Men-of-Action-Seres-04 -Saints and Sinners by Capri Montgomery

sure it was the source of his desire not to expose Teagan to another female who wouldn’t be in her life for long.
    They had spent a good portion of the morning at his house. By the time they were ready to leave it was almost lunch time and Teagan and Maureen had insisted they eat before they left. Alaina wasn’t hungry and she was sure Sully wasn’t either. Pancakes for breakfast had a way of staving off hunger for hours. Still, she decided to stay for lunch because she understood not wanting to say goodbye. By one o’clock they both knew they needed to leave. Sully gave her a look, at least she thought it was a look, and so she suggested they get going. Teagan had told Sully to be sure to bring, “the pretty black lady back.” Sully quickly assured Teagan that Alaina had other things to do so not to expect her back.
    “Your father’s right. I live in Maine and it would take some time for me to get away,” she had said to finesse his brash words. The way he said it made it sound as if she had more important things to do and she didn’t want to leave Teagan with that thought.
    Alaina hugged Teagan. “Be good for your nanna.”
    “I will,” beamed the little girl. Her big blue eyes tugged at Alaina’s heart. She had never thought about having children. Even now she was sure she didn’t want to have any, but in her heart she wanted to be a mother to this one. She released Teagan. Maureen pulled her into her arms immediately.

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    “Come anytime. You’re always welcome here.” She released her.
    Alaina smiled. She wasn’t sure Sully shared his mother’s remarks, but still, something compelled her to say, “I will.” Alaina straddled her bike and watched as Sully hugged Teagan once more. She knew he was used to leaving, but she could swear there was a hint of sadness, a longing for home within him.
    “Hurry home, Daddy!”
    Sully climbed on the bike, and waved. He didn’t say, “I will;” he refrained from making a promise he wouldn’t be able to keep. There was something comforting in knowing he wasn’t a man to make empty promises and idle threats—though she had already figured that much out when he shot her.
    Her bike was good on gas, but she stopped at the first station she came to. Her emotions were running amuck. She was fighting tears and she just needed to stop, to get a grip on her emotions so she could drive.
    Being at his home had made her think about things she hadn’t thought about in years. For the first time, in a long time, she thought about her childhood, not what she missed, but what she lost.
    She put ten dollars cash down on pump five, declined Harvey’s, that’s what he said his name was, request to let him fill her up. She had no misconceptions about what he meant; his offer had nothing to do with putting gas in her bike’s tank. Harvey had been at pump four with his beat-up Ford truck when she pulled up. He was middle aged she guessed, Capri Montgomery 83
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    mostly bald with the stereotypical beer belly and the confidence of an ox in heat.
    She had pulled her helmet off, shook out her hair and taken ten from her back pocket before she noticed Harvey staring at her. Sully had neither removed his helmet nor lifted his visor, so she couldn’t be sure, but he seemed to be sizing up Harvey as harmless or subject to being shot. She noticed Sully’s shoulders seemed to lower one notch short of attention and she assumed that meant he had sized Harvey up to harmless. She dabbed her eyes with her fingertips as she topped off the tank. Six dollars at three forty-nine a gallon was a clear indication she could have driven straight through. She hoped he wouldn’t notice, but she was sure he would. Before going in to retrieve her change from the clerk, she nodded politely at Harvey, who still seemed to be leaning against his truck staring at her. It wasn’t until she turned around that she realized Harvey had followed her inside.
    “Excuse me.” She tried to