Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
MACK
T he woman, the exact likeness of her daughter, falls apart where she stands. Her husband stands, hand behind his back, face unreadable. Grace goes limp against my chest as she hauls in a lungful of air. My heart is crushed between two boulders.
“Mama,” she sobs.
Grace looks up to me, her face wrecked. Eyes red rimmed. Breathing shattered. Face contorted. I release my hold on her. She flies into her mother’s arms. Both women sink to the ground. Raspy breaths of my own slip past my lips. Happiness never hurt so bad before. Laws wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Excellent work, little bro.”
I can’t respond.
He grips my neck and pulls me in for a side hug. I wasn’t prepared for Grace’s wrecked face when she saw her mom. I’ve never lived through not having mine. Not one day. I suck in a breath and shake my brother’s arm loose. “They all but abandoned her once. But she’s been missing them so much. I couldn’t let her go another month without her mom. We’ll see, Laws.”
“She’ll work through it. She’s strong. Already proven that. And you’re forgetting the most important part.” He slaps my back proudly, despite me putting distance between us. “She has you.”
I huff a strangled laugh. “Not so sure I’m much of an asset.”
“Maybe not before. But now? Buddy, you have come a long, long way.”
“I couldn’t have done it without her.”
“Sure you would have. Grace’s way was quicker, though.”
I slam a fist into his shoulder, and he chuckles before striding over to introduce himself to Grace’s father who stands watching still. He still hasn’t engaged his daughter. Laws offers a hand, and he shakes it. I can’t hear what they’re saying. They glance over at me in unison, and my ears turn to cinders.
Grace’s dad steps around the two women, who are fiercely hugging, now en-route to me. Whispers and sobs exchanging back and forth. I brace myself. Whatever he has to say, his argument better be a fuckin’ stellar one, after leaving Grace to fend for herself. What kind of parent does that? It was Ma who finally made the call to the Westons, with me being in two minds about it. But I trust her judgment, and with my permission, she picked up the phone and worked her mother-knows-best magic.
“Mackinlay?” He squares up with me, and I set my shoulders back.
“Sir.” I offer a hand.
“Brian.” He shakes it. Firm and brief.
“I take it this is your initiative?” He lets his focus wander around the lit-up yard. But the smile on his face doesn’t reach his eyes, and I study his reactions.
I glance to Grace. She’s somewhat recovered and is drying her face with a tissue. The shock of seeing her mom must be wearing off, because she is closing up as the seconds tick past. I force myself to stay rooted to the spot and let her fight her own battles. Even though I would be her human shield, any day of the week. I shift my attention back to Mr. Weston. “Yes, sir. You three have a lot to talk about. But not all of it is going to be easy to hear.”
His face slackens and he turns to look at his only daughter. “She?—”
I raise a hand. “Your daughter deserves the explanations. Not me.”
I wave a hand in her direction, and he gives a shallow nod before walking to where his wife and daughter stand. I need to give them space. But I don’t want her to think I abandoned her to them.
“Gracie?” I call out.
She excuses herself and pads to where I stand. Her face is blotchy, her eyes red. “You okay?” she whispers.
I shake my head. “Gorgeous girl, I’m not the one I’m worried about. I’m goin’ to head inside and give you guys some time and space. I’ll be right inside. If you need me, just say, and I’ll be right back here.”
She huffs a small laugh and lays a hand over my heart. “How are you this wonderful to me?”
My throat closes over. How is being loved such a foreign concept to this beautiful woman? She pats my chest lightly and forces a smile before turning back to her parents.
“We can sit at the table. There are some things I need to tell you.”
“Sure, sweetie,” her mom says, glancing at Brian.
I wait until they are seated before heading inside to find my own family seated around the kitchen table, a mug of coffee or tea warming every set of hands. They all stare at me, expectantly.
“Well?” Ma says.
“They’re talking.”
“Good, that’s good. Right?” Addy says.
“I sure hope so. The poor girl has been through so much,” Ma says, gaze directed into her mug.
Harry leans over and grips her wrist. “Our Gracie is a strong one. She will be fine.”
Our Gracie. Like we get to keep her. Like she’s not going to go off and have a big, wonderful life and leave all this behind. I mean, her housekeeping job is a front as it is now. Without another job, she’s going to need to move on.
Reed pulls a chair out by his and I sink into it, dropping my head into my hands, fingers wedging into my hair.
“You alright there, gunny?” Reed asks.
I can’t face them. All this effort, and she may not even stay. I don’t want her to stay and have nothing. I want more for Grace.
Eventually, I look up. Hudson leans back on his seat and drains his coffee. “Well, you want my two cents, Mack?”
“Sure, Huddo, go for it.”
“It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” He smirks at me.
“Ha ha,” I huff.
“If you wanted it, then you shoulda put a ring on it,” Rubes sings.
“Not funny, Robbins.”
“Ha, it’s Rawlins, remember? He’s smart, he put a ring on it.”
My family cracks up with laughter. Despite their overzealous romantic notions, my family will always have my back. And Grace’s. Maybe they’re right. Still, we’re not there yet. Nowhere close. I would marry that girl in a heartbeat. But she deserves better. Deserves the time to fall. The time to recover from the last asshole who broke her to pieces.
“Leave him alone, you lot. One kiss does not equal a marriage proposal.” Ma gives everyone her well-worn warning glare. Harry smiles as if knowing something the rest of us don’t and folds his hand over Ma’s.
The sound of raised voices has everyone stilling in their places. I’m out of my chair faster than a bolting horse, out the back door and rushing toward Grace a few seconds later. She is standing by her chair, bent forward and arms hugging her body. Her folks stand, trapped between the bench seat and the table.
Fuck.
“Gracie!” I growl, putting myself between her and them. My ire is directed at her lousy parents. “What the hell did you do?”
Fine hands grip my right wrist. Grace huddles into my side. She’s shaking.
Heat plummets through my core and twists in my veins like barbed wire.
“I asked you a question.” I’m looking directly at her father.
He has the audacity to wave two hands in the air like we are the ones overreacting. “Now, we should all calm down. We’re simply stating Grace’s choices were her own.”
My jaw grinds shut. I turn to face Grace. “Go inside.”
“I tried to tell them . . .”
“Now, gorgeous girl. I’m not askin’.”
She nods and I plant a kiss to her forehead, holding her to my chest briefly before turning her on her feet and ushering her toward the back door. As she clears the door, I spin back.
Her mother is staring at the ground. Her face is almost as distraught as her daughter’s.
So, I fire at the patriarch—what a fuckin’ joke—of their messed up little family.
“Do you have any idea what it cost your daughter when you washed your hands of her?”
He tilts his chin up. “Like I explained to our daughter, those were her choices, son.”
I step forward. “I am not your son. And you are grossly out of line. Instead of protecting your only daughter, your only child , and swallowing your fuckin’ pride, you chose to let her fend for herself in a world she was not prepared for. Hold up, there’s a choice. You chose to abandon her when she needed her parents the most. News flash, asshole, you never stop needing your parents. The roles may change over time, but they still exist. She went through hell and had no one . Not a single fuckin’ soul. Not one miserable person to help her. So, you can take your pride and your ridiculous standards and get the hell outta dodge. You ain’t welcome here. Not now. Not ever. Get back in your car, and fuc?—”
A firm hand clamps down on my shoulder.
Harry.
“Your son needs to watch his language and learn some respect,” Brian hisses.
“Like you watched over your daughter? Respected your daughter?” Harry growls. “You heard the man.” His gaze drifts to me and back to the worst parents on the goddamn planet. “Leave.”
Helena speaks up now. “I’m sorry, Mackinlay. I really thought we could move past this.” She glances at her husband, but then her eyes drop. It occurs to me he’s the roadblock here. He’s the reason Grace could never see her mother and was disowned. Rage flares in my core. My hands turn to fists.
“I don’t see anyone movin’.” Harry sets his shoulders back.
It takes everything I have not to slam my fist into Brian’s snotty face.
“Well, this was a colossal waste of a trip,” Brian says, grabbing up his wife’s hand. She falters, struggling to keep up with his long gait as he stalks back to the car. When the car starts up and drives away, Harry turns to me.
“Not too bad for a first mate, son.”
I can’t help the strangled chuckle pushing up my throat. God, I was so close to decking the asshole. He can take a damn number. Along with anyone else who ever puts a foot wrong around Grace.
Line the fuck up.
No fucker is going to make it past this wall. She’s mine to protect and love. And I don’t plan on wasting another second doing anything else.
Grace is quiet on the ride home. The truck is loaded up with her gifts and leftovers that are gonna feed us for weeks. But it’s hard to say no to Ma. Harder tonight, after the gigantic clusterfuck with Grace’s parents.
I know my mother, and she will be housing guilt somethin’ fierce over this. The copious amount of leftovers is her way of trying to make things better. It was all Ma could do. I’m not sure what will happen now, but until the Westons take the time to listen to Grace, they are not welcome. She has gone too long without someone lookin’ out for her.
“Do you think they’ll get a flight straight away?” she says softly, looking out the window into the darkness flying by.
“Reed and Ruby put them up.” I wish they hadn’t, but Laws insisted burning bridges is not going to help anyone. A trace of the anger I felt standing in front of her douchebag of a father remains. I tamp it down. My focus can’t waiver from drivin’.
“Oh.” Her hands wring in her lap.
“You did nothing wrong, Grace. Not a damn thing.”
The Chevy hits a pothole and the rig shakes. A flash of green and grey whips through my mind. Frowning, I grip the wheel tighter. That hasn’t happened for a few weeks. I thought I was making progress. I can only put it down to getting riled up over this whole shitshow. Like hell I’m lettin’ that two-bit hack of a man make his daughter cry—again.
“What are you thinking about, Mackinlay?” Her face is tight with concern.
“Ah, nothin’ much.” I give her my best smile.
She gives me an incredulous face and cants her head. “Sure, nothin’ much has you white knuckling the wheel there.”
I glance down at my hands that are indeed strangling the wheel, and my grin slips. I loosen my grip and force the smile back onto my face. After all, it’s the girl’s birthday. Don’t screw it up, Mack.
Just don’t.
“You wanna head to bed when we get home?”
“I am a little tired,” she says, directing her gaze straight ahead.
A smile pulls up on her lips. Her breaths quicken.
“I can organize this stuff and then we can sit on the porch and unwind if you want?” I offer.
“You’re not carting this all in by yourself. Don’t be chivalrous on my account.” She gives me a playful sideways look with the prettiest smile, but her face flattens a moment later.
“It’s not chivalry I’ve caught, gorgeous girl.”
Her mouth gapes and her gaze sticks to mine. I swear she stops breathing.
“It’s okay, Grace. I don’t expect anything in return.” I return my focus to the road. Half not wanting to see her final decision about what’s alternating over her face. Half out of self-preservation—okay, just preservation, an accident with her in the vehicle is not in the cards. Not if I have anything to do with it.
Silence hangs between us for the remainder of the drive. When we finally turn into the drive for the ranch, I pull up close to the house to unload. Grace is out her door before I can kill the engine.
Damn.
Too far, Mack. Should have kept my mouth shut. I all but declared my undying love for her. It’s one thing to fool around and make each other feel good. Another thing entirely to fall for someone this deep.
Sweet Jesus, I’m an idiot.
I’ll be lucky if she hasn’t already packed her shit by the time I make it inside. I shut off the truck and grab up my hat and wander toward the house. Unloading the leftovers is the last thing on my mind now. I jog up the few steps onto the porch and fly through the door. The house is quiet. The kitchen light on. Grace’s light is on, but her door is closed.
“Fuck,” I breathe, running a hand over my face.
I dump my hat on the hook over the front table, toe off my boots, and shut the front door. I’m going to have to bring in the leftovers at least. Unable to ignore the pull propelling me down the hall to her door on socked feet, it’s all I can care about. I stop at her door, trying to find something to say to undo what I did in the truck.
No. Hell no. I meant every damn word.
She doesn’t have to feel the same way. But it sure as hell doesn’t make what’s consuming me go away.
The door opens and she stands on bare feet, makeup smudged. Her breaths are too shallow. Her hand is still on the doorknob, the other one sitting on her hip. Her face is stone.
Jesus.
I dip my head. “I?—”
Two fingers press over my lips, hard. She closes her eyes and sucks in a breath. “Let me say this before I don’t have the nerve.”
It’s all I can do to nod.
She studies my face for a heartbeat before letting her fingers fall away. “I’m not indifferent to you either, Mackinlay.” She sighs. “I haven’t done this before. A functional, loving relationship. And the last thing I want to do is hurt you. That would kill me.”
My heart flings against my ribs like shrapnel fired from a canon.
She worries her lip through her teeth. “There’s something else...”
I grip the doorframe above my head and shutter my eyes. “Just say it, Grace,” I rasp.
A wobbly breath huffs.
She sniffs, but her warmth closes in. A hand rests on my chest, over my heart. Then the other beside it. The blood thundering in my head is too loud. I open my eyes to drown it out. Her face is broken.
“I don’t know how to love you,” she sobs. “Not the way Addy loves Hudson, or Ruby loves Reed. I’ve never had that. After...” Her face twists. “I think I’m broken. Apart from acting on every whim I have when you’re around, and sometimes when you’re not, I don’t know the rules. Where to even start.” She swallows. “I—I want you to have that kind of love... so much it hurts.”
I stare at her.
The stalled-out air in my lungs burns. I swallow past the rock wedged in my throat. My hands fall from the doorframe and around her face. I open my mouth to say something, no sound comes. She’s all heart, this girl, but right now she’s letting her head lead. It’s steering her off course something fierce.
“Gracie,” I choke out. “Follow your gut. Your heart. It hasn’t put you wrong lately.”
“What if it doesn’t work out? What then? You go back to sitting on the floor in the middle of a laundry detergent storm?”
She thinks she’s responsible for my actions?
Fucking hell.
“Beautiful, the only thing I am going to do if you leave is be grateful you were ever here. That I had the chance to live my life with you in it, even for a little while.”
She sobs, screwing up her face, desperately trying to stem the tears.
I press my forehead to hers. “I’m not gonna lie, not having you around would suck.”
She huffs a strangled laugh.
“Gorgeous girl, my heart is all yours. For however long you want it.”
Her trembling fingers trace my jaw, and I lean away a little as those blue eyes follow where they go. I fight back my own emotions as they clog up the rest of the words I want to say to her. But tonight has already been enough.
“Come on, let’s bring your cake inside. We can’t leave that to spoil.”
“Never, but...” She takes a quick deep breath and grips the opening of my shirt. “Come here, first.”
I move into her space. Her arms slide around my neck. “I think I have what you caught, too. So, I’m going with my whims from now on.”
I smash my mouth to hers. She opens, soft but hungry. This time, the tug between us is so much more intense. As if changed somehow. My hands capture her face. Hers work into a tangle in the opening of my shirt. My cock is hard instantaneously. The effect this girl has on me is something otherworldly.
Her fine features.
Her laughter.
Her tears.
Her strong and determined ways.
Her heart . . .
She’s all heart, my Grace.