Redwood

by Janie Crouch

  Gavin was ready to make peace with that. Because Lexi gently snoozing next to him and Olivia lying in his arm had given him a glimpse of what his future could look like: holding a miniature version of Lexi while she slept instead.

  And damned if the thought hadn’t seemed so right. Like everything in his life was finally falling into place.

  Five minutes later, Lexi had stolen his vehicle to bolt off the premises.

  He scrubbed a hand down his face. “She wasn’t upset at all. Not until the reporter and photographer got here.”

  Tristan sat back down beside him, drink in hand. “Look, you obviously like Lexi. Nobody is happier than us to see that. It’s great that you brought her . . .”

  “But that woman has secrets,” Andrew finished for him.

  Gavin was used to the two of them finishing each other’s sentences. They’d been doing it since they were old enough to talk.

  “I know that. She knows that. I had to accept that if I wanted to be with her, I was not going to have all the answers.”

  “Did you run her?” Andrew asked, the charming side of him gone.

  Both his brothers had enough of Dad’s personality to be able to dazzle damned near anyone when they wanted to. And they used that to their advantage all the time to get people to underestimate them.

  But their alluring charm was just the surface. His brothers were both trained in weapons, close-quarters combat, and hostage rescue—civilian versions of what Gavin had done in the Special Forces. Zac Mackay had tried to recruit them into Linear multiple times, but they weren’t interested.

  Andrew and Tristan worked for Zodiac, a world-renowned tactical training and security business. They faced down danger every bit as much as Gavin did. They knew what they were talking about.

  “Yes. Both name and prints. Everything came back clean.”

  Tristan and Andrew exchanged a look. Gavin knew they were thinking what he’d first thought . . . that clean was sometimes more suspicious than dirty.

  “Do you want us to look into her further for you, off the books?” Andrew asked. “Whatever it is, we’ll get to the bottom of it, and unless it’s something you need to know, then you never need to know.”

  Tristan shrugged and slapped him on the back. “And whatever skeletons we find in her closet, as long as they aren’t a danger to anyone, we’ll forget they exist, and you never need to know a thing.”

  Gavin thought about the man she’d met in that alley. How she’d given him money. He wanted to know what that was all about. But more, he wanted Lexi to trust him enough to tell him herself. Her secrets were important to her, and he’d told her he’d respect her need to keep them.

  Although his brothers’ plan was probably smarter in the long run.

  He took another sip of his drink. “Thanks you guys, I appreciate it, but no. I told her I wouldn’t push. Promised I would be there to help her in whatever way she needed.”

  Tristan chuckled. “Evidently her needs involved stealing your SUV today.”

  Gavin forced a smile but couldn’t get Lexi’s panicked face out of his mind.

  “What was it exactly that set her off?” Andrew asked. “I was paying more attention to the girls than to Lexi. Did someone say something to her? Did she know the press people?”

  “No.” Gavin shook his head. “It was after Lyn told her about the yearly photo shoot.”

  “She had to know that none of us would expect her to be in the family photos if she didn’t want to be,” Tristan said.

  “I don’t think it was just the family photos. I think she didn’t want to be in any photos at all.” Gavin rubbed his eyes.

  “Some sort of weird picture-taking phobia?” Andrew asked.

  “Probably more like she didn’t want her face to end up anywhere online,” Gavin responded. She’d done the same sort of thing during that girls’ night out. Quinn had tried to talk Lexi into being in the photo with them, but Lexi had refused. Made up a reason not to be.

  Andrew let out a low curse. “Not wanting to have her picture online—to the point where she would steal a vehicle to get out of it—usually isn’t good news, big brother.”

  Gavin rubbed his face again. “No it’s not.”

  The twins had both done their fair share of private investigative work for Zodiac. Mostly they did close cover or special kidnap and ransom assignments, but they knew the signs of a guilty party.

  Tristan sat up straighter. “Could she be married? A criminal on the run?”

  “Her prints would’ve shown up if she had a record or any APB out on her. But married? Fuck. That had never occurred to me.” But it should’ve.

  “Hey.” Andrew put his hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “Let’s not assume the worst. If there is anything that Noah and Marilyn’s relationship has taught us, it’s that someone can be married according to some piece of paper, but that marriage might be nothing but a living hell.”

  Gavin nodded. Their cousin Noah had fallen in love with a sweet, young woman whose life had been threatened by her abusive, estranged husband. She might have been legally married to him, but nobody in their right mind would’ve called the “marriage” anything less than a sham.

  “Lexi and Marilyn are completely different.” Gavin gripped his glass. “I can’t imagine Lexi putting up with any of the shit Marilyn did.”

  “Her nose has been broken,” Andrew said. “I noticed that when she turned from the window. I think she wears makeup to keep it from being obvious.”

  Was that why she always had a ton of makeup on? To hide previous trauma to her face? “She does wear a lot of makeup.”

  Andrew shrugged. “Her and most of the female gender, so that’s not unusual. And I agree that she doesn’t show any of the classic signs of an abuse survivor like Marilyn.”

  “And if she was married, that would’ve come up when you ran her, right?” Tristan asked.

  “It should’ve. But the system isn’t perfect.”

  “Have there been any other men around?” Tristan pressed. “Has she made any suspicious calls? Texts?”

  Gavin shook his head. “No. She doesn’t own a phone.”

  Neither brother said anything. They didn’t have to. Gavin had always thought it was strange she didn’t have a phone.

  Married? Jesus. Given how everything had gone down with Janeen, Lexi had to know he would’ve never slept with her if he’d known she was married. Could she be on the run from an abusive husband?

  They sat in silence for a long minute. His brothers were probably trying as hard as he was to come up with something to make him feel better.

  “I’ll tell you one thing,” Andrew finally said. “A couple times today when Lexi was laughing I could’ve sworn I knew her from somewhere.”

  “Yes! Damn it, I felt the exact same way.” Tristan tapped the table with his palm multiple times. “But not when she was laughing. It was when she was giving Janeen a sly look. This little smirk. I swear I thought I’d met her before. I almost brought it up, but I was afraid you’d take me out and kick my ass for using that as a pickup line.”

  Gavin had to chuckle. “I might have. I don’t know what to tell you guys about her looking familiar—I don’t think you guys have ever run in the same circles. And you both need to stop looking at her so hard, or I will take you out and kick your asses.”

  But the fact was, Gavin didn’t really know what circles Lexi had run in, did he? He didn’t think Tristan or Andrew had met her before—they would’ve definitely remembered.

  There was only one thing he knew for sure. He couldn’t stay here any longer. He needed to find Lexi.

  “Can one of you guys give me a ride back to my house before Dad and Janeen get finished? I don’t want to go into all of this with them.”

  Especially since once again with Lexi, he had more questions than he did answers.

  25

  Was there any way she could’ve screwed this up worse? Lexi thumped her forehead against the steering wheel of Gavin’s SUV where
she’d parked it outside his house.

  The SUV she’d stolen. She hadn’t been a hundred percent certain she wouldn’t get pulled over by a cop on her way home and arrested for grand theft auto. And could she really have blamed Gavin if he’d put out some sort of APB on her?

  She’d acted like a complete ass and put him in an impossible situation. She’d gone out to the SUV to hide, but when she’d seen the remote starter sitting there, she hadn’t let herself think about it. She’d just climbed over to the driver’s side and left.

  She didn’t have a way of getting in touch with him to apologize. She thumped her head against the steering wheel again. Maybe the arresting officer would deliver a message for her before dragging her off to prison.

  At least she was leaving the SUV at his house, although that was like slapping a Band-Aid over a gaping wound. Maybe the three-mile walk back to her apartment in town would give her a chance to think about what she’d done. Not just the running off in the middle of a Christmas family get-together, but the fact that she’d been there to begin with.

  The fact that she couldn’t seem to force herself to stay out of Gavin’s life.

  He made her happy. That was the long and short of it. There was nothing she liked more than hearing his gruff voice. He was so growly on the outside but so protective and considerate on the inside.

  He’d bought her groceries. He’d watched over her during one of her insomnia comas, caring enough to call a doctor. He’d gotten her matching scarf and gloves and hat for Christmas. A green he’d said matched her eyes.

  And what had she gotten him? Some condoms in a little box with bow on it. He’d laughed, then they’d used a couple last night.

  She’d chickened out before giving him the other gift she’d found for him when Mac had sent her to pick up an order of locally made wine at the county market last week. She’d been walking around looking at the other vendors while they’d boxed up the order.

  She’d found some wooden keychains with trees carved into them. Most of the carvings were Fraser firs, probably popular at Christmas. Some were round maple tree carvings. But one was very definitely a redwood.

  Redwoods didn’t make for the most interesting carving pattern. They were too tall and their trunks were too barren up until the top. But the second she’d run her fingers across it, she’d known she had to buy it for Gavin.

  It was everything he was: strong, solid, steady.

  Everything she wasn’t.

  She took it out of her small purse now, still wrapped in the plain tissue paper. She set it on the dash next to the SUV’s remote starter key. She had no idea what Gavin would do with it when he found it. Maybe toss it in the trash. She couldn’t blame him for that.

  She got out, closing the door carefully behind her, and started her hike of shame back into town. She wrapped her jacket more firmly around her. Her hat, gloves, and scarf helped, but she still needed a real winter coat.

  But every time she’d been about to buy one, she’d stopped. A proper Wyoming-winter coat was a couple hundred dollars—money she would need if she was going to run again anytime soon.

  Invest in a coat if she was going to stick it out here as long as possible. Save the money if she was going to bolt soon.

  But for God’s sake, make a decision.

  She was deep in thought when a car pulled up beside her. “Lexi?”

  It was Dr. Anne.

  “Hi.” She gave the other woman a small, awkward wave. Jesus, there was no good excuse for her to be walking out here.

  “Did your car break down? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, car problems.” Something like that.

  “I’m heading into town for my shift at the hospital. Please, let me give you a ride. That jacket doesn’t look like it’s meant for hikes.”

  “Sure. Okay.”

  Lexi got into Anne’s car partly because she wasn’t stupid enough to walk in the cold when there was another option and partly because by now Gavin would probably be on his way. The situation was bad enough without him tracking her down walking in the cold.

  “Merry Christmas to you.” Anne pulled back onto the road once Lexi was inside with her seatbelt on.

  “Thanks. Same to you. Sorry you have to work.”

  The doctor smiled and gave a little shrug. “Occupational hazard. I got most of the morning off, so that’s fine.”

  They drove in silence for a minute or two.

  “Look, Lexi, I wasn’t going to ask, because it’s none of my business, but I want to make sure you’re okay. The only thing out in the direction you could be coming from is the Linear Tactical property or Gavin’s house. I know you weren’t coming from the Linear property, so . . . did you and Gavin have a fight or something?”

  Lexi stared out the window, unsure of exactly what to say. “No. It’s really a long story and just know that Gavin’s not at fault. He’s a good man.”

  “Believe me, I know that. As a matter fact, I cannot ascertain under what circumstances Gavin Zimmerman would be allowing you to walk from his house back into town.”

  Lexi had to smile at that. Because she couldn’t imagine circumstances in which he’d allow that either. “He doesn’t know I was walking. I was returning his SUV.”

  “I see,” Anne said in a way that obviously meant she didn’t understand at all. Lexi couldn’t blame her for being confused. “Does Gavin know you borrowed his SUV?” she asked after a beat.

  Lexi shrugged. “I’m sure he does by now.”

  Anne let out a low chuckle, and Lexi turned to look at her. “You keep him on his toes, that’s for sure. That man hasn’t known what to do with himself since the moment you arrived in town. You’ve had him discombobulated from the first day.”

  “He didn’t trust me.” He had good instincts.

  Anne glanced over at her. “Gavin doesn’t trust anyone easily. None of the Special Forces guys do. But regardless, he was enamored with you.”

  Lexi let out a low laugh. “That’s not the word I would’ve used for it. He was watching me like I was some convicted criminal.”

  Again, good instincts.

  Anne shook her head. “Gavin could’ve had any number of people from either the sheriff’s office or from Linear helping him keep an eye on you. He was concerned you were taking advantage of Mac, and there’s not a single person in this town who wouldn’t have volunteered to take a shift or two to make sure that didn’t happen.”

  “I’m really not trying to take advantage of Mac.”

  “Oh, I know. That became obvious to everyone about a week after you got here. If you had wanted to run off with the contents of the cash register, you had multiple opportunities to do that.” Anne slowed down as they took one of the winding curves. “My point is, Gavin used that as an excuse to get close to you whenever possible. And yes, I’m sure he wanted you close to keep an eye on you. But he also just wanted you close.”

  “Gavin is a good man. One of the best I know.”

  “Amen to that,” Anne said. “Stubborn. Gruff. Honest to a fault.”

  “That’s why I have to stay away from him.” The words were out of Lexi’s mouth before she could stop them. “I don’t deserve Gavin. I don’t deserve any happiness.”

  Anne didn’t say anything for a long minute. What could she say? Lexi huddled in on herself and stared out the window some more.

  “I don’t know you, Lexi,” Anne finally said. “So I’m not going to pretend I understand what a statement like that means coming from you. But I know this. We believe in second chances around here. If it wasn’t for second chances, Zac and I wouldn’t be getting married in a month and a half.”

  “Not everybody deserves a second chance. At least I don’t.”

  “If you think you don’t, that probably proves you actually do.”

  Lexi started to argue but Anne held out a hand. “Listen, I had breakfast this morning with some of the Linear Tactical team. Aiden Teague and his fiancée, Violet.”

  “She owns Fancy
Pants Bakery. Those treats are addictive.”

  “She does. I’m no dummy, and therefore she’ll be invited to every holiday at my house until the end of time. But we also invited her brother Gabe and his fiancée, Jordan.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen them around. She’s quiet. He’s got huge muscles.”

  “Yeah. Former Navy SEAL. And yes, Jordan is very quiet. I’m thankful she came to our house. And I was thankful to see her and Zac hug. Because for a lot of years Jordan believed she didn’t deserve a second chance.”

  “What did she do?”

  “She fell asleep behind the wheel eight years ago, ran a red light, and T-boned the car Zac’s wife and toddler son were in. Killed them both. Becky was my best friend, and it was a tragic loss in every possible way.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you, it’s a complicated mix of emotions because I would give anything to have Becky and Micah back, but I’m also head over heels in love with Zac, so I won’t deny that the past is what shaped my future.”

  “But what Jordan did was an accident.”

  “Yes it was. And I don’t know what your circumstances are, so I can’t speak to that. All I can say to you is this. The past shapes who we are, there’s no denying that. But at some point, you have to let it go to create your future. Otherwise you’re in a loop you can’t ever get out of.”

  They drove in silence the rest of the short distance to town. Anne stopped in front of Lexi’s apartment. “Thanks for the ride.” She reached for the door handle, unsure of what else to say.

  “Lexi.” Anne reached out and touched her arm. “I hope I didn’t say too much. Believe me, I know what it is to want to fly under the radar, and you have to do what’s right for you. But give Gavin a chance. Whatever it is in your past, maybe he’d be able to look past it.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Asking that was too much even for him. “Thanks again.”

  “Listen, you should come out to the house for dinner or something. Zac is a master of cooking on the grill. He has it set up so he can cook out on the deck even in winter.”