Free Always Remember by Sheila Seabrook

calm. “You know Maude’s been real sick. Didn’t think Jess’d want to be bothered.”
    “All we want is her autograph. And maybe she could talk to the kids for a while. You know Sally’s got a real sweet voice.”
    Anxious faces surrounded him and he wondered why he was even bothering to protect her. “How’d you find out she was here?”
    Mattie waved the local newspaper under his nose, her mouth moving steady. But Nate quit listening to the senseless prattle. He managed to wrestle the paper from her grip. Splashed across the front page was the headline Jessie Adams Returns Home and below that, a picture of him escorting her from the airport. Anyone who knew him would know where he’d taken her.
    It wasn’t his job to play bodyguard. In fact, now he wished that he’d never cursed the peaceful quiet of the afternoon—
    “There she is, Mom.”
    The scream brought his chin up and he felt the tension in his neck snap. Five heads turned at once as Jessie came strolling from the stable toward the house, oblivious to the commotion. Like a flock of vultures, his neighbors swooped across the yard to greet her.
    Josh looked back once. “Thanks, man.”
    “Yeah, right,” Nate muttered, closing his ears to the excitement in their voices and the possible sound of Jessie’s call for assistance.
    A second car pulled into the yard and another half dozen of his considerate neighbors piled out and surrounded her. Good thing she was used to all this — the fans, the reporters, the lack of privacy.
    At the first sight of her breathtaking smile, Nate turned away, but it was already too late. A piece of him remembered the vulnerability and fear behind that smile. What would he do if it were Sara up there, complete strangers demanding a piece of her soul?
    Bones creaked and drew his attention. Sam stood at the edge of the steps, ready to rescue his daughter. Fool. She didn’t need to be rescued.
    Or did she?
    Hell, what harm would it do if he just wandered on over there? Chances were, no one would even notice his presence. And if she looked like she welcomed the adoration of her fans, he’d leave her alone with them, disappear into the barn and hide.
    But if he saw even a hint of distress in her gaze, he’d barricade the front gate so no one ever bothered her again.
    Harley came to stand next to him. “See? Her presence will ensure we sell out the opening show. How can you say no?”
    He gave the brim of his hat a tug, squared his shoulders, and swung his gaze up to Sam. “Want me to rescue her?”
    “She’s my responsibility, boy, not yours. No sense you gettin’ involved.”
    Not get involved? Too late. Watching someone else take care of Jessie went against the grain. “I’ll see to it. You stay put, old man,” he said softly.
    Halfway across the yard, he began to feel those familiar territorial instincts, like she still belonged to him. He tried to ignore the emotion. He tried to convince himself he was just doing Sam a tiny favor. As he circled the small crowd and came to a stop behind her, he sensed her relief. How could something so small and insignificant as helping out a friend make him feel so big?
    She turned and gave him her famous smile, transfixing him with it as it did her audience. He gave himself a mental shake. That smile didn’t mean a damn thing. The real Jessie Adams liked her privacy as much as he did. Or at least, once she had. If she ever dared use that smile on him in private...
    “Everything okay here?” he murmured down at her.
    Jessie gave a little shrug and an apologetic little grin. Something in his chest unfolded, blocking out the darkness and anger.
    “Everything is fine, Nate. Thanks for asking.”
    Mattie gave him the glare she normally reserved for her husband before turning a sugar coated smile on the star. “Perhaps you could even sing with Nate.”
    Jessie’s gorgeous smile turn stiff. “That sounds like fun, Mattie. But I probably won’t be around that long.”
    “Think