Jobe: Alvarez Security Series by Maryann Jordan

her head. He said nothing but rocked her for a moment, allowing the pain to slowly subside. He felt her body begin to relax into him, but did not know if it was because she was comfortable with him holding her or because the pain had her addled. Probably the latter , he assumed. In a few minutes he knew he was right when her body went stiff as she struggled to get out of his hold and try to stand.
    Refusing to let her fall, he held onto her as she stood before reluctantly letting go. He saw the trail of a few tears before she quickly brushed them away.
    Before either could speak, Penny walked into the kitchen, seeing the freezer door standing open, Mackenna with a pained expression on her face, and Jobe holding on to the pack of peas.
    “Ya shudn leave tha freeza doo open,” her mother chastised, much to Mackenna’s chagrin.
    “I was just closing it, mom,” she said, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. She glared at Jobe, but his handsome face never lost its smile.
    “Ya stay fa dinna?” Penny asked as she shut the freezer door.
    Jobe watched Mackenna’s eyes widen at her mom’s suggestion and he wanted nothing more than to do just that. But it was too soon. One step at a time.
    “Thank you, Mrs. Dunn, but I have to be getting back.” He walked over giving Penny a hug, allowing her the time to lift her right arm to hug him back.
    “I’ll walk you out,” Mackenna said, a forced smile on her face. “Mom,” she yelled, “I’ll be right back and then fix dinner.”
    He stepped to the side to allow Mackenna to exit the room first and tried to keep his eyes off of her ass as she walked ahead of him to the front door. Oh yeah, she’s pissed.
    Mackenna managed to wait until they were off of the stoop and walking toward his truck when she whirled around, poking him in the chest with her finger.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing, coming here like this? Invading my privacy, not to mention invading my mom’s privacy?”
    He glanced down at her small finger and lifted his hand to gently remove it from his chest and hold it in his hand. “Your parents meant something to me and I felt like shit when you told me your dad died,” he said.
    She stepped back but did not pull her hand out of his grasp. “You’d have known about it if you’d never left, so I don’t care how that made you feel,” she accused.
    “You’re right, I would have. And for that, I’m so sorry, doll. But I wanted to see your mom and let her know that I was sorry about her loss. Your parents had a marriage like mine did…strong and happy. And I couldn’t take away the fact that I didn’t know, but I could pay my respects.”
    Still glaring, she sifted through his words searching…and finding truth. “You still shouldn’t have just dropped in. Mom’s…better, but…”
    “I know, but she seemed fine with the visit. I know what you’re thinking. That I also didn’t know about her stroke,” he said, still gently rubbing her hand with his fingers.
    “Were you able to…um…understand her speech?”
    “Yeah, actually very well. I realized right away that she had had a stroke and she seemed self-conscious at first, but we began to talk.”
    Mackenna’s eyes darted away, clouding with sadness.
    “I kinda got the feeling that she was lonely,” he added. Her gaze jerked back to his, the sadness replaced with anger again. Fuck, it’s like walking on a verbal landmine!
    “I’m doing the best I can, Jobe. We moved to Richland so she’d be closer to the rehab center and I managed to rent this house that has everything on one floor. She really didn’t want to live in an apartment with no view of trees or flowers. I know the neighborhood is kind of crappy, but it was the only thing I could afford. She had a day nurse that was with her full time and has made so much progress that the day nurse only has to be here three mornings a week.”
    “Doll, I wasn’t criticizing. It just seemed like she was happy for the