The Protector by HelenKay Dimon

Author:HelenKay Dimon [Dimon, HelenKay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Damon had no idea how he let Cate talk him into taking a tour of the place where he grew up. Well, he had some idea. The sex had been pretty fucking great, but still. Following Liza around as she half spoke and half lectured made him want to heckle her.

She talked with the certainty that only a young twenty-something completely entrenched in the idea they understood everything could possess. She also clearly hated him. Liza looked at Cate and smiled. Liza glanced in his direction and her jaw tightened.

“We’re thrilled you decided to stay here.” Liza topped off her tour of the new flower beds by handing Cate a brochure about the fruit and plants they sold at markets.

“Are you?” he asked then swallowed a groan when Cate elbowed him.

But Liza’s sunny smile didn’t slip that time. She kept right on talking, winding them along the path by the greenhouses toward the plant nursery where they’d started this bit of exercise. “Of course.”

Cate cut off Damon’s smart-ass reply with a glare before she turned back to Liza. “How long have you lived here, Liza? Did you grow up here or—”

“Three years.”

“How old are you?” Because the fact she looked about eighteen was starting to make him feel old.

Cate cleared her throat. “Damon.”

If Liza noticed the byplay, she didn’t let on. She was too busy waving to a group of people walking into the greenhouse. “Twenty-three.”

“May I ask you another question?”

Liza stopped and looked at Cate. Liza’s fingers curled around the edge of her notebook as she nodded. “Steven told us to be welcoming.”

A completely logical answer. Damon didn’t even try to come up with a response. Instead, he let his head drop back and the sun hit his face. Maybe if he ignored the tour it would end faster.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Cate said. “What made you come here?”

“Probably the same thing that motivated your sister.”

Damon slowly lowered his head again. The admission opened up a whole new line of questions. Liza didn’t pretend not to know about the past and why Cate might be here. Being that open surprised Damon. So much of what was happening at Sullivan and with the people they talked to did.

Cate studied Liza for a few extra beats before sighing. “You know about her?”

“Of course.” Liza brought her notebook tight against her body, wrapping her arms around it like it was the most precious thing in the world. “The accident is part of the school’s history and we take it seriously. There’s a plaque for her and a cabin dedicated to her memory.”

Cate’s mouth dropped open twice before she got a word out. “A plaque.”

“But to answer your question, look around you and you’ll get it.” Liza opened her arms and gestured toward a tomato plant.

Cate didn’t break eye contact with Liza. “Grass, trees. Yeah.”

“Freedom.”

Yeah, she actually said it. Freedom. Damon decided Liza didn’t need a brochure because she was the human equivalent of one. “Maybe be more specific?”

“I’m not stupid.

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