Just Breathe (The Protectors Book 2)

by Leeanna Morgan

  He watched Tank bite into his burger. “I’m leaving for Calgary on Thursday.”

  “Will you be back by Saturday?”

  “I could be. Why?”

  “Hayley’s organizing a dinner party.”

  Tanner choked. “I don’t do dinner parties.”

  “It’s not my idea of fun, either. But she wants to try some of the food options for our wedding. You have to come.”

  “What about John or Connor? They like getting dressed up and talking to people.” John Fletcher, their friend and boss, owned Fletcher Security, the company they both worked for. Connor was another security specialist.

  Tank frowned. “They’re busy. You’ll know almost everyone at the party.”

  “Last time I had dinner with you and Hayley, you forgot to tell me she’d invited one of her friends from college.”

  “She was a nice person.”

  “She might have been, but that wasn’t the point.”

  “You can’t stay single forever,” Tank said. “At some point you’re going to have to mix and mingle.”

  “Do you know how crazy that sounds? Up until a few months ago you were a confirmed bachelor. As soon as you met Hayley you crossed into the dark side.”

  Tank put his burger down. “What are you afraid of?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I think you are.”

  Tanner picked up his coffee. “You think wrong.”

  “Oh, yeah? When was the last time you dated?”

  “I’ve been on dates.”

  Tank’s eyebrows rose. “When?”

  “Don’t go there.”

  “Has this got anything to do with being a foster kid?”

  It had everything to do with being in the foster care system, but Tank didn’t need to know that. “I prefer my own company.”

  “You should meet people outside of work. You’re a great guy.”

  Someone banged into the back of Tanner’s chair.

  “Oops, sorry. I…” Kelly’s mouth dropped open. “What are you doing here?”

  Tanner decided not to take offense at her grouchy tone. “Tank and I come here all the time.” He looked behind Kelly. “Hi, Avery.”

  Avery leaned over her cousin’s shoulder. “I heard you won the auctions for the paperweights and shawls.”

  Kelly grabbed Avery’s arm. “We’re in a hurry. No one’s looking after the store.” She hauled her cousin toward the front counter and didn’t look back.

  “Well, that was interesting,” Tank murmured.

  Tanner would usually have asked Tank what he meant, but not today. He knew exactly what his friend was thinking. “She’s still annoyed with me.”

  “I almost feel sorry for you. So, what about the dinner party?”

  Tanner pushed his plate of chicken pot pie away. “No.”

  Tank glanced at the counter. “Maybe you don’t need to come.”

  “Just because you’re happily engaged, it doesn’t mean everyone else has to be.”

  Avery headed toward them with two bags in her hand. “Kelly found a great book last week. You should come and see it.”

  Tanner looked for Kelly. She was paying for her lunch. “Thanks, Avery. I’ll leave it until next week.”

  “We might have sold it by then.” She glanced over her shoulder, then turned back to Tanner. “I gave Kelly your message. She won’t stay angry for long.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Avery shrugged her shoulders. “Suit yourself. But it’s a first edition Emily Dickinson. Bye.”

  Kelly ignored him but smiled at Tank as she walked past their table. Tanner shook his head. “Why can’t Kelly be more like her cousin?”

  “Beats me,” Tank said with a smile. “But it’s brightened my day.”

  Tanner watched them walk past the café’s front window. They were deep in conversation. He hoped it had nothing to do with him or the poetry book sitting in their store.

  He finished the rest of his coffee and left a tip on the table. If he was going to speak to Kelly, it had to be now. “I need to leave. I’ve got an apology to make.”

  Tank laughed. “Can I come and watch?”

  “You have to meet your fiancée.”

  “I’ll call you about Saturday.”

  “It won’t do any good.” Tanner left the café, wondering what was worse—saying sorry to Kelly or going to Tank’s dinner party.

  Whichever way he looked at it, he was doomed.

  ***

  Tanner opened the door to Kelly’s antiques store.

  She was helping someone at the front counter.

  He tried to blend into the shelves and not stick out like a sore thumb, but it wasn’t easy when he was six-foot-one and built like a quarterback.

  He stopped in front of a display of toy cars. While he was here, he’d at least give the impression he was looking at gift ideas, instead of wondering how he would apologize.

  When Kelly finished helping her customer, she came across to him. “Avery told me you’re interested in the Emily Dickinson book.”

  “I am, but I came here for another reason.” He picked up the box he’d taken out of his car. “This is for you. I’ve kept one of the paperweights, but the rest are yours.”

  She looked inside the box and frowned.

  “I’m sorry about the auction. I didn’t need half of what I bought.”

  Kelly handed the box back to him. “I’m sorry, too. Someone else could have easily won the auction items and I wouldn’t have minded. I can’t accept these. They’re yours.”

  He pushed the box toward her. “I only wanted them because I knew you would be interested.”

  Kelly took the box. “If I say yes, you have to let me pay for them.”

  Tanner knew she wouldn’t accept them if he didn’t agree. “Okay.”

  “Wait here.” Kelly disappeared through a door behind the front counter. When she returned, she had a small book in her hands. “This is the book I bought last week. It’s in beautiful condition.”

  Tanner opened the poetry book and smiled. “Where did you find it?”

  “At an estate sale you didn’t go to. The McGarveys are downsizing and heading into town.”

  “How much do you want for it?”

  She looked at the box of paperweights. “How about we call it an exchange?”

  “Not going to happen. It’s worth ten times what I paid for the paperweights.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t pay a lot for the book. Mrs. McGarvey will be pleased it’s gone to someone who will appreciate it.”

  “Thank you.” He cleared his throat and looked around the store. “I like what you’ve done with the walls.”

  She followed his gaze. “Four of my brothers came in last weekend and gave me a hand. I don’t think the store has been painted since Uncle Mike started his business.”

  “That must have been a long time ago.”

  “Twenty years. A lot has happened since then.”

  “Do you like owning your own store?”

  Kelly smiled. “It’s different than teaching.”

  “You were a teacher?”

  “I thought you knew.”

  Tanner didn’t know much about anyone in Bozeman, except the people he worked with. “What did you teach?”

  “High school English and history. I enjoyed it, but it was the type of job that consumed you. Some of my students had stressful lives and it made learning almost impossible.”

  Tanner didn’t need to be reminded about how hard school could be.

  Kelly frowned. “Why do you collect poetry books?”

  He held the book a little tighter. “When I was at school, I used to spend all my spare time at the library. I’d read as many books as I could, but poetry was my favorite.”

  He didn’t need to close his eyes to see the low-slung brick building in College Hill, Cincinnati. It had been his refuge, somewhere safe from his foster families and the gangs that overran his neighborhood.

  The front doo
r opened and Tanner moved out of the way of a man coming into the store. “I should be going. Thanks for the book.”

  “You’re welcome. If I see other poetry books I’ll put them aside for you.”

  Tanner’s hand was on the door handle before he remembered the other thing he wanted to ask her. “What was in the mystery box?”

  Kelly turned around. “I don’t know. It’s still in my car.”

  “I hope it’s something interesting.”

  “So do I.” She smiled and he held his breath. “Someone I know kept bidding against me. Have a good day, Tanner.”

  “You, too.” He left Kelly Harris’s store with a poetry book in his hand and a smile on his face.

  Life didn’t get much better than that.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Kelly turned the sign on her front window to “Closed” and locked the door. She tidied the displays on her way across the room, moving items around until she was happy with how they looked.

  One day she was going to buy better display tables and cabinets. But for now, the old-fashioned shelving worked.

  She stopped in front of the display of toy cars from the 1950s. They were selling well. She’d bought most of them at an auction in Great Falls. The bidding had been strong, but she’d come away happy, not paying more than she thought they were worth.

  A loud banging on her front door made her jump.

  She unlocked the door and let Avery in. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

  Avery unwound her scarf. “I was heading home from college and thought I’d see how your afternoon went.”

  “It was good. Mr. Chapman collected the model bridge he’d ordered and I sold more of the vintage toy cars.”

  “Did Tanner come in?”

  Heat hit Kelly’s cheeks. “He apologized for bidding against me.”

  “And?”

  “And I apologized for being annoyed. He wanted to give me the paperweights.”

  Avery’s eyes widened. “He really was sorry.”

  “I exchanged Emily Dickinson’s poetry book for them.”

  “I’m glad you got that sorted.”

  Kelly frowned. “I’ve tried talking to him before when he’s come into the store, but he usually doesn’t say much.”

  “Maybe he’s shy.”

  “Shy?”

  “Just because he looks confident it doesn’t mean he’s comfortable around people.”

  “But he works for a security company. He has to be comfortable around people.”

  “All I’m saying is to keep an open mind. Our family is full of extroverts—sometimes it’s easy to think everyone’s the same.”

  Kelly locked the door. “Did you want to stay for dinner?”

  “Do I look as though I’m hiding from my family?”

  “Only a little bit. Has your dad been talking about your grades again?”

  “He’s disappointed I’m not doing better. I’m not an A student.”

  “Are you passing all of your papers?”

  “Yes.”

  Kelly walked into the corridor at the back of her store. “Have you told him that?”

  “Of course I have, but it’s not enough. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  “Talk to your mom and see what she says.”

  Avery sighed. “She always agrees with dad. I wish I had a family as big as yours.”

  Kelly climbed the staircase leading to her first-floor apartment. “Be careful what you wish for. Having five brothers and a sister isn’t as great as you think it is. No one listens to what you say, but they’re all really good at telling you what you should be doing.”

  “Sounds like my dad.”

  “It will all work out.”

  Avery followed Kelly into her apartment and dropped her backpack on the floor. “When did it get better for you?”

  Kelly grinned. “When I moved away to college.”

  “That doesn’t help.”

  “I know, but sometimes distance really does make the heart grow fonder. You’re an only child. Your parents don’t have anyone else to worry about.”

  Avery flopped onto the sofa. “Do you think Uncle Gareth would talk to dad?”

  “I don’t think my dad would be the best person to talk to about college grades. He hasn’t entirely forgiven me for giving up my teaching position to work here.”

  “But you’re doing so well.”

  Kelly shrugged. “That’s parents for you. They never stop worrying. How does beef stir-fry sound for dinner?”

  “Yummy.” Avery jumped up. “What can I do to help?”

  “You can make the sauce. Here’s the recipe.” Kelly passed Avery a card. “All of the ingredients are in the pantry except the crushed garlic. That’s in the refrigerator.”

  Avery looked at a box on the kitchen counter. “What’s this?”

  “It’s the mystery box I won at the auction. I haven’t had time to open it.”

  “Can we open it now?”

  “Sure.” Kelly took a knife out of a drawer and cut through the tape holding the flaps down. “This is different.”

  “What is?”

  “There’s another box inside this one. It could be the original box everything was stored in.”

  Avery grinned. “It might be a time capsule.”

  “Or someone’s trash they forgot to throw away.”

  “Think positive,” Avery said as Kelly removed another layer of tape. “We’re going to find a miniature Picasso or a handwritten musical score from an unpublished Beatles’ song.”

  “Or a wooden bowl,” Kelly said with a smile as she pulled a bowl from the box.

  “This is pretty.” Avery showed Kelly a small sterling silver teapot.

  “It’s Victorian and probably made between 1830 and 1850. We can look at the hallmark to give us a more accurate date.”

  “There’s a matching tray,” Avery said excitedly. “All it needs is a polish and it will look awesome.”

  Kelly looked inside the box and pulled out an old newspaper. “Who would keep this?”

  “Maybe they used it to stop everything from rattling around.”

  “The newspaper is dated September 7, 1987. It’s from Portland.”

  Avery moved closer. “Do you think there’s a story inside that meant something to the person who owned all of this?”

  “I don’t know. We can read it later.” Kelly passed Avery the newspaper and reached for what appeared to be a small quilt.

  “Look at this.” She took the quilt out of the box and studied the handstitched fabric.

  “It looks old.”

  “It does. I don’t know anything about quilting, but I’m sure someone in Bozeman does.”

  “We could try the Gallatin History Museum. They have all sorts of household items there.”

  Kelly pushed the empty box out of the way and carefully opened the quilt. “There’s something in here.”

  She unfolded the last piece of fabric and stared at an old book.

  Avery touched the binding. “It looks like the kind of book Tanner buys.”

  Kelly gently opened the book to the first page. “The text is handwritten.” Everything about it looked fragile, from the soft brown cover to the yellowed paper inside.

  Avery peered at the words. “What language is that?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “I invented a secret code for my diary when I was eight years old. Someone could have done the same thing.”

  Kelly smiled at her cousin. “It could be some kind of journal or diary. The letters on the left-hand side are almost the same for each entry. Whoever wrote this didn’t want anyone to read it.”

  “It could be valuable.” Avery ran to her backpack and took out her cell phone. “I’ll take a photo of the text and try to work out the code.”

  “While you’re doing that, I’ll ask someone about the binding. If we know what kind of material was used, it might tell us when the journal was made.”
/>   Avery grinned. “I feel like Indiana Jones in The Temple of Doom.”

  Kelly stared at the text. “I don’t know about the ‘doom’ part, but it is pretty exciting.” She closed the book after Avery had finished taking her photos. “How about we make dinner now? We can look at the journal and newspaper later.”

  “Sounds good to me. Do you think the auction company knew the journal was inside the box?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Kelly took a wok out of a cupboard. “But in the meantime, tell me exactly what your dad said about your grades.”

  “I don’t know if I should tell you. It’s depressing.”

  Kelly hugged Avery’s shoulders. “After living with five brothers, nothing much depresses me.”

  “There’s always a first time.” Avery sighed. “It all started six weeks ago…”

  ***

  Kelly parked her car outside Nick Costas’ gallery on Main Street. The red brick warehouse was perfect for a gallery. With its high ceilings and big windows, Nick was able to exhibit all kinds of art, from small pieces of jewelry to large sculptures.

  She took the carefully wrapped painting out of her car and went inside.

  “Kelly, my darling,” Nick said in his Greek-accented voice. “I am looking forward to seeing your painting.”

  “I hope you’re not disappointed.” She lifted her parcel onto Nick’s front counter. “I think it’s special, but I could be wrong.” She undid the bubble wrap and turned it toward Nick.

  He lowered his chin to his chest and peered over the top of his glasses. “It is indeed remarkable,” he murmured. “We need more light. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be. Would you bring your painting into my workroom?”

  Kelly followed Nick into a large room behind the front counter. She’d been here many times with Mia, Nick’s granddaughter and part-time gallery assistant. As well as skylights across most of the ceiling, large windows overlooked the small garden beside the gallery.

  Nick sat on a stool and turned on a set of spotlights. “There. That is better. Did you know I will be seventy-five years old in December?”

  Kelly nodded. “Mia told me you’re planning a big party.”