Paula Graves - Major Nanny

“I’ve told you I was sorry you found us that way.”

“But not about having sex with the guy behind my back?”

“You know as well as I do our marriage was doomed. We’re too different. We want different things out of life.”

That much was true. He definitely didn’t want to marry a ruthless divorce lawyer. Matter of fact, he didn’t want to marry anyone at all. Ever again.

Once was enough.

“You flew all the way to Texas to tell me you were getting married?” he asked. “You could have just called.”

“Alden’s attending a conference in Lubbock. I thought it would be better to tell you the news face-to-face.”

He just looked at her, taking in her prom-queen beauty, which hadn’t yet faded with age, and her hopeful expression. She wanted closure. Maybe even absolution.

Would it hurt so much to give it to her?

He forced a smile. “I really do hope you and Alden are happy. And that he stays just as attentive fifty years from now as he is today.”

Her smile in return made her look sixteen years old again, bright and beautiful and everything he’d thought he wanted in life. He’d loved her like crazy once.

But not anymore, he realized with a little shiver of relief. He might still resent her infidelity and her lies, but he didn’t really care who she slept with anymore.

I guess that’s progress, he thought.

“I hope you find someone, too,” she added.

He felt his rising mood deflate again. “I’m not really in the market.”

“Just because our marriage didn’t work out-”

He stood, looking down at her one last time. “Have a good life, Alexis.”

“You, too,” she said.

But he was already headed out the door, stepping into the warm midday breeze blowing in over the western plains.

He looked around him, taking in the friendly facades of the shops and businesses that formed the town square. Old cottonwoods and sprawling oaks lined the streets, giving the place the look of an idyllic oasis in the middle of the arid Texas Panhandle.

He’d taken the job Bart Bellows offered because it was a chance to start over, to see what life would be like outside the Marine Corps and his shattered marriage. Freedom seemed like a great place to make a new life-just as in most small towns, it was hard to stay a stranger for long in Freedom.

But Harlan had never felt more alone.

He checked his watch. A little after two. Half of the day spread out ahead of him, barren and daunting.

With a sigh, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the direct line Lila Lockhart had given him before he left her ranch the night she gave him his new assignment.

He was surprised she answered on the first ring. “Hello, Mr. McClain.” Her drawl was warm and amused. “You haven’t reconsidered, have you?”

“No, Governor, I haven’t. In fact, I’d like to get started today. How quickly can you gather up the staff?”

Stacy sneaked a glance at her watch. Nearly four. Zachary was probably through with his ride by now.

When was Harlan McClain going to adjourn this meeting?

“Need to be somewhere?” Greg Merritt murmured.

“Nervous habit.”

Harlan McClain’s eyes narrowed, but he kept speaking. “We’re setting up guards at all entry roads. Until the fence is constructed, we’ve set up checkpoints around the property-on the approach to the guesthouse, the path to the pasture, the main road and the road to the stables. We need to keep track of where everyone is and where you’re going.”

Great, Stacy thought. Just great . She had to go through a checkpoint to pick up her son from his ride?

“I need full cooperation to make this work. One of the best ways we can detect and identify threats to the governor is for the rest of us to stick to the protocols so that the aberrations stand out. Everybody understand?”

There were nods and murmurs of assent. Stacy released a soft sigh of frustration.

“I know these new protocols sound overly restrictive, but they’re necessary for the governor’s protection. Yours, too. People were killed in Austin. We can’t let that happen here. Not on our watch.”

Stacy felt guilty for feeling frustrated, but the facts didn’t change her dilemma. She needed to get her son from the stables without going through the security checkpoint Harlan McClain had set up. She didn’t want the governor to know she’d taken time out of work to give in to one of her son’s whims. Lila already worried that the job was too much for Stacy.

She couldn’t afford to give the governor evidence to support that concern.

“Starting tomorrow, everyone gets ID badges. You need to wear these at all times when on the grounds.”

Soft grumbles filled the room.

“It was my idea.” Lila spoke up for the first time since Harlan convened the meeting. The grumbles subsided.

“There’s a checkpoint outside this office now. As each of you leave, you’ll sign out. This will be required at each checkpoint-sign in and sign out.”

And the situation just kept getting worse, Stacy thought. Maybe she could talk a checkpoint guard into keeping her trip to the stable and back to himself, but she couldn’t ask him to let her go through without signing in or out.

Which left her with only one choice.

She’d have to bypass security and sneak her way to the stable to pick up her son.

“I THINK THEY TOOK IT WELL, considering,” Lila commented to Harlan after the employees filed out of her office.

“I suppose I should have softened the blow a little more,” he admitted. “But we really should have put these protocols into place the day you returned from Austin.”

The governor leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. She looked tired and tense, though she’d hidden her distress quite well while the rest of her staff had been in the room with her. “Austin police haven’t found any leads. They’re studying the surveillance systems at the capitol, but they haven’t found anything yet.”

“Have you ever considered that it might have been an inside job?” Harlan asked.

Lila met his gaze. “I’ve considered it. I don’t want to.”

“From what I understand, your decision to make the announcement of your candidacy was pretty last-minute.”

“Yes. I’ve been considering a run for a while, but the decision to hold the press conference was spur of the moment. The only person I told more than two days beforehand was Stacy.”

Harlan felt a funny dipping sensation in his gut. “An outside agitator wouldn’t have had much of a chance to figure out a way inside your defenses in such a short amount of time.”

“You’re not suggesting Stacy-”

“I’m not suggesting anything,” he said quickly. “I’m just asking questions, trying to get a clearer picture of the flow of information around here.”

“We’ve always run things here at the ranch differently than we do when we’re at the capitol,” Lila admitted. “This is my home. The people who work here are like family to me. We treat each other that way.”

“That’s a nice way to do business if you can,” Harlan conceded. “But you’re going to have to start doing things differently, especially now that you’re seeking higher office.”

Lila sighed, closing her eyes. “I know.”

“It’ll only get worse if you’re successful in your bid.”

Her lips curved. “I know that, too. I’ve always considered it a fair trade.” She opened her eyes again, pinning him with her strong blue-eyed gaze. “I’d just hoped to put off that moment for a little longer.”

“I’ll try to make it as comfortable for you and your staff as I can. Within limits.”