Free Friendly Fire by Lorhainne Eckhart Page A

her, very aware of the secretary watching him. He shut the door behind him and watched as Sue stood behind her desk. He held the doorknob and said, “I want to see every file you have on Brent Maloney—his teaching certificate, his resume, and the last school he taught at.”

Chapter 13
    J ulia had been kicking herself for two days, wondering what was wrong with her. Brent had stopped by her cafe to ask her out again, this time to see a movie. She had wanted to say yes, but in the end, what had slipped out was a no. She felt horrible, as he had seemed so disappointed; but the fact of the matter was—she just wasn’t feeling it, and she was having trouble getting the taste of Logan Wilde from her mouth—not that it was a bad taste. It was a taste she now believed she wouldn’t be able to survive without. She dreamed of it, reliving the kiss and remembering how it had sent every one of her senses into heaven.
    “Oh, man, I am in trouble,” she muttered, leaning back against the counter and taking in the new espresso machine, which she knew darn well had cost Logan a small fortune. He was an amazing man, but at the same time, he was unstable, which made him dangerous. He had not only put the bullet through the first coffee machine, but she had recognized that glazed look in his eyes. He had been yanked into some other reality. Of course he was sorry, she knew that, but she had to remind herself that he could have shot her. He had flashbacks, and what soldier didn’t have some trigger? It wasn’t something she could hate him for, after what he’d been through. She believed him to be an amazing man, but she couldn’t have that kind of instability in her life. She needed dependable, sane, stable—and Brent was all those things.
    She shut her eyes. What if she called Brent and just said she wanted to reconsider, to get to know him? Yes, that would work. She just needed to try harder, with no wine this time, just the two of them out together. Maybe a movie was a good idea, after all. She just needed to get to know him, and then maybe her walls would come down. She wiped the tables and glanced at the clock. The girls would be done with school by now and would be clambering through the door at any time, raiding her baked goods and wanting hot chocolate.
    She decided to celebrate her decision by treating herself with a latte, and she sat at one of the counter stools, sipping at it and picking at a lemon ginger scone she’d made that morning. It was peaceful and quiet in the empty cafe. When she finished, she glanced up at the clock and realized the girls were late, which wasn’t like them. Had they planned something with a friend and forgotten to tell her? She reached for her bag under the counter and rummaged for her day timer, but there was nothing written there.
    The girls were never fifteen minutes late. That never happened, not in this town. Julia reached for the phone and dialed the school number, tapping her fingers on the counter as it rang four times.
    “MacKay School, Darlene speaking.”
    “Darlene, this is Julia Cooper. Is there something going on after school today?”
    “No, nothing that I know of.”
    “Well, the girls aren’t back yet,” she said. Other kids from the school were walking past the window, but no twins.
    “Do you want me to check and see if they’re still in Miss Mills’ class?” Darlene asked. “Maybe they stayed to clean up.”
    “Yes, could you call me back?” Julia replied, trying to keep the worry from her voice. This just wasn’t like her girls.
    “Sure, honey.” Darlene hung up, and Julia gripped the phone as the knot tightened in her stomach. Then she spotted Dawn skipping over the sidewalk. Relief washed over her—along with anger. She was ready to scold them both for scaring her like this. Julia pulled open the door and stared down at Dawn.
    “Where were you? I was starting to get worried,” she said before realizing Trinity was still missing. “Where’s your