Genesis: A Harte's Peak Prequel Read Online Free Page B

courts every other Saturday for pick-up games with a group that had assembled a couple of years ago and included a handful of cops and firefighters from all over the county. Basketball was one of the few things that calmed him these days.
    Ryan would brag about his latest female conquest, when the only thing on Jack’s mind was how he could get out of the arrangement he had agreed to with Maggie. Maggie with the emerald eyes . She’d just asked him to do the unthinkable. Mentor a teenager.
    From what he had witnessed so far, Ryan managed to weasel out of most commitments. Maybe he had some advice Jack could use.
    Maggie deserved a better man to mentor her daughter, certainly someone who could sleep through the night without waking up in a cold sweat. Someone who hadn’t messed up as badly as he had.
    Ryan pulled in right beside him, uncharacteristically on time. They greeted each other and walked in to the gym together.
    “How do you like the new place?” Ryan asked.
    “Funny you should mention that.”
    “Why?” Ryan set his gym bag down and pulled out a water bottle.
    “I have a problem with my neighbor.” Jack threw Ryan his basketball, and they began to play a little one-on-one before the others trickled in.
    “Already?” Ryan whistled. “Hoo boy, Butler, you do have a way with people, don’t you?”
    “Not that kind of problem.” Jack scored a shot that would have easily been a three pointer if they were keeping score. Too bad they weren’t, because Ryan needed to be schooled.
    “Are you going to tell me or what?” Ryan asked, taking the rebound.
    “It’s my neighbor. She asked me to mentor her teenaged daughter.”
    “So what’s the big deal?”
    “You know the big deal.” Ryan and their boss, Sheriff Calhoun, were the only two who knew what had happened in Virginia. And he planned to keep it that way.
    Ryan stopped mid-dribble and stared at Jack. “It’s like ripping off a bandage. You need to get over it.”
    Easier said than done. He wasn’t ready yet, and the way he was going, he might never be.
    Jack scored another three-pointer. Where were the guys anyway? If Ryan wouldn’t help him, they might as well start this game and stop talking. He wanted to start scoring.
    Ryan roughly grabbed the rebound. Perhaps they were keeping score. “If you don’t want to help, then just tell her no. What’s the big deal?”
    “She needs help. You should meet her kid, a real piece of work. And the dad is not in the picture.”
    “Yeah? So what’s this neighbor’s name?” Ryan pressed, dunking the ball.
    “Maggie Bradshaw.”
    Ryan stopped under the basket, and whistled. “Dude, Maggie Bradshaw? Well, now it all makes sense.”
    “What does?” Jack asked.
    “I see why you won’t say no to her. But fair warning. Sure she’s gorgeous, but she’s the ice queen of Harte’s County.” Ryan laughed. “She and her daughter came back about a year ago to live near her in-laws. She’s a widow.”
    A widow . He felt worse for Maggie, and if it were possible, even a little sorry for Lexi. Losing a loved one wasn’t easy on a kid, or a grown man, for that matter.
    “Before you get any ideas, I asked her out a few months ago, and she turned me down flat. Know what she said? ‘I don’t date.’ Those were her exact words. So good luck with that,” Ryan said.
    “Sure thing, buddy, but did it ever occur to you that she just doesn’t want to date the town’s Romeo?” Jack asked.
    “Oh, you are dead!” Ryan fouled Jack, almost knocking him to the ground.
    Jack gained his bearings quickly to make the next shot. Just get over it. Hadn’t that been what he’d tried to do for the past year? And even though he’d finally quit the Marshals Service and moved three thousand miles away, he’d brought the nightmares with him.
     
    ****
     
    Thank you, Lord. For the first time in a year, Maggie woke up with the thought that the tide had turned in her favor. She had a law enforcement official who would