn’t here yet, we’ll go home.”
“And write her a nasty letter?”
“You bet,” he agreed. “So nasty that the paper will burn her fingers when she holds it.”
He was doing his best to hide his annoyance. The woman had set the terms for this meeting and now she was disappointing Heather. It was one thing to go back on her word with him—he was thinking of the segment that had been aired—but quite another when it came to his niece. He took that as a personal affront and he promised himself that if Elliana King thought she’d heard the last of this, she had another think coming.
At the very least, she had—
“She’s here!” Heather declared excitedly, rising in her seat and pointing toward the shop’s entrance. Tugging urgently on his sleeve, she all but squealed, “She’s here!”
Chapter Six
At first glance, Josie’s Café seemed crowded, but then, Ellie already expected that. She’d had to park her car by the auto-parts store on the opposite side of the strip mall because there were no spots to be had by either the café or the round-the-clock fitness gym that was right next to it.
Saturday was the day that everyone was out catching up on their lives, mostly at the same time, Ellie thought wryly as she looked around the café, looking for Detective Benteen and his niece.
She was late and part of her wondered if maybe they had given up and left. She was late by only fifteen minutes, but she knew some people could be impatient and intolerant, easily feeling snubbed if strict punctuality wasn’t adhered to. She’d actually thought of calling Benteen from her car to tell him she was on her way, but since she’d said she’d call only if she wasn’t able to make the appointment, she’d been afraid he wouldn’t answer and just take that as a signal to leave.
So Ellie now stood near the front entrance, scanning the small café and trying not to block other people’s paths as they made their way in or out of the cozy family-owned establishment. The noise level was definitely up and that made focusing somewhat more difficult.
And then she saw them.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t the young girl waving her arms and standing up by their table who caught Ellie’s attention. Instead, she’d zeroed in on the detective who was seated next to the waving girl, his expression appearing somewhat grim.
Obviously, Ellie surmised, she’d incurred his disfavor by her late arrival. Well, that could be easily handled.
Waving back to the girl, Ellie quickly wound her way in and out of the pockets of space between people and tables as she forged a path to the table.
The first thing she did was to greet the girl rather than the detective she already knew.
“Hi! You must be Heather,” Ellie said cheerfully, putting out her hand to the preteen.
Heather was at the age where she was testing the waters of being cool about things, but that role was abandoned for the time being as she eagerly put her hand into Ellie’s and shook it with no small amount of enthusiasm.
“Yes, that’s me. And you’re really Elliana King,” she cried.
“Last time I checked,” Ellie answered with her trademark warm, sunny smile. And then she added just a touch of contriteness to her voice as she said, “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Oh, we didn’t notice,” Heather told her loftily. “Did we, Uncle Colin?”
Colin had no idea why Heather was saying that, but he was wise enough to play along. This meeting was, after all, strictly for Heather’s benefit.
“I don’t own a watch,” he said by way of backing up Heather’s claim.
Colin saw amusement entering Ellie’s eyes. He caught himself thinking that the woman had very expressive eyes. Beautiful expressive eyes.
Not that it mattered one way or another, he told himself as an afterthought.
“Even so, I am running late and I apologize. I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” Ellie said to the young girl.
As was her habit, she quickly took note of Heather’s physical features, drawing a few conclusions. The preteen was willowy and taller than the average ten-year-old. That she was thin told Ellie that Heather didn’t seek solace in food, which in turn told her that the girl either had extremely strong willpower or she was well adjusted with a good sense of self. Possibly both.
Heather instantly shook her head in response to Ellie’s statement. “Oh no, we just got here ourselves.”
Ellie glanced at the two cups on the table. Both more than half-empty.
“I guess they served you as you came in,” Ellie said. “Must be good service here.”
Rather than get flustered, Heather never missed a beat. “Oh, very good service,” she attested.
Ellie smiled as she nodded, giving the girl another point for poise. Both Heather and her uncle were still on their feet. The latter had gotten up as she approached the table, which told Ellie that he’d been schooled in manners, something that wasn’t all that common anymore.
“Well, let’s sit down so we can get better acquainted,” Ellie suggested.
Heather bobbed her head in agreement as she took her seat. Colin sat only after they did.
“Can I get you coffee?” Heather offered eagerly, bouncing up again.
Colin put his hand on his niece’s shoulder and gently pushed her back into her seat. “I’ll get Ms. King what she wants to drink so you two can talk,” he said accommodatingly. Turning to the reporter, he asked, “What would you like?”
To ask you if you did everything you could that night.
The words popped into her head out of nowhere, startling her and making Ellie painfully aware that as much as she denied it, Jerry was right. She needed to tell the detective about their connection so it didn’t hang over her head like this.
Soon, she promised herself.
Ellie forced a smile to her lips as she said, “Coffee, please.”
“Decaf?” Colin asked. A lot of women he knew preferred the nonstimulating form of coffee.
But Ellie laughed at the question. “Not on your life. I need as much fuel as possible.”
A woman after his own heart, he thought. “Cream and sugar?”
Ellie shook her head. “Black as midnight.”
Heather looked pleased by the reporter’s choice, Colin thought. “She likes her coffee the same way you do, Uncle Colin.”
There was affection in his voice as he smiled at his niece. “Yes, I heard. Be right back,” he promised a moment before he was all but swallowed up by the crowd he stepped into.
He’d said the words to his niece, not to her, Ellie noted, as if to reassure the girl he wasn’t leaving her alone. Heather didn’t strike her as being particularly insecure or nervous. Maybe it was habit, she guessed. In any event, she had to admit that she liked the man’s protective attitude toward the girl. For someone who was new to this position of guardian, he seemed to be doing all right.
As if to confirm her thoughts, the next moment Heather said, “He’s the best.”
Ellie nodded, absently acknowledging the girl’s testimony.
And then He
ather seemed to roll the statement over in her mind again. “Well, maybe a little more than he used to be.”
“How so?” Ellie asked. Even if the woman in her had more or less retreated from the human race, the reporter in Ellie was curious about everything.
Heather seemed to choose her words carefully before answering. “He’s just getting the hang of being a dad instead of an uncle.”
That told her that he’d been a presence in the girl’s life even before her parents had died. It spoke well of the man. Usually someone Benteen’s age didn’t have time for girls unless they were over the age of eighteen.
“So he’s different now?” she asked Heather.
Heather nodded. “A little. He checks my homework and does a bunch of other stuff he didn’t do when he was just my uncle.”
“And how do you feel about that?” Ellie asked.
Heather appeared to consider her answer before giving it.
“Okay, I guess.” And then a lightbulb went off over her head. “Hey, are you interviewing me?” the girl asked.
Ellie was nothing if not warm as she gave her answer. “Well, I’m getting to know you and that’s the way I get to know people, so yes, I guess in a way I am interviewing you. Do you mind?” she asked.
“No, it’s cool.”
Ellie smiled. “And so are you,” she told Heather. The girl beamed in response, obviously thrilled by the compliment. “Would you like to be a reporter someday?”
Heather paused to seriously think the question over. “I’m not sure yet. First I want to graduate the fourth grade.”
Ellie bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep from laughing. She didn’t want to hurt the girl’s feelings. “I see you have your priorities straight.”
The next moment, Colin rejoined them at the table. “Here we go,” he said, “Coffee, black as midnight, just as you requested.” He placed the cup in front of Ellie and then took his seat. He noticed that Heather was practically beaming. “So, what are you two talking about?”
“Graduating fourth grade,” Ellie answered him. Humor entered her eyes as she looked back at his niece. “And having your priorities straight.”
Twice a Hero, Always Her Man Page 6