Just One Kiss by Susan Mallery

a groan. Obviously they should have gone somewhere else. “Thanks for the information.”
    Justice looked at her. “Is there a wrap you recommend?”
    “The London wrap is the best,” Wilma said. “With fries. You’ll like it.”
    He passed her his menu. “I’m sure I will.”
    “The same for me,” Patience said weakly.
    “Smart girl.”
    When Wilma had left, Patience risked a glance at Justice. “She can be a little forceful.”
    He looked more amused than irritated. “I’m okay with that. Part of the town’s charm.”
    “You say that now,” Patience muttered. “Just wait.” She drew in a breath. “Thanks for helping with the Lillie–Zack situation. My mom filled me in on everything. I agreed with her theory that I should stay out of it so Lillie doesn’t think you betrayed her confidence.”
    “Thank you. I don’t want her to hate me—she’s a great kid.”
    “One who inspires an equally powerful affection in her classmates.” She winced. “I think I’m going to have some serious trouble when she turns sixteen.”
    “Lock her in a tower.”
    She laughed. “An option I hadn’t considered.” She cleared her throat, knowing she had to get to the point of their lunch.
    “As for why I asked you to join me...”
    He looked at her. “Yes?”
    “I had a visit from Lillie’s grandfather.” She passed over the business card Steve had given her. “He wants to start seeing her regularly. Have a relationship with her, I guess.”
    “He hasn’t been around before this?”
    “No. He walked out on his family when Ned, Lillie’s dad, was little. Ned was always so angry and bitter about his father. When we met, I took that as a good sign. We’d both had our fathers leave, so I figured we’d both be committed to staying for the long haul.” She shook her head. “I was wrong.”
    “Have you met—” he glanced at the card “—Steve before?”
    “Once. Before the wedding. He showed up, took us to dinner, made a lot of promises, then disappeared. I don’t think he’s dangerous, but I also don’t trust him. Lillie doesn’t need her grandfather showing up and then disappearing. I want to know what kind of man he is. I thought with all your training, you could help me figure that out.”
    “Sure. Easy enough.” Justice tucked the business card into his shirt pocket. “What happened with Ned?”
    Wilma reappeared with their drinks, then returned to the kitchen. Patience unwrapped her straw.
    “Nothing very unusual. We dated. It was fun but not great. I wasn’t in love with him or anything, but I thought maybe I could be. I don’t know. I slept with him and I probably shouldn’t have. It was a tough time for me. I was confused about what I wanted to do with my life. Young.”
    “Really young,” Justice said, his gaze steady.
    “You’ve done the math, huh?”
    “Lillie’s ten. You were a teenager when you got pregnant.”
    “I know. Out of high school, but barely. Anyway, I got pregnant. Ned wasn’t happy but said he wanted to do the right thing. We got married. I worked part-time at Morgan’s Books. A couple of months after Lillie was born, Ned told me he was leaving. He’d met someone else. She was a little older and very well-off.”
    She glanced out the window, willing herself not to show emotion. It wasn’t that she was so crushed by what had happened. Not anymore. It was that she’d been so stupid and trusting.
    “I thought he would be there because he promised he would be,” she admitted. “Like I said, I assumed from the way he talked about his dad walking out on him that he would never do that to his kid. I was wrong. I was shocked when he admitted he’d been having an affair and wanted out.” She returned her attention to Justice. “He already had the paperwork ready. Her lawyer had prepared it. Ned walked away from me, and from Lillie. He made no claim on her.”
    She sipped her soda. “I thought about it for a long time and finally realized he wouldn’t be