Delivering His Gifts (Mountain Men of Liberty #10)- K.C. Crowne Page 0,37
child, so many ways to fuck it up.
I decided to change the subject. “Tell me more about Steve.”
Calvin froze, his body stiffening. “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know,” I said nonchalantly. “Anything you care to share. You said he married someone in his hometown. Where was that?’
I had a reason for asking, but I didn’t want to make it too obvious. Maybe it was a reach, but I felt like Calvin deserved his own happy ending, and maybe there was a way that could be possible.
Or maybe the thing with Danielle had turned me into a hopeless romantic.
Calvin sighed and said, “Charleston, South Carolina.”
“Oh, a southern gentleman,” I said with a hint of teasing in my voice. “No wonder you were smitten.”
Calvin had a distant look on his face, as if he was looking back in time. It only lasted a moment before he said, “Yeah, but being from the South made things harder. At the time, I was thinking of moving to San Francisco, where things might be easier for people like us. But Steve was a true Southerner and couldn’t imagine leaving his family behind, even though they were religious and would never accept him for who he was.”
“Which is why he married. What was her name? Do you know, by chance?” I hated bringing up the painful parts, but it might aid me in my search.
“Laura Chevalier. They went to high school together. They’d dated for a short while before Steve shipped off, but his parents assumed that as soon as he got back, they’d tie the knot. And they did.”
I nodded, humming. “I wonder if they’re still married.”
Calvin studied me for a second, as if an alien had taken over my body. Not sure why I suddenly decided to dig up dirt on old Steve. For all I knew, he was dead or happily married with fifteen kids. And even if he wasn’t, maybe the two of them wouldn’t reconnect.
But I continued with the act regardless. If anything, it kept my mind off Danielle and the baby for a few moments longer, and it gave me a sense of purpose. After all, I found people for a living. That was a big part of what I did. If I could find Steve, maybe… I didn't want to get too ahead of myself.
Ooo000ooo
“Come on, could you drive any slower,” I muttered under my breath.
I checked the time and knew that Eli was going to throw a shit fit. There was no way I would make it in time for the meeting he’d set up a few days ago. Not while stuck behind this truck driving at a snail’s pace down a road barely big enough for one vehicle. I couldn’t pass, so I was good and stuck.
I kept praying the truck would turn off and not go all the way down Lick Creek Road, but at every chance, the truck just kept going straight. Thankfully, I was coming up to my turn off, and unless the truck was headed to my place, it was very unlikely to turn with me.
“Thank God,” I sighed with relief as I turned off the road and the truck continued on its way.
I sped up, but I was already late. It was two minutes after five, and he’d asked us to meet him at exactly five p.m. I knew calling would just waste more time, so I did my best to drive as fast as I safely could.
I pulled up outside the house around 5:10. My brother’s trucks were lined out front, and I was the last one to join. Great, I thought. Graham and Sam often had reasons to be late, and they were still here before me.
I took the porch steps two at a time, and I flung open the front door to find my three brothers sitting around the coffee table in the living room. Eli was standing, and from the look on his face, it was clear he wasn’t amused by my late entrance.
“Sorry, I got stuck behind a truck driving slower than molasses.”
“Shit happens,” Graham said with a shrug.
Sam pulled out his phone and tapped away at it, clearly not concerned with my late arrival or my interruption.
But Eli was another story. “Thanks for gracing us with your presence. It’s a good thing we aren’t meeting with a client today, or we’d likely lose another one. Speaking of which, business has really slowed down lately. We really need to be on top of this shit,