Suddenly my boring-assed birthday had about ten things I needed to do. Thank God it was still early in the morning. Thatcher was at the top of the list. I felt in order to make it right, I had to start with my friend. I owed him that. Gracie, on the other hand, was going to take some finesse. She was going to take more than a simple apology and I knew exactly what I could do that would make her change her mind.
Turns out my birthday was looking up for the first time in years.
“You got a minute, man?”
“Give me a sec,” Thatcher yelled from the back of his shop.
I dug into the can of peanuts and plopped down on one of the stools, shucking the shells onto the metal table in front of me.
“What’s up? Damn, Mr. Haller ordered some feed bunks. You know he inherited all his dad’s cattle? Five hundred head.”
I let out a low whistle.
“He knows I don’t have fifty feed bunks on hand. Doesn’t stop him from busting my balls though. They just got here before you showed up. Haven’t seen you lately. Ryan was looking for you the other day, too. He ever find you?”
“No. What’d he want?” I asked.
“Wanted to give you a job making a sign out of the plasma cutter and putting it up by all the lots so people could see it when they rolled into town.”
“I need to call him. I came in here to talk to you about something.”
Thatcher stopped dead in his tracks. He recognized my tone. I meant business.
“Is it about Grace?”
“It is. I was an ass to her.”
“Partially my fault,” he admitted.
“True. Apology accepted. She’s different. Different than Tiffany. Different than Sara and all them other broads, in case you’re wondering.”
“What are you getting at, Cap?”
I stared him dead in the eye. “I’m in love with her.”
The A/C kicked on, the whir and blow making up for the loss of noise in his shop as he stared at me.
“Are you serious?” he asked warily.
“Yes, I’m serious,” I vowed.
“Good. I would hate to have to kick your ass.”
“You couldn’t if you tried. Remember when you were still in school and I’d just started working for your dad?”
“That was a long time ago. I could take you now. You’re old. Happy Birthday, old fucker.”
“I’m in my prime. It’d be a happy birthday if you told me you got my back with Grace. If I didn’t fuck that up already.”
“She’s pretty stubborn.”
“No shit. Figured that out the second she showed up on my doorstep. Look man, it took me a while to realize she’s special. Different. That I want her-”
“Only her?”
I cut him a look, “Only her. For good.”
“What about your dad? I don’t want her mixed up in any of his crap.”
“He’s been born again. My mom—Lori—doesn’t want a thing to do with him. Told him so.”
“Grace said she met your mom. Almost thought you tricked her.”
“It was the real deal. She’s changed a lot, you know? Hard to begrudge someone who looks and acts like a normal person. Runs that center up in Longville. Owns it. Her and her husband, Peter. She has two kids.”
“You going to meet them?”
“I don’t know, man. One step at a time. We cool?”
“We’re cool. Abby and I talked a lot about this last night and she convinced me that I have no ownership over Grace and she is a grown woman who can see, and do, whoever she wants. It was difficult thinking it could be my friend who is always bragging about fucking different women all the time. Good luck on my old man. He’ll throw a shit fit.”
“I was more worried about you. Your dad I can handle.”
“You know she’s up in Deer Creek right now? Has an appointment.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand over his chest.
“Not the real deal though?”
“Nah. Not today. Just a visit. She went to one already. Guess this is different.”
“She’s really going to do it. I’m proud of her.”
“Discussing that you’re in love with her is one thing. Let’s not discuss her surgical options.”
I belted out a laugh and snagged a handful of peanuts. I stuck my hand out across the table, “Thanks, man.”
Thatch gripped my hand and gave it a tug. “No problem.”
Part of me wanted to drive up to Deer Creek and find Grace but I knew she needed to do this on her own. It wasn’t the surgical appointment. Maybe if she forgave me, she’d let me take her to that.
I had other things to do in Deer Creek that couldn’t wait. I fired up my bike and drove out of Lone Star, realizing I didn’t need the paper I scribbled on earlier. Trailer number forty-nine. Stuck in my head like a magnet.
An hour later I pulled up outside a dingy trailer park. The sign was metal and had rusted out spots along the top trim where faded, painted flowers held on for dear life. It read ‘Magnolia Blossom.’ Beneath the script it read in block letters, A HAPPY PLACE FOR EVERYONE. By the looks of it, it wasn’t a happy place anymore. Maybe once, back in its hay day in what I guessed was the early sixties. Now, it was sad.
Parts of the wooden fence that used to surround the property were busted out. A small portion was gone completely. The owners must not have thought it was a happy place anymore, either.
I took the only road into the lot and parked beneath the shade of a large elm tree a few trailers down from number forty-nine. The park itself was mostly quiet. A few dogs barked a street over and I could hear a baby wailing in the distance. Number forty-nine was a dirty shade of cream with brown trim—could use some power-washing that would go a long way in cleaning it up.
The yard hadn’t seen a drop of water since the early sixties either. Bone-dry, yellow and I imagined it would break the second someone stomped all over it. I leaned back on my bike and waited. Watched the trailer, listened.
I sat like that for hours, until it was almost dark, before a beat-up truck pulled alongside the curb and two guys hopped out. I couldn’t get a great view on either one. One was tall, lanky with light colored hair and the other was short and heavyset. Non-descript clothes as far as I could tell. Neither seemed aware of what was going on in the trailer park around them.
They stayed inside the trailer for almost an hour before they came back out and took off in the beat-up truck again. As they passed me, I was able to catch a quick glimpse of the two. Nothing spectacular. The tall, lanky one was driving and blew cigarette smoke out his window as he passed. Fat boy was hunched over in his seat and I couldn’t make out what he was up to as fast as they passed by.
Now was as good as time as any. Knowing they’d both been here and just left was my opportunity. I hopped off my bike and casually walked past the few trailers to theirs like I owned the place and strolled right up the creaking steps to the door on the side of the trailer, my lock pick already in hand. I was in luck. Door was open.
I pulled the screen door slowly and went inside. Low and behold, lady luck was on my side again as there, five steps from the screen door, on the torn linoleum floor, inside a cardboard box that went almost to my hips, was Echo quivering in the only corner that wasn’t laden with dog piss and shit.
“Remember me, baby? Yeah, you do. I came to take you back to your mother.”
I heard a vehicle pull up outside and the doors slammed shut. Before I could retrieve her from the box, the two goons stood at the screen door.
Fuck.
“Oh shit, I didn’t shut the door when we left, Bro.”
I stood up to my full height from my stooped position when they noticed me.
“Who the fuck are you?” Surfer Boy Will was my guess based on Grace’s description of him, asked as he swayed into the trailer with fat boy following behind him.
I recognized the signs immediately. Bloodshot eyes. Trying to pronounce his words clear enough for me to understand. The way he swayed
as I stood there.
Drugs.
I bided my time, considering what might be the best way to handle the situation. Outrunning them seemed like a good possibility if I could move them away from my only exit.
“Answer us, punk. Who the fuck are you?”
“He’s here to steal our shit.” Fat boy said at the same time.
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare.” I dug my heels in, ready for whatever I needed to do.
Fat boy moved closer in behind skinny Will and quickly shoved him into me. I stepped back quick enough to avoid catching his fall and having him take me down with him. Problem was, it wasn’t fast enough to miss the blow to my left temple.
Chapter Nineteen
Grace
“Seriously?” I said to no one in particular. Who in the hell would be knocking on my door at this time of night.
Disheveled and still half asleep I switched on the hallway light and fumbled my way to the door. I put my eye to the peephole and jumped back as more knocking banged the door on its hinges.
“What?” I practically yelled as I swung the door open.
My breath caught in my throat as Maverick stood there looking like every slice of delicious pie I’d ever baked all rolled into one giant ball of happiness. Echo was smashed between his chest and arm, alert as ever. As if she knew they were here for me.
“You found her?” I squealed as he thrust Echo into my arms. Immediately the puppy started licking me and trying to crawl out of my arms and up my head.
That was when I noticed Maverick hadn’t moved a step and I took in every ounce of male goodness in him.
“What happened to you? Come inside. Come on.” I reached for him, unable to take my eyes off the purple bruise on his temple. His upper lip was cut and swollen but the blood had already formed a crust around the edges.
“Easy, please. Not so hard,” he managed as I guided him into my living room.
“Here. Let me get some ice.”
“I’m fine,” he groaned.
I rolled my eyes and kissed Echo on the top of her head before I set her down on my couch. “Sit, please. I’ll be right back.”
I grabbed some ice and threw it into a plastic bag before making my way back to the couch, completely avoiding the mirror on the middle wall. I knew I must look like hell.
“There. Let me hold it. Are you okay? Do you need some aspirin? What happened to you? Where were you?”
He grunted and patted my leg. “You look beautiful, Grace. I didn’t tell you that enough all that time we were together. I’m sorry. I came to make amends. I am good enough for you. I will treat you better than anyone you’ve ever known. I will treat you like the princess you are.”
“What? Do you have a concussion?” I widened my eyes to look into his to see if his pupils were uneven. When they weren’t, I felt mildly better.
His hand that held the ice to his mouth drifted down in his lap and I took it away from him, petting Echo with one hand, happy that she seemed content I placed the bag against the side of his mouth.
“No, Princess. I don’t have a concussion. Least I don’t think I do. I drove here from Deer Creek.”
“You did? What happened?”
“You should see the other guys,” he chuckled and immediately grabbed his ribs.
“You’re joking at a time like this? Seriously?”
“It’s not a joke. They got some good ones in on me but I whooped their ass. Felt good too. Haven’t been in a fight like that for years.”
“Who were they? No. Don’t tell me. How did you find Echo?”
That lazy grin of his I’d fallen in love with tugged at the corners of his mouth. He looked like a younger version of himself. A college-aged kid. “I knew it would make you happy.”
It made me extremely happy. However, his outgoing attitude made me think I would have to do a quick internet search on my phone and see what the other signs of a concussion were. He was acting so unlike the Maverick I’ve come to know. A little goofy. A kid at Christmas almost.
“It does make me really happy, Maverick.”
“Do I make you happy, Princess?” he asked in a whisper.
“We can figure all of that out later.” I kept the ice bag on him, watching him in the hall light that seeped into the living room.
God, he was so gorgeous. It hurt. It hurt that he wasn’t mine. Not when that was all I wanted. Him and Echo. She was back. How did he find her? Where did he find her?
A horrendous thought occurred to me. “Did you get beat up when you found Echo?”
He opened one eye, “Something like that. I set’em straight though. She’s all yours. Permanently. We worked out a deal. I made sure that she’ll be your dog forever.”
He was surprisingly calm. For a man who got into a fight with not only one, but two guys. Two or more, at least.
“I acted like an ass, Gracie. I haven’t let my guard down since Candi got in her accident. I didn’t want to. But you make me feel things. Wicked things that I haven’t allowed myself to feel in a long time.” He drug out the word “long” and closed his eyes again.
“Open your eyes.”
He opened both eyes again, searching mine.
“I want them open while you apologize,” I said.
“Oh baby, this is so much more than an apology. It’s life-changing.”
My lips curved into a small smile, “Life-changing, huh? For who?”
“Both of us.” Echo sat up from her spot on the couch and hopped onto Maverick’s lap. “Yeah, Echo. I love you, too.” He took his hand away from my top and pet her head. She turned sideways inching into his palm. She managed to twist herself into a position that she rolled over, half of her body in his lap and half on the couch as he stroked her belly.
“I love her, too. Thank you for bringing her back to me. Will you ever tell me how you got her?”
“Maybe someday, Princess.”
“Thankfully my lease is up here. That was excellent timing.”
“Move in with me.”
“What?” I asked.
“Both of you, Grace. I want you both. All the time. I was an ass trying to push you away. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you. Yeah, don’t look at me like that. You felt it too.”
“I felt like that. I wanted to believe we had something but you tried so damn hard to keep me at arm’s length.”
“That was a big mistake.”
“What made you realize you were wrong?”
“You. Being without you. And you too, Echo. And I have a penchant for your baking skills.”
I pretended to feign shock as I pushed against his chest. He let out a groan and grabbed his chest.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” I leaned into him, rubbing his chest.
“A little lower.”
“Here?” I asked as I placed my fingers along his sternum.
“Lower,” he groaned.
“Here? Maybe you’re bleeding internally,” I commented as my fingers drifted past his belly button.
“Lower, Gracie,” The large bulge in his pants finally clued me in that he was teasing me.
“Maverick,” I squealed. “How can you be like this when you’re all beat up?”
“It’s the view. And that I haven’t had you in days.”
I looked at myself as his hand came up again and dipped into the front of my tank top. My nipples strained against the fabric, little pebbles between his large, calloused hand.
“No bra,” he stated as his fingers slipped over to caress one of my nipples. I sucked in a breath as his fingers strummed the hard peak. I’ve been missing his touch. So badly. “You didn’t answer me, Gracie. Move in with me. Let me love you forever.”
My head fell back as he continued to work magic with his fingers. I wanted him to go lower and satisfy the ache between my legs.
“Answer me,” he growled. He took his hand out of my top and cupped my breasts with both hands, squeezing them together. “Is that not enough?”
&
nbsp; His palm smoothed across my stomach and went between my legs. His sneaky little fingers slid into the side of my shorts and beneath my panties.
“Always so wet for me, Princess.”
“Always, Maverick.” Now it was my eyes that lulled closed as his fingers danced along my clit. He rubbed the wetness around before he edged both of his fingers in me, filling me up. I was helpless when it came to him. He made me come alive. Achy. Greedy. I felt like a woman that could conquer the world.
“That’s it, baby. Let it go. Let me make you feel good. I promise you I will spend the rest of my life making you feel good.”
Tingles pulled against my nerve endings as he continued to move his fingers inside of me using his thumb to pull an orgasm out of me.
I convulsed around him as he bent his head to my chest pulling a nipple between his teeth. I arched into him, vaguely noticing Echo hop off his lap and curl up on the floor at our feet.
“You’re hurt. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“I want to make you happy. Tell me that I can be the man to make you happy. You’re killing me here, baby.”
I believed him. The rawness in his voice, the way his eyes kept searching mine, I knew that all the emotions I’d felt between us weren’t my imagination. I knew they were real and I knew with all my heart that he finally saw me – us together – for what we were.
“You already make me happy. You’re so much stronger and braver than any man I’ve ever met. I know you keep up this impenetrable wall around you but deep down you’re my sugar.”
He laughed at my choice of words. “No, baby. You’re my sugar. You’re my sunshine and sugar.”
We slept all night on the couch. Maverick’s large body sprawled against the cushions with his feet propped up onto my coffee table. I didn’t sleep as soundly as he did, afraid I would hurt his ribs as my head rested against his chest beneath his arm. At some point in the night Echo had jumped up and joined us.
My happy family.
I silently maneuvered myself out from his embrace and whispered for Echo to follow me outside where I let her do her business. Once back inside, I found him in my kitchen scrambling eggs.
Wicked: A Small Town Romance (Love in Lone Star Book 3) Page 20
