One Good Man

“Harris and I took point, and, in spite of all precautions, Harris somehow tripped a land mine.”

Jodie set her cake aside, as if her appetite had fled.

“Harris died instantly,” Jeff said, “and I was injured. Couldn’t move. Men with guns poured out of those caves like a scene from a Schwarzenegger movie. Only all too real.”

Jodie shuddered, drew her knees to her chest and hugged them.

“The team tossed smoke grenades and laid down covering fire. Arch fought his way through and carried me out.”

“Must have been scary,” Jodie said.

“Scary is too mild a term. I was terrified out of my mind.”

“Captain Archer must have been, too.”

Jeff nodded. “People have the wrong idea about courage. Bravery doesn’t mean you’re not afraid. It means doing what you have to, in spite of your fears.”

“So you’re naming your project after the man who saved your life?”

“He did more than that. Arch went back after Harris.”

“But Harris was dead.”

“Marines don’t leave their men behind. Ever.”

“So Archer was a hero twice over that night.”

“He was more than a hero. He was my best friend, the closest thing to a brother I ever had.” Jeff took a bite of cake and forced himself to swallow past the tightness in his throat. The creamy chocolate tasted like dust and ashes.

“Was?”

“He was killed a year later by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. I’d have been with him if I hadn’t been in sick bay with food poisoning.”

“I’m sorry about your friend.”

Bitterness consumed him. “Hell of a way for Arch to die. The bravest man I know killed by a fanatical coward.” Jeff shook his head in disgust, using anger to hold back tears. “He should be here today. This project was our dream.”

“You’ve been planning this a long time?”

“Ever since Arch and I met in boot camp. He came from a tough Chicago neighborhood, an orphan raised by his elderly grandmother. The Marine Corps was his ticket out, same as mine.”

“But you came back here.”

Jeff nodded. “Arch and I agreed that once we left the service, we’d build this place together. We wanted to help other troubled kids before they were swallowed up by the legal system and sent to prison.”

“Kids like Daniel?” Jodie’s voice sounded strange, as if under tight control.

Jeff nodded. “I took Daniel, even though the dorm’s not ready. He’ll live with me until it is.”

“Why the hurry?”

Jeff wished he could read her better. Her expression gave nothing away, and he couldn’t tell if she was sympathetic or merely polite.

“Because Daniel was only days from being sentenced to an adult correctional facility. One he’d never survive.”

“What did he do?” Jodie’s question held an agitated note.

“He’s a smart kid who made stupid mistakes.”

“They don’t lock you up for being stupid,” she said with a tinge of sarcasm. “What was he charged with?”

Jeff sighed. From the harshness in her voice, he’d apparently lost the battle for Jodie’s support, but a Marine didn’t quit. He wouldn’t concede the war. Not yet.

“Shoplifting,” he admitted with reluctance. “Grand theft auto, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer.”

Jodie gasped. “Does Brynn know?”

Jeff looked across the yard where Brynn laughed with Brittany and Daniel over their desserts. “She’s Archer Farm’s law enforcement liaison. She’ll have files on all our clients.”

Jodie stood abruptly. “Excuse me. I have to speak with my daughter.”

Disappointed, Jeff watched her hurry away. Jodie Nathan with her Mountain Crafts and Café had exactly the resources Archer Farm needed to succeed. He could probably locate other help, but he doubted he’d find anyone he wanted to work with as much as Jodie.

Chapter Three

Jodie forced herself not to run. More than anything, she wanted to snatch Brittany from Daniel’s presence, shove her in the car and take off, as fast and far from Archer Farm as Jodie could drive.

But she knew better. She was no expert in teen psychology, but she’d learned enough. If Brittany even suspected her mother didn’t want her at Archer Farm, Jeff’s project would become her daughter’s most desirable destination.

Jodie wanted to stop, scream and shake her fists at the heavens. Why, every time her sex drive kicked in, did her brain check out? What kind of spell had Jeff Davidson cast that she’d allowed herself to become involved with his plans? Between Brittany and the business, Jodie already had her hands full. She didn’t need more temptations dangled in front of her very impressionable child, and she particularly didn’t need the distraction of a man as good-looking and compassionate as Jeff.

Anger and frustration threatened to strangle her. Being a single mom was hard enough. Why did Jeff have to add to her problems by bringing his jail-bound teens to Pleasant Valley? Why not Chicago where his pal Archer had come from?

Hard to farm in Chicago, logic reminded her.

Jodie wasn’t operating on logic, however, but pure, unadulterated maternal instinct. Jeff’s clients posed a potential threat to her child, and Jodie pledged every effort to keep Brittany away.

But Jeff also threatened Jodie’s well-ordered single life in a way no other man had. She liked him, he was interesting, he made her pulse race and she wanted to spend more time with him. Which was exactly why she vowed to keep herself away from Jeff and Archer Farm, as well.

Slowing her steps to a casual saunter, she approached the table where Brynn sat with Brittany and Jeff’s first client.

“How many lawyers,” Brynn was saying, “does it take to change a lightbulb?”

“How many?” Brittany said.

“Three. One to climb the ladder, one to shake the ladder, and one to sue the ladder company.”

Brittany and Daniel laughed, until they took a look at Jodie’s face. Brittany’s laughter died in her throat, and Daniel shoved to his feet.