Page 69 of Forged in Peril

It was how Reilly had first met Lauren, but unfortunately, it had also ended in tragedy when he’d accidentally shot a twenty year old kid. The wound had been fatal.

“That’s awful,” Bristol said. “It wasn’t his fault, though. He did what he thought was right at the time. He obviously didn’t realize who was in his line of fire, or he might have chosen to act differently.”

“Of course. But sometimes what we have to do still hurts,” Grace said, giving Bristol a pointed look. “And sometimes we do things that we think we have to do, but we end up being wrong. Sometimes we place expectations on ourselves that we don’t really need to live up to. We just convince ourselves that we do.”

Bristol froze, her tea raised to her mouth mid-sip.

Clearly, Grace wasn’t here just to chat. Clearly, what had happened between her and Cameron wasn’t a secret around the office. Then again, when it came to the investigative gossip powers of Grace Hinton, few things were.

“Are you trying to tell me something?” she said, stabbing at the last piece of lettuce with her plastic fork until it was thoroughly demolished.

Grace nodded. “I mean, yeah. I think you’re making a mistake by pushing Cameron away just as you guys were starting to get somewhere.”

Bristol pushed her chair back and stretched her arms over her head.

Grace stayed where she was, her arms crossed sternly over her chest.

“Seriously, Bristol. Cam didn’t put me up to this or anything, if that’s what you’re wondering. I hope you’re not mad. I’m just worried about you, that’s all. And I really am glad we got a chance to have lunch for the first time in fifty years.”

Bristol kept her back turned for a few extra seconds as she tossed her leftovers into the trash bin, trying to decide whether she was angry or not.

Sure, Grace could be a little blunt and more than a little intrusive, but at least she cared enough to give her honest opinion, even at the risk of ticking Bristol off. She could respect that.

“I’m not mad, okay?” she said, giving Grace what she hoped was a genuine-looking smile. “I’ll think about what you said, but that’s the best that I can do. In the meantime, I really do have to get back to work. I can’t avoid Jaclyn like you can avoid Dolly, and if I don’t get these assignments done this afternoon, she’ll want to put me in her oven, too.”

Grace broke into a dimpled grin. “I can’t picture Jaclyn Mercier making a pie.”

“Me either,” Bristol said, chuckling. “She’d skip the extra steps and go straight for the knife.”

“If she owns any. I kind of picture her as one of those people who lives in a condo that doesn’t have an oven at all,” Grace said, getting up from her own chair. “Then again, she might also live in some giant house in Alamo Heights. Or maybe not. I don’t think she makesthatmuch money, and I don’t think she has a rich husband. Actually, is she even married?”

Bristol shook her head, rolling her eyes good-naturedly as they made their way out of the lounge. Despite her ulterior motives and the excess of gossip, it was nice to spend time with a friend again.

As they parted ways on the fourth floor, however, Bristol’s thoughts returned to what Grace had said.

Doing what she had to do definitely hurt.

But unlike Reilly’s drug bust gone wrong, she’d at least had a choice in the first place.

And every time she thought of Cameron’s intense blue eyes, she couldn't help but to wonder if the choice she’d made had been wrong.

Bristol headed down the hall toward her office, trying to gather her thoughts. She was in for a busy afternoon, and she couldn’t afford to lose focus.

As she reached the legal department, however, she couldn’t help but to overhear Jaclyn’s voice from behind the closed door of her interior office. Melanie wasn’t in, and she doubted Jaclyn realized she’d returned early from lunch.

She shook her head, trying to ignore her boss’s loud, private conversation, and strode toward her own office door.

Before she could make it across the room, however, something Jaclyn said caught her attention.

“I don’t know, Albert,” Jaclyn was saying, irritation in her voice. “Are you sure everything is actually set up properly this time? No plans to go rogue?”

Albert?

She felt her heart beginning to pick up speed, but she knew that the response was illogical. There were a lot of Alberts aside from Albert Dorling in San Antonio. If she hadn’t been so keyed up, she never would have noticed the name at all.

Still, she wondered what Jaclyn could possibly be talking about.

She sidled up beside the copier at Melanie’s desk, pretending to fiddle with the paper tray, though she doubted anyone would walk by and see her.

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