Badge of Honor (The Town of Pearl 9)

“No, sweetie. You don’t understand. If a set of men stake a claim to a woman or seek guardianship of that woman and she accepts them, then there are no other men allowed to court her.”

Lauren was quiet a moment, her cheeks turning a nice shade of red. Mary couldn’t help but to wonder if she’d met someone already. Lauren was gorgeous and assertive. She wondered who it might have been.

“Guardianship? Like some child who needs a man or men to survive?”

“No. Like a woman is supposed to be treated, protected, loved, and cherished. Not abused, neglected, left to fend for her own and all alone.”

“Is this sharing thing automatic?” Lauren asked.

“Automatic? What do you mean?” Mary asked and she was feeling more and more like Lauren met someone now.

“I mean if you meet one guy, does it mean if he has a team, friends, that they’ll share that woman?”

“Not necessarily. Lauren, nothing is forced here. If there’s a mutual attraction, a spark for a relationship to grow then it happens naturally. If not then so be it,” she told Lauren and Lauren looked away.

Mary got the courage to ask her. “Lauren, did you meet someone?”

Lauren looked at her. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess sort of. There was this guy last week who appeared out of nowhere while I was jogging. I kind of freaked out, thinking it was one of Miklos’s buddies, and I drew my weapon.”

“Oh my,” Mary said and covered her mouth in shock. But really she was chuckling inside. Especially if this man had this effect on Lauren. If she was attracted to him so instantly, Mary wanted to know who he was.

“Yeah well, I didn’t shoot him, so that was a plus there. Anyway, we talked and then he challenged me.”

“Challenged you?” Mary asked and as Lauren explained about the race up the hill and her aching side, Mary chuckled.

“So I avoided the route for the last week, but today he appeared again, just as some wild dogs were in the vicinity.”

“Oh no. There shouldn’t be any wild dogs around those woods. The sheriff’s deputies usually get calls on the far end of town and take care of it. That’s not a good thing. We should let Wyatt know about this.”

Lauren nodded her head and then stared at her hands a moment.

“What happened next?” she asked Lauren, and Lauren shyly tried to change the direction and talk about the town.

“What was his name, this retired soldier you met twice?”

“Harper. I think Calloway was his last name.”

Mary was shocked. He was part of Galvin’s team and they did special jobs for Storm and even Dmitri. She wondered if Dmitri had told them about Lauren and who she was and asked they watch over her. That would make some sense. She would have to call Dmitri and ask him. Or maybe just call Galvin.

“Do you know him?” she asked.

“Oh yes. I know Harper and the rest of his team of Navy SEALs. There’s their leader, Galvin. Then Gus, Orin, and Mace. They are very hard men. Almost unapproachable in a lot of ways. They look so angry or just disinterested in socializing in town. It’s interesting, because they know the men who helped me get you out of the hospital and to get May and your sisters to safety.”

Lauren widened her eyes and then sat up straight on the couch.

“Five of them? Are you serious? Do you think he purposely showed up in the woods? That he is trying to be friend me to get close so him and his team can keep an eye on

me?” Mary could tell that Lauren was getting angry.

“I don’t believe so. My friend wouldn’t tell a soul you were here. He agreed that Pearl was a safe place for you. I doubt Harper and his team even know about you. Well I mean Harper does now, but that was surely coincidence.”

Lauren stood up.

“I don’t exactly buy coincidences like this one. The damn guy was just trying to get close to me. I don’t believe it. I fell for his words, his charms, and that damn kiss,” Lauren said as she paced the small area in front of the couch.

“Kiss? You kissed him?” Mary asked, feeling very excited now, even though it seemed she might have made a mess of things by encouraging Lauren’s assumption about Harper.