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Body Shot (Last Shot)(65)

By:Kelly Jamieson


“No.”

He saw Hayden swallow a sigh. “I’ll get you some.”

Beck followed Hayden into a kitchen lined with oak cupboards and more big windows looking out onto the generous yard out back. Hayden ran a glass of water and emptied a pill from a small bottle into her hand. “Could you take this to her? I’ll start heating the soup.”

“You bet.”

He returned to the living room and helped Gina take the pill, sensing her reluctance. But still, she was going along with it, maybe because it was him.

Together he and Hayden found bread and cheese slices and she soon had bowls of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches on the small table. She called to her aunt and uncle and they slowly made their way to the kitchen to sit and eat.

“Thank you, Hayden.” Gina spooned up some soup. “What would we do without you?”

One corner of Hayden’s mouth lifted. “I don’t know, actually.”

“Hayden is our angel,” Gina said to Beck. “Seriously. She’s been such a help since my fall.”

Hayden dropped her eyes, but smiled.

“I’m sure she has,” Beck said. “I know how much she cares about you.”

“And we love her too. She’s an amazing girl, you know.”

“I’m finding that out more and more,” Beck murmured. He caught Hayden’s gaze and she did an eye roll.

“You two aren’t eating?” Gina asked. “Have some soup.”

“That’s okay, we ate at my place,” Hayden said.

“So, Beck. Tell us about yourself. What do you do for a living?”

Beck leaned against a counter. “I own a bar. Conquistadors. At P.B.”

Colin’s frown reappeared. “A bar? Huh.”

“Beck used to be a Navy SEAL,” Hayden added.

Colin’s expression changed. “No kidding?”

“That’s right, sir. My two buddies and I left the Navy about a year ago and went into business together.”

“Well. How about that. Thank you for your service.”

Beck nodded, appreciating the sentiment.

This was a weird experience for him. He was pretty sure the last time he’d met a girl’s parents—or family—had been in high school.

Hayden moved over beside him and said in a low voice, “Can we wait until they’re done? I want to make sure my aunt eats, and also clean up after. Otherwise she’ll try to do it.”

He nodded, slipping an arm around her waist to give her a brief squeeze. “Of course.”

They chatted while the older couple ate, then he helped Hayden do their dishes, along with some that had already been sitting on the counter. He wiped off the counter as she cleaned the sink, Gina having returned to her recliner in the living room.

“I really wish they’d move out of this house,” Hayden told him quietly. “It’s way too big for them. They can’t keep on top of it and they refuse to hire help. It’s starting to get out of control. I come and help but it’s too much for me too.”

“They don’t want to move?”

“Uncle Colin doesn’t want to give up his yard. He’s a passionate gardener.”

Beck nodded. “I guess it’s hard to give up things like that.”

“I know. I just want them to be safe. I tried to talk to them about it once, but it didn’t go over well, and they’re not my parents…”

“You need to get their kids out here to talk to them.”

She shrugged and rinsed out the dish sponge. “I’ve mentioned it to them. We chat on Facebook.”

He stood near her and set his hands on her hips. She lifted her chin to meet his eyes. “Yeah?”

“Sure.”

“You probably haven’t told them how bad things really are.”

“Well…”

“You need to do that, Hayden.”

She stared at him.

“Seriously. I understand that you love them and want to help, but you’ve got a lot on your plate. And it sounds like they know that too. They want you to get out more. They want you to have more fun.”

She rolled her eyes. “Everyone seems to want that.”

Warmth filled his chest. Seeing Hayden with her family, seeing how much they cared about her, seeing her look after them and worry about them, made him want to gather her up in his arms and protect her and do whatever he fucking could to help her. He also felt an unusual helplessness—there was no way he could just move her aunt and uncle out and solve that problem for her. It annoyed him unreasonably. He liked solving problems and he hated that Hayden had this one.

And given that he wanted nothing to do with his own family, it was even more bizarre that he wasn’t just brushing this off and letting her deal with it without him. But it didn’t mean anything. He could handle this.