Kelly turned back around to begin settling into her seat and buckling her seatbelt. Grant pulled the truck out into the street and when she chanced a look at his face, he gave her what she assumed was a reassuring smile.
Kelly tried to make conversation. She kept her eyes on Grant and said, “Were you able to finish your business yesterday?”
Grant shook his head. “No, but we did finish the preliminary investigation last night. I didn’t get home until after nine.”
She thought he was finished but then he added, “You will probably hear soon if you haven’t already.” He glanced her way then back at the road. “General Walker was murdered sometime Wednesday night, according to the Medical Examiner.”
Kelly’s intake of her breath caused her to choke and she coughed a couple of times to clear her throat. “General Walker? But he was with Sarah and me Wednesday afternoon.”
Grant frowned. “Yes, and he was with us at the station shortly afterward.”
Kelly was looking out the windshield without seeing anything. Grant was talking again so she turned her attention back to him.
“Kelly, I’m going to tell you something that you need to think about very carefully.” When she only nodded, he continued, “I think that Sarah may be in danger now too. I also think it would be best if you don’t go anywhere with her right now. We’ve advised her to stay at the estate where she will be easier to guard. In fact, we already have some guards there.”
Kelly knew about the guards, but she’d thought that they were only there to catch whoever was trying to get something from Harry’s things. Now, they were there to protect Sarah as well.
Her next thought was of her grandparents. “But, what about my grandparents? Won’t they be in danger too just by being there with Sarah?”
Grant shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. With Sarah sleeping on the second floor and them on the first, they should be okay.” When she started to protest, he said, “But if at any time we think they’re in danger too, we’ll move Sarah along with her husband’s things.”
Kelly breathed a sigh of relief and tried to relax now and enjoy the outing.
When Stan fired one of the quads up to take it off the trailer, Kelly was surprised at how quiet it was and commented to Grant about it.
He laughed and said, “The only quads that are noisy are that way because the owner wants them to be noisy.”
After Grant backed the other quad off the trailer, Alison hopped onboard behind him and glared at Stan who had a shocked look on his face.
Grant turned around to look at his sister and she pointed at Stan and said, “I’m not riding with him.”
Grant smiled and motioned to Stan as he hopped off his quad. Stan did the same and they traded places. Before Alison could protest, Stan took off down the trail with Alison unable to do anything except hang on. That left Kelly standing next to Grant who was now sitting on Stan’s quad.
She must have had a perplexed look on her face because Grant tried to explain. “Remember I told you that Stan grew up two houses down from ours. Well, those two have always fought like cats and dogs.” He stopped to think about it for a moment. “Well, that’s not totally true. Alison is always fighting with Stan, but come to think about it, he doesn’t always fight back.” He stopped and pulled his cap off to run his fingers through his hair. “In fact he just takes it most of the time.”
Kelly surprised herself when she blurted out, “I think Stan is in love with Alison.”
Grant opened his mouth to deny it but stopped. He suddenly broke out into a big grin. “You know, I think you may be right. He always gets kind of funny when Alison’s around.”
Kelly started to get on behind Grant but he hopped off and helped her up then took the blanket and wrapped her leg from the knee down in it.
She could tell he was still thinking about his sister and Stan. “The more I think about it, the more I know you’re right. Just the other day, he practically bit my head off when I said something derogatory about Alison.”
For the next three hours, Kelly spent all her energy on trying to stay on the quad and also on enjoying the scenery as they traveled through a beautiful canyon.
When they stopped for lunch which consisted of ham sandwiches and sodas out of the cooler strapped to Grant’s quad, Kelly was sure she’d never enjoyed an outing as much as she was this one. The quad was quiet enough that she and Grant were able to talk off and on which enabled her to get more comfortable with this man who was changing her world . . . for the better.
When Grant hopped off, Kelly moved up to the driver’s seat and sat with her legs hanging off the side. As soon as Stan stopped the other quad, Alison jumped off, came over and climbed up to sit behind Kelly.
Kelly wasn’t fooled into thinking it was to be near her. She knew it was to get away from Stan.
The two men were almost out of hearing when Kelly spoke softly to Alison. “Why do you resist Stan so? I think you really like him . . . don’t you?”
Alison shook her head and Kelly was sure she was going to argue, but instead tears welled in Alison’s eyes and she said, “I’m afraid.”
Kelly wasn’t sure she understood. “Afraid of Stan?”
Alison shook her head. “No. Myself.”
That was all they had time for since the men came back to where they sat and they all began to eat their lunch.
Kelly wanted badly to get Alison alone again, but didn’t get a chance for the rest of the day.
Alison did get on the back of Stan’s quad without complaint this time though.
The rest of the day was spent climbing out of the canyon and returning to the trailhead along the rim of the canyon.
Kelly had lived in the area all of her life, but had never seen the sights she saw that day and was so grateful that she had.
When they were all preparing to get into the truck to head back, Kelly was surprised when Alison climbed into the backseat and motioned for Kelly to join her. She wasn’t sure if it was a ploy to stay away from Stan or if Alison actually wanted Kelly to sit with her.
The two men just looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and climbed into the front.
Once under way, Kelly said, “Thank you all for such a wonderful day. I’ve never done anything even close to this before. I had a fantastic time.”
It was then that Kelly noticed Alison giving her a strange look. Kelly didn’t know what to do. Did Alison want to talk to her? It was obvious that she didn’t want to talk around the men.
Then Kelly got an idea. She pulled her small wallet out of her pocket. Actually, it was more of a case for business cards that she had stuck her driver’s license in with her cards. She pulled one of her cards out and grabbed a pencil that was stuck in the elastic pocket on the seatback in front of her. She quickly wrote her cell phone number on the back and handed the card to Alison.
She was somewhat surprised when Alison took the card without comment and slipped it in the front pocket of her jeans.
Conversation was at a minimum on the way home and Kelly soon found herself telling the others goodbye in front of her condo.
* * *
Grant and Kelly went to an early movie and were out of there by six. Since Grant’s reservations at a local steak house were for six-thirty, they walked leisurely through the large parking lot which also served a strip mall.
Grant was feeling almost light-headed when he reached down to take Kelly’s hand and she allowed him to place her hand in his.
“Why has it been so long since you dated?”
Kelly’s question caught him totally off guard. He had to mentally shake his head to get it clear enough to form an intelligent answer.
He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’m not really sure why I haven’t dated lately, except that I’ve kept so busy with my work since I made detective that I’ve not really thought about any kind of social life.”
She turned to him and smiled. “The way you said that, makes me believe that there’s more to the stor
y.” When he started to protest, she held up her free hand and said, “No, don’t close me out Grant. I want to really get to know you, and I can’t do that if you don’t open up all the way. I think you know most everything there is to know about me. Now, I think it’s time I learned a lot more about you.”
Grant grinned at her seriousness and said, “Why don’t we put a temporary hold on this topic until we’re at the restaurant and we won’t get interrupted.”
She smiled back at him. “Okay, if you promise you’re not just trying to avoid the subject.”
Grant laughed out loud this time. “Okay, I promise. You sure are a hard person to deal with, did you know that Kelly?”
She had a twinkle in her eyes when she said, “You don’t know the half of it, Grant. You should see me when I have to deal with people who are trying to get out of making their payments.”
Grant was surprised. “You carry loans there?”
“Sure. We have a whole separate branch of the company that is basically a loan company. But, it’s under my overall control as CFO.”
“Wow. I didn’t know I was dating such a bigwig.”
She laughed at that and Grant was almost hypnotized by the sound. He stopped and stared into her eyes. “You should do that more often. You’re so beautiful when your face lights up like that.”
They were at his truck then, and she seemed to hurry to get in. He kept sneaking glances at her on the way to the restaurant. He was sure that she was blushing and trying to hide it.
As soon as they were seated in the restaurant and the waiter had taken their drink orders, Kelly looked into Grant’s eyes and said, “Now, you may begin.”
Grant had to laugh because no matter how innocent that sounded, he knew it was actually an order. He stalled for a moment to collect his thoughts. “How many people do you boss around like this on a daily basis?”
She laughed again and said, “Fifteen here and five or six at each of the other dealerships for a total of fifty-two right now.” She held up her finger and waggled it at him. “But don’t think you’re going to distract me. Give!”
“Okay, you win. I guess you’re right in assuming I’ve never really dated very much. My high school years were pretty much spent working to earn the money to go to college and once in college I had to keep working to be able to stay there. And since then, I just haven’t been interested in any of the girls or women I’ve come into contact with.”
She nodded, encouraging him to continue.
“If you stop to think about it, for the most part, the only types of women I meet in my line of work are cops, victims, and criminals. The law and our regulations both make it pretty tough to get close to the last two, and most female cops are simply too aggressive for me.”
Kelly leaned forward as if she suddenly thought of something. “What about your sergeant? She’s a beautiful woman.”
He groaned. “Yes, she is, and for a while, I actually thought we might start something.”
“What happened?”
He snorted. “She made sergeant and turned into a monster.”
She actually giggled at that. “And poor Wayne wants to get to know her.”
Grant was surprised. “You don’t mean he was serious about that yesterday, do you?”
She nodded her head. “Yes, I’m afraid he was very serious. He seems to be captivated by her. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him react that way to any woman and especially this quickly.”
She leaned toward him and said, “Wait a minute. I think you’re trying to distract me again. You must be good at interviewing witnesses and suspects, but it’s not going to work on me.”
He leaned back and couldn’t help laughing. “Okay, you caught me. What do you want to know now?”
Her smile almost knocked him out of his chair.
“I still think there is something else there, another reason you’ve never gotten close to a woman.”
Grant thought about throwing up another smoke screen, but then he kept looking at Kelly’s sincere face and her deep blue eyes almost hypnotized him. Did he want to answer her honestly or disappoint her? That was easily answered.
He held up both hands, palms toward her. “Okay, I surrender.”
Grant took a drink of his iced tea then looked directly into Kelly’s eyes. “You remember me telling you that my dad was an abusive alcoholic who beat my mother?”
When she nodded, he continued. “I guess I’ve always been afraid that I would become just like him.”
He thought she was going to come up out of her chair. “Oh Grant. That’s not possible. You’re such a caring, responsible person. You could never be like that.”
When Grant shook his head and gave her a disbelieving look she reached across the table with both of her hands and covered his. “Grant that’s just not true. I wouldn’t be here right now if I thought that you could ever turn into that type of man.”
When Grant’s expression still didn’t change, she laughed and almost shouted. “My grandfather approves of you!”
At the puzzled look on his face, she explained. “My grandfather is the smartest businessman I’ve ever known. How do you think he has built his company to be the regional giant that it is today? He only hires and only does business with people that he has thoroughly investigated and approves of one-hundred percent.”
Neither one said anything for a moment.
“I want you to know that I had no knowledge of what I’m about to tell you until he had already done it.”
She looked into his eyes again until he nodded.
“He had you thoroughly checked out and he liked what he found out.”
Grant’s first reaction was anger, but as she kept staring at him with such sincerity, he melted.
“Okay, you win.” He grinned and said, “Do you always win?”
“I’ll answer that by saying that everyone in my family always says that I’m just like my grandfather. What do you think?”
He shook his head. “Remind me to never get on his bad side.” He thought about it for a second. “Or yours either for that matter.”
They both laughed as the server came to take their order. Grant was deep in thought trying to come up with questions he could ask Kelly to find out more about her. She seemed to be deep in thought also.
It was Kelly who finally broke the silence. “Have you ever talked to Stan about Alison?”
Grant thought about that for a moment. “No, at least not the way you mean, about them as a couple.”
Kelly opened her mouth to speak and closed it. Then she said, “I talked to Alison for a minute when we stopped for lunch today.”
When she didn’t say more, Grant said, “Yeah, I saw you two sitting on Stan’s quad.”
Kelly seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say. “I don’t want to betray her confidence and tell you what she said, but I will say that I think there is hope for the two of them.”
Grant didn’t comment, hoping she would elaborate.
“I gave Alison my card with my cell phone number written on the back.” She looked down at her clasped hands on the table. “She took it. So maybe she’ll call and we can also talk about her relationship with your mother and maybe even Stan.”
Grant snorted. “I’ve got to warn you Kelly, Alison is one of the most stubborn persons I’ve ever known. Once she sets her mind a certain way, it’s virtually impossible to get her to change it.”
“That’s okay, Grant. I can be quite stubborn too when I feel strongly about something, and I feel strongly that Sarah needs both her son and her daughter right now.”
Grant wondered how that little fact might enter into their relationship in the future. As he thought about it, he couldn’t wait to find out.
* * *
Kelly walked into her condo after Grant dropped her off and just stood in the middle of the living room and stared at her blank fireplace. The events of the entire day, four-wheeling with Grant and the others, and then her date with him that even
ing, all played through her mind like a film strip.
Her next thought was to get her brace off and get her leg up so she could relax if she was ever going to get any sleep tonight. The whole family was going to church together tomorrow, including Sarah, and she wanted to be fresh and alert. Wayne had even consented to go with them, after much ‘convincing’ on Grandmother’s part.
Out of her brace and changed into pajamas, Kelly was sitting in her easy chair with her leg in its special stand when her cell phone rang. Grant had had time to get home, and she hoped it was him.
When she looked at the number, she didn’t recognize it. She was thoroughly surprised when she heard a woman’s voice and then Alison identifying herself. After returning Alison’s rather hesitant greeting, Kelly waited to see what Alison would say.
It was so quiet on the other end that Kelly was afraid Alison had hung up. Then Alison began to talk rapidly.
“Kelly, you seem like someone that I can talk to, and you even seem like you want to talk with me.”
“That’s true Alison, and I would like to get to know you better.”
Alison cleared her throat. It sounded to Kelly as if she had been crying. “First, I want to know what your relationship is with my brother.”
Kelly’s first thought was that it was none of Alison’s business. Then she thought of how she would be about Wayne and a new woman in his life. So she attempted to answer Alison’s question carefully.
“Alison, I like Grant, and I think he likes me. I want to get to know him better. Beyond that, however, I don’t really know at this point. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Kelly waited for what seemed a long time before Alison simply said, “Okay.”
She could hear Alison blow her nose. Then she started talking again. “How well do you know that woman that everyone’s saying is my mother?”
Kelly was taken aback by the anger she heard in Alison’s voice and the indirect way she referred to Sarah. “Well, Alison, I’m just getting to get to know her, but I will say that I’m beginning to truly like her. She’s sweet, kind, and very timid.”
There was no audible reaction from Alison, so Kelly said, “What would you like to know about her Alison?”
Lost Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 1) Page 21