Free Last Stand Ranch by Jenna Night Page B

of humiliating things I would keep secret if I could. You know I lied about Ted Kurtz and you know I never gave Aunt Claudia the time of day until I needed her.”
    Olivia’s eyes began to burn. Speaking that second truth aloud made her chest hurt.
    Don’t cry. You will not cry . She cleared her throat. “There are lots of things going on right now that I don’t understand.” Tears started leaking out despite her best efforts to hold them back. She awkwardly wiped them away with her good hand. “I think you should tell me something about yourself. And tell me why you’re doing this for me. You don’t even know me.”
    â€œShe’s got a point,” Jonathan muttered.
    Elijah shot him a brotherly glare. Jonathan picked up his book and sat back down.
    When Elijah turned back to Olivia he took the pill bottle from her hand, glanced at the label and handed it back to her. “Come on,” he said gently. “Let’s get your water.”
    The shades were pulled down over the kitchen windows. An individual bulb in the vent hood over the stove was the only light left burning.
    He filled a glass of water and handed it to her. While she took her pill, he opened the freezer and took out a half-gallon container of ice cream. “Caramel cashew,” he said. “Your bottle didn’t say you couldn’t have food with your meds. Do you want some?”
    â€œI never turn down ice cream.”
    He smiled and it looked good on him. It didn’t soften his features as much as give them context. He wasn’t an angry man, Olivia decided. He was just a very serious man most of the time.
    She smiled back at him, letting her gaze meet his and lingering there for a few seconds.
    Elijah turned away first. He opened a cabinet door and took out two bowls. While he was busy, Olivia found herself worrying about how she looked. Having to work one-handed, she did the best she could to smooth her hair and tuck some of the more unruly strands back behind her ears.
    Elijah dished up the ice cream and carried the bowls to the breakfast table. Then he pulled out a chair for Olivia.
    â€œIt looks delicious,” she said after they sat down. “But it doesn’t get you out of answering my questions.”
    He savored a bite of ice cream before he answered. “Most of what Vanquish the Darkness does involves visiting people in the hospital, getting them outside and back into nature if we can, and just letting them know they aren’t forgotten.” He jammed his spoon back into the bowl and stirred his ice cream for a few seconds. “Sometimes we help people in a financial jam. Sometimes we run across someone in danger. In that case, the first thing we do is call the cops. But we like to offer a little extra support when we can.”
    He brought a spoonful of ice cream to his lips and let it hover in front of them. “We’ve brought people here before to keep them safe. It’s made some bad guys angry. So that’s why we need the extra security.” He popped the ice cream into his mouth.
    That was a very serious commitment to an outreach program.
    â€œWhat about my second question? Why are you going out of your way for me? There are other members in Vanquish, other people you could have asked to help me.”
    He hunched over his ice cream. “You remind me of someone.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œA woman I was assigned to protect while I was in Afghanistan. Mrs. Elaine Somerset.” He smiled slightly and shook his head. “She was a piece of work. She arrived courtesy of a charity organization, determined to make sure girls in Afghanistan got a decent education.”
    â€œA worthy goal,” Olivia said, watching him closely. The confident expression he normally wore had begun to turn to something different, something more uncertain.
    â€œI was her bodyguard for three weeks, then I was reassigned. There was a gap of time, very short,