by Jerry Cole
“Sorry,” Grant said in a low tone to Robert.
Robert snorted. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. Apparently, you were so nice she didn’t know how to handle it.”
Grant went back to eating, and kept his eyes roaming over everyone on the boat. It was the first time Grant had seen Sval and Derek interact with Robert and while they didn’t have the same rapport that Robert had with Natasha, they were obviously still friends and Grant grinned. He had managed to form himself a little social circle and while he wished that he had Matt and Seb to hang around with regularly instead of miles away in Chicago, he felt more at home than he was expecting to.
On their way back to the harbor, Morgan grew tired, and spent most of the time on the bench next to Grant or Robert, depending on whatever they were doing at the time. She curled up in Grant’s lap, demanding more stories about Grant’s mom and her journeys on the boat and Grant was only too happy to share. He was sure his mother would be pleased and proud at the way Grant was handling everything, especially if she were the focus of some of it—and her journey on the boats.
“What’s your Mom like?”
Grant glanced up at Robert, but he was nodding off against Grant’s shoulder, so he didn’t know if he was listening or not. “She’s a strong lady. I think she’d like you a lot. She loves a lot of the same things as you, and I know she’d love playing dolls with you.”
Morgan’s eyes were wide. “Do you think so?”
“I know so,” Grant said certainly. “If you wanna check for yourself, maybe tomorrow your Daddy will let you call her with me, how about that?”
“That would be awesome,” Morgan said quickly, lowering her tone quickly once she realized Robert was falling asleep. “I think today’s been awesome, Grant.”
Grant grinned and hugged her tightly. “You wanna know a secret? I think the exact same thing.”
Morgan giggled quietly and cuddled further into Grant’s arms, and he knew she would be asleep before they reached the harbor. Robert would no doubt be as well. Sval remained in the cabin steering the boat into the harbor while Derek came out to join Grant. They had a quiet conversation about the trip, and closer to home, Derek’s mouth quirked up into a smile.
“So, you had a good day today?”
“Pretty sure you know I already have.” Grant looked pointedly at Morgan and Robert. “I can’t pretend I’m not falling for him.”
Derek snorted. “I think you’ve already fallen and you’re doing a good job of pretending you aren’t for his sake.”
Grant wasn’t used to being analyzed so quickly and so well, but he couldn’t find fault in Derek. “Obviously I want to refute that, but I can’t. I’m definitely in love with him.”
“The L word already?” Derek raised his eyebrows. though again he didn’t look surprised. “You’ve got it bad, Grant.”
“I really hope he’s asleep,” Grant said quietly. “I don’t wanna scare him off before things have really got started.”
“You won’t,” Derek said with a shrug. “If I know anything about Robert, and maybe I don’t know as much as some other people around here, but I know him well enough to be able to say that he loves you back.”
Grant’s automatic reaction was to deny it, but he didn’t, keeping quiet and inclining his head to acknowledge Derek’s point. “I guess we’ll know soon enough.”
Derek nodded, and he and Grant lapsed into a comfortable silence, appreciating the calm ride back into the harbor. The quiet of the trip disappeared beneath the tumult and busyness of the harbor, and Grant felt Robert start to wake up, stretching out, though he seemed reluctant to move away from Grant. Morgan was dead to the world, and Grant was grateful that he would be able to have her in his arms for just that little bit longer.
There was something soothing about her breathing against his chest, and the feel of Robert’s weight against his arm. Something he wanted in the long term, not that he would be able to say anything of the kind to Robert.
Sval called for Derek the closer they got to harbor, to be ready to pull them in against the jetty. His yell brought Morgan awake and though she looked upset and irritated at being awoken, when she realized she was going to see the boat rest in the harbor, she climbed out of Grant’s lap and wanted to see everything for herself.
Grant stretched when she moved, wincing at the stiffness of his bones. Robert was smiling at him softly when he turned to look at him and Grant shrugged. “What?”
“Nothing,” Robert said, even though Grant was sure there was something. “You were right you know.”
“That’s always good to hear,” Grant said. “I do love being right.”
Robert rolled his eyes. “About the trip, idiot.”
“Oh.” Grant made an appreciative face. “Well in that case, I’m glad that I was.”
“So am I,” Robert admitted. “Pretty sure it’s been one of the best days Morgan’s had in a while.”
Morgan was currently leaning against one of the railings, watching Derek hang on the side of the boat, ready to jump off onto the jetty with the bow rope. Grant stared at her, smiling gently. “It’s been one of the best days I’ve had in even longer.”
Robert looked surprised for a beat, but Grant held his gaze until Robert’s expression relaxed and he leaned in for a kiss. “You’re something else, Grant Kelly.”
Chapter Seventeen
Grant was slow to wake, exhausted from the day before, a comfortable weight pressed along his back. He groaned, stretching out his body, and felt a hand run through his hair.
“Morning,” Robert said, kissing the shell of Grant’s ear.
“Does it have to be?” Grant mumbled, most of his words muffled by the pillow, but Robert obviously heard it given the bright laugh.
“Depends,” Robert offered. “Whether you want to be woken by Morgan.”
Grant wasn’t sure. On the one hand, it would give him more time in bed with Robert, but on the other, it meant having an excited Morgan leap onto the bed, not caring that the placement of limbs in a bed was important. Groaning, Grant rolled over into Robert’s embrace and sighed. “I guess we should get up then.”
When Grant opened his eyes, it was to a grinning Robert, soft and disheveled in the early morning light, and Grant couldn’t help but kiss him, resting his chin on Robert’s chest. Robert kept his hands on Grant’s back. “Probably.”
“But I was having such good dreams,” Grant pouted.
Robert rolled his eyes. “Better than being awake with me? With Morgan?”
“Eh,” Grant hedged. “It’s almost as good.”
“Almost works for me,” Robert said, and leaned in for another kiss, scratching his fingers against the nape of Grant’s neck. “Obviously I’m more attractive than anything conjured up in here,” he said, tapping Grant’s forehead.
Grant laughed, and though the idea of getting out of bed in that moment was irritating, he was looking forward to breakfast – and the day ahead. He didn’t have any plans beyond wanting to help out in the B&B in some way, especially if it meant saving Robert money in some ways. Sure, it might not be what Robert wanted, but Grant was getting stronger with his place in Robert’s life, at the moment at least, and he was damned if he was going to let Robert drive him away over something so stupid.
They had to get through breakfast and Morgan off to school first, of course. When he said as much to Robert, Robert laughed gently. “What?”
“Morgan’s off for a week.”
Grant’s eyes widened. “Already?”
To be fair, it had been quite a while since Grant had been around anyone of around school age enough to understand when they were at school and when they weren’t. Robert was laughing at him, but Grant didn’t care given that it meant Morgan was going to be around a lot more.
“So now we’re going to have to find something to occupy her with,” Grant pointed out.
“Easy enough,” Robert said with a shrug. “Besides, you don’t mind if she sticks around
sometimes, do you?”
Grant didn’t hesitate. “You know I don’t.”
Robert nodded, looking relieved, and he leaned in for another kiss. “Good.”
Grant knew how important it was for Robert to find someone who would care for Morgan as much as they cared for Robert. Grant hoped that he was that person, but only time would tell, if he kept going as he had been already.
“Well we should probably wake up, then,” Grant said.
Robert shoved at Grant’s shoulder. “Definitely, then.”
The two of them changed quickly, moving around each other in the bathroom in ways they hadn’t the night before, and Grant found himself liking the ease with which they did. Everything seemed to be falling into place and while Grant was determined to enjoy every moment of it, he couldn’t deny that there was a part of him that was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He didn’t want to worry about that too much when they had a whole week ahead of them of distracting and looking after Morgan.
Morgan was still in bed when they made it downstairs and didn’t appear until Grant had breakfast on the stove and Robert had to yell for her to get up. She was still in her nightclothes, and padded into the kitchen in slippers, clutching Robert’s hand.
“Morning, Morgan,” Grant said.
“Morning,” Morgan said around a yawn. “I didn’t want to wake up.”
“Neither did I.” Grant turned the bacon. “But then I got hungry and thought I should put some bacon on.”
Morgan nodded. “It smells good. I can’t wait to eat it.”
Letting go of Robert’s hand, Morgan walked over to the cupboard. “I’m gonna set the table, Daddy.”
“All right,” Robert said. “I’ll come and help while Grant cooks breakfast.”
Grant was only too happy to do so.
During breakfast, Robert tapped at his phone, frowning, and both Grant and Morgan noticed. Morgan poked Robert’s arm. “Daddy, you’re not supposed to be on your phone.”
“I know, sweetheart,” Robert said distractedly. When he finally met her look, he poked his tongue out at her. “Daddy’s got a meeting he needs to go to this morning. He was just sorting it out.”
Morgan pouted, looking upset, but Robert leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “But Daddy, I have a whole week! Can’t you have meetings when I’m back at school.”
As cute as Grant found her request, he knew it wasn’t something Robert would be able to promise. “Don’t you wanna hang with me?”
There was a moment where Morgan looked torn between upsetting Grant and upsetting Robert, but eventually she poked her tongue out at Grant. “I know you’re being sneaky.”
Grant laughed as he leaned in. “I am, but you and I can spend the morning somewhere, can’t we?”
There was no hesitation with Morgan’s nod, and she polished off her breakfast in record time. “I better go get dressed! But I get to pick the place.”
Grant didn’t say anything in return, happy to go wherever Morgan wanted to go. When she had disappeared up the stairs, her footsteps thundering through the B&B, Grant looked at Robert for the first time since he’d interrupted.
“Thanks,” Robert said, looking both appreciative and exhausted. “I know you’re trying to distract her, and I appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem,” Grant said. “I know you’ve got work to do and I’m happy to take her out and do things with her.”
Robert’s gaze softened, and the two of them finished their breakfast, Robert offering to do breakfast cleanup after a quick kiss, knowing that Grant was going to be hauled out of the B&B at the earliest opportunity.
There were plenty of places Grant hadn’t been yet, but he resigned himself to some of the usual haunts given where Morgan was used to going as she was too young to be going anywhere by herself. Waiting on the bottom step, Grant thumbed through his phone, shooting off a message to his mom and to Matt and Seb to let them know what was going on. His mother was only too happy to receive a phone call from Grant and Morgan, and Matt and Seb both sent him copious amount of emojis.
Rolling his eyes, Grant slipped his phone into his pocket, just in time for Morgan to drape herself over his shoulders. “Is it time to go?”
Grant pretended to think about it. “Are we going somewhere?”
“Grant,” Morgan whined, and he stood up slowly, careful to keep her around his neck as he stood, not wanting to drop her. She clung tightly as he grabbed his wallet from his jacket hanging by the door. “Bye Daddy!”
“Bye, Robert!”
Robert yelled goodbye back and the two of them walked out of the B&B. Morgan didn’t say anything about where she wanted to go to start with, so Grant headed down the road in the direction of the school. It wasn’t the way he had been for anything other than Morgan’s school, so he waited for her to give him directions.
“What do you want to do today?”
“I don’t know,” Morgan said. “Why are you taking me to school?”
“I haven’t been this way,” Grant said. “Only to come pick you up from school. I thought maybe you could show me something up here.”
Morgan’s arms tightened around his neck and she hummed in his ear. “I don’t know. Daddy’s brought me up here a couple of times and I think we spent ages in the forest looking for things.”
Grant had been in the forests around the cabins, but not down this way. “What about animals?”
“There are lots of animals!” Morgan said, a little louder than normal. Grant winced, but thankfully, she lowered her tone the next time she spoke. “We can go and find them and make friends with them!”
Depending on the animals they were, Grant would decide whether they were going to be friends or not. He didn’t want to go home and have to tell Robert that his daughter had been mauled by a bear or something because she’d wanted to be friends with it.
The forest itself was pretty secluded, though Grant could see a couple of homes through the trees. Perhaps some of those belonged to students at the school, but Grant was more comfortable with walking through the woods because of them. Morgan stayed on his shoulders, pointing out some of the trees and some of the animals, mostly the squirrels and the birds.
It wasn’t until they were deep into the woods, a couple of houses still visible, that Grant heard the crunch of leaves that sent a shiver up his spine. He frowned, lifting Morgan from his shoulders and put her back on the ground.
There was a figure through the trees, and Grant took Morgan’s hand. It could have been a perfectly innocent person and Grant couldn’t explain why it made him uncomfortable until he saw the person – the same man who had been showing up at the B&B.
“Can I help you?”
Morgan’s grip on his hand was tight, and Grant’s primary concern was making sure she was safe. The man held up his hands in the regular gesture of surrender, but Grant didn’t buy it for a second.
“I just want to talk.”
Grant took a step back, moving Morgan along with him. “Well I’m not sure we want to talk to you.”
“My name’s Tyson,” the man continued, completely ignoring Grant’s words. “I know Robert and I know Morgan here.”
“I don’t know him except when he came to our home,” Morgan said.
Grant didn’t doubt it. He clenched his free hand into a fist and snarled angrily. “We don’t care to talk to you right now. If you want to come back to the B&B later, we can discuss this.”
“I want to talk about it now,” Tyson said. He had an easy affect, but Grant didn’t buy it for a second. He made a gesture and there were some more snaps of twigs, two people coming out of the forest behind Tyson. Grant felt panic well up in his chest and he let go of Morgan’s hand. He looked down at her.
Lowering his voice, he said, “When I say run, run, okay?”
Morgan looked as if she were going to cry, but he was so proud of her when she gave him a quick nod, eyes back on Tyson.
Tyson folded his arms across his chest. “I
’d appreciate your attention on me, Grant, and not on Morgan.”
Grant wasn’t about to listen to someone who was scaring Morgan and he growled under his breath. “You don’t tell me what to do, and you certainly don’t tell Morgan what to do.”
“All right, Grant,” Tyson said, aiming for placating and hitting condescending.
“What the hell do you want?”
“I think we should have a discussion about what your Robert owes me.” Tyson’s smirk was dangerous, and Grant took a step toward him when the guys hovering just behind Tyson rushed forward, heading for Grant.
Grant waited until they were almost on him, and then yelled for Morgan to run. He managed to dodge one punch and aimed a kick at another. They were amateur moves because Grant hadn’t fought someone on such a scale at any point, but he needed to give Morgan enough time to get away. He was worried that Tyson was going to step in and grab her, but for some reason, he just let her run right past him.
For whatever reason, the encounter had been about getting across to Grant, as the fist landed against his stomach, pain radiating out and causing Grant to grunt and double-over, that they were trying to send a message to Robert.
Grant’s only option was to curl up and let the blows come and even as he shivered from the impact, feeling every punch and kick, he waited for darkness to come.
Chapter Eighteen
“Is he going to be okay?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart. We just have to keep him comfortable, okay?”
The voices filtered into Grant’s consciousness and he wanted to move his limbs, but everything felt so heavy, everything hurt.
“He should be fine.” Grant recognized the voice. Natasha. “You don’t have to worry about him, Morgan, okay?”
“But he’s sleeping a long time,” Morgan pointed out and she sounded so worried, Grant wanted to wake up. He tried to open his eyes, but again they felt so heavy. “I want to make sure he’s okay.”
She sounded as if she had been crying and memories filtered in of the trip to the forest. Grant jerked awake with a cry and groan, clutching at his stomach.
