Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
F or two days, Shiloh couldn’t seem to take her mind off the dinner.
By the end of the evening, something had shifted. Granger had shifted. His mood had relaxed, and he was truly acting like a man who was interested in her.
Sitting at her computer, Shiloh chewed on the end of her pen, trying to pinpoint exactly when and why the landscaper had suddenly turned into Prince Charming.
“What are you thinking on so hard over there?” Melissa asked, her own fingers dancing along her keyboard.
Shiloh shook her head and smiled wide. “Nothing. Just going through inventory in my head.”
Melissa raised an eyebrow, not looking convinced. “Are you sure? I heard some rumors…”
Shiloh stiffened. “What? What rumors?”
Melissa smirked and stopped typing, turning her chair to face Shiloh more fully. “Rumors that you’ve got plans tonight.”
Shiloh frowned. “I don’t understand. I don’t have plans tonight.”
Melissa frowned in return. “You turned him down?”
Shiloh threw up her hands. “Mel…I’m serious. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Melissa pointed to Shiloh’s desk. “The note,” she said bluntly. “Didn’t you read the note? It was taped on the door this morning.”
Shiloh frantically looked around her desk. Had Granger stopped by? Was he actually going to ask her on a real date? Had his behavior at the barbecue been as real as it felt?
Finding the innocuous envelope with her name scrawled almost illegibly, Shiloh grinned and flipped open the front. “You read it, didn’t you?” Shiloh accused her secretary.
Melissa sniffed and stuck her nose in the air. “It’s my job to screen your information.”
Shiloh was unimpressed. “It’s your job to screen calls, Mel. Not love notes.”
Melissa sighed and fanned herself. “But love notes are the best part.”
Laughing softly, Shiloh eagerly began to read the note, but her smile didn’t last and she had to force herself to keep hold of the note.
“Shiloh?” Melissa’s tone said she was worried. “Aren’t you excited?”
Shiloh heard, but barely registered, that Melissa’s chair was pushed backward. The woman hurried across the small office, coming to wrap an arm around Shiloh’s suddenly trembling shoulders.
“Hon, seriously. Is it that bad?”
Shiloh let the note drop to the desktop. “I thought you read it,” she said, her voice raspier than normal.
“I read the beginning,” Melissa admitted. She rubbed Shiloh’s upper arm. “The first few lines were so sweet. I wanted to read more, but I stopped to give you at least a little privacy.”
Shiloh shook her head. “Burn it,” she rasped.
Melissa gasped. “Hon. Seriously. What’s wrong with it?” Melissa stepped forward just enough that Shiloh could now see her. “May I?” she asked, gingerly picking up the note as if it were diseased.
Shiloh didn’t respond, and Melissa murmured to herself as she read the note. A numbness had set in over Shiloh’s initial disgust and fear. What was she supposed to do with this? Was throwing it away enough?
Arthur had always been annoyingly persistent, but the words in that note had gone much further than a man just asking a woman out. Especially, a woman who was supposed to already be taken.
She didn’t even want to think about the scenario the man had built up in his head. It made Shiloh feel dirty, as if she’d somehow brought this problem on herself.
“Oh, Shi…” Walking away, the secretary tore up the letter and dropped it in the garbage. “The nerve of that man,” Melissa grumbled. “Nasty. He’s not allowed in this office anymore.” Tsking her tongue, she went back to work.
Shiloh sat for several long seconds, unsure what to do.
“And to think! I thought it was a romantic letter!” Melissa huffed again, then began typing. “If he comes by, I’m calling the police. See if I don’t.”
Slowly, still trembling slightly, Shiloh reached for her cellphone. She wasn’t the type to ask for help very often, but her first instinct right now was to call Granger.
Her hand hovered above her cell. Should she? What about Zane? Calling Granger would mean involving the little boy, and Shiloh didn’t want to possibly put the little guy in harm’s way.
Before she could decide what to do, however, her phone buzzed, and Shiloh almost jumped out of her seat.
Breathing heavily, Shiloh glanced at her screen and blew out a breath of relief to see it was Tate. Without a second thought, she pressed the call button, rather than answer the text.
“Shil?” Tate asked. “What’s the matter? Your thumbs broken?”
Shiloh opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. What was she supposed to say? How could she explain this without sounding insane?
“Shiloh?” Tate’s voice had gone from playful to concerned. “Did you dial me with your backside? Seriously? SHILOH!” he shouted.
Shiloh jumped back, and Melissa looked up from her work, frowning deeply. “Sorry,” Shiloh mouthed to Melissa, then brought the phone back to her mouth. “Tate?”
“Shiloh. You’re there. I was starting to get worried.”
“Tate, I…I might need help.”
There were two seconds of silence. “Where are you?” he demanded.
“At the office.” Her heart began to pound, as if in a delayed reaction to the note. Arthur had been here. He’d dropped off a note with a disgusting message. He’d left it for all the world to see. He wasn’t backing off even though Granger was fake-dating her.
“Lock the door and don’t leave.”
It took Shiloh a couple heartbeats to remove the phone from her ear, even though Tate had hung up as soon as he’d given his command. “Melissa?” Shiloh whispered.
“Yeah?”
“I think…” Shiloh swallowed hard. “I think maybe you should go home.”
Melissa spun to stare at Shiloh. “Is this about the note?” She shook her head. “I’m not leaving. I’m especially not leaving you here alone. I don’t know what that man was trying to accomplish, but I’m not comfortable leaving you on your own right now.”
Shiloh was going to throw up. Sweat broke out on her brow, and she began to swallow convulsively.
“Shiloh?” Melissa jumped up from her seat again. “Bend over,” she commanded firmly. “Head between the knees.”
Shiloh ended up on her own lap, her hair hanging down, blocking her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying for a miracle.
“Now just stay there a minute until it passes.”
If only it were that easy.
Find a sitter. Shiloh needs help. At her office.
Granger blinked, sweat dripping into his eyes. He reached for the bottom of his shirt, wiping his face with it, then stared at the screen again.
Find a sitter. Shiloh needs help. At her office.
The words hadn’t changed.
His heart began to pick up speed, and Granger quickly looked around, locating his son. “Zane!”
Zane’s head popped up from around a tree trunk. “Huh?”
“We gotta go.”
Zane frowned and slowly walked around the tree. “Where are we going?”
“You’re gonna go see Serenity for a while, okay?” Granger didn’t bother putting away his equipment, just dropped his tools on the ground and picked up his son. It had been a long time since he’d carried the young boy, but there was no time to waste.
“Dad?” Zane asked, his voice wobbling. “What’s going on?”
“I have an emergency,” Granger huffed as they reached his truck. He quickly buckled Zane in and rushed around to the driver’s seat, shouting at his phone for a voice to text in order to warn Serenity they were coming.
He cursed under his breath that Zane still couldn’t go to daycare. The cast would come off in a couple of short weeks, so it seemed ridiculous that Miss Tiffany wouldn’t watch Zane. It would have made all of this so much easier.
Fear was making it hard to drive safely as Granger navigated his way through their town and kept at the speed limit down Main Street. He hadn’t been this afraid in years. Not even when Zane broke his arm.
But hearing that Shiloh was in danger had Granger ready to tear something apart, and he didn’t usually consider himself a violent man.
Somehow, the petite beauty, who was far from helpless, brought out a new level of protective instincts that Granger had never experienced before. Protectiveness of being a father was deep seated and an innate part of Granger. He’d give his life to save Zane without a second thought. But this was different.
It was more emotional, and it left Granger feeling cold and hot all at the same time.
Parking in a handicap spot, Granger left the truck running as he jumped out and ran around to grab Zane. The bell above the door rang as Granger pulled it open, and he ushered Zane inside.
“I’ve got him,” Serenity shouted from the other side of the store. She hurried around a corner and held out her arms to Zane. “Come on, sweetie. You can help me count inventory.”
Granger gave his son a nod. “I’ll be back soon,” Granger said, ruffling his son’s hair.
Zane was still frowning, but he headed toward Serenity.
“Thanks,” Granger said with a nod.
Serenity nodded back. “I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but please hurry,” she said softly.
Granger didn’t bother with another remark, just rushed back outside the door and jumped in the truck. Shiloh’s shop wasn’t very far, but he needed to get into a spot that wouldn’t get him towed.
It only took five minutes to knock on her front door, but it felt like an eternity before Jett unlocked the door and let Granger inside.
“Where is she?” he asked quickly.
“In the back,” Jett said, thrusting his chin toward a back door. “We wanted her out of sight from the windows.”
Granger had started across the floor when he stopped and turned around. “What the heck happened?”
Jett’s lips were pinched and white when he answered. “He left her a message.” Walking quickly, Jett went to a desk and pointed.
Granger eyed the back door, wanting to see Shiloh for himself, but instead he came over, trepidation joining the fear already making his nerves jump.
The note was difficult to read as it had been torn up and then placed back together, but it didn’t take long for Granger to read enough to make him want to throttle the other realtor.
“Have you called the cops?” Granger asked, his breathing getting heavy.
“Montoya will be here in a few.”
With a single, firm nod, Granger ran for the back of the room and the door that would take him to Shiloh. He didn’t care if he looked like a love struck fool. He wasn’t even sure he wasn’t a love struck fool.
All he knew was that Arthur had crossed a new line, Shiloh needed support, and Granger was going to be the one to give it to her.
“Shiloh!” he shouted as he pushed open the back door. “Shiloh!”
“Granger?”
His eyes finally landed in the back of a large storage space where a couple of ratty couches were placed across from each other. Tate was on the couch with his arm around Shiloh, and as Granger lunged forward, he realized her eyes were red and puffy.
She’d been crying.
“Granger,” she breathed. The tight lines of her face softened, and she stood, rushing to meet him.
He didn’t hesitate, simply opened his arms and drew Shiloh into his chest, squeezing her tightly. When her arms went around his back and clutched his shirt, Granger closed his eyes in near ecstasy.
She was here, and for the moment, she was safe.
“We’ll just give you a minute,” Jett said from the door. “Come on, Tate.”
“What?” Tate shouted, standing up from the couch. “It just got good in here!”
“You idiot. Move it.”
Granger gave Tate a glare, but the guy just grinned as he walked past.
When the door finally shut, Granger relaxed and buried his face in Shiloh’s hair.
“I almost called you,” she whispered.
Granger’s eyebrows pulled together. “What?” He had to lift his head when she pulled back enough to look up at him.
“When I got the note…I almost called you, but…”
Granger’s eyes bounced between hers. “But what?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you call?”
Shiloh’s eyes filled with tears, and Granger mentally smacked himself for making her cry again. Laughing harshly, she stepped away, wiping at her face. “I’m not supposed to cry like this. I told myself I would never be the victim. Never be a martyr.”
“No one said you were a martyr,” Granger said, following her as she walked away.
Shiloh spun, stopping him in his tracks and pointed to her wet cheeks. “This is the mark of someone weak,” she whispered fiercely. “I watched my mother let men walk all over her for years, and by the time I was fifteen, I knew I’d never let a man watch me cry. I’d never let one make me cry. They never cared about my mother. They just wanted her because she was beautiful.” Shiloh’s nostrils flared. “Just like Arthur only wants me for my face. He doesn’t care about my feelings. He doesn’t care about my business or anything else. It’s all because he wants someone to look good on his arm, and now he’s having delusions about it. Why?”
Shiloh stepped toward Granger, and it took more strength than he expected to stand still at her angry advance. He half expected her to punch him in the nose, but he was also so intrigued by her story that he couldn’t look away.
“Because it was denied him,” Shiloh answered her own question. “He’s like a toddler. He wants something pretty, and now he wants it more because he can’t have it.”
She reached Granger and grabbed the front of his sweat-drenched shirt.
“He can’t have me,” she cried.
How had he ever thought she was like his ex-wife? Ella had more in common with Arthur and his toddler-style tantrums than she did the woman in front of Granger. Shiloh was fierce and independent, she was a little too good at flirting, and she knew full well she was attractive to men… But Granger also knew she was good and kind and had a level of loyalty that was rare in today’s world. He also had to be honest and say he’d never seen her drag men along, only tease and joke in a way that said the men knew it was all in good fun. He’d been wrong about everything.
Slowly, with Granger’s trembling hands came up until they cupped her cheeks. “You’re right,” he said in a gravelly tone, his throat thick with emotion. His thumbs wiped away her tears. “He can’t have you.”
Slowly, Granger dropped his head.
“Because you’re already taken.”
If Tate had wanted a show, he’d be ticked at missing this one because when Shiloh wrapped her arms around Granger’s neck and pulled herself up against his chest, it wouldn’t have mattered who was in the room. All that existed was Shiloh and the lips Granger had been dreaming about for days.
He’d been such a fool.