Page 65 of My One and Only

Ten minutes later, they’d pulled into the driveway of his house. His mom was in her car, parked in front of his house.

As Cam unbuckled Fiona’s car seat and stashed it in his mom’s trunk, Jo climbed into the back seat. Leaning forward, she said, “Thanks for doing this, Mrs.Pierce. I really appreciate it.”

“I do, too, Mom,” Cam said as he got into the front seat. “I hate interrupting your day.”

“Not a problem, Cam,” she said breezily. “I was heading out soon to do the grocery shopping, so it’s just an extra stop.” She glanced at him, and Cam recognized the look -- the interrogation was about to begin.

“I got up to get a glass of water last night and saw lights on in your kitchen,” his mom said. “And were those police cars in front of your house?”

Cam clenched his teeth. He’d hoped his parents had been sound asleep and hadn’t seen any of the activity the previous night. Finally, he took a breath. Blew it out. “Yeah, those were police cars in front of the house,” he said. “A guy broke in. But Jo heard him and stopped him. By the time the police showed up, she’d cuffed his wrists and ankles and had him on the floor. He’s the police department’s problem now.”

Cam’s mom looked over her shoulder at Jo. “Thank you for keeping my son and granddaughter safe, Jo. You must have been scared.”

“Not really, Mrs.Pierce,” Jo said. “I’ve trained a lot for that kind of scenario, so it was all instinct. And I always have zip ties with me when I’m on a job, so the guy last night was down and secure in less than a minute.” She smiled. “Before he could figure out what was happening, he was immobilized.”

“Jo, we’re all adults now. I’d really prefer you call me Carole. Mrs.Pierce reminds me of my late mother-in-law.” Ellen made a face, and Jo suppressed a smile.

“Will do, Mrs.… Carole.”

“Thank God you came home to visit your mom,” Cam’s mom said to Jo. “And reconnected with Cam. You might have saved both his life and Fiona’s last night.”

“Just doing my job,” Jo said, and Cam heard the discomfort in her voice. He knew she didn’t want anyone to know that she was his bodyguard. His mom had to know, but he hoped she hadn’t told anyone else.

“And speaking of which, Mom, you haven’t said anything to anyone except Dad about Jo being my bodyguard, have you? And Dad hasn’t told anyone, has he?”

“Your dad hasn’t said anything, and neither have I.” She pursed her lips. “Even to Gloria, and you know how close we are.”

“Jo and I appreciate that, Mom.” He glanced over his shoulder at Jo and saw her nodding. “After this is over and the people behind this are locked up, you can tell all your friends about your son’s bodyguard.”

Carole laughed. “You can be sure I will. No one I know has ever had a bodyguard. Never needed one.”

As they pulled into the Enterprise parking lot, Carole turned into an empty parking spot. “You gonna be okay if I leave?”

“Absolutely,” Cam said. “They told me they had a truck ready for me.” He leaned over and kissed his mother’s cheek. “Thanks for the lift, Mom.”

“Glad I could do it,” she said, patting her son’s face. She swiveled and said, “Take care of my boy, Jo.”

“Don’t worry, Carole. He’s my number one priority until I’m certain everyone behind this scheme is locked up.”

She opened her door, got out and headed around the car. Scanned the parking lot for a long moment before she opened his door. As soon as he’d retrieved the car seat from the trunk, they hurried inside the building. Cam’s mother pulled out of the lot and drove off.

The truck was ready for Cam, and he made sure that Jo was covered to drive the vehicle. When assured that she was, Jo waited until Cam had installed the car seat in the back, then helped Cam into the passenger seat. After sliding behind the wheel, she checked out where all the controls were, then started the truck and guided it out of the lot.

She glanced at him as they drove toward Ogden. “Back to the office?”she asked.

Cam wanted to tell her no. Wanted her to drive back to his house so they could open that package of condoms, but he nodded. “Yeah. Back to the office. We only have a couple of hours before we pick up Fiona, and I still have lots of work to get done.”

There must have been some frustration in his voice, because Jo glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Yeah,” she said, her voice soft. “I wish we could go back to your place, too. Maybe tomorrow we could have lunch at home.”

Cam shot her a smile. “I like that plan. A lot.”

“Good. Lunch at home it is.” Jo gripped the steering wheel as she guided the car back to his office.

Cam glanced at the dashboard clock. “I called Fiona’s teacher this morning and arranged to meet with her after school.” He glanced over at her. “It’s warmed up a lot today. You could probably take her to the school playground. Let her play there while I talk with her teacher.”

Jo frowned at him. “I don’t like you being in the school and me being outside. Goes against all my rules.”

“I know, but you saw the security at the school. No one’s getting into that building who doesn’t belong there. And I don’t want Fiona with me at the meeting -- she doesnotneed to hear that I’m worried about her interactions with other kids. I’m hoping it’s a short meeting. That Fiona isn’t having any problems at school, and that she has some friends in her class.”

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