“Aubrey?” Carlie Beth’s voice came from inside. “What are you doing out there? You need to get to school.” The storm door swung open and she poked her head outside. Her forehead scrunched, and then she spotted Grif and it scrunched even more.
Before she could close the door, he lunged off the swing and caught it. “Hey, I came by to talk with you about—”
“I know you took a sample from my quenching tank,” she said. “Austin told me after you left with it.”
“If you’ll listen to me—”
“You had it tested, didn’t you? Did you also figure out if it was Austin or me who dumped it all over your stupid climbing wall?” Her eyes, with faint violet circles underneath, made her look fragile, but the stubborn set of her lips said she was pissed. And rightfully so. She held out her wrists. “Maybe you should just cuff me. Make a citizen’s arrest and have Maggie haul me off.”
“You could’ve just explained that you use mineral oil instead of a specialized quenching oil. I know neither of you messed with those handholds.”
“But you had to have proof, get confirmation. You couldn’t take my word for it.”
“Carlie Beth, I’m sorr—”
“Did you really think I would hurt you? Slice up your car? What reason would I have…” Her gaze snapped to his. “Oh my God, this wasn’t about me. It was about you.”
“About me being an idiot.”
“No, about you being scared. Because I pose a threat.”
“Listen to me. I know it wasn’t you.”
“Not that kind of threat. An emotional one. You might not be scared of being physically hurt, but Madison Henry really pulled one over on you. And I lied to you way before she did.” Now her shadowed eyes just looked miserably sad.
“But you did it for what you thought were the right reasons.” He caught her hand and drew her outside.
“I thought you didn’t trust me, but the reality is you don’t trust yourself. All this time, I’ve been terrified you’d up and leave. And you’ve been terrified you might be tempted to stay.”
The truth of her statement hit Grif in the gut. He’d spent so much time fighting what was in front of him that he was risking something way bigger than his professional reputation. He was risking his chance at a future. One that made him feel happy and needed instead of just important.
She’d been worried he would leave, which meant she felt something for him. Something big enough to have her running scared, too.
She butted her head against his chest, no doubt able to hear how hard his heart was beating. “Why did you have to come back home?”
“Maybe the universe knows where we’re supposed to be and who we’re supposed to be with much better than we do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He was pretty sure it meant the universe had decided she was the woman for him. But he wasn’t ready to admit that to himself, much less say it aloud.
His heart full—of regret, hope, and, he half-feared, love—he kissed her. She tasted of coffee and faintly of sweet lemon. And her lips under his were soft and held what he hoped was a first hint of forgiveness. Her skin felt so damn right against his, and he dove in to the kiss, trying to sort out his feelings.
God, he wanted her naked and under him. Wanted to drive her up and push her over. Wanted to hear her whisper the three words that would send him with her.
Wanted it so desperately that he almost didn’t recognize himself.
A casual whistle—a jaunty little tune that sounded like Grif and Carlie Beth sitting in a tree—drifted through the air. Carlie Beth shoved away from him and wiped her mouth with her hand. “I can’t think when you do that.”
They both glanced toward the sidewalk. There stood one of the town’s longtime postmen, shoving envelopes and flyers into Carlie Beth’s mailbox and watching them make out. He lifted his hand in a friendly wave and meandered his way down the street.
“Oh, God,” Carlie Beth groaned. “This’ll be all over town by lunchtime.”
“We’re adults. We’re allowed to kiss one another in public.”
“You don’t just kiss. You make a woman forget who she. Where she is. I do not want my neighbors talking about how Carlie Beth Parrish orgasmed on her front porch in broad daylight.”
Now that sounded like a challenge. “Make-up sex can be excellent.” He reached for her, but she danced away, almost tripping in her haste. With a quick lunge, he grabbed her wrist and kept her upright. “Careful there.”
She must’ve caught sight of his peace offering because she asked, “What is that?”
Crap, the guy he’d bought it off had assured him she’d be ecstatic. “Are you saying you don’t know?”
Her hip cocked out, which also pushed out her breasts. To hell with the neighbors. He could have her screaming inside ninety seconds if he could just get his hands—
“Uh-uh. I don’t know what just went through your mind, but by the look in your eyes, it was dirty.”
“Dirty is good.” He pulled her toward him. “Very, very good.”
“The way you do it, I totally agree. But that’s totally off the table, so explain to me why there’s an oak stump at the bottom of my steps.”
“Because I already bought you flowers.”
“Makes total sense.” But her doubtful expression said otherwise.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry and easy girl gifts aren’t special enough for you.”
“I like flowers. And candy. And stuff.”
He pointed at the stump. “Which would you rather have—a box of chocolate or a chunk of wood to mount your anvil on?”
She took the porch steps two at a time, knelt beside the stump, and ran her hands over its surface. By the possessive nature of her touch, he had his answer. “This is mine?”
“Do you like it?” He followed Carlie Beth and shook his head at himself. When was the last time he’d felt like a fourteen-year-old kid, totally unsure of how to win over a woman?
Probably when he’d been fourteen.
She glanced up at him over her shoulder. “If I take this, does it mean I have to forgive you for even entertaining the idea that I would try to hurt you?”
“If there’s one thing I know, it’s the value of the perfect bribe.”
She came to her feet and propped her hands on her hips. “You don’t play fair.”
“You’re right, Shortcake, I play to win.”
* * *
She probably should’ve held on to her mad for a little longer, but Carlie Beth had never been particularly good at all those girl-guy games. They were exhausting and wasted time that would be better spent making things from metal. Eyeing the stump, she asked Grif, “Will you help me get it to the forge?”
But he grabbed her hand. “Before you get distracted playing with your new toy, I want to settle this between us. I’m sorry I doubted you. Will you forgive me?”
He was right. This was serious, and if they were going to go forward in whatever capacity, co-parenting or more, they needed to trust one another. “I’m a grown woman. I can handle the fact that you and I are still circling one another. But Grif, you can’t do something like this to Aubrey. She is so infatuated with you right now, it would crush her to have you doubt her. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I don’t want to hurt either of you. This is all so damn new to me.”
She went up on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. “We all just do the best we can.”
“Maybe I’m not cut out to be a dad.”
His words held such a hollow misery that she lifted her hands to his face and smoothed them over his cheeks, savoring the scratch of his scruff against her skin. God, the combination of sexual attraction and bone-deep emotion she felt for this man might do her in. She held him still until he met her gaze. “Do you want to be Aubrey’s dad?”
“I am her dad.” The way he said it, all macho and offended, made her smile. Because he didn’t just mean he wa
s biologically responsible, but that he cared. Really cared.
“Then you’d better reconcile yourself to being a big ol’ screwup sometimes. No one has an inside track on this parenting thing.”
“It’s like the ultimate cosmic joke, isn’t it?” Grif curved his hands around her waist.
“I want you to know that I’m committed to being Aubrey’s dad. Carlie Beth, I love that kid.” He huffed a small laugh and shook his head. “Our kid. A month ago, I couldn’t imagine having one. And now, I can’t imagine life without her.”
Oh, how she loved this man… Carlie Beth’s brain went blank. Simply empty.
But it didn’t stay that way for long because the reality slammed through her. She’d fallen in love with Grif Steele. Her baby daddy. Fifteen years after the deed was done.
The pressure on her chest threatened to completely suffocate her.
Carlie Beth breathed, trying to keep the tears that were creeping up on her from escaping. He’d done her in, simply sent her over the edge and made her heart fall at his feet.
What was she supposed to do now?
Because his promise to be a father to Aubrey wasn’t a commitment to be her true partner and lover. And she needed a little space to figure out how to deal with that.
“Carlie Beth?” Grif’s voice seemed to come from down the road. “Are you okay? You went as white as a plumber’s crack.”
That shocked her out of her little panic attack and she coughed out a laugh. “I’m fine, and as long as we’re all trying, everything will fall into place,” she said, hoping it was true. “And now that we’ve kissed and made up, can I please take my new anvil stand out to the forge?”
The smile that crossed Grif’s face was so real, so full of relief that Carlie Beth knew they could make this work. She’d once believed career, money, and ego were everything to him, but the man standing before her valued people and relationships. Valued her.
“Right after this,” he said, and then he put his mouth on hers.
This kiss was different from any they’d shared before. It was full of messages that Carlie Beth tried to interpret. Instead of frantic passion, it tasted like simple affection. Contentment even.
And oh God, was there anything in the world more attractive than a man who honestly liked you?
Grif’s kiss was slow and thorough and devastating in its simplicity. When he finally drew back, she wasn’t sure she could remember her own name.
But she knew that she needed this man. Needed him every day for the rest of her life.
26
Which was a concept Carlie Beth couldn’t think too hard about right now, so she forced her mouth into a shaky smile. “I need to remember I like that last part of kissing and making up.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be around to remind you.”
Would he? Would he really?
He tilted the dolly holding the tree stump and headed for the backyard. When she didn’t immediately follow, he glanced back over his shoulder. “Thought you couldn’t wait to get this into your forge.”
“Just thinking of all the ways I’m going to use you. It, I meant use it.”
“Hey, I’m willing to be used. All in the name of art, of course.” Then he winked at her. Winked. From any other man, it would’ve been a cheesy gesture. But somehow, Grif made it look sexy and suave.
This man would kill her yet.
They rounded the house into the backyard, and Carlie Beth’s smile wasn’t shaky anymore. It was so broad, it could’ve juiced up Steele Ridge’s power supply for a year. But when they approached the forge, it faltered. “It’s not locked. Austin has his own key, but he’s never forgotten to lock up after himself.”
Grif’s expression turned sheepish. “He might’ve been distracted last night.”
“Why?”
“Because I came out here and we kinda…”
“Locked horns like idiots? So help me God, if you’ve cost me the best apprentice I’ve ever had, I will…I don’t know what, but it won’t be pretty.”
“I’ll apologize to him, too.”
She hoped that was even an option. Austin had been in such a state when he stomped out after dinner last night. And he’d been absolutely right about Carlie Beth being head-over-heels for Grif. She couldn’t change that.
And wouldn’t even if she could.
Grif edged her away from the door and lowered the dolly. “Let me check it out.”
His words almost stopped her heart, making her realize that if Austin left the place open, all her tools and projects could be gone. But if that were the case, surely she would’ve heard something last night. And who in Steele Ridge would do something like that anyway? “I’m sure everything’s fine—”
“If you won’t agree to stay right here, I’ll lock you in your house.”
“You’ve lost your mind. I guess that’s what you’ll say to Aubrey when she wants to date.”
His eyes went squinty and mean. “That’s a conversation for another time. But I can definitely see the appeal of cleaning my guns when boys come calling.”
He had her so off balance that Carlie Beth didn’t immediately follow him when he slipped inside the forge. They really needed to discuss what he was thinking. He kept dropping little pictures of the future into their conversations, but she wasn’t sure what to make of them.
She grabbed the door and the hinges squeaked, immediately giving her away.
“Don’t come in here,” Grif ordered, his voice as hard as titanium. “Go get your phone and call Maggie.”
“What’s—”
“Now.”
She might’ve admitted to herself that she was in love with this man, but if he thought he would become the boss of her, he was out of his ever-loving mind. Carlie Beth swung the door wide and stalked inside. Austin had remembered to turn off the lights, but the windows on either side of the building let in sunlight, illuminating Grif’s back where he was crouched over something on the floor.
“What did they take?”
He glanced up and pinned her with a stare she couldn’t interpret. “I said to get the goddamn phone and call Maggie.”
“Don’t you have your cell phone? Why should I—” Her words were cut short when she strode forward and caught a glimpse of what Grif was shielding on the floor. Thin white fabric. “Austin was wearing that shirt last night.” That’s when she noticed the ladder not far away. “Oh my God, Grif. Is he hurt? What happened?” She hurried forward, but Grif swung an arm out, stopping her forward progress.
“Don’t touch anything.”
“Is he conscious? Emergency services will want to know." He was right. She had to get the phone because if Austin was hurt, she had to get help right away. “We need to give him CPR!”
Grif swiped a hand across his eyes and hung his head. “Why couldn’t you have listened and stayed outside?” He shifted slightly so Carlie Beth could see Austin’s full form. “We’re too late for CPR.”
Carlie Beth’s already shallow breaths stuck in her lungs. Because the fall from the ladder she’d been imagining was nothing compared to the scene on the floor of her forge.
Her apprentice was sprawled, blood crusted around a puncture wound on his temple and arms extended from his sides, with railroad spikes rammed through both his palms and his throat.
This wasn’t an accident.
It was murder.
* * *
Grif had tried like hell to get Carlie Beth off her own property once Maggie and her deputies showed up on the scene. But the damn woman wouldn’t leave. Just stood there and watched while the place was photographed and picked over. Watched when they carried her apprentice’s body out in a bag.
Of course, the town grapevine was working like a champ, and people started to gather on the sidewalk in front of her house within fifteen minutes of the 911 call. Thank God that contingent included his brothers and they handled crowd control.
Once Maggie’s people had cleared the scene and there was nothing else to gawk
at, folks began to meander away. But they would gossip over beer and dinner and dessert.
Although he’d hated to bring her into the ugliness, Grif had called his mom and asked her to come sit with Carlie Beth. But she hadn’t been able to talk her into moving farther than a brick planter in the backyard. When Grif walked out of the forge and caught his mom’s eye, she immediately stood and reached for Carlie Beth’s hand. “Sweetheart,” she said, “why don’t we go pick Aubrey up from school and take her out to my house?”
The dazed expression on Carlie Beth’s face cleared slightly and she scrambled for her phone. “Is it that late already?”
“Last bell will ring in ten minutes, and I don’t think you want her to come home to see…”
When Carlie Beth’s gaze rose to meet his across the lawn, the complete devastation in her eyes tugged at something deep in Grif’s chest. Why couldn’t he have shielded her from this? He wanted to wrap his arms around her, comfort and protect her, yet after what he’d found in her forge, he felt dirty. Unworthy.
Like he’d somehow been responsible for what had happened to that boy. Jesus, what if he’d been the last person to see him alive before…
Before whoever had done that to him.
This was personal. That much was obvious. Someone had brought death and terror into Carlie Beth’s home. And fuck-all if Grif would let someone get away with that. He fortified himself with a long, slow breath, then walked across the grass to Carlie Beth and his mom.
“She’s right, Shortcake. You need to pick up Aubrey and go back to Tupelo Hill. Get to her before someone tells her what happened here today.”
“I…I don’t know how to tell her.”
Grif took her hands, turned them palm up and looked at the lines and whorls there. So damn capable. But even these hands couldn’t handle everything alone. “We’ll talk with her together, if that’s okay with you.”
Without a tug from him, she slid her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. When he wrapped her in a hug, it became more than clear to him that he never wanted to let her go. Above Carlie Beth’s head, he met his mom’s speculative look. He nodded once and that seemed to satisfy her.
Going Hard: Steele Ridge Series Page 22