Her Lawman Protector

Marie swallowed, licked her lips and then thrust the papers back toward Liv. “I don’t need this.”

“They’re for you, anyway.” Liv winked, then took her plate back from Jack.

What was on those papers? Could Marie be involved, too? Jack and Liv walked together away from the table, against the tide of people moving in for fresh ribs.

“Sorry, that was kind of passive-aggressive,” Liv said as her aunt marched off. “She’s been hounding me about my weight, so I printed off some articles on dementia.”

Jack laughed softly. “You don’t say.”

“It’s better than stewing about it for the next month. One of us was going to walk away from this barbecue angry, and I was tired of it being me.”

Jack grinned and shook his head. She had spunk under all that sweetness, and some edge, too. Edge enough to be dangerous, he noted. Liv wasn’t the kind of woman who went down without a fight, and all the while, she was capable of a stunning, heart-stopping smile.

She was a wicked combination.

CHAPTER FOUR (#u21828506-0130-5ce3-9bbf-3318e6250db1)

LIV TOOK A bite of the tangy potato salad and heaved a sigh of contentment. Marie, for all her faults, was a great cook. Her potato salad not only had full-fat mayonnaise, but she added a dab of Dijon mustard and diced pickles for flavor, and a bacon crumble on top. Not bacon bits from a plastic shaker, but actual fried, crumbled strips of bacon. If Marie was so concerned about calories, she only had herself to blame.

Liv watched as Jack took his first bite.

“Man, this is good,” he said.

She smiled. “Marie makes this potato salad for every family gathering, but she never eats a bite. Such a waste, in my humble opinion.”

“For sure.” Jack took another large bite. “Mmm. Wow. So—” He glanced around, swallowing. “Anyone here who might have a bit of a grudge? Or a connection to your ex?”

“A connection?” Liv shrugged. “Every last one of them. He was part of the family.”

Jack was eyeing her with an odd directness, and when she met his gaze, he turned his attention to his plate and took another bite.

“You’re convinced this is Evan,” she clarified after a moment of silence.

“Call it a hunch.”

“I don’t believe you,” she retorted. “What’s this based on?”

“I don’t like him.” A small smile turned up the corners of Jack’s mouth, and for just a moment, his eyes glittered with humor.

Liv chuckled. “That’s it?”

“He’s cocky, and he doesn’t seem to have the same guilt mechanism the rest of us have,” Jack replied. “Do you have a better guess?”

Liv shook her head slowly, doubt creeping into her mind. “No.”

Could it be Evan? It didn’t seem right. He had no reason to bother her. He had what he wanted in Officer Hot Pants. Jack knew more than he was letting on—she was willing to bet on it. Still, the memory of those photos in the box gave her an involuntary shiver. Whoever was threatening her—be it Evan or someone else—she wanted to know who and why. The mystery only made it feel more daunting than it probably was.

Or was she only trying to convince herself of that? At the very least, if she had someone in her life with a weird grudge against her, it was probably better to know.

Across the grass, Liv’s cousin Tanya was taking a photo of Aunt Beth and Uncle Herb in the low late-afternoon sunlight. The couple leaned in toward each other and smiled brightly. The flash went off, Tanya looked at the screen on the back of the camera and the older couple came in to have a look, too. Then they scooted back to their previous position, smiled again—a little less brightly this time—and lowered their chins. The flash went off, and they came around to look at the screen again.

“So...” A voice hummed at Liv’s shoulder, and she turned to see her uncle Gerard. He still looked the part of the drill sergeant, even in shorts and a T-shirt.

“Hi,” Liv said with a smile. “How are you?”

“Fine. Care to introduce me?”

“Uncle Gerard, this is my...” Police escort? Bodyguard? The lying didn’t come easily to her. “This is Jack.”

“Jack.” Gerard nodded and extended a hand, and the men shook. “So you’re dating our Liv, are you?”

“Looks that way.” Jack smiled back cordially. “You’re Gerard Hylton?”

“The one and the same.”

“Marie’s husband,” Liv said.

Jack looked down at his plate, newly scraped clean, and back at Gerard. “Lucky man. Your wife is a great cook.”

Gerard wasn’t easily placated by compliments about his wife. Marie drove her husband crazy.

“I’ve heard you’re police,” Gerard said brusquely.

“I am. I’m a detective—I just transferred to town.”

“We’ve done that before—the whole cop-in-the-family routine,” Gerard said. “It didn’t go well for Liv. We’re not keen for a repeat.”

Jack’s eyebrows went up, and Liv suppressed a moan.

“Uncle Gerard, we’re not that serious. You can stand down,” Liv interjected.

“Evan seems a little too interested in our land, if you ask me,” Gerard went on.

“Honestly, Uncle, you’ve got to let that one go,” she said with a sigh. Evan had offered to buy Gerard and Marie out when they were attempting to retire in Arizona. And Gerard could be touchy.

“And I don’t care if your ex is personal friends with Mayor Nelson,” Gerard went on. “He could be hobnobbing with the president for all I care. That land isn’t for sale.” Gerard’s laser glare didn’t waver away from Jack. “You cops take care of your own. Well, we Hyltons do the same.”

“So you aren’t a fan of Evan Kornekewsky,” Jack said.

“What do you think?” Gerard barked.

Liv put a hand on her uncle’s arm. “Be nice!”

“I thought I was,” Gerard retorted, then he sighed. “Marie is waving at me frantically. She’s afraid I’ll say something harsh.”

Liv shot Jack a grimace, and Uncle Gerard reached over and gave Liv’s arm a squeeze. “You look great, by the way, kiddo. Go get another plate.”

She’d always liked Uncle Gerard. He was Marie’s complete opposite. In some very good ways the couple complemented each other, and in other ways, they were a lot alike. Big hearts, big mouths and even bigger opinions. Gerard headed back toward his wife, leaving Liv and Jack in momentary peace.