“Then we’d best get your beauty sleep going.”
* * *
“You’re crazy to do this, Bella.” Jarvis sat at her kitchen island later that night
, his hair gleaming under the pendant lights.
“As crazy as Spencer was to call you out here tonight? Really, you two don’t need to babysit me. I already have a federal agent at my beck and call.” Holden was outside taking evidence as Spencer and Boris patrolled her backyard. It was half past midnight and Bella wanted to sleep for a day.
“You should always let us know what you’re up to, sis. You know we’re going to find out one way or the other. Word doesn’t take long to travel in Mustang Valley.” Jarvis ran his fingers through his hair. “And you’re working fast even for you if you’ve already got this agent doing your bidding.” His words were harsh but Jarvis’s tone was kind, loving even. He was the best brother, as was Spencer, and Bella didn’t for one minute take either of them for granted. Yet she had, by not mentioning her intention to run for Ms. Mustang Valley.
“I’m sorry, Jarvis. It’s best for me to keep things as low key as possible when I’m doing investigative work.”
“I know that, sis, but Spencer and I are your only family. We need to know, so that we can be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”
She poured them each a tall glass of ice water, and filled glasses for Holden and Spence, a mixing bowl for Boris that she placed on the floor. “I appreciate that, but this is a very insular community I’m delving into. Gio’s passing made me realize that a lot of my grief is over not having been able to prevent her death.”
“So you think digging up the past will help you with that?”
She shook her head. “It’s not about me. We can learn from the past. If I do this right, I’ll find evidence that this pageant committee and board have been negatively influencing young women’s health and eating habits and shut that behavior down.”
Jarvis’s brow went up, the way it did when she tried to get one over on him in a board game. Whereas Spencer would blatantly call her out on anything he thought she was lying about, Jarvis took a more circumspect view of things. Of life, especially.
“That’s a tall order, sis, even by your standards. Let’s say you do find evidence—though what that’ll look like is beyond me, short of finding a memo that states, ‘Starve yourself or get kicked out.’”
“I have to do this, Jarvis. Gio deserves it. All the women who enter these contests deserve to know the truth about what they’re participating in.”
“It seems to me someone isn’t happy about you getting involved.”
“No one knows I’m doing this as a reporter, except for Spencer’s friend Holden, whom you met when you came in.”
“He’s a good guy, Holden St. Clair.”
“You know him?” A thread of self-pity wound its way around her heart. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about him, who he was?”
Jarvis smiled. “Spencer did. You knew the name once you met him, didn’t you? How did you meet, at the school?”
She nodded. “Yes. He was the security guard when I checked in. I didn’t realize he was Spencer’s friend, though. He’s undercover. I guess I shouldn’t have said that to you.” The familiar heat rushed her cheeks and she prayed Jarvis didn’t notice, or if he did, that he’d take it for her regret at spilling the beans. Not because she was already thinking of Holden as much more than her brother’s friend.
Jarvis chuckled. “I’d have loved to see that. And don’t worry about telling me—I’m a vault.”
“You are.”
“What do you wish you’d seen, and what are you a vault about?” Spencer looked at Jarvis as he, K-9 Boris and Holden walked into the kitchen. Spencer removed his hat and placed it on the counter. “Boris, drink.” The dog’s lapping filled the quiet.
“Oh, nothing. Just how Bella’s getting away with being a pageant contestant when we both know how much she hates pretending to be anything other than herself.”
She risked a glance at Holden and found another reason to blush in the way their gazes locked, as if they’d been working together for longer than a day. As if...as if there was something happening between them they weren’t ready to acknowledge.
Holden blinked, shuttering the desire she’d seen in his eyes. He let out a laugh and the other two men joined in. The masculine rumble at once grated on Bella’s nerves and comforted her. She knew her brothers only wanted her safety but they tended to lean over into the minding-her-business category. Holden had already told her he was going to basically be her bodyguard and protector for the duration of the pageant. A need to establish her turf twisted up through her exhaustion.
“Give me a break. Going undercover for this piece is the same way I get any story. It’s called doing my job.” She emphasized her words, hoping her brothers took her words at face value. Holden, too. He couldn’t find out how much he’d affected her since they’d first met. How much he distracted her now, standing in her kitchen close to midnight, a day’s worth of beard on his impossibly square chin. At least it didn’t highlight his cleft as much, one of his more annoying features. “And while I truly appreciate all three of you looking out for me, I’m a grown woman with a concealed-weapon permit.” She walked over to the far kitchen cabinet, opened it to reveal her gun safe.
“Your weapon’s in there?” Holden spoke first.
“Yes.” She nodded. Let him chew on that. “I’m a perfect shot, too.”
“She is,” Spencer chimed in. “We thought Bella was going to join MVPD at one point.”