50. Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Layne
“Stop!” I stumbled out the door into the front yard where my brother was sitting on top of Keaton, ramming his fist into his face with brute force. “STOP IT! NOW!”
Tripp’s fist halted mid-air, his head snapping in my direction. So much hostility darkened his eyes that I froze in the middle of the yard.
The thought of Keaton lying unconscious under my brother brought life back into my limbs. I closed the remaining distance and shoved Tripp with all my might. “Are you out of your mind? Get off him!”
My push had zero effect, but at least Tripp seemed to have emerged from his all-consuming rage, because he stared at Keaton as if it hit him just now what he’d done. I dropped to my knees next to my husband’s unmoving form and gently turned his head toward me. Blood ran out of his mouth and a cut on the bridge of his nose.
When Tripp still didn’t move, I turned to him. “I said, get off him.” Even though I wasn’t screaming anymore, my voice sounded shrill.
Tripp slumped to the side and just sat there for a moment, his gaze fixed on Keaton.
A strangled groan drew my attention back to my husband. His eyes darted around until they settled on me. “Hey.” His mouth twisted into his trademark grin, revealing blood-smeared teeth.
I didn’t know whether to be relieved or slap him back into unconsciousness. Apparently I’d reached the anger stage of the grieving process.
“There’s nothing to see here, go back inside!” Wentworth, who’d come into the yard alongside Sean, addressed the gawking neighbors. My yelling must have lured them out of their homes.
Hopefully no one had called the cops or military police. If they showed up, Tripp could get into big trouble and lose his rank as captain. Or worse, get an Other than Honorable discharge.
Not that Keaton was entirely innocent.
“Hey,” I growled, not making an effort to hide my anger. The guy had some nerve to show up just like that after what he’d done.
He reached out and touched my face. “I missed you,” he whispered.
With a snort, I backed away and stood.
Tripp grabbed my arm. “Go inside.”
“Let me go,” I hissed, jerking away from him.
“Layne.” His tone was low, almost threatening. “Get in the cursed house, or I’ll make you.”
I jutted my chin. “What, are you going to beat me up, too?” He, too, needed to know that his behavior was revolting.
He flinched as if I’d slapped him. His mouth opened, then pressed into a hard line.
“Come on, Cap. Inside.” Wentworth shoved my brother toward the house, Sean backing him up.
“Not while the guy’s on my property,” Tripp snarled, stabbing a finger at Keaton. “You hear me? Get lost, pretty boy.”
“I’ll take care of it, all right?” Wentworth said. “Just go inside now.”
“Layne.” Keaton’s voice drew my attention to him. Somehow he’d managed to stand up and now took a couple unsteady steps toward me, cradling his left side. Grass stains and blood splatters caked his dress shirt, his hair hanging into his forehead.
My stomach squeezed at the sight.
“I told you to take a hike!” Tripp hollered behind me, trying to shove past Wentworth and Sean. I couldn’t remember ever having seen him so unhinged.
He was acting like that because of me. Because he wanted to protect me.
The realization spread a strange warmth through my chest. Maybe he cared more about me than I’d thought—he just hadn’t showed it. Or maybe didn’t know how.
“Not until I hear it from her,” Keaton said calmly. “I want to apologize, and if she tells me to leave, I will.”
“You know the freakin’ answer, Grady.”
“I don’t care about your answer, Rhyner. I want to hear it from Layne.”
“Nothing—”
“STOP!”
My shout silenced them both. And sent me straight toward the next flare. If I didn’t lie down soon, my body would do it for me.
“Listen, Holzchopf .” I hoped the word would bring some lightness into the situation, but Tripp’s expression remained hard. “I appreciate that you want to protect me, but I want to hear what he has to say.” I turned to Keaton. “Can we sit in your TRX?”
He spat blood into the grass, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Of course.”
Surprise lit through me when he eased up and wrapped an arm around me, supporting me as we walked to his pickup.
“Aren’t you in pain?” I asked, not wanting to strain him.
“You’re in pain every cursed day. I can take it for a few seconds.”
Despite myself, I had to smile. Keaton helped me climb into the passenger seat of his TRX, lowering it a little so I could lie on my side. Then he headed around the front and settled beside me behind the wheel. For a moment, we both stared out the windshield, saying nothing. The neighbors had disappeared in their homes again, the street now stretching empty before us.
“Layne, I’m so sorry,” Keaton finally said quietly.
I looked at him, finding his blue eyes pleading with me. Yesterday I had known a thousand things to spit at him, but now I couldn’t even form a coherent thought anymore. For once, my emotional pain was stronger than the physical.
“Those pictures of Delilah and me are real.”
I already knew that, but hearing him confirm it was like someone stabbed a knife into my heart.
“You were right—she’s in love with me.” Keaton sniffed. “Told me so in that hot tub. And then she started crying and wanted to hug me, and I felt like a jerk for not noticing her feelings all those years. So yeah, I allowed that hug.” He scraped a hand over his face, but winced when his fingers brushed the cut next to his right eye. “Then she kissed me, and I know this sounds like a lame excuse, but I didn’t see it coming.”
It didn’t sound like a lame excuse—we were talking about Delilah Thorne, after all. But I was still miffed. “Let me guess, if it weren’t for the photos, you wouldn’t have told me.”
His gaze took on a raw intensity. “No, I was going to tell you about Delilah. I’m long done keeping secrets from you. And you know what? I’m going to Regina right now and resign.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I’m quitting. For good. Right now. No more Lincoln Grady Distillery.”
“Wait, what about the Monroe Foundation?”
Keaton shrugged. “Don’t know. I’ll find another way. Maybe start my own company.”
My heart sank. Was he serious? He’d wanted it so bad, and now he was giving it up?
“Your safety has priority, Layne. You are my priority.”
Disbelief choked me. Had I just heard him right? I was his priority? My heart nearly exploded with joy.
But it was wrong.
“No.” I shook my head. “God has to be your priority.”
“You’re both my priority.”
“That’s not how it works.” Because I knew now that I was God’s priority, and that was more than I could ask for. I didn’t have to be Keaton’s number one, or Tripp’s, or Mom’s. They had to choose Jesus over me. That was the only correct way.
Peace spread through me, sweet and comforting. I was my Heavenly Father’s priority. Some people might argue that wasn’t possible, but just as God was omnipresent in time and space, He could also have more than one priority.
What an incredible thought.
“Okay, God first.” Keaton smirked at me. “I’m still gonna resign.”
“I can’t talk you out of it, can I?”
“No.” He took my hand, his expression all of a sudden serious. “I need you, Layne. Please come back home with me. Scream at me, cuss me out. I don’t care. Just come home.”
The rawness in his voice twisted my heart. I glanced at our hands. The rings.
“When we got married,” I said, looking back up at him, “maybe you didn’t make your promise before God. But I did. I told Him I would stay married to you, no matter what. That hasn’t changed. I won’t run away just because things get a little rough.”
Keaton closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. “I swear I don’t deserve you.”
“I mean, I have to take you back after you fought my brother just to apologize to me. That was stupid. He could’ve killed you.”
“Maybe, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
His words nearly did me in. He would sacrifice everything for me, even his life.
I huffed. “The main reason I want you back is because of your money.”
Keaton chuckled. “Right, because your McFlurries are that expensive.”
“They could be cheaper, for sure.”
“How about we get some on the way back?”
“Honestly, I just wanna go home. I’m exhausted and in pain.”
“Okay.” He lifted my hand and placed a gentle kiss on the inside of my wrist, leaving my skin tingling. “Let’s get you home.”
A knock on my window made me jump. Tripp stood there, hands planted against the edge of the TRX’s roof, staring us down.
Keaton let down the window. “What’s up?”
“She isn’t leaving this base. Not with that crow still out there.”
“Keaton is going to Regina right now to resign.” I reached out the window and placed a hand on Tripp’s bicep. “It’s okay, I promise.”
“It’s true. Going right now.” Keaton hooked an arm over the steering wheel. “I will protect her till my last breath. You have my word.”
“Your word is a joke, Grady. You almost got her killed.”
“That happened on your watch.”
I covered my ears and closed my eyes. Why couldn’t they just stop? I wanted to go home.
Their muffled conversation carried on for a while longer, then something touched my arm. Pulled my hand away from my ear.
“We’re going home,” Keaton said softly. “Wentworth is coming with us and will pull security while I’m gone.”
I let my arms slump to my side. “Okay.”
With that, we hit the road. A strange feeling unsettled my stomach as Fort Vickers shrank in the rearview mirror. What if Tripp’s reaction was justified?