Chapter 16
Eleven years ago
Rain chased away the remnants of fireworks hanging in the night air. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the wipers of Brendan’s
BMW worked double time as Shelby stewed in the passenger seat.
What was supposed to have been a romantic viewing of the fireworks over the lake had turned into a spontaneous party with
Brendan’s friends. Or maybe not so spontaneous. She suspected her boyfriend had invited the others. The secluded beach became
a party scene: loud music, beer, making out.
But she hadn’t made out with Brendan, and at this point he wouldn’t even receive a good-night kiss.
She glanced down at her new sundress, the one she’d been saving for. What a waste. She’d wanted an evening alone where she
and Brendan could talk. After almost seven weeks of dating, she still didn’t feel as if she knew him very well. She was tired
of his cronies hanging around all the time. Tired of their bad influence and arrogance.
“You should go to the party with me,” Brendan said.
She’d only been to one party at Drew’s house, and it had gotten out of hand. “Not tonight. I’m tired and I have to work in
the morning.”
A lone figure appeared ahead on the roadside. Their headlights caught on a white tee and drenched dark hair.
Grayson.
He passed in a blur. Shelby whipped around.
“It’ll be a lot of fun. Drew’s parents are out of town and everyone’s coming.”
“Wasn’t that Gray Briggs?”
“What?”
“That was Gray back there, walking on the side of the road.”
“So? Why don’t you want to come to the party? Your curfew’s not for another hour and you don’t have to be up that early for
work. Just come hang out for a little while.”
Gray’s truck must’ve broken down again, and he was still several miles from home. “We should give him a ride.”
“Like I’d let that lunatic around my girlfriend. He’d probably take us down to the gravel pit and they’d never find our bodies.”
Shelby rolled her eyes. She wasn’t so sure anymore that Gray deserved his reputation. From what she’d seen he took a lot of
abuse and showed a great deal of restraint. She hadn’t seen him since she’d left that book on his truck a week ago.
But there was no sense arguing with Brendan. Anyway, Gray would probably rather walk home in the rain than accept a ride from
him. She couldn’t really blame the guy. She turned back around in her seat.
“Come on, Shelby. Go to the party with me. Don’t be such a killjoy.”
Shelby sighed. “Just take me home, Brendan.”
Shelby waited just inside the front door as Brendan’s taillights faded into the distance. Her dad and brother hadn’t noticed
her arrival. They were too busy arguing in the living room.
“You’ve got a full year in. Why would you quit school now?”
“Because it’s not what I want, Dad. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“Grandville U has a wonderful art program. I could get you in. You need an education before you pursue an art career. Do you have any idea how competitive that field is?”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. I have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’d be stupid to turn it down.”
“Some friend in a gallery? That’s not an opportunity; it’s a sidenote. If you want to pursue a career in art, you need—”
Shelby slipped outside and dashed down the porch steps through the deluge to her car. Those two had been at it all summer.
If she needed additional motivation to head back out into the night, that was plenty enough. She was tired of playing man
in the middle with them. She saw both sides. But ultimately it was Caleb’s life, his decision.
She jumped into the car, soaked to the skin and shivering despite the warm temperature. She started the vehicle and pulled
from the drive, recalling the way Brendan had pulled to a stop moments ago in front of her house.
“It’s pouring down rain. No sense in both of us getting drenched.”
She pulled onto the street. “No sense, indeed. Never mind that we just left a guy walking by the side of the road in this
storm.”
She pressed on the accelerator, wanting to reach him more quickly. Turned up the windshield wipers, which squeaked and shuddered
against the glass.
She recalled Gray’s strange reaction to the gift she’d left on his truck last week. He’d knocked the bag to the ground like
he thought it might strike him dead. What other “gifts” had been left for him that he was so suspicious?
Maybe Gray could be irritating and arrogant. But those weren’t crimes. Knowing others had treated him so poorly hurt her heart.
According to his grandma, he’d been judged unfairly all his life. And of course his own grandmother would defend him. But Gram was a good judge of character, and she’d trusted him enough to hire him at the bookshop.
Through the years Shelby had heard plenty about Gray’s mean streak. About his laziness and his devil-may-care attitude. She’d
always bought into it, at least to some degree. Heaven knew his dad’s actions had done nothing to recommend the family.
But gossip was often exaggerated or completely fictitious. And nothing she’d observed from Gray so far suggested any of it
was true. He was hardly lazy. He’d worked hard at the store in the oppressive heat and even had another job at the hardware
store. A troublemaker wouldn’t have ignored Brendan’s friends when they berated him at the Dairy Bar.
And she couldn’t forget the way he’d stared down at the book in his hands like he couldn’t believe someone had left him a
gift. For the first time she wondered how it might feel to be him, raised motherless on the wrong side of town by an alcoholic
dad who landed himself in prison. Taken in by his grandmother, looked down upon by his peers.
Was Gray the real victim here?
Her headlights caught sight of him just up ahead, walking toward her. She let off on the gas and slowed to a stop beside him.
He kept walking.
She put her window down an inch. “Gray! Hop in!”
“No thanks,” he called over the downpour.
Pressing her lips together she swung the car around in the middle of the deserted road. The poor turning radius required a
three-point turn. Water dripped down the back of her dress, which clung to her like a second skin. Her wet sandal squeaked
as it slipped on the gas pedal.
Gray’s long legs had eaten up quite a distance. She advanced till she came alongside him and lowered the passenger window.
Rain poured in. “Don’t be so stubborn. You’re getting soaked.”
“Go to your party, Sunshine.”
“Do I look like I’m heading to a party?”
He spared her a glance as the car chugged along beside him. The wipers’ rhythmic squeak-slap sounded over the rain.
“Guess I’ll just follow you home then. Might as well. Got nothing better to do.”
He kept walking.
Rain poured through the window. Lightning flashed. Thunder cracked. “Do you have a death wish?”
His white shirt was nearly transparent, his tanned skin showing through. The material clung to the curves of his biceps and
the flat ridges of his stomach. Beads of water dripped down the thick column of his throat.
“You’re ruining the upholstery on my car. It’s Italian leather. Worth a fortune. Cost me a ton of money to replace it.”
At the bald-faced lies he stopped and regarded her with a mock scowl.
She applied the brakes and checked her rearview mirror to make sure a car wasn’t approaching. “Stop being so stubborn and
get in already. I can have you in a warm shower in five minutes flat.”
He lifted a brow as a teasing light flickered in his eyes.
Her body temperature increased by ten degrees. “You know that’s not what I meant. Get in the car already, Grayson Briggs.”
After a long pause he opened the passenger door and slid inside. Then he closed it and put up the window, shutting out the
storm’s noise.
The sudden hush and his large presence seemed to shrink the coupe in half. Her heart thumped in her chest as she accelerated.
“There’s a blanket in the back.”
He reached behind the seat and grabbed the blanket she’d last used for a picnic with Brendan. That date hadn’t gone according
to plan either. A Braves game, live streaming on his phone, usurped his attention.
Gray was easing the blanket beneath him.
“You might as well dry off with it. The seats are beyond repair.”
He started with his hair, then dried his face, neck, and arms. She tried not to think about those arms. What did he do to achieve muscles like that? He didn’t play sports at school and he wasn’t a gym rat. If he stepped foot in there, the jocks in the weight room would harass him to death.
“Did your truck break down again?”
“Over on Halverson. Thought the repair would get me by for a while.”
Halverson. His old neck of the woods. Darcy Colbert lived over that way. It was no secret Gray and Darcy hung out. She probably
had a great view of the fireworks from her place. “You and your girlfriend watch the fireworks together?”
He tossed the blanket into the back seat and caught her eye for a split second. “Jealous?”
She rolled her eyes. “The ego on you. It’s called making conversation. It’s what polite people do. They also thank each other
for gifts.”
“You gave me a gift?” He raised an eyebrow.
“You know I did. I almost gave you a romance novel since you enjoyed the other one so much.” Somehow her words came out smooth
and effortless, even though her respiration struggled to keep up with her heart.
“Saw you pass by with your boyfriend a while ago.”
She smirked. “Jealous?”
“He doesn’t deserve you.”
Her gaze caught on his at the honest assessment. A zap of electricity held her captive for a long moment. The current sizzled
between them with a low hum.
She jerked her attention back to the wet pavement. She didn’t bother asking what he meant. Didn’t necessarily want to hear
the answer. She was beginning to draw her own conclusions about Brendan anyway.
“No comment?” he said when she remained silent.
“That’s a matter of opinion, I guess.”
“If you say so.”