“Sounds like you need to do well in this class more than ever. Let’s not waste another minute.” She smoothed her clammy palms on her jeans and made her way toward him, smacking the back of her hand on the valley between his pecs. “It’s chemistry time, baby. We’ve got a badge to earn.”
Amusement filled his eyes as she breezed past him, his gaze following her as she skipped into her dining room and pulled out two chairs at the dining table. She sat down in one, shuffling to get more comfortable, and then met his eyes, raising her brows in question when she saw he hadn’t moved.
He watched for another long moment, clenching his books, and then his stomps shook the floors once more as he moved to the dining room as well.
The moment he sat down opposite her and opened his books, sneaking looks at her the whole time, Veda shot out of her seat.
“I’m so rude,” she laughed breathily, hurrying into the kitchen. “Would you like something to drink? Are you hungry? I could order a pizza.” She began shuffling through her cabinets. “I don’t have beer—you seem like a beer person.” She craned her body backward to shoot him a look. “But I do have some red wine.”
Linc leaned forward in the dining chair with his legs spread wide, his bulky arms appearing even wider when he braced them on his thighs. His eyes fell to the skin between her crop top and jeans, where the hem of her shirt had climbed higher during her scrimmage through the cabinets.
He drew in a slow breath, his green orbs climbing back up to hers. “I don’t drink.”
Veda made a silent note in her mental Linc file, ecstatic that he’d just let a huge piece of information about himself slip. It happened rarely, but it felt like Christmas-time whenever it did.
“But I don’t mind if you do,” he said.
Veda chortled, returning the red wine bottle she’d retrieved back into the cabinet, She took two bottles of water from the fridge and returned to the table, setting one down in front of him.
“I wish,” she grumbled. “What I wouldn’t give to be drowning in a river of red wine right now.”
“What’s stopping you?”
Veda froze in the midst of sitting back down, her hand stilling on the cap of her water bottle. She curled one leg underneath her body, slowly sinking into her chair as she contemplated how to answer.
“I uh…” I’m enduring a bout of forced sobriety thanks to the evil nugget infringing upon my uterus? That wouldn’t work. I was stupid enough to get pregnant by my worst enemy, and now I’m suffering the consequences? Nope, too dramatic. “I don’t want to drink if you’re not drinking.”
“Have the wine,” he insisted, nodding toward the kitchen. “I don’t mind, Veda, really.”
“I don’t wanna,” she blubbered, only realizing how infantile she sounded when it was too late to stop herself.
“I won’t spontaneously combust.” His eyes lit up. “Some addicts… they can’t be in the same room with it. They can’t see it, smell it, touch it. I’m not like that.” He took a beat, his voice lowering. “I used to be. But not anymore. I’ll be alright.”
Veda couldn’t even argue further because she was too busy storing his second accidental slip up into her mental Linc file.
Addict.
She set her water down. “I can live without a drink for a few hours.” Or nine months.
Linc held her gaze. He shifted in his seat, causing their knees to brush softly under the table.
“A’ight,” he whispered, sliding his book across the table, so it sat between them, flipping it open. “No reason for both of us to be miserable, but if you insist…”
“I do.” Veda realized, right then, that she’d rather be sober and miserable with Linc than drunk and having the time of her life with anyone else. Sneaking peeks at him as he flipped through the pages of his book, she tilted her head. “So what have we got here? What’s giving you trouble?”
“What isn’t?” he grumbled, coming to a stop on a page before moving to his notebook and flipping that open as well. “Hate this shit.”
Veda set her nails down on the middle crease of the book, pressing down so she could get a better look.
A chortle raced up his throat, hoarse in his attempt to hold it back.
Her eyes shot up to him. “What’s so funny?”
He covered his smiling lips with the pads of his fingers, shaking his head. A moment later, he motioned to the book, his eyes riveted to her hand. “Your nails are ridiculous.”
Veda’s mouth fell in mock offense, her wide eyes zooming to her fresh manicure. “Excuse me, but my nails are fire.”
“They’re ridiculous.”
“I just got them done!”
“Doesn’t make them any less ridiculous.”
“But look at the tips, though. The way they’re painted like little red hearts? See?”
“Yeah, I see. I’m looking right at them, and they’re ridiculous.”
“You’re a hater,” Veda grumbled, secretly lapping up his laughter like water. She made sure to showcase her nails as much as she could, just to aggravate him, as she read a few lines of the book. She couldn’t help but note his amazing attention to detail. How he noticed all the little things. How, just a few months earlier, her nail polish had been the reason he’d almost caught her red handed.
She thanked God for using fake nails this time around. Linc was sharp and already onto her—even if only subconsciously. Underneath her false nails, her real ones were still marred and broken from when she’d clawed for her life the night Jax Murphy tried to pull her over the edge of a cliff.
She found herself frowning at her nails, distantly thinking that she should stop painting them completely. She’d definitely have to remove this polish once she figured out how she was going to take Brock Nailer. Couldn’t risk leaving any chips behind like she had the last time. Linc was too perceptive.
“I’m just fucking with you,” he whispered, clearly thinking he’d hurt her feelings.
She shot him a small smile that silently told him her feelings weren’t hurt, holding her breath when their knees brushed under the table again. She leaned forward on her elbows, only sucking in the breath she’d been holding when she felt like her lungs would collapse if she didn’t. They both shifted in their seats, causing the brushing of their knees to move to the brushing of their thighs.
This time, it was Linc who drew in a deep breath.
“Um,” Veda mumbled, pressing her nails into the book as he leaned forward too, his scent wafting across the table when he pushed his hair over the top of his head, leaving it swooping down over his face in deep a part. Veda watched him from under her eyelashes and then cleared her throat. “So which part are you having trouble with?”
“All of it.”
She lifted her smiling eyes to his. “All of it. Okay. Well, get your pen and paper, because this is so easy. I’m about to show you all my good tricks.” She snapped a finger and pointed at him. “But these tricks are just between you and me, okay? Homegrown. I don’t share them with just anyone. You’re special.”
He sniggered at her.
Only when Veda gave him one last look of warning did she proceed, both of them fighting smiles as they dove into the book and Linc’s homework. They blew through page after page of the book, filling his notepad with enough tips and helpful tricks that, with a little studying, would help him get through the next test with ease. They even moved ahead in the syllabus, touching on the following week’s work.
“See? You’ve got this, Linc. You thought you couldn’t do it, and we’re already a week ahead. A week ahead, and it’s only been…” Veda looked at the clock, and her optimistic tone of voice fell away. “Holy crap, it’s been almost three hours.”
Linc gazed at the microwave clock too, and then gave her a look, clearly just as stunned at how fast the time had flown by. They shared a soft laugh, causing their legs to bob together where they were still brushing under the table. On top of the table, their elbows grazed too, having slowly joined ove
r the hours they’d spent huddled over the book between them.
“I should let you go…” Linc met her eyes.
Veda shook her head softly but couldn’t speak.
His eyes fell to her lips. “Probably got an early day tomorrow.”
“My hours are about to be cut within an inch of their life, so I’ll have plenty of time to catch up on whatever sleep I lose tomorrow. I’m more concerned about you feeling 100% comfortable with the material. We’ve got a badge to earn, right?” She looked back down at the book. “Maybe we should do a few more practice equations—”
“Why are your hours being cut?”
Veda stumbled over her words, hesitating in the midst of flipping a page before lifting her eyes up to his. “Let’s just say you were right about the Blackwaters. They’re a vindictive bunch, and they taught their son well.”
She waited for him to say ‘I told you so.’ To remind her how many times he’d warned her about Shadow Rock’s elite. About the Blackwaters. About Gage.
He didn’t.
His eyes fell. “He lost you. Fucked up royally, and he knows it.” His eyes crept back up to hers, brows tightening. “Any man would be vindictive. Malicious, even.”
Her voice trembled. “Are you actually… standing up for Gage?”
“Never that.”
Veda drew in a breath, pushing her curls away from her face. “He’s fucking with my money. Firing all my friends. I swear to God, he won’t stop making my life hell until I finally quit or have a nervous breakdown.”
Linc must’ve heard the shake to her voice, because when hot tears joined the party and filled her eyes, he covered her hand on top of the table.
Veda’s eyes fluttered when his big hand engulfed hers, warmed by the gentle cocoon of his palm, the brush of his fingers. Her breathing relaxed. It came smoother. Easier.
Softly, she rotated her hand, letting the pads of her fingers brush his palm.
He drew in a soft breath, then did the same, turning his hand in hers, the tips of his fingers drawing a leisurely path along her palm.
Veda watched, entranced as their fingers came slowly to life, softly brushing, tangling, and playing together.
His breathing came deeper. Heavier.
Veda’s did too, more with each gentle stroke, sinking into the slightly ticklish feel of his callused fingers twisting and coiling around hers. His fingers trembled as he moved his short nails along the back of her hand, all the way up to her wrists and back down again, picking up every tiny wisp of hair on her skin before his fingers rejoined hers once more. She begged for the courage to look up, to meet his eyes, but she felt paralyzed, unable to move any bone in her body but the ones in her fingers as they tangled themselves with his.
With a deep breath, she tried again, peeking up at him from under her eyelashes.
Their eyes locked—his green orbs searching hers.
Veda’s breathing quickened, panting softly as they entwined their fingers completely.
A bang on the front door boomed through the apartment, startling Veda so much that she jumped in her chair with a yelp, ripping her hand away from Linc’s to cover her pounding heart. Her wide eyes flew to the front door just as another bang—or rather, another clank—came through. Whoever knocked wasn’t using a fist, but something solid.
Hand still over her thundering heart, Veda stood, stealing a look at Linc just as he leaned forward on his knees and buried his face in his hands with a chuckle, clearly just as startled by the knock as she’d been. His head sank lower, fingers slowly disappearing into his hair, nostrils flaring as he exhaled so violently he seemed one decibel away from a scream.
“I got it,” Veda said, moving on wobbly knees, taking hold of Linc’s broad shoulder to try and steady herself as she passed him on the way to the door. “I have no idea who that is…”
She didn’t know who was on the other side of that door, what the hell they were using to make that horrible clanking sound, or what the hell they wanted…
But if they’d knocked even a minute later than they had…
If they’d knocked even a few seconds later…
She shot a look over her shoulder and into the dining room. Linc now had his fisted hands pressed to his lips, staring ahead, appearing to be in another world.
Veda yanked open the front door, but the moment she saw who was on the other side, every inch of aggravation on her face vanished.
Her world grew still.
Her being grew tranquil.
The voices that never left her head went quiet.
And all she felt was love in her heart.
“Grandma!” she cried.
15
“Grandma, what on Earth are you doing here?” Veda launched through the doorway and wrapped Pearl Vandyke in a gentle hug. Pearl was a petite woman who always wobbled, forced to support herself with a cane, so Veda was gentle in her embrace, even though she wanted nothing more than to give her a bone-crushing squeeze. The moment she smelled her grandmother’s silver curls, felt the loving stroke on her back and heard her grandmother’s signature chuckle, tears filled Veda’s eyes. “I missed you so much. Why didn’t you call me and tell me you were coming? I would’ve picked you up from the airport.”
Veda pulled back and held Pearl’s arms, gleaming eyes running over her body.
“Have you lost more weight?” Veda demanded, voice exasperated. “Grandma, you’ve got to start taking better care of yourself. Are you keeping up on your medications? You should’ve called me. I can’t imagine the stress you must’ve been under getting yourself out here. Have you been on your feet all day? You know you can’t do that.”
“Ah—!” Pearl waved a dismissive hand with a huff as if Veda was a gnat that wouldn’t stop buzzing in her ear.
Veda sighed. Pearl did appear to have lost weight, and just as indifferent about it as ever. Her wrinkled, ebony skin hung a little farther from the bone than the last time Veda had seen her. Her cane wobbled more. The slight hunch in her back had curved deeper too, making her light blue cardigan hang forward as she shuffled her unsteady legs—clad in gray slacks and beige orthopedic shoes— into the foyer.
Even as worry blasted through her, Pearl was still a breathtaking sight to Veda.
“Well, if I had called you, it wouldn’t have been a surprise,” Pearl said as if Veda were a remedial child who’d somehow weaseled her way into an AP class. “And I had to fly down to surprise my favorite grandchild on her birthday, didn’t I?”
“I’m your only grandchild,” Veda chided, closing the door.
“All the more reason,” Pearl beamed, pausing in the foyer and turning to Veda with slow, careful rotations, cane clicking. “I’m a few days late, so I’m only in town for the night. Apparently, Delta is run entirely by monkeys banging away at computers. My flight was canceled twice before they finally…” An unintelligible rant commenced. Pearl listing all the airlines that would never see another dime of her money.
Veda leaped across the foyer and embraced her again, cutting off her tirade.
“Well, you’re just a blubbery mess,” Pearl chuckled, rubbing Veda’s back. “I’ve never seen you this weepy— ” She gasped, using her free hand to take Veda’s arm and shove her away.
Veda stumbled at the unexpected push, always surprised by her grandmother’s strength.
Pearl’s eyes bulged. “You’re pregnant!”
It was Veda’s turn to gasp, slapping the tears from her cheeks rapidly before shooting an alarmed look into the dining room.
Linc was on his feet and, yep, he’d heard every word, gazing into the foyer where Pearl had still yet to spot him, in amusement.
Veda looked down at Pearl, speaking through clenched teeth. “I’m not pregnant.”
“You might not know it yet…” Pearl hobbled out of the foyer and into the living area, cane clanking, wagging a finger at Veda over her shoulder. “But a grandmamma always knows…” Pearl’s voice petered away, the remainder of her sentence fading. T
he clank of her cane came to a halt.
Veda knew why her grandmother had experienced a sudden loss for words.
“Well, hello, young man…”
“Hello.” Linc’s deep voice boomed.
“You must be that Gage that Veda’s always talking about.”
Veda raced forward, taking her grandmother’s shoulders from behind, peeking at Linc as he dropped his head and stroked his shadowed jaw.
“Grandma, this is my friend, Lincoln Hill.”
“Oh…” Grandma Pearl drawled. “Your friend…”
Linc’s eyebrows jumped, and he caught Veda’s eyes.
“Yes, Grandma.” Veda circled around and offered Pearl her arm. “My good friend.”
Pearl accepted Veda’s arm, using it for leverage as they tottered closer to him.
Linc moved his gaze to Pearl and straightened, smoothing his t-shirt.
Veda whispered into Pearl’s ear, watching Linc from the corner of her eyes. “Linc is a detective for Shadow Rock PD.” A detective who’s out to bust your only grandchild and bury her under the prison. “Soon to be sergeant-detective. I was just helping him study for the chemistry class he needs in order to sit for the sergeant’s exam.” They stopped in front of him, Pearl’s glaring eyes running his face. “Linc, this is my Grandma, Pearl Vandyke. She likes to be called Pearl. Call her grandma, and you’re likely to lose a tooth. Only I’m allowed to call her that.”
Linc locked his hands behind his back, nodding at Pearl. “It’s really nice to meet you.”
“Detective, Sergeant…” Pearl glowered. “What’s the difference?”
“Basically? I get to wear a silver badge instead of gold, pretty much.”
“Gold to silver? Isn’t that backward?” Pearl asked. “If it’s a promotion… Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
“Probably should,” Linc said. “But a lot of things are backward in this town, so…”
Pearl hollered. “Why do you think I got outta here on the first train running? Tried to take Veda’s parents with me, years ago, but they’re hard-headed as all get out. Still haven’t figured out what in God’s name brought my grandbaby back to this awful place.” Pearl frowned at Veda accusingly.
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