and why. The mystery only made it feel more daunting than it probably was.
Or was she only trying to convince herself of that? At the very least, if she had someone in her life with a weird grudge against her, it was probably better to know.
Across the grass, Liv’s cousin Tanya was taking a photo of Aunt Beth and Uncle Herb in the low late-afternoon sunlight. The couple leaned in toward each other and smiled brightly. The flash went off, Tanya looked at the screen on the back of the camera and the older couple came in to have a look, too. Then they scooted back to their previous position, smiled again—a little less brightly this time—and lowered their chins. The flash went off, and they came around to look at the screen again.
“So...” A voice hummed at Liv’s shoulder, and she turned to see her uncle Gerard. He still looked the part of the drill sergeant, even in shorts and a T-shirt.
“Hi,” Liv said with a smile. “How are you?”
“Fine. Care to introduce me?”
“Uncle Gerard, this is my...” Police escort? Bodyguard? The lying didn’t come easily to her. “This is Jack.”
“Jack.” Gerard nodded and extended a hand, and the men shook. “So you’re dating our Liv, are you?”
“Looks that way.” Jack smiled back cordially. “You’re Gerard Hylton?”
“The one and the same.”
“Marie’s husband,” Liv said.
Jack looked down at his plate, newly scraped clean, and back at Gerard. “Lucky man. Your wife is a great cook.”
Gerard wasn’t easily placated by compliments about his wife. Marie drove her husband crazy.
“I’ve heard you’re police,” Gerard said brusquely.
“I am. I’m a detective—I just transferred to town.”
“We’ve done that before—the whole cop-in-the-family routine,” Gerard said. “It didn’t go well for Liv. We’re not keen for a repeat.”
Jack’s eyebrows went up, and Liv suppressed a moan.
“Uncle Gerard, we’re not that serious. You can stand down,” Liv interjected.
“Evan seems a little too interested in our land, if you ask me,” Gerard went on.
“Honestly, Uncle, you’ve got to let that one go,” she said with a sigh. Evan had offered to buy Gerard and Marie out when they were attempting to retire in Arizona. And Gerard could be touchy.
“And I don’t care if your ex is personal friends with Mayor Nelson,” Gerard went on. “He could be hobnobbing with the president for all I care. That land isn’t for sale.” Gerard’s laser glare didn’t waver away from Jack. “You cops take care of your own. Well, we Hyltons do the same.”
“So you aren’t a fan of Evan Kornekewsky,” Jack said.
“What do you think?” Gerard barked.
Liv put a hand on her uncle’s arm. “Be nice!”
“I thought I was,” Gerard retorted, then he sighed. “Marie is waving at me frantically. She’s afraid I’ll say something harsh.”
Liv shot Jack a grimace, and Uncle Gerard reached over and gave Liv’s arm a squeeze. “You look great, by the way, kiddo. Go get another plate.”
She’d always liked Uncle Gerard. He was Marie’s complete opposite. In some very good ways the couple complemented each other, and in other ways, they were a lot alike. Big hearts, big mouths and even bigger opinions. Gerard headed back toward his wife, leaving Liv and Jack in momentary peace.
“Sorry,” Liv said with a wince.
“Don’t be. I like him. He’s honest.” Jack’s squint followed her uncle. “So what’s this about Evan and land?”
“A misunderstanding,” she replied. One she still hadn’t forgiven her ex for, because he’d tossed her into the middle of it.
“Care to elaborate?”
“There’s not much to tell,” she replied, and she heard the stiffness in her own tone. She was still processing a whole lot of anger, apparently.
“And the mayor?” Evan asked with a frown.
“This is a small town,” she said, relaxing a little. “It doesn’t mean the same thing it does in Denver. Trust me.”
Jack eyed her for a moment, then shrugged.
“I need more of that potato salad,” he said after a beat of silence.
“If you were actually dating me, you wouldn’t like my uncle half as much,” Liv said, following him toward the table. Evan had detested her uncle. They’d sparred at every social event, and her uncle had glowed victorious when Evan finally proved himself the lowlife that Gerard had suspected all along.
“You’ve had boyfriends who complained?” Jack asked.
“I’ve had a husband who complained,” she retorted.
Jack was silent for a moment, then shrugged. “I like who I like.”
Not that it mattered. In a few weeks, she’d have to tell them that Jack was nothing more than security anyway and hope that the drama of all those threats overshadowed the more pathetic truth about her relationship to this hunky cop. Uncle Gerard’s bravado was for nothing.
“Liv, how are you?” Tanya said, and Liv looked up to see her cousin approaching, camera in hand.
“Hi, Tanya.” Liv tried to smile. She loved her cousin, but the more people she had to lie to about Jack, the worse she was going to feel.
Liv made the introductions, and Tanya and Jack shook hands.
“So...this is new!” Tanya said with a wide smile. “Liv sure can keep a secret. I’m serious. I mean, she’s normally pretty closemouthed about stuff, but this is crazy! How long have you kept him under wraps?”
“Almost a year,” Liv said with a wan smile. She’d been thinking about how good it would feel to rub some fake relationship into Marie’s face, not Tanya’s. This felt like collateral damage—a family relationship that would suffer because of these untruths.
“Almost...” Tanya’s smile faltered, and Liv saw the hurt in her cousin’s eyes. “What? That long?”
“With her divorce and everything, she wasn’t sure if she’d even like me,” Jack supplied.
“Well, it’s not my business,” Tanya said with a forced smile. “Obviously.”
Liv sighed. “Tanya, you and I need a coffee. When are you off work?”
Tanya and her mother ran a local deli together—it was a family affair.
“I
