Hold Me Read Free Page A

chance.
Sometimes you take on the bear and sometimes the bear takes you on. If it’s the latter, then you’d better run like hell.
    Destiny held in a chuckle. Yup, Grandma Nell had always had a practical streak in her. She would take one look at Kipling, push Destiny aside and ask for a little privacy. Then she would have her way with him and toss him aside. Because the relationship drama she’d grown up with hadn’t started with her parents, although they’d been the worst offenders. No, bad marriages and broken hearts went back generations on both sides.
    Kipling hugged the mayor, then kissed her cheek before nodding at Destiny.
    “Good to see you again,” he said.
    “You, too.”
    Mayor Marsha led them to a seating area in the corner of her office. Once they’d claimed their places, she began the meeting.
    “Destiny, the town is thrilled to have you here, helping us launch our HERO program.”
    Destiny nodded even as she glanced at Kipling. She saw him wince, and couldn’t resist pretending she didn’t know what the mayor was talking about.
    “HERO program?”
    “Help Emergency Rescue Operations,” Mayor Marsha told her. “What we’re calling Fool’s Gold’s search and rescue organization. We held a contest, people submitted names. The city council narrowed it down to ten, and then we voted. HERO won.”
    “It’s still a stupid name,” Kipling grumbled.
    Destiny held in a grin. “You don’t like being a hero?”
    “Let’s just say I take a lot of crap about the name.”
    “Challenges build character,” she murmured, thinking he’d probably liked G-Force a whole lot better.
    “Yet another place I’m not lacking.”
    He winked as he spoke, which made her want to laugh. But this was supposed to be a professional setting, so instead she turned her attention back to Mayor Marsha.
    “STORMS will work well for what you have in mind.”
    “I’m counting on it,” the mayor told her. “We were very lucky to get the money we needed. Between our federal and state grants and a very sizable anonymous local donation, we’re fully funded for the next five years. Including your part in this.”
    Impressive, Destiny thought. STORMS didn’t come cheap. With the software itself, the equipment required, the expense of mapping and training a team, the price was over a million dollars. And that didn’t include the cost of running a search and rescue operation.
    “We’ve had excellent success with our software,” she said. “Your terrain is perfectly suited for what we do best.”
    “Excellent. You and Kipling have a plan?”
    Kipling sat as relaxed as he had before. “We’re getting one together. Destiny has to map the area and feed the information into her software. Then we’ll do some beta testing on the program. We’ll make the August first deadline.”
    “Good.” Mayor Marsha nodded at Kipling, then turned back to Destiny. “Do you agree that we’ll meet our deadline?”
    “We’re on schedule to have the program up and running by mid-July. The extra two weeks are a buffer I’m hoping we don’t need.”
    Destiny didn’t like unexpected problems. Part of her job was anticipating issues before they happened. She prided herself on a smooth rollout.
    “And how is Starr settling in to life in Fool’s Gold?”
    The mayor’s shift in topic caught Destiny by surprise. Worse, it took her a second to remember who Starr was and why, for the first time in over a decade, she suddenly had someone other than herself to worry about.
    “She’s, ah, doing okay. I guess. We just got into town yesterday.”
    The mayor nodded knowingly. “Yes, it must be difficult for both of you. She’s your half sister, isn’t she? You have the same father but different mothers?”
    Destiny felt her mouth start to drop open. She consciously kept her lips together as she nodded. “Yes, that’s right,” she said cautiously, not comfortable discussing her family. Because it was so much better when people didn’t