She laughed, but then her tone changed. “Okay, I’m going to do it.” The resolve in her voice was clear.
“Warm me up? Or dive?”
“I’m going to jump off of here holding your hand. Feet first. Then, if I can do that, I’ll try to dive. By myself.”
As much as he wanted to keep Tessa in his arms, he knew he had to help her get through this internal battle. “Okay. I’m going to squeeze in beside you. When you’re ready, count us down.”
She clutched his hand as he lowered his arm. Then, when they were side by side, he slipped his other hand into hers. He didn’t say a word, even when they stood like that for at least thirty seconds. Grayson was beginning to think they’d both be going back down the ladder when she finally spoke.
Her voice was a little shaky, but she didn’t stutter when she said, “Three... Two... One.”
* * *
Silence pounded in Tessa’s ears as she felt her body sink lower, her heart beating in her throat as she opened her eyes under the water. She blew out a stream of bubbles, noting that nothing had affected her vision this time. Grayson was beside her, although he’d released her hand and was holding up those silly piña colada shorts. She smiled to herself as she kicked her legs toward the surface.
“You did it!” Grayson used his free arm to dog-paddle to her.
“I did it,” she repeated and wrapped her arms around his neck. The exhilaration racing through her body was so intense, she couldn’t contain it. Tessa kissed him, but she was grinning too much to take things any further.
His smile must’ve equaled her own because she’d never seen Grayson look so happy. Who would have thought such a silly accomplishment of jumping feetfirst off a diving board could inspire so much joy between two people who barely knew each other? Yet, seeing how proud he was sent a liberating shot of satisfaction through her. Tessa had a sudden urge to make him even prouder.
He spun her around triumphantly then asked, “Did it feel good?”
Their legs brushed against each other’s as they kicked in place. “Not at first,” she admitted. “It felt scary. But then it was over as soon as I jumped. It’s more of a relief than anything.”
“Do you want to try it again?” he asked.
She nodded and swam for the side railing to haul herself out. “You stay there. I’m going to jump to you.”
She was like Marcus’s twins when they’d been toddlers, wanting the thrill of the jump yet simultaneously wanting the safety of someone catching them. The second time she went up on the diving board, she still paused for too long at the edge and felt the fear threatening to overrun her body.
“You’ve got this.” Grayson held up his arms. “Jump toward me. I’ll get you.”
Tessa closed her eyes and leaped off with both sets of toes pointed perfectly down. She didn’t sink as far this time and quickly resurfaced.
Grayson, true to his word, was less than an arm’s length away from her. “You hardly made a splash.”
The third time, she added a bounce before going straight in. The fourth time, she did a forward flip, not quite ready to go headfirst yet. Tessa did several more jumps, each time seeing Grayson’s encouraging smile as soon as she resurfaced.
She lost count of how many times she went off the board but, finally, she was ready to try an actual dive. Tessa stopped halfway across the springboard. She took a deep breath and counted off how many steps she would need. One, two, three. Feet together, then bounce and lift. Her arms went up, her muscle memory overriding every anxiety. Without thinking about it, she pivoted midair, her head coming down and her legs straightening upward.
Not only did relief course through her, along with a tiny tremor of pride, Tessa experienced that tingling thrill that used to make her come alive when she was at a dive meet. She came from a family of overachievers. But diving was her specialty. It was her skill and made her stand out as her own person, not just another King. She hadn’t realized she’d been chasing that same thrill, that same rush of accomplishment, since...well, since her last diving championship.
She heard one of the locker room doors creak open and turned her head in time to catch Grayson waving off Agent Talib. Tessa looked at the digital clock hanging next to the giant timer on the back wall.
Eleven twenty-seven. She blinked the chlorine out of her eyes to make sure she was reading the red numbers correctly.
“Why didn’t you tell me how late it was getting?” she asked Grayson, who’d been treading water the entire time. He hadn’t so much as swum to the edge for a break.
“Because I liked watching you.” He kicked his way closer to her. His eyes were full of pride and perhaps something more. But it certainly wasn’t exhaustion.
“We should probably get out,” she suggested. Tessa’s adrenaline levels were still too amped up to think about being tired, but she knew the exhaustion would set in soon enough. She swam to the ladder, but he didn’t follow.
“You go ahead,” he told her, a trace of pinkish color appearing on his cheeks. “I’ll stay here for another minute or two.”
“Why?” she asked before it dawned on her that he was using both arms to cut through the water to keep afloat. If he wasn’t holding on to his shorts, then how were they...?
She looked toward the bright green, white and pink material crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the deep end. Her cheeks flooded with heat when she brought her eyes up to his. “Are you, um...?”
“Tessa?” He said her name as a warning and goose bumps spread along her wet skin. It reminded her of the way he’d warned her before that mind-searing kiss several nights ago.
“Yeah?” she asked, her voice raspy to her own ears. The only thing keeping her from seeing the man in all his naked glory was some lapping water. Awareness zipped through her, heightening her senses.
“There are two agents on the other side of that door.”
“Right,” she said, yanking her inappropriate thoughts back to reality. Ignoring the soreness in her muscles, she hauled herself out. Tessa had a feeling that if she wanted to, she could’ve tempted him into another kiss, or something more.
Unfortunately for her libido, though, she respected the man’s principles too much to take advantage of him when he was naked in the pool.
As she grabbed her towel and headed for the women’s locker room, she realized that by diving tonight, by overcoming one of her lingering fears, she was one step closer to returning to work. As soon as she left Wyoming, Grayson would officially be off assignment.
She would probably never see him again. Their lives were so different, there would never be a reason for their paths to cross.
But.
If she ever got the chance to pay him back for how much he’d helped her tonight, Tessa hoped that she would be able to do so in person. And this time, she wouldn’t let the rules get in the way.
Chapter Eleven
When Tessa informed the agents that she’d be returning to the community rec center the following evening, Grayson brought his own swimsuit. While she probably didn’t need him in the pool with her again, he wanted to be ready just in case.
However, after Finn and Freckles arrived in the SUV behind them, there was no way he was about to get into the water with an audience there. Still, Grayson observed the situation from his self-designated position near the no-lifeguard-on-duty sign as she did a series of several dives, each one more complicated than the last. Each one also eliciting hearty whooping and clapping from her sister and aunt.
“Don’t know why Sherilee was so nervous to come see this for herself.” Freckles’s voice was surprisingly quiet for once, although the acoustics made everything echo. “Tessa looks fantastic up there.”
“Mom thought MJ was going to join a prison gang after spending one night in the Ridgecrest County drunk tank,” Finn replied to her aunt. “When it comes to her kids, she’s too
much of a worrier and stresses out everyone else around her. It’s better for all of our anxiety levels—especially Tessa’s—if she doesn’t come watch.”
Grayson had no business voicing his agreement, but he did send up a silent word of thanks for small favors. Tessa might never return to her pre-Olympic-level diving form, but at least she was attempting the twists and flips with increasing boldness and determination. With her family there and her focus restored, she’d barely managed to glance in his direction, clearly no longer needing his emotional and physical support.
He clasped his hands behind his back uselessly. Tessa’s renewed sense of confidence would motivate her to return to her job soon, which would allow him to return to his. Or, at least, his real job, rather than being a glorified watchdog. Plus, he really needed to look in on Maddie. While his mom kept him updated with the daily doctor reports, there was always that nagging worry in the back of his mind that both she and his sister were putting on a brave front just so he wouldn’t stress about them.
There was a light at the end of this assignment tunnel, and Grayson waited for the calm sense of relief to settle over him the way it always did when he’d successfully accomplished a mission. Instead, an unexplained ball of loneliness formed in the pit of his stomach, growing each time Tessa jumped off that diving board.
The following night, Dahlia and Marcus both brought their kids to the community rec center to swim, turning the place into a King family pool party. Watching the twin boys chase each other across the slippery wet deck as Marcus argued with Violet in the shallow end made Grayson wish he’d brought a whistle.
By Friday night, Sherilee King must’ve overcome her own fears stemming from Tessa’s accident because she arrived at the rec center pool with four more agents in tow, along with enough pizzas to feed half the county. The woman could barely stay in one place because she was too busy pacing and wringing her hands every time Tessa was up on the high dive. Whenever her daughter resurfaced, though, Mrs. King’s face lit up with both relief and pride.
“You gotta eat, Agent Wyatt.” Aunt Freckles passed him a paper plate filled with two slices of deep dish loaded with melted cheese and nearly every topping offered at the Pepperoni Stampede, the local pizza parlor in the small town of Teton Ridge.
“Thanks,” he said, accepting the plate and letting the scent of garlic and spicy sausage remind him that he’d only had a protein bar for lunch.
“I should be the one thanking you,” the older woman said, tilting her peach-colored tower of curls at Tessa up on the diving board. “You’re the one who got our girl back on her horse, so to speak.”
He ignored the tingle of pride pulling his shoulders back and bit into the first slice. If he kept his mouth full, she wouldn’t expect him to respond. Grayson knew when someone was fishing for information, especially when that someone was the least subtle person he’d ever met. Still, he wasn’t about to discuss Tessa’s TBI or her fear of having another panic attack, even if it was with her well-meaning aunt.
But Aunt Freckles was like a dog with a bone. “SAIC Simon told us there’d be a family debriefing tomorrow morning. I’m assuming that can only mean that you’re all pulling up stakes and heading back to Washington.”
Actually, Grayson had put in a request for a few days’ leave so he could travel to Maryland first to check in on Maddie and his mom. He hadn’t put in his official transfer request yet, but was hoping to once they cleared out of Twin Kings. Luckily, he was saved from answering.
“You’re not even offering anyone the Garden Party pizza, Freckles.” Mrs. King took the plate holding Grayson’s remaining slice from his hand and swapped it out for a one containing a triangular shape of mixed veggies held together by a layer of underseasoned, edible cardboard. “Too much lactose and processed meat will just clog you up and slow you down, Agent. Plant-based foods are the way to go. You’ll thank me later.”
“Sherilee, you can’t just steal a man’s food like that,” Freckles chided.
When Mrs. King showed no sign of returning the swapped-out paper plate to Grayson anytime soon, Freckles used her brightly manicured fingers to snatch his stolen slice of supreme pizza back from her sister-in-law and dropped it directly onto his plate. Now he had a total of three pieces of pizza—or at least two and a half since he still had his original slice in his right hand.
Despite the past three weeks, these women were still in the throes of an absurd power struggle, and their family and half of the agents were smart enough to stay well clear of them. Grayson had no desire to be one of the pawns in this pizza saga and took a discreet step backward, his exit strategy already in place.
“Hold on a second, Agent Grayson Wyatt!” Mrs. King reached for his elbow.
“You don’t have to be so damn formal all the time, Sherilee.” Freckles rolled her eyes so dramatically, he worried that one of her false eyelashes would stick to her penciled eyebrow. “Just call him Agent Wyatt. Or better yet, Grayson. He’s practically part of the family by now.”
Whoa. A shiver of discomfort zipped down Grayson’s spine. He didn’t want to be considered part of the family and squared his shoulders as professionally as possible before addressing Mrs. King. “Agent Wyatt is fine, ma’am.”
“I apologize for my sister-in-law, Agent Wyatt. I think all that aerosol hairspray has gone to her head.” Mrs. King made a tsking sound. “She isn’t very good with boundaries.”
“Gimme a break, Sherilee.” Freckles stage-whispered out of the corner of her heavily painted lips, “I apologize for my sister-in-law, Agent Wyatt. She never wants anyone to know she grew up in a run-down trailer park in Laramie, so she tends to overcompensate with the whole ‘lady of the manor’ act.”
“An act?” Mrs. King snorted a very unladylike snort. “That’s rich coming from a woman who’d rather serve hash browns and unwanted opinions than use her famous surname to actually help her community. Because heaven forbid anyone associate you with that founding family whose name appears on various hospital wings, Ivy League campuses and the Declaration of Independence.”
Wait. Grayson’s eyes flew back and forth between the two older women. He’d once seen Freckles listed in Rider King’s file, but he’d simply thought she was just some café owner from Idaho. He hadn’t put two and two together and realized she was part of that family.
Before Grayson could ask, Freckles waved a hand in the air—the rows of colorful plastic-beaded bracelets on her wrist clinking together—and asked, “Are we gonna stand here arguing about our dead ancestors or are we gonna show Agent Wyatt our appreciation for helping Tessa get her head on straight?”
Neither, Grayson prayed.
“I’m just glad you’re admitting that something other than your high-calorie comfort food you ‘prescribed—’” Mrs. King’s jeweled fingers made air quotes at the last words “—is what helped Tessa.”
“Maybe if you ate something sweet once in a while, you wouldn’t be such a...” Freckles continued the argument as Grayson turned all of his focus to finishing his pizza.
Outside, it was nearly thirty degrees and the forecast was calling for the first snowstorm of the new year. Maybe Grayson could offer Doherty a case of beer and tickets to the Red Sox home opener if he’d switch posts right this second. Nah. Every other agent on duty would rather be knee-deep in a blizzard than be trapped in a steamy, chlorinated room with these two battling sister-in-laws.
Grayson scanned the indoor pool, hoping one of the King siblings would come to his rescue. Unfortunately, the cavalry had been dealing with these women way longer than he had. That meant they knew better than to get caught in the cross fire.
As the petty insults flew back and forth, Grayson’s mind zeroed in on a sudden realization. None of these King women fit the mold of what society expected. Sherilee King was the overly dignified one, yet grew up in a trailer park. Freckles actually came from an even more famous family with obs
cene amounts of wealth and privilege. Dahlia had a degree in interior design but owned a former brothel. Finn could’ve been mistaken for a college cheerleader yet single-handedly ran one of the biggest cattle operations in the state of Wyoming. And then there was Tessa...
Grayson was barely skimming the surface on the hidden depths Tessa kept well guarded. Nothing in the prebriefing files and intelligence reports had prepared him for any of this. This whole family had gone from code names on a chart to very real people with very real backgrounds and personalities. And if he stayed around much longer, the very realness of Tessa would make it that much more difficult for him to file everything away and forget it after the final post-op briefing.
“So, Agent Wyatt?” Mrs. King waved her palm in front of his face and Grayson snapped to attention. “I was hoping you’d have a moment before the briefing tomorrow morning to meet with Sonya.”
He shook his head to clear it. “Who’s Sonya?”
“She’s the head of my public relations team.”
Grayson twisted his empty paper plate in his hands. He was familiar with the army of assistants and press secretaries on the former second lady’s staff. None of them was named Sonya.
Freckles must have sensed his confusion because she clarified, “Sherilee hired Sonya to help with Mitchell Junior’s situation.”
Grayson remained motionless. “But that assignment falls under Echo Team. Don’t you want to meet with Agent Franks?” Franks had been assigned to MJ the night of his arrest, and had later been assigned to tail him to and from court for his arraignment, as well as around the ranch after he’d made bail.
“Of course. There’s just one pesky little issue we need to wrap up.”
“What issue is that?” Grayson’s lips pressed flat.
“My son Marcus informed me there’s a video of Tessa exchanging words with you in the staging center outside my husband’s funeral. Apparently, Congressman Davis’s assistant has made several inquiries about the footage.”
What Happens at the Ranch... Page 15