Page 4 of Island Rescuer

“She’s right,” Harper said before Lila could protest. “Your grandmother is the best.”

“Well, true. She’s always been supportive. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t worry.” Lila rolled her eyes. “And it doesn’t mean she isn’t making noise about being a great-grandmother. To which I remind her she isalreadygreat.”

The four women laughed. “We should make a pact,” Harper said, “that we will never torture our own children this way.”

“I think it’s hormonal,” Molly said. “At a certain age I think women just shift into this head space of wanting to cuddle a baby but not raise another child.”

They were still giggling as the host for tonight’s trivia, Vince Goodridge, an editor for the Brookwell Bugle, started the proceedings. The prizes were announced, and Trina bounced gleefully in her seat. Both the theme and the drink special got a hearty round of applause and then the first question was posted on the monitors around the pub.

It was an easy warm-up question, based on a red-hot book series that everyone was talking about. Once Molly, their captain for the night, submitted their answer, the conversation resumed.

“Why isn’t Nina here?” Trina asked.

“Addison was running a fever and Boone is away on an assignment.”

Harper was confused. “I didn’t realize he was still taking protection jobs.”

“Guardian Agency moved him to short-term assignments,” Molly explained. “Most of them are local. Jess understands why he doesn’t like to be away for too long.”

Jess was the regional personnel coordinator for the Guardian Agency. Through no specific effort, Harper’s ties seemed to be growing deeper with the elite security group. Her two best friends, Hannah and Sonya, were researchers and their husbands were employed by the agency as well.

Of course, she hadn’t known anything about the Chicago based agency until there was trouble a few years ago, when Hannah and Seth—a bodyguard posing as her fiancé—came to Christmas to protect Harper and rescue Sonya from a nasty situation. Since then, the Ellington property security plans had expanded to include several Guardian Agency teams. Sometimes on short-term contracts to manage VIPs, more often just to support or train current security staff.

Vince’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts, confirming the answer to the first question and awarding points to the groups that got it right.

“Yes!” Trina gave high fives around the table.

The next question went up, and this time it was about the classic novel,To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee. It was one of her mother’s favorite books and the primary inspiration for her name. She and Lila were confident in their answer and after a brief debate Molly submitted their official response.

“Blame the perks of a Southern education,” Lila said, as soon as they were proven right. Several other teams also had the right answer, which meant the scoring was tight and they weren’t creating much of a lead yet.

Trina shifted nervously in her seat. “I want that prize,” she said fervently, her voice low.

“You just want to meet a famous author and run away to Greece,” Harper teased.

Trina stuck out her tongue. “I’m more inclined to run away to Montana. Or anywhere else with spotty internet service.”

At Molly’s questioning look Harper explained, “That way she can’t Zoom with her parents and get inundated with their wishes for her love life.”

“Oh! Of course.”

As the trivia game continued, their team and two others separated from the rest of the pack, and when it came down to only two questions remaining, they were tied with one other team.

Harper tried to distract Trina. “You’re a VIP here yourself,” she reminded her friend. “Surely Carver will stay at the Inn.”

“I’ve reached out to his publicist.” Trina bit her lip. “There’s no guarantee. I was thinking about offering time for a reading or a special VIP event, but I don’t want to overshadow what the bookstore is doing. Sometimes the tour schedules get so tight that an extra minute is practically impossible.”

Trina was one of the most thoughtful people she knew and Harper wanted to help. Her family had connections going back for generations. Even if they didn’t win, there had to be someone, she could ask to make sure Trina got her introduction. She made a mental note to check with her aunts as soon as possible.

Their chances of winning the game took a worrisome turn when they gave an incorrect answer on the next to last question. The team they were tied with answered properly. They had to get the final question right or they wouldn’t be able to make up the deficit in the bonus round.

The question was posted and they were discussing their answer when Trina’s attention was diverted. A slow smile spread across her face, but she didn’t blush like she did when she thought about the author.

Harper followed her gaze to see a tall, lean, and very familiar man weaving through the crowd to their table. How had she missed his arrival? He greeted Trina first, which made sense. Because the last time Harper had seen him, he was doing some consulting at the Inn.

“Knox!” Trina beamed. If Harper hadn’t known her so well, she might have been a little jealous of the easy familiarity. After all, she’d been crushing on Knox Moore for nearly half her life.

Not that he’d ever bothered to notice.

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