Grace gave her nephew Fitz a big hug and kiss before surrendering him to his mother, Betty Jo. It was well past the little guy’s bedtime and with sleep-heavy eyes, he waved to her as she watched her sister-in-law head upstairs. Her brother Teague and his wife Sabrina had already left—Teague outside to join his brother, Tucker, and Matt. And Sabrina to their cottage next door. With Sabrina’s twins gone, the noise level had dropped dramatically.
Gracce smiled. Teague was now father to Sabrina’s twins, and she’d given birth to their son Axel less than a year after they were married. Funny how things worked out. She’d thought Teague would be a bachelor forever—married to a dangerous job—but he’d gone and surprised the heck out of everyone when he’d fallen in love with Sabrina.
She couldn’t remember seeing her brother happier than he was right now, and right now felt pretty damn good.
Humming to herself, Grace turned off the light in the kitchen and wandered into the large, open family room. The entire wall was glass and gave her a spectacular view of the lake at night.
She had the place to herself, which was a miracle considering everyone had made it to Gravenhurst except Jack and Donovan. Her parents had retired to bed and so had Tucker’s wife Abby.
She frowned. Something was up with her sister-in-law.
“What’s with the face?” Her cousin Cooper came in from outside where all the guys were. Cigars were the likely culprit, and Matt had been all over it.
“I could ask the same.”
Cooper flashed a smile, wincing a bit on account of the black eye he sported. The guy could pass as her brother Beau’s twin. Both of them were good looking Charlie Hunnam or Brad Pitt-types, and Cooper could have made a fortune in Hollywood. Instead he… Actually, Grace wasn’t exactly sure what Cooper did to pass the time. Other than the obvious—women.
“I asked first.”
She leaned against the sofa and pulled no punches. “What’s going on with Abby?”
The smile on Cooper’s face slowly faded and his blue eyes slid away from hers. All sorts of alarm bells went off inside Grace and she tugged at his arm. She knew Cooper and Abby were good friends. Hell, it had been a bone of contention between her brother, Tucker, and her cousin Coop from the moment they’d met.
“Cooper. What the hell is going on?”
Cooper shoved his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know anything.” At her sharp intake of breath, he continued. “I don’t. But something’s up. I’m sure of it. She’s not herself.” He shrugged. “I guess they’ll tell us when the time’s right.”
Grace thought about that for a few moments. “I guess so. I just hope it’s nothing serious.” She shoved her elbow into her cousin’s side. “So? The black eye? That’s gotta be a good story.”
“Oh, it’s a story all right.”
“Spill.”
Cooper exhaled and ran a hand through his thick blond hair. “It’s a long, drawn-out tale that involves a married woman, a cheating husband and, well…” He flashed that million-dollar smile again. “Me.”
“Somehow I’m not surprised.”
Her cousin Cooper had a long history of getting involved with unattainable women. As in women who were either spoken for, engaged, or already married. The world saw him as a celebrated scoundrel—a guy with Hollywood looks, no ambition and no morals. Grace found it interesting that Coop perpetuated the myth because she knew him—she knew him well—and he was none of those things.
There was a reason why he was the way he was. But it was his story and as far as she knew, he’d never shared it. At least not with her.
The two of them stared out into the darkness and Grace found the twinkling lights that lined the edge of the lake mesmerizing.
“I love coming up here,” she murmured. She could see the guys—her brothers Tucker and Teague, and Matt—walking near the boathouse. The embers from their cigars gave them away.
“Yeah? What do you like about it?”
“I’m not sure really. The quiet? The stripped-down version of a life I think we all want, but not many of us get. Everything moves so fast. I can see why Teague loves it up here.”
“So what’s up with you and Hawkins?”
Leave it to Cooper to ask the question that everyone was too afraid to ask.
Her eyes on the glowing tips in the darkness, she thought about the question for a long time. She reached for her half-empty glass of wine and finished it in one gulp. Then she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth and set the now empty glass down.
“I’m not exactly sure yet. But…”
“But?”
“I know what I want, but Matt’s got stuff going on, life stuff. And even though I’m pretty sure our feelings are the same, this other stuff bothers me. I don’t know if he’s ever going to share it. I don’t know if he knows how to share it with me. And I don’t think we can move forward until he does.”
“Have you told him that?”
She shook her head and swore. “We don’t really talk. It’s stupid and frustrating and so high school. We keep saying that we’ll talk. That we’ll communicate.” She shook her head. “But we never really do. I’m afraid to bring it up, and he’s avoiding it altogether.”
“You love him.”
Grace’s head whipped up so fast she was surprised it didn’t crack in two. “Why would you say that?”
“Because any idiot with two eyes in his head can see that you do.”
Oh. God. Cheeks now flaming, Grace squeezed her eyes shut. What if Matt knew? What if he knew and this whole trip up north was a pity trip?
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Cooper said, tugging on a long piece of her hair. It had escaped the messy bun at the back of her head and, irritated, she tucked it behind her ear.
“Worry about what?”
“Matt is so busy avoiding the talking thing that he’s not seeing the situation clearly.”
True. That was totally true.
“So I think it’s gotta be you who forces the issue.” Cooper shrugged. “You should do it before the not talking-thing gets so big that you can’t make sense of it.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t want to.”
“Because you’re afraid he’ll bolt? Because you’re afraid he won’t think you’re worth the commitment?”
She nodded.
Cooper pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Thing is, Gracie. You’re worth the commitment. Don’t forget that. Ever. Okay?”
She hugged her cousin. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”
The back door off the deck opened and brought with it a gust of wind, two Simons and the one guy who made her heart beat fast and hard without even trying.
Matt was grinning at something her brother Teague was saying, and he looked so damn easy and relaxed that it made everything inside her melt. He glanced up suddenly, as if knowing her eyes were on him, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“I’m heading out,” Teague said, walking over to Grace and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I like him,” he whispered.
“I should go up, too. Been traveling all day.” Tucker nodded and took the stairs two at a time.
“What are you guys up to?” Cooper opened the cabinet and grabbed a bottle of scotch.
“I should take our stuff out to the bunky,” Grace said, reaching for her jacket.
Cooper held up the bottle and arched an eyebrow at Matt. “Single malt.”
“Thanks, but I’m going to have to pass.” Matt took Grace’s hand.
“Not surprised. Have a good one.”
Grace and Matt headed outside and trudged through the snow to the bunky. It was small but the necessities were covered. A bed. A toilet and sink. And a desk that was big enough for her weekender.
The heat had been turned on and the lamp on the desk threw a soft glow. It was cozy and intimate and for the next few days, it was all theirs. Grace tossed her bag onto the desk, suddenly nervous and not really knowing why.
“Hey, you okay?” M
att reached for her and she snuggled up against him. With her cheek pressed into his chest, she inhaled that unique scent that was Matt and closed her eyes.
“I’m perfect.” And she was. In this moment, in this place, with this man…she was one hundred and fifty percent perfect with the world.
“Your family is real nice.”
“They’re not always so well behaved, but I’ll keep them.”
A few seconds ticked by. “Grace we should talk.” His voice was quiet. Too quiet.
Her stomach rolled and the panic that swelled inside her was something fierce. No. The word whispered through her head and she shook her head. “It can wait, Matt.”
“That’s just it, Bluebell. I don’t think it can.”
“Please, Matt.” Straight up, she was a coward and for the moment she could live with that. “Let’s just have tonight for us. Nothing but you and me. Let’s forget about everything else.”
His arms tightened around her and she squeezed her eyes shut when she felt his lips graze the top of her head. His hands sank into her hair and with a groan, she turned to him, accepting his mouth and kissing him back hungrily.
Clothes went flying. Elbows and knees bumped against furniture. Naked limbs entwined on the bed. Grace loved Matt with everything that she had. She used her body—her mouth, her fingers, her tongue and hips. She used everything but her words to let him know the depth of her love.
There was a frenetic, desperate quality to their lovemaking and it went on for hours. She loved him until the first streaks of dawn crept over the horizon. And when she finally fell asleep, exhausted, satiated and sore, that fear that had been building for hours twisted and turned. It was a heavy stone in her gut.
A heavy stone that stayed with her long after she fell asleep.
26
Team pink was up by five points. Matt had no idea how since they had some serious competition, but it seemed to him Grace was the secret weapon. His lady was fierce and competitive and not above using devious means to beat her brothers. And beating them was exactly what she and team Pink were doing.
They’d just finished a pretty intensive scavenger hunt through the bush and once again, team Pink had the most items on the list. They’d also won the wheel barrow race, and Grace could skip a stone across the water like no tomorrow.
It was early afternoon and they’d been at it since breakfast with no end in sight. Up next, hot potato toss (whatever the hell that was).
Matt accepted a hot beverage from Betty Jo and leaned back in his seat. The two of them had insisted on a break. A roaring fire was going down near the water and the heat felt wonderful. Beau had just taken Fitz up for a nap and Grace was arguing with her brothers over the validity of one of their finds.
“We already won,” he said to Betty Jo. “What’s the point?”
“The point is, my friend, Grace Simon might be small and cute, but she’s tenacious as hell and doesn’t give up. And she sure as hell doesn’t like to lose.”
Matt watched her, his chest tightening when her brother, Teague, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He marched her over to one of the biggest snow drifts around and threatened to toss her into it. The two of them yelled and laughed and yelled some more until they both fell.
Eden Simon came rushing out of the house and peered over the upper deck. She spied her children and then relaxed, shaking her head before disappearing back inside. This family was whole. Intact. And he was humbled to be here with them.
“She’s not going to give up on you. You know that, right?” Betty kicked his foot.
“I’m not so sure.”
Betty Jo grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard. “I’ve never seen you like this before, Matt. She’s good for you. And in spite of what you think, you’re damn good for her.”
“Delilah came back.” And there it was in a nutshell.
Betty Jo sank back into her chair. “Shit. Did she and Grace talk?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
“What did the bitch tell her?”
“Nothing. As far as I know, nothing.” He glanced at Betty Jo. Saw her surprise.
“Well, what did she want? Did you talk to her? I hope you told her to screw the hell off and leave you alone.”
Matt took a sip from his mug, letting the hot tea burn its way down his throat. There were things that Betty Jo knew—things he’d not shared with any other soul. And yet, there was so much more to his story, stuff even she didn’t know. More pain. More shame.
“She told me that Ben is dying.”
“Aw, man.” Betty Jo set down her mug. “She could have written you a letter or sent an email. Or a text message for God’s sake.”
He laughed, not because he found her statement funny, but because it was so damn pathetic. “I guess she could have.”
“Did she fly?” Betty was getting worked up something good.
“Nope.”
“She drove all the way from Arizona?” Grace and Teague glanced their way, no doubt because Betty’s voice had risen at least two octaves. “Mother trucker.”
He looked at her. “Mother trucker?”
Grace looked exasperated. “It’s the only thing I could come up with that makes me feel almost as good as saying fuck.” She made a face. “Beau wasn’t happy because Fitz’s vocabulary was getting a little, uh, colorful.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.”
“Anyway, he bet me a new Gucci bag that I couldn’t go a month without saying a curse word.”
“Guess you lost then.”
“Huh?” She whipped her head around and frowned.
“You just said the F word that rhymes with truck.”
She punched him in the arm. “Only counts if Beau or Fitz hears it.” She laughed and then grabbed up her mug of tea, her laughter slowly fading as her eyes rested on Grace.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t laid eyes on Ben since…well, since that last time.” He shook his head, mouth thinned. “I don’t feel anything for him.”
“Bullshit,” Betty said quietly.
“You can’t call bullshit.”
“Sure I can. I know you, Matt. All these years you’ve been hurting because you feel exactly the opposite. He’s your father. At the end of the day, no matter what, Dale Benjamin Hawkins is your father. You’ve got unfinished business there and if he passes before you get a chance to make your peace with him—“
“I don’t want to make peace with that son-of-a-bitch.” He was angry now and tossed the remainder of his tea. Damn but he needed something stronger.
“Five years ago, hell, three years ago I would have believed you. But not now. No way. You’re not the same guy.” She kicked at the edge of the fire. “You need to close the door while you still can. Whether it’s to tell Ben you hope he rots in hell, or whether it’s to tell him you forgive him. I never got that chance. By the time I found my way back home, Dad was sick. Do you know what it feels like to think that my last conversation with him when he was healthy was me telling him that I hated him?”
She kicked at the fire again. “I told him I wished he had died instead of Mom.” Her voice shook and she sank back into her chair. “That’s a regret I’ll carry to the grave, Matt.”
He squeezed her hand and kept quiet, because she was right.
“Anyway, it’s not really Ben I’m concerned about. It’s Delilah.” Betty’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust her. She’s up to something.”
Hot billowing anger rolled through him. Betty Jo had no idea.
Matt got to his feet just as his cell phone rang, and looking for an excuse to escape his reality, he went with it.
“It’s Logan.” He pointed to the boathouse and wandered over, accepting the call from Logan Forest with a frown.
“Everything okay at my place?” he asked. “Dory all good?”
“Yeah. Just heard from my brother, Travis. He stopped by this morning and the dogs are just fine.”
<
br /> Relieved, Matt swung around eyes searching for Grace. She was throwing snowballs at Sabrina’s twins. She looked young and innocent and so damn adorable. What the hell did she see in him?
“That’s not why I called.”
Matt turned and looked out over the lake. He was almost afraid to ask. “What’s up?”
“I got a call from your dad’s wife, Delilah.”
That cold shot of fear that had been dogging him for days roared to life and his free hand closed into a fist. He didn’t say anything. He just waited for the hammer to drop.
“She said that ah, she was trying to get hold of you but couldn’t get a number to reach you at. Found out I was married to Betty’s sister and thought we’d be able to get a message to you.”
Matt could barely speak. “Go on.”
Logan cleared his throat. “She said to tell you that Ben’s near the end, hours maybe. And that Justin has gone missing. She doesn’t know what to do. Said the police don’t consider it a missing person until it’s been forty-eight hours. I…she gave me her number and asked that you call.”
Matt’s eyes fell to the ground. Everything left him. His emotions. His fear. His anger. All of it was gone. He was just empty. His mind rolled back. Images of him and his father out on a boat. Of his dad teaching him to ride his bike…and his mother at their side. Of that stupid song “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” and the two of them slow dancing in the living room.
When had it all gone to shit?
“Matt, who the hell is Justin?”
Logan’s voice jerked him back to reality. “Just a kid.” His voice was like sandpaper—no wonder because his throat was so damn tight.
“I’ll text you the number.”
Matt stared at the screen until the number appeared and rolled his finger over it repeatedly. Before he could think on it too much, Matt pressed the number and waited.
Delilah picked up before it rang twice.
“Matt?” She sounded frantic, he’d give her that.
“What do you want from me?”
“I don’t know what to do about Justin. I got back from Michigan a few hours ago and I think he’s been gone since I left. The police won’t even begin looking for him until forty-eight hours have passed and even then they won’t try. He’s been in trouble before and they just…they won’t try.”
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