Justice Is Always Ready (A Graham Family Story, 1) (13 page)

“
Kassidy, look at me.” His
order filled the car. The now silent car.

“
Why are we stopped at a
gas station?” she questioned even as she did as he’d requested.
Crumpling the Kleenex, she kept it in her balled fist. Her
breathing began to slow and her heart calmed down.

“
There is nothing for you
to be nervous about. They’ll love you.”

Easy words for him to
say.
She’d never done the “meeting of the
parents” before. Battling back another sneeze, she attempted a
smile.

“
I’m fine, Justice. Now
unless you’re trying to get me to believe they live here, perhaps
we should go as to not be late.”

He leaned close and before she knew it
had placed a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth and sat back in
his seat. The next second he’d shifted into gear and got them
smoothly back on the road. Kassidy focused her attention on
breathing calmly.

When the car pulled into a large paved
circular drive, her eyes grew large at the impressive home sitting
at the apex of the curve. Digging deep, she composed her face into
her professional mode.

Justice got out and headed to her
door. Her gaze tracked his easy movement. Smile affixed, she took
his hand and allowed him to assist her from the Vette. His own
smile faltered when he caught her expression. Then his brows
converged and he frowned.

“
What is going
on?”

“
What?” She glanced down
expecting to see something out of place. Her soft magenta shirt,
silky and clean, had all buttons properly done. There was nothing
on her black slacks or her shoes either. “What’s wrong?”

He backed her up so his car supported
her. Head tipped to the side, he reached for and cupped her face
with infinite tenderness. Her heart lurched.

“
Justice?”

“
Where are you, Kassidy?”
he asked in a silken tone.

“
What do you mean? I’m
right here.”

“
No.” He shook his head,
his thumbs trailing her cheekbones. “Something is
different.”

Behind him, she heard a door slam but
for the life of her she couldn’t tear her eyes from his, any more
than she could stop her heart that exact second.

“
Come back to me,
Kassidy.” His words were velvet, dark, decadent, and seeped in
endless promise.

Her attempt to speak was halted by his
mouth landing on hers. The kiss held some anger in it, but she felt
no fear. He dominated her until she sighed and gave in to the kiss.
Her hands curled around his strong biceps. When it ended, she was
limp. Eyes heavy with desire, she smiled when one thumb traced her
lower lip.

“
There you are,
beautiful,” he murmured.

“
I didn’t go
anywhere.”

“
I don’t want my family to
meet the professional Kassidy. I want them to meet you, beautiful.
The one whose smile makes her eyes shine like the softest dove gray
silk in the world scattered with emeralds.” Another light kiss.
“The one who takes my breath away.”

She let him guide her to
the steps. The idea he could see a difference in her boggled her
mind.
Not to mention the other bit he
said.
No time to dwell on that, however,
for she met the gaze of the woman who’d given life to
Justice.

“
I’m Dinah.” Her smile was
warm as she reached out and hugged Kassidy. “Welcome to the family,
Kassidy.”

“
Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
When they separated, Kassidy handed her one of the bags. “This is
for you.”

“
No need to be so formal,
Dinah is just…” Dinah took the bag and peered inside. “Ohhh, Lindt
chocolates. Milk Mozartkugeln. How did you know?” Justice winked at
her and Kassidy found herself in another hug. “Thank
you.”

“
I’m glad you like
them.”

Milk Mozartkugeln was one of her own
personal favorites. They had a light hazelnut crème center
surrounded by a filling made of pistachio marzipan. Then covered by
the milk chocolate shell.

“
I will certainly enjoy
them. Come inside, brunch is set up on the verandah.”

Dinah nimbly whisked her away from
Justice and led the way through the large house. Kassidy tried to
listen as things were pointed out but most of it passed with a
blur. There was so much to take in and she longed for more time to
do just that. It seemed her eyes barely adjusted to the darker
interior when they were pushing through back outside.

A nice glass table and chairs were off
to one side, the table laden with food and drink. In the other
direction sat an older man in a white wicker chair, reading
something. Or so it appeared.

“
Grandpa,” Justice said,
going to his side.

The man stood at once and embraced
Justice heartily. “I must have dozed off, sorry.” Sharp eyes found
hers. “Introduce me.” The smile the older man bestowed upon her
eliminated the remnants of her worry.

Kassidy liked Jamal Graham right away.
She had lost both sets of her own grandparents when she was young
but it was no difficult feat to imagine Jamal in that role. She sat
beside him as he opened her gift. His hands were careful while he
undid the ecru tissue paper.

Silence descended and with a shaking
hand, Jamal reached out to touch the face of one of the two men in
the photo. Then he picked up the pin, his gnarled fingers gripping
it tight. When he looked at her, his eyes were shiny with tears.
His mouth moved but no sound came out. Kassidy gave him a gentle
smile and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“
You’re
welcome.”

His gaze returned to the
picture. It wasn’t the original, but a copy

a photograph of the Keeper of Pea
Island LSS, Richard Etheridge, and of Calvin Running Wolf Graham.
Both men had scratched their signature on it as well. It was a rare
image. Most pictures had of the men who served at Pea Island LSS
were of the entire crew.

She’d also added in a replica of the
LSS pin that could no longer be gotten at the small museum. Quiet
Harbor had one to honor the men of Pea Island LSS then there was
the main memorial on Roanoke Island. The original site had since
been transformed into a wildlife refuge.

“
Come on, Dad,” Dinah
said. “Let’s go put them somewhere safe then we’ll eat.”

Dinah’s eyes were suspiciously shiny
when she glanced back during their departure.

“
Kassidy.” Justice sat
beside her and guided her head to his. The amount and depth of
emotion overflowing in his gaze shocked her. “Thank you for that.
There was no way to express what that gift means to not just him
but to our entire family.”

“
You’re
welcome.”

They stared into one another’s eyes
until Dinah and Jamal returned to the porch. Over the meal, Kassidy
began to see Justice’s family as her own. Once they finished eating
and cleaning up, she walked with Justice in the backyard looking at
his mom’s flowers.

“
I bet when your sister is
here things tend to get really crazy.”

His laugh warmed her. “They most
certainly do. Jas is a lot of fun. You’d like her.”

She didn’t doubt that in the
slightest. “I’d like to meet her.”

He wrapped his arms around her and
lowered his lips to her ear. “You will.” Confidence overflowed in
his tone.

“
Let go of her so she can
come over here, son,” Dinah ordered.

His mouth brushed hers before he
sighed dramatically. Kassidy moved to stand near Dinah with
laughter in her heart and on her lips.

Chapter
Nine

Justice leaned against the chair and
followed Kassidy with his gaze. She moved around the yard with his
mom talking flowers and decorating ideas.

“
Kassidy is something
special.”

“
I know, Grandpa,” he
replied without taking his eyes off the woman he spoke
about.

“
Heard from Jasira,
recently?”

The back of his neck prickled. “No,
sir. Something I should know about?” There was no forthcoming
answer and he glanced to his right at the man in an identical
chair. “Grandpa?”

“
Allow an old man his
fears. She’s my only granddaughter.” A wilily grin split his
features. “Unless you care to tell me you’ve gone n’ married that
young woman.”

Justice shook his head and
got to his feet. “When I get married, grandpa, you’ll know.”
Pressing a kiss to his head, Justice added, “Besides, momma would
kill me if I
ever
thought of getting married without her present.”

Jamal chuckled. “True. Dinah is a bit
headstrong.”

A bit? That was like
saying the Statue of Liberty was made of
a
bit
of copper. “See you in a few days,
grandpa.”

“
Stay safe,
Justice.”

“
Yes, sir.”

He needed to call his sister and check
on her. With an easy leap, he jumped down to the ground and headed
toward his mom and Kassidy.

“
What are you two lovely
ladies up to?”

“
Kassidy is giving me some
ideas for my planting.”

“
Her yard’s beautiful,
mom. She’s got great taste and style.”

Kassidy’s head dropped and he knew she
was staring at the ground. “Thank you. I only know what my
grandmother taught me.” Her cell rang, causing her to look up and
blanche. “I’m so sorry, excuse me.”

Justice watched her flip it open and
converse with whoever it was.

“
You care very much for
this woman,” his mom stated.

“
I do.”

“
I like her,
Jamal.”

His mother was the only one who
continued to call him by his given name. He supposed it was hard
for her to call him Justice, especially since he wasn’t a
junior.

“
You should see her yard,
mom. You’d love it. Flowers I’ve never seen before. Roses I’ve
never heard of. It’s like a miniature botanical garden. She also
does rock work and laid

flagstone, I
believe

down for
a birdbath and small bench area.”

“
I’d love to see
it.”

Justice continued to watch Kassidy’s
expressions. The corners of her mouth tightened but overall there
was no sign anything was wrong. His mom began to talk again but the
second he saw the slight quiver overtake Kassidy, when she slipped
the phone back in her pocket, he walked to her.

“
What’s wrong?”

The smile she gave didn’t reach her
eyes and he knew she needed to go.

“
I’m fine,” she said
smoothly.

Brushing by him, she returned to stand
by his mom. Dinah stole a peek at him over her shoulder when they
turned to face a large bush before them. He merely shrugged and
tagged along as the women talked, his grandpa sleeping on the
porch.

An hour later he and Kassidy were in
his car, pulling out of the driveway. He waited until they were on
the road before he opened his mouth. Kassidy beat him to
it.

“
Thank you. I had a
wonderful time today. You have a great family, Justice.”

“
I’m glad you did. You
seemed stressed after the call, is everything okay?”

She stiffened briefly. “Yes,
everything’s fine.”

He longed to dig deeper but he also
needed to respect her privacy. “Just remember I’m here if you need
to talk.”

“
I know and thank you for
that.”

At her house he kissed her on the
porch. He longed to stay and it was with difficulty he set her away
from him.

“
You have a wonderful rest
of your day, Kassidy. Thank you again for coming with
me.”

Her eyes narrowed
slightly. “Are
you
okay?”

With a smile to cover his unease he
nodded. “I am.” Another quick kiss. “I’ll talk to you
soon.”

“
Bye, Justice.”

“
Goodbye, beautiful.” He
hurried down the steps to his car. A final wave to Kassidy and he
headed to his apartment.

Dropping his keys on the clean
countertop, he sighed and rubbed his head. With a determined nod,
he marched to the living room and grabbed the handset from the
base. He hit a preprogrammed number and sat on the edge of the
leather couch while it rang. Just when he thought it would go to
the machine a feminine voice answered.

“
Petty Officer
Graham.”

He breathed easier just hearing her
voice. “Hey, runt,” he said leaning back, pleased he’d gotten a
hold of her.

“
Justice. Good to hear
your voice, brother. What’s going on?”

“
That’s what I want to
know.”

She paused. “I’m not
following.”

“
Jas, I know you almost as
well as you do. What’s wrong?”

He meant it. Jasira and he were like
most twins, having a very close connection and being in tune with
the other’s emotions. Granted, he was willing to concede that he’d
been ignoring those things until his grandpa had asked the
question.