Texas Proud and Circle of Gold (Long, Tall Texans #52) - Diana Palmer Page 0,14

felt somber. Somebody had tracked Tony to the Bahamas and Marcus Carrera had called in some markers to keep him safe. Tony had used one of his throwaway phones to call Mikey—on the number Mikey had sent through a confederate.

Carrera, he recalled, was not a man to mess with. Once a big boss up north, the man had done a complete flip and gone legit. He was worth millions. He’d married a small-town Texas girl some years ago and they had two sons. The wife was actually from Jacobsville, a girl who used to do clothing repairs at the local dry cleaner’s. Her father was as rich as Tony. Her mother had pretended to be her sister, but the truth came out when Carrera was threatened and his future wife saved him. Mikey knew Carrera’s in-laws, but distantly. At least Tony was safe. But if they’d tracked him down, they probably had a good idea where Mikey was. It wouldn’t take much work to discover that Mikey had been down here in Jacobsville three years ago to help out his cousin Paulie. That being said, however, it was still the safest place he could be. He had as much protection as he needed, from both sides of the law.

He looked around at the women at the table. His eyes lingered on Bernadette. He didn’t want to put her in the line of fire. This had been a bad idea, getting a room at a boardinghouse. Or had it?

“Deep thoughts, Mr. Fiore?” Mrs. Brown teased. “You’re very quiet.”

He laughed self-consciously when he felt eyes on him. “Yeah. I was thinking about a friend of mine who’s been in some trouble recently.”

“We’ve all been there,” Miss Pirkle said warmly. “I guess friends become like family after a time, don’t they? We worry about them just as we would about kinfolk.”

“And that’s a fact,” he agreed.

“My best friend drowned in a neighbor’s swimming pool, when my family lived briefly in Floresville,” Bernie commented.

“Did you see it?” Mikey asked.

She looked down at her plate. Her whole face clenched. “Yes. I didn’t get to her in time.”

“Listen, kid, sometimes things just happen. Like they’re meant to happen. I’m not a religious man, but I believe life has a plan. Every life.”

Bernie looked up at him. Her face relaxed a little. She drew in a long breath. “Yes. I think that, too.” She smiled.

He smiled back.

The smiles lasted just a second too long to be casual. Mrs. Brown broke the silence by putting her cup noisily in the saucer without glancing at her boarders. It amused her, the streetwise Northerner and the shy Texas girl, finding each other fascinating. Mrs. Brown’s husband had died years ago, leaving her with a big house outside town and a fistful of bills she couldn’t pay. Opening her home to lodgers had made the difference. With her increased income, she was able to buy this house in town and turn it into a new boardinghouse. The sale of the first house had financed the purchase and remodeling of this one. The new location had been perfect for her boarders who worked in Jacobsville. She found that she had a natural aptitude for dealing with people, and it kept her bills paid and left her comfortably situated financially. But romance had been missing from her life. Now she was watching it unfold, with delight.

Mikey glanced at his wrist, at the very expensive thin gold watch he wore. “I have to run. I’m meeting Paulie up in San Antonio, but I’ll be home in time for dinner,” he told Mrs. Brown. He got up and leaned toward her. “What are we having?”

“Lasagna,” she said with a grin. “And yes, I do know how to make it. Mandy Swilling taught me.”

“You angel!” he said, and chuckled. “I’ll definitely be back on time. See you all later.”

They all called goodbyes. Bernie flushed when he turned at the doorway and glanced back at her with dark, soft eyes and a smile.

* * *

She felt good enough to walk the four blocks to work and she hardly needed the cane. Her life had taken a turn. She was happy for the first time in recent memory. Just the thought of Mikey Fiore made her tingle all over and glow inside.

That was noticed by the people she worked with, especially the new girl, Jessie Tennison. Jessie was older than Bernadette’s twenty-four years. She had to be at least twenty-seven. She’d been married and was now divorced, with