Signs of Love by Kimberly Rae Jordan

in Justin's direction, he signed more to his mother.
    Alana lifted her head and met Justin's gaze. "He wants to know if you like the name sign he chose for you."
    Caden's eyes were wide, his expression expectant as he stared at Justin. With the exception of Genevieve, Justin hadn't really spent much time around kids, but he could see how important this was to Alana's son, so he smiled and nodded at the boy. Immediately, a huge grin lifted the corners of Caden's mouth and his green eyes lit up. Something flipped inside Justin as he watched the boy's reaction to his response. Knowing what he did now about Alana's ex, Caden's father, he couldn't help but view the young boy in a somewhat different light.
    He looked up at Alana and their gazes met. He saw apprehension on her face but didn't know what might have caused it. Hadn't she wanted him to say he liked what Caden had given him as a sign for his name? His interactions with the woman all seemed to end up in a minefield of sorts. Okay, so their meeting on Saturday had been a minefield he'd set up himself, but now...he had no idea what he'd just done to put that expression on her face.
    And if he was honest with himself, he didn't like to think about causing this woman any more distress than he already had.
    "Justin, why don't you finish up the table while I get the food," Beth suggested, interrupting the heavy silence that had descended on them. "And tonight, Alana, how about you teach us some more sign language while we eat?"
    Without waiting to hear Alana's response, Justin turned back to the table and began to put the silverware into place. Dan brought over the glasses and soon the food followed. By the time they were ready to sit down, whatever had been bothering Alana seemed to have faded away as she spoke with Beth and Daniel.
    Justin watched as Alana finished pouring water into the glasses on the table. Again she wore a long loose skirt and a blouse with sleeves that ended at her wrists. Now that he knew what the sleeves hid, Justin wondered about other scars her body might bear. Anger burned inside him against the man who could do something like that to a woman. He glanced at Caden and felt a little sick at the idea that the boy might have scars of his own.
    While he had no problem dealing out a beating himself when needed, it would never be against a woman or child. And any beatings he did give were always against valid targets. Ones who had as much chance of winning their battle as he did. And right then he knew if he ever came across Alana's ex, he would be more than happy to beat on the man.
    As the meal progressed, Alana and Caden showed them a few signs. Beth and Daniel were quick to repeat the signs. Justin, however, just watched. He hadn't wanted to learn sign language because he'd seen it as accepting Genevieve's diagnosis as final. However, watching them sign to each other, he realized there were still people besides his niece—people like Caden—with whom he'd be able to communicate if he learned along with Beth and Dan.
    "Justin, Caden wants to know if you will learn sign language too." Alana's voice drew him from his thoughts. "He'd like to be able to talk to you."
    Justin looked at the boy and once again he saw that expression on his face. More used to people getting out of his way—well, except for the women who thought snagging a military man, even an ex-military man, was a good thing—Justin found Caden's fascination with him a bit perplexing. This kid was determined to interact with him and seemed to view him with a serious case of hero worship.
    When he glanced back at Alana, he saw an almost pleading look on her face. "I'll think about it. I'm not sure I'll be much good though. Not as good as he is, that's for sure."
    "He's had a lot of years to learn," Alana said, the tension on her face easing.
    "You should at least try, Justin," Beth said as she placed more chunks of cut-up chicken on Genevieve's tray.
    "We're actually starting off with fairly