Georgia On My Mind by Marie Force Page B

Georgie said, exhaling a long deep breath. “Good. And the girl?”
    Tess shook her head with disgust. “She was adamant that it was consensual, but that’s not how it appeared to us. He was rough with her.”
    Georgie’s stomach turned. “God.”
    “A forty-four-year-old man with a sixteen-year-old girl.”
    “Horrifying.”
    “Thank God they found her when they did. Who knows what else he had planned for her.”
    Georgie bit her thumbnail as nervous energy coursed through her. “Do you think I should . . .”
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Never mind.”
    “Do I think you should check on him?” Tess asked. “Yeah, I do. I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”
    “Too girlfriendy.”
    “Just because you slept with him doesn’t mean you can’t show some basic human compassion.”
    “ Jeez , Tess. Do you have to put it that way?”
    Tess shrugged.
    “Fine! I’ll think about it. I’ve got to get back to the center before the inmates take over the asylum.”
    “You’re really going to make me go?” Tess whined.
    “Basic human compassion, Tess. Show me some, will you?”
    Tess laughed and went upstairs to get changed.

    They arrived at the center as Cat’s guy was setting up a portable amplifier and microphone. Georgie went over to him. “Hi, I’m Georgie, the interim director.” Clinging to the word “interim” was critical to her sanity. “Thanks so much for doing this on such short notice.”
    “Ian.” As he took her outstretched hand, he smiled, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that reminded her of . . . Stop!
    “No problem. I was off tonight, so it worked out okay. I hope you don’t mind that my brother is going to bring my daughter by.”
    “Of course not. The seniors invite their kids and grandkids to these things, so there’ll be other kids here.”
    “Great, thanks. She doesn’t get to see me play out very often because I’m usually in bars.”
    “Happy to have her. So you do know a song or two they’ll recognize, right?”
    He laughed, and again she was reminded of Nathan. The man was haunting her!
    “I’m sure I’ve got something they’ll like. What time does this go ’til?”
    “Ten. I’ll get you a check. Is three hundred okay?”
    “It’s on the house. My grandfather loved this place, and the people here made the last years of his life so special. It’s the least I can do to pay it forward.”
    Touched, Georgie said, “Thank you.” Hearing that reminded her of why she was here, fighting to keep the center open and her mother’s legacy alive.
    Tess walked up to them and handed Georgie her cell phone. “It was ringing.”
    “Ian, this is my roommate, Tess.”
    They shook hands and exchanged greetings as Ian’s warm blue eyes skirted over Tess with interest.
    “Want to help me with the snacks?” Georgie asked Tess.
    “Sure.”
    After they had walked away from Ian, Tess rested her hand on Georgie’s arm. “Why does he seem so familiar?”
    “That’s so weird! I was thinking the same thing!” Georgie didn’t add that Ian reminded her of Nathan because she didn’t want to get Tess started on that subject again.
    “He’s cute,” Tess said.
    “He thought you were, too.”
    “Shut up,” Tess said, giving Georgie a friendly shove.

    With the party in full swing, Georgie emerged from the kitchen carrying two huge bags of ice.
    “Cold front,” one of the seniors, Tommy Dawson, announced. “We’ve got a cold front coming through.” The group he was sitting with cackled as Georgie rolled her eyes at them.
    After she had replenished the ice in the coolers, Georgie stopped to say hello to Henry’s wife Alice. Beside her sat Bill’s wife, Annette—an eighty-year-old redhead who looked and acted thirty years younger. Fond of her gold and diamond jewelry, Annette had a reputation for hiding her romance novels behind decorative covers so no one would know what she was reading.
    “Georgie, honey, you’ve got the world’s whitest legs,” Marion