Genesis: A Harte's Peak Prequel Read Online Free

didn’t want to stand there and watch you flirt with him.” Lexi rolled her eyes.
    Maggie closed her eyes and counted to ten. Lexi always knew what buttons to push, and if Maggie didn’t make the offer soon, Lexi would talk her way right out of it.
    “I’ve decided to give you a key, and please don’t make me regret it.”
    Lexi’s eyes brightened, and she dropped her pencil. “Really?”
    “But it’s not because of what happened today. It’s in spite of what happened today. I feel safer knowing we live near a cop, and now I want to give you the chance to prove to me that you can be responsible.” She prayed she wouldn’t come to regret this decision, like so many others.
    “Great. Are you going to have him spy on me now?” Lexi’s eyes narrowed into slits.
    “Of course not. He has an important job to do, and it’s not to babysit you.” Not babysit, but guide, lift up, encourage. That’s what she hoped for, anyway.
    “That’s good, because I don’t need a babysitter.” Lexi frowned.
    They’d have to set a few ground rules, and she’d make sure they were enforced. It would help to have another set of eyes at least some of the time. She only hoped the officer didn’t mind the intrusion, because right now she desperately needed his help.
    If she didn’t get control of Lexi soon, she could risk losing her all over again.
     
    ****
     
    The beautiful mess of a woman who lived two doors down was that rare woman he heard about often but never met in real life: a woman who appeared to be unaware of her own beauty. Legend held that there were women like that in the world, but until now, Jack had not believed it to be true.
    She had obviously dropped everything when her daughter called, evidenced by the black apron from The Bean. That was a first. Most parents he’d dealt with in the past came in red faced and ready to tear right into their kid. And then him, for having the nerve to catch their little darlings doing something wrong.
    He was thinking about Maggie’s long and wavy hair when his doorbell rang, causing him to startle and instinctively grab his Glock. Calm down. He’d just moved in recently, and even Ryan Colton, his best friend and fellow deputy, had yet to drop by. Mostly because Jack liked to keep to himself, even though it went against doctor’s orders. Those orders were to reconnect with society, understand the inherent good in people, and a lot of other nonsense he’d already forgotten.
    He peered at his new neighbor through the keyhole. Maggie. Even the name was beautiful and rolled off the tongue like an Irish melody, and surely the Big Guy didn’t mind him looking a bit now since Mr. Bradshaw was out of the picture. No, still not a good idea. Single mom and all that, and the kid was a deal breaker.
    He opened the door with his cell phone in hand, so maybe she’d think she interrupted him in the middle of something important. That usually did the trick. Act busy and maybe they’ll leave faster. “Can I help you?”
    “I’m sorry to interrupt. May I speak to you for a few minutes?”
    He’d be willing to talk to her for hours, but there was the matter of the kid. “Come in.”
    She brushed by him, a coconut scent in her strawberry blonde hair leaving a trail in his wake. He swallowed hard.
    “Sorry, I don’t have any furniture yet. I haven’t had much free time since I moved in.” Best to keep busy, he’d found, since it left so much less time for thinking.
    There were two seats in his kitchen—one of them a milk carton and the other a stool. He offered her the stool as he leaned against the kitchen counter.
    “This won’t take long,” Maggie said.
    And for some odd reason, that didn’t make him feel better. “So what’s up?”
    She looked at the floor and didn’t meet his eyes, so either she was uncomfortable or had just committed a crime. He settled on the former.
    “It’s Lexi. She’s been difficult since we moved here. I don’t know what to do