From this? Yeah, he was. For now.
Chapter Ten
The next morning Grace heard the knocking and went to the door without checking or even thinking. After a long night of bouncing between cursing Callen for leaving and flushing with heat while she thought about what he could do with that expert mouth, she was tired. Like, bone tired.
A pregnant woman needed peace. That had to be written in a rulebook somewhere.
She opened the door to find Declan—shorter, stockier, darker in features and scowling. Boy did he look like his older brother when he did that. Made Grace feel a little sorry for Kim, raising three boys like this on her own. Grace hadn’t met the youngest brother, only seen photos, yet she’d bet his personality and manner mirrored those of the other two.
“You are not the Hanover I was expecting.” Not wanting to fight it, she stepped to the side and gestured for Declan to come in her motel room. In a town this small, a few more visitors and she might get kicked out for entertaining men in her room. Who knew?
In almost a complete repeat of his brother’s entry the first time, Declan walked into the room and stopped near the bed, hands on hips as he turned around. “I take it things didn’t go well last night.”
That was cryptic and sent a spike of disappointment spinning through her. “Uh, I’m not really sure how to answer that.”
The comment had her wondering what exactly Callen said and why he would walk away from their lovemaking upset enough for Declan to read the clues. She was the one with the right to be pissed off. The idea that Callen had complained . . . Yeah, she might just go on a screaming binge if that had actually happened.
Declan’s gaze whipped around the room, subtle but scanning, before finally settling on her. “Callen was a mess when he got home.”
Now that was interesting. “Really?”
Declan winced, even made a short humming sound. “I guess you guys fought?”
“Unless you’re talking about Callen versus his internal demons, no.” And that was an epic war she wanted to put to rest once and for all.
Declan’s hands dropped to his side. “Are you sure?”
He looked like he was going to sit on the bed but then thought better of the choice. He settled on the armrest of the small couch instead. The guy looked two seconds away from bursting out of his skin.
She didn’t think a man with a military past and rumored to be so steady with a gun could look so uncomfortable in a room with floral wallpaper. “Declan, why are you really here?”
“I thought we should talk.”
Now she knew. This was some sort of familial showdown. “Ah.”
He shook his head as a smile kicked at the corner of his mouth. “Leah does that. It’s really annoying.”
“The sighing?”
“Plus the eye rolling. Do they teach you that in school?”
Grace liked the way Leah had him trained. He stepped over a line and it didn’t take much to push him back. “I’m not sure who ‘they’ is, but you should assume yes. Pretend it’s a woman thing.”
“Figures.”
But liking Leah didn’t mean Grace would tolerate lectures and threats from her boyfriend. To keep Declan from making a serious misstep and cutting off the friendliness she was starting to feel for him, Grace took the offensive. “Let me make this easy for you.”
“What?” His eyes narrowed as if he knew he might be in trouble.
“You’re here to warn me to stay away from Callen.” She went to her small refrigerator and took out two bottles of water and handed one to Declan. “Am I close?”
“He’s a grown man.”
The perfect nonanswer. Forget being Army. This guy should be a politician. “I didn’t hear you deny my theory.”
Declan passed the bottle back and forth between his hands, touched the lid then started picking at the label. “He’s had a lot of shit thrown at him.”
“And you don’t want me lobbing any more in his direction.”
There was a ripping sound as Declan tried to peel off the label, then gave up. “Something like that.”
She pointed to the actual couch cushion. “Sit.”
For some reason she thought she needed to loom over him for this. Having him pop up and interrupt her would only guarantee a frustrating afternoon. She’d had enough of those lately.
“You sound like my mom,” he said.
She decided to take that as a compliment. “Then maybe you’ll listen to me.”
“I have a feeling this is about to go really wrong.” He grumbled a bunch of other stuff, too, but those were the only words that came out clear and understandable.
“Hey, sport. You picked the battlefield when you came here.”
He smiled that time. “No wonder Leah likes you.”
No way was Grace getting sucked into that smile. Callen smiled, and she got weak, her temper faltering. Declan shot her one, and she wanted to chuckle. He seemed like a good guy, but he needed to know he should approach with caution.
She paced in front of him. “You came to warn me away from your brother, tell me to go home and threaten me if I don’t leave town.”
“I wouldn’t do any of that.” Declan propped the unopened bottle on the cushion next to his thigh. “Well, maybe the first one if I thought you planned to ambush him or drive him insane.”
She had a sneaky suspicion Declan was hedging and had every intention of telling her to go until she confronted him on the plan. Likely had something to do with how he ducked his head and stopped making eye contact. “None of it is going to work.”
“Want to tell me why?”
She took the seat he left open on the armrest, the one at the opposite end from where he sat. “I love your brother.”
The words freed her. She’d said them many times, and not hearing them echo back to her from Callen gutted her, ripped her right open. When he trampled over them and kept talking, every ounce of energy drained from her body. But she could only control how she acted in this.
And, frankly, he created this monster. Watching him leave last night broke something inside of her. Not in a way that beat her down or destroyed her. Exactly the opposite.
His panicked running fueled her this time. She didn’t get sad or weepy. Defiance rang inside her, strong and sure. She was not some ball for him to kick around or pick up and play with only when Callen felt like it. She was the mother of his child, and while he didn’t know that yet, this emotionally stunted nonsense was over.
And it started right now. If his brother folded under the pressure of a strong woman secure in her feelings, so be it. “There’s no need to hide it. I’ve told Callen many times how I feel about him, the most recent time being last night.”
A smile broke across Declan’s lips. “How does Callen take that?”
“Not well.”
“Dumb bastard.” Declan shook his head as he repeated the phrase a few times.
“The stubbornness, the grumpiness, the stern outside covering the decent, warm and loyal inside. I love all of it.” She wrapped her hands around the water bottle on her lap to stop from fidgeting. Because, really, there was no need to dance around in her chair. She knew Callen and understood her need for him down to her soul.
“Okay, that sounds like we’re talking about the same guy.”
“I messed up.” She stumbled over the words, not because she didn’t mean them but because it was hard to admit she’d screwed up and started the ball rolling in this direction. “I’ve said it to him, and I’ll say it to you.”
“You lied to him.”
“I didn’t tell him I knew Walker and that I went looking for him originally because of Walker.” It all made sense back then. She’d worried about the death spiral Walker seemed to be trapped in, so she chased after answers. She didn’t expect to find a whooping case of Tall, Dark and Dangerou
s and then sleep with him . . . over and over again. “That’s it. That is the total list of my sins. An omission.”
“You make it sound like no big deal.”
It was her turn to pick at the bottle’s label. When she realized her actions mirrored Declan’s, she stopped. “No, I know it’s huge. Especially to Callen, because with his past, loyalty matters to him.”
“And you betrayed him.”
The words tightened like a vice around her chest. “I think a part of him expected me to.”
“Why in the world would that be the case?”
She thought about Charlie Hanover a lot these days. Without trying, she was picking up on Walker’s obsession. But she knew to understand Callen and what drove him, she had to get the man who tried to break him and then remake him in his twisted image.
She thought about the little boy being dragged along behind Charlie. About the pressure Charlie must have brought down to get Callen to do awful things. She couldn’t imagine what that did to a person, though she saw the fallout: a need for control and emotional separation.
“Callen sees himself as shattered beyond repair, like he’s so messed up that no one can love him or help him heal.” She thumped the bottle against her thigh. “I’m guessing it’s why he reached out to you and your brother, Beck, then came here when the opportunity arose. He needed to give you something.”
“Literally, since he paid off the house to keep it from going into foreclosure.”
No surprise there. Grace would bet Callen spent his last dollar keeping them together. “He holds on too tight and sometimes acts like an ass, but it all comes from a good place.”
“Sounds like you really do get him.” No longer on the edge and throwing off waves of tension, Declan settled back into the couch cushions and crossed an ankle over the opposite knee.
“He’s desperate to use whatever energy he has to make the lives of the people he cares about better because he’s convinced it’s not worth his time to spend a second straightening out his own life.” There, that was her theory all spelled out. She built the pieces in her head and now she hung on to them, hoping if she finally “got” Callen she could then show him how he deserved so much more from his life.
Declan nodded as he picked at the fabric on the armrest under his hand. “At heart, beneath all the grumbling, Callen is the most solid man I know.”
Which was why Declan showed up today. Grace could see it all so clearly now.
She chalked it up to Hanover charm and his love for his brother, but in that moment Grace couldn’t help but like Declan. “Me, too.”
Declan’s foot dropped to the floor and he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “You really do love him.”
There was nothing left to deny, so she just shrugged. “I do.”
“You’re going to fix this.” Declan tapped his fingertips together. “Fix him.”
“I actually don’t think he needs much fixing, but yes. Unless he refuses to ease up on the stubbornness and annoying loner thing. Then I’ll throw him in traffic.” In the mood she was in, all puffed up and ready to do battle, she could get it done.
“Man, you do understand him.”
“You don’t know me, Declan. I get that and will make allowances.” Though when she mentally turned the tap off on Callen’s nonsense she really meant to shut down all Hanover nonsense. “All I’m asking for is a chance.”
“Leah really does like you.”
The possibility of having a new female friend—two, really—was a new sensation for Grace, and a welcome one. “The feeling is mutual. Though she’s a little overwhelming when she teams up with Mallory.”
His eyes widened. “A little?”
“Good point.” Grace opened the water bottle and took a long drink. All this careful back and forth made her thirsty and half ready for a nap. “Does Leah know you’re here?”
“There will be a lot of screaming when I drop that bombshell.”
“But you’ll tell her?”
“We kept secrets once and it nearly drove us apart. I can’t let that happen again.” He exhaled. “Hard or not, we talk things through.”
“Sounds like it was a smart lesson to learn.” Also sounded normal and healthy and happy. Exactly what Grace wanted.
“For what it’s worth, I think you could be good for Callen.”
Grace already knew that, but she appreciated the support. She’d take any reinforcement at this point. “I’m perfect for him.”
“I like the confidence.”
“I had months alone to figure out what I want.”
“Callen.” Declan said it half as a question and half as a comment.
She answered anyway. “Yeah, Callen.”
Chapter Eleven
Callen saw Grace right as she stepped onto the sidewalk in front of Rosie’s Diner. Despite some subtle prodding, Leah refused to cough up much information about Grace’s schedule and whereabouts. When he tried to collect a stray comment here or there, Leah treated him to gems like “Maybe you should try talking to Grace yourself.”
Really not helpful, except she did mention in passing something about Grace needing to find an apartment before she turned into a grilled cheese from Rosie’s due to eating one every day. Which was the only explanation for him leaning against his car in front of the place this afternoon instead of working at Shadow Hill like he should be doing.
She put her hand on the door handle, then glanced over her shoulder at him. A quick double take came next. Spinning on the heel of her scuffed cowboy boots, she headed right for him. Between the frown and the narrowed eyes, she didn’t look all that happy to see him.
That would teach him to run from a woman’s bed with his ass on fire. Not that he didn’t have a reason, but from her perspective it had to seem like a fuck-and-run, which made him the biggest dick on the planet.
“What are you doing out here?” She stopped right in front of him. Didn’t sound all that happy to see him either.
The temptation to push away from the car, kiss her, bundle her in the backseat and drive her somewhere private so he could strip her bare almost overwhelmed him. God knew the good people of Sweetwater would love seeing that sort of thing. They’d talk about it for months.
She folded her arms across her stomach. The move had his gaze bouncing down to her waist. He could barely make out the bump. The long blue shirt and cardigan hung loose over her sexy body, but he noticed everything about her and was especially primed right now, while the need to talk hung between them.
“I came looking for you.” It was the truth, so he went with it.
“Why?”
Yeah, didn’t look like as if she was in the mood to give him one inch. “That talk we need to have.”
“I thought maybe Declan sent you.”
Callen didn’t expect her to drop his brother’s name. It sent his thoughts scattering. “I don’t know what that means.”
She moved to stand next to him, leaning against the car and facing the diner as the lunch crowd shuffled in and out. “He came to see me this morning.”
“What?” Callen tore his gaze away from the guy in the front booth who kept staring at him.
“Wanted to test my intentions.” Callen opened his mouth to protest or yell—something—and Grace stopped him with the back of her hand pressed against his chest. “Don’t get all blustery. I bet you did the same thing and got right in the middle of his relationship with Leah.”
Callen really couldn’t deny that charge, so he didn’t try. Still, some things that happened around the dinner table should stay there. “Did she tell you that?”
“She called to apologize after Declan came clean to her about his visit with me at the motel.”
“She’s going to kick his ass.” Callen didn’t exactly hate that plan.
“She mentioned that.”
“If she does then I won’t have to.”
Callen wasn’t sure how he felt about Declan messing around in his personal life. A year ago shit like that would have sent Callen into a rage, complete with lectures about privacy and all that. Now, after months of hanging around his brothers, he saw getting in each other’s business as a necessity. Certainly not invasive.
And God knew he’d pushed his way into both of his brothers’ personal lives without thinking twice. For him, it was about caring. He suspected Declan’s visit to Grace came from the same place.
“Declan is worried about you,” Grace said.
That struck Callen as overkill. “About what?”
“Apparently you weren’t very happy by the time you got home last night.”
A group of businessmen walked up. Their talking drowned out the street noise and the tapping of their shoes against the concrete. Callen waited until they had passed and filed inside the diner to continue.
He lowered his voice, though he wasn’t a hundred percent sure why, since no one was standing right next to them. “That’s not true.”
Because, really, unhappy wasn’t the right word to describe what he was feeling. Stunned and struck with a case of sudden paralysis sounded closer. The reality of Grace not only being pregnant but coming to find him rather than running as fast as she could in the opposite direction confused the hell out of him. With all they’d been through, including the drinking and the fighting, it was nothing short of a miracle that she stood here.
Logical arguments refused to stay in his mind. All the reasons why this couldn’t happen bombarded his brain, even though he knew what he thought should happen and what was happening were two very different things.
He hadn’t even let his mind stop for two seconds to think about the real issue: an actual baby was coming, regardless of how long he needed to get used to the idea.
She held up her hands. “Unhappy was Declan’s word, not mine. I’m not judging, merely repeating.”
Oh, Callen heard her tone, and remembered her pained expression as he headed for the door last night. “Maybe a little judging?”
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