Page 19 of Guarding Truth
He relented. “Fine, maybe we can meet for coffee after I drop off Ivy. I haven’t had enough caffeine yet today. It would be nice to catch up, and maybe we can figure out how to alleviate Ivy’s concerns. We can talk about it.”
His breath hitched at the thought of spending time with Juliette. Flashbacks scrolled through his mind of the last time he’d seen her, when he’d lifted her off the mountainside to safety. One of the worst days of his life. And now, three years later, she sat at his dining room table after his niece had hired her to be his bodyguard.
“Let’s meet at Bitty and Beau’s for coffee in thirty minutes,” Juliette suggested.
“Sounds good.” Caleb’s phone vibrated in his pocket. “Let me take this. It’s my partner, Blake.” Juliette nodded and headed to the front door to wait.
“Blake, I’m on my way out the door. Can I call you back shortly?”
“It can’t wait. We received another threat from Rushmore. They posted it on their website this morning. They’ve just declared a cyberwar with Cyberskies. And they named us both personally as their enemies.”
* * *
TUESDAY, 11:30 A.M.
What had she been thinking? Juliette tapped her foot under the café table while waiting for Caleb.
Why had she suggested they meet up? The man could defend himself. But, like Caleb had said, too many coincidences might spell trouble. And she wanted to make sure there wasn’t real danger for Caleb or Ivy.
But now the past stared her in the face. Should she bring up that day she’d left, try to explain?
She’d ordered two coffees and two bear claws. Caleb wouldn’t eat the pastries, but she’d use it as an excuse to eat two. Sweet snacks were her downfall. The caffeine and sugar rush did little to calm her nerves, but seeing Caleb again had erased the canyons of time and distance between them. Maybe they could forge a friendship again. Because her reaction to his presence made her head swim and her heart beat a little faster.
“Jules.” Caleb waved and headed in her direction. Her stomach fluttered. Why was she nervous?
“You still love sweets, I see.” The wooden chair scraped against the floor when he pulled it out and sat down. His memory never let anything slide.
“Who, me?” she said, taking a big bite of the warm pastry that might as well have doubled as a dessert. “I never understood how you stayed in shape with your vast amount of sugar intake.”
“It’s why I get up early and run five miles every other day. Duh.”
Juliette had always thought he was handsome, but the small patch of gray at the edge of his dark-brown hair made him even more adorable.
“I see some things don’t change,” Juliette said, waving her hand across his T-shirt. This one readCome to the Math Side. We have Pi.Cringeworthy—maybe—but Caleb owned his quirks.
Caleb smiled and pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. “What can I say? I’ll choose comfort over style any day.” Awkward and humble. And he was oblivious to what others thought of him. The man could still command the attention of any woman in the room, even if he didn’t notice.
His demeanor shifted to somber. “I am so sorry about Ivy. The break-in must have really gotten to her. She’s had a lot of trauma in her life for such a young age. I hate having her out of my sight, but that private school is locked up tighter than Fort Knox. I think she’s safer there. Assuming she stays.”
Caleb took a sip of the coffee Juliette had purchased for him. She mentally checked herself. This was business. Nothing else.
But an emptiness stirred in her soul. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed his friendship until he was sitting across from her.
She cleared her throat, refusing to let her emotions get the best of her. “She seemed convinced that the person will return. Do you think the robbery was an isolated case?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see the guy take anything, but one of my work laptops is missing. Ivy startled the guy. It could have ended way worse.”
“She’s smart. Maybe she picked up on something and that’s why she’s nervous.”
Caleb sighed and the wooden chair creaked as he leaned back. “She’s too smart. Ivy qualified for Mensa at the age of eight. I can’t keep her out of trouble on the internet. Yesterday, she got busted for changing another student’s grade by hacking into the school’s system. She’s twelve and in high school. I picked one of the most prestigious private schools to keep her challenged, but the astronomical tuition is pointless if she gets kicked out.”
The man had his hands full. He’d always been smart and the top of his classes, even graduating from West Point before enlisting. Seemed like Ivy took after him. “I’m so sorry to hear about your sister. Will you tell me a little more about the accident?”
Caleb frowned and swirled the liquid remnants in his coffee cup. “It was about a month after the incident on the mountain. I’d returned to my station when I got the call about Tessa and the car accident. A drunk driver crossed the center line on a highway and killed Tessa and Zach. Ivy had been at home with her grandparents. I took emergency leave. I came back to the Army only to complete my assignment, and once that was up, I left for good to raise Ivy.”
Words formed on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to explain, apologize, and even rehash the past. But what if he didn’t want to go there?
Would that day on the mountain always be between them?