Keegan watched Nikki as she jogged toward the municipal parking lot. He squashed the unexpected urge to follow her. She was the first woman to make him want to lift his unofficial vow of celibacy since the break-up.

Unofficial—because he and Margot were never really, officially dating and she made sure to remind him of that as she kicked him to the curb. At least not as far as the FBI was concerned anyway. That's why the SAC in his office was shocked when Keegan turned in his resignation and announced his new job with the Border Patrol.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Special Agent in Charge Bob Sacks had asked him.

"I'm sure," Keegan insisted. But he wasn't. Keegan loved his job in the FBI but he couldn't stand looking at Margot and the giant rock on her left hand every single day. He couldn't even stand the thought of sharing the same agency with her knowing she had been stringing him along for so many months, letting him fall in love with her, while all along she planned to marry some rich desk jockey.

"Well, then, I wish you luck in your new endeavor." Bob had shook his hand and bid him farewell. Just like that, a ten year career came to a close. Keegan strolled toward the same parking lot Nikki had just left and slid in behind the wheel of his BMW. As soon as he went home and showered and changed, he was going to trade the ridiculous car in for something more practical for farm life.

Farm life. Ha. What he had was a piece of overgrown land and a falling down house. What had he gotten himself into anyway?

His cell phone rang. Fishing it out of his pocket, he wiped away a few grains of sand. "Hello?"

"Keegan? Where are you?"

"In my car, Ma. Why?"

"I had Kaiden drop me by your place on his way to work and you aren't here."

"I'll be home in a minute. Just sit tight." Home for the moment was an off-season beach rental. With the tourist season about to pick up he was going to be evicted in a week or so. Hopefully his house would be deemed safe soon or he would be forced to sleep on his brother's sofa. All that nauseating, lovey dovey crap between Kaiden and Katie would drive Keegan to an early grave. Maybe he should look for a decent tent to sleep in on his own land. Just in case he was homeless for a bit.

His mother was sitting in the rocker on the little front porch when he pulled up in front of the bungalow. She looked annoyed. Keegan parked and stepped from his car. "Good morning, Ma. What are you doing here so early?"

"I wanted to see you again before I headed home. Besides, my car is parked here, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Where have you been?" Clara stood up and followed him through the front door.

"I went for a walk on the beach."

Clara eyed him up and down. "Why are you wearing the same things you had on yesterday and why are you all wet?"

"The walk started last night. I fell in the water." He led his mother to the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

"Are you not sleeping again?" That's it. No questions about how he fell in the water.

"It's okay, Ma. I was just a little wired last night. Not working has given me a whole lot of excess energy. I'll be fine when I get back to work again."

"It's my fault, isn't it?"

"Why would my sleep issues be your fault?"

"I was too hard on you last night about falling in love. I'm sorry. I just want to see you happy."

"I am happy." An image of Nikki Swenson passed through his mind bringing a smile to his lips. Getting to know her better would definitely make him happier. Dumbass. Why didn't you get her number?

Because he wasn't interested in a relationship. He kept reminding himself of that. A friendship wouldn't hurt though, right? He was new in town. His twin was busy with his new bride. Keegan needed to make a few friends of his own. Maybe if he hung out at the beach in the early mornings he would run into her again. No. He didn't need to get involved with anyone, friend or otherwise. It was time to just focus on his house and new job. But damn, she had looked good in those tight running shorts.

Clara patted him on the arm drawing him back into the conversation. "I know, son. I just don't want you to spend your life alone the way I did after your father died, God rest his soul."

"You need to stop worrying about me. I'm not a child anymore. I am a grown man and maybe I am happy with my life the way it is."

His mother reached up and lightly pinched his cheek. "If you say so. You will always be my baby though."

Keegan grinned and hug Clara. "I know. I love you, Ma."

"And I love you. So, I'm probably going to keep bugging you to settle down and give me a couple grandbabies. In the meantime, I suppose that new home of yours is going to keep you busy."

He nodded. "Yes. Very. But first I am going to trade my car in."

"Your car? But, I thought you loved your little Beamer?"

"I do but it's not practical. How am I going to haul anything with that?"

"What do you plan on hauling?"

"Trees. Rocks. Bodies."

"Keegan Matthew James!" Clara gave him a look of mock shock.

"I'm just ready for a change. That's why I moved here and took the job with the Border Patrol. I'm going all in, seizing my southern roots and getting a big old pick-up truck like my twin."

"Good lord, Keegan. You got confidence issues or something? That truck Kaiden drives is ridiculous. I'm just counting the days until Katie talks some sense into him."

"I think she likes the truck, but don't tell her I said so. I'm not getting the lift kit or the oversized tires though, just a normal old truck."

"You're a good boy, Keegan. You've always had your head on straight with a plan for your life. I'm a little worried about you though. All of sudden you quit your job, buy an old farm, and ditch your BMW. What aren’t you telling me? You aren't dying, are you?"

"Of course not! I told you, I was just ready for a change. You ought to understand a little something about that."

Clara's eyes turned kind and lit with understanding. "There was a woman, wasn't there?"

"Ma," Keegan issued a quiet warning.

"There was. That's why you were so resistant to the dating website."

"I don’t need a match maker to find a girlfriend. That's why I resisted the website."

"You know you can't lie to your mother. You will go straight to hell."

"Let it be, please."

"Here's what I think. You fell in love with someone you work with and that is against bureau policy. The wrong person found out and gave you the old two envelope deal. You know, quit or be fired. So, you resigned, grabbed up the first thing that came your way, and ran back to Virginia to nurse your broken heart."

Wow, his mother was good. Too good. "I was never told to quit or be fired."

"But you are nursing a broken heart."

"I was dating a woman, yes. Unfortunately, she was also seeing someone else. Someone with a large pocketbook and an even larger diamond ring."

"Oh, Keegan, I am so sorry. You never mentioned—"

"That's because I didn’t want to have this conversation. And, because we were keeping it quiet. I figured I would give it a chance, see where things went before I told anybody anything."

"Was she an agent?"

"Yes."

"How long were you together?"

"Almost a year."

"A year? That's more than just casual dating."

"At first it was casual then it got serious. At least, I thought it got serious. I mean, I was serious. She was too. Just with some other dude."

"I really am sorry, dear. I wish you had told me sooner."

"Then we would have had to have this heart to heart sooner and I wasn't ready to do that. I'm still not but you have an uncanny way of forcing me to tell you pretty much everything."

Clara chuckled. "One of the talents that comes with raising three boys."

"You did a great job, you know. It can't have been easy to be a widow with two boys, let alone taking in a third."

"It was a walk in the park because I love you all with all of my heart."

"We love you too."

"I know you do. Well, I think I'm going to get on out of here so you can go buy yourself some confidence."

Keegan couldn't help but laugh then. "You are something else, Ma. You know that, right?"

"Oh yes. Your father used to tell me that all the time." Clara hugged Keegan and picked up her purse from where she had set it on the kitchen table. "Call me, tell me what you end up with."

"You know I will. Drive safe, Ma. I love you." He watched as his mother followed the path to the driveway.

"Love you too!" Clara called from the end of the walkway. Keegan smiled and waved as he watched her drive off. As much as he loved his mother, a visit with her always left him emotionally drained.

A huge yawn overtook him. "It's still early. Maybe I will take a nap before I go car shopping. And, now I am talking to myself. Yup, definitely time for a nap."

After a quick shower to get the sand off of him, Keegan climbed in between the cool sheets without even bothering to put any shorts on. What did it matter if he slept naked or in a snowsuit? There was no one that would know or care anyway.