CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“You don’t need to drive. We can take my car,” Melanie said, shifting from foot to foot beside Gage’s SUV. “Since I’m dragging you along, it’s the least I can do.”
She never fidgeted. Seeing Mel nervous surprised Gage.
Temps overnight had dropped to near freezing and it was damn cold. Melanie wore a black leather jacket over a red sweater and black stretchy pants. Her head was bare and the breeze ruffled her dark hair.
“You’re not dragging me anywhere,” he said. “And we’re taking my car. Pancake’s gear is already loaded.”
He watched her hesitation. “You worried about not having an escape plan?”
A furrow formed between her brows. “No, not exactly. But what if it goes badly? What if they blame me and it’s awkward and I want to leave?”
“You’ve already talked to Delaney and Sawyer. Did it feel like they blamed you?”
She hesitated. “No.”
“Then don’t borrow trouble. Grafton’s the one responsible for what happened to Walker, not you. But if you want to leave, say the word and we’ll go.”
To end the debate, Gage opened the back door.
Pancake leapt in and settled in the center of the backseat, already alert and staring through the windshield.
She’d go nuts once she realized their destination was the farm.
Cider Mill Farm was doggy Disneyland. The place wasn’t open to the public until Friday, so she’d be able to run through the orchards and fields and splash in the creek with the other dogs.
He attached her harness to the seatbelt and Pancake gave them a c’mon look before turning to stare ahead again.
Melanie let out a breathy laugh. “Okay, you win. But I have to be back in time to grab my car and meet with the principal at three. I need to catch Addy before she gets on the bus.”
“We’ll be back in time.”
“Right,” she said, and slid into the passenger seat. Her tone was light, but he knew this wasn’t about transportation. It was about facing ghosts. And she was doing it anyway.
Soon they were on the road, the SUV speeding past towering pines lining the highway like sentinels, their dark silhouettes etched against a sky of endless blue.
Gage glanced at Melanie, then back at the road. Having her with him felt…right. In fact, he felt better than he had in ages.
It took him a couple minutes to recognize the feeling. Peace.
Maybe it was the mountains. They’d always grounded him.
But this was something more. After his father’s death in a car accident, Janie’s cancer fight, Rafe’s murder—for as long as he could remember he’d thrown himself into whatever came next to try to keep the people he loved safe.
The FBI had honed that purpose. But somehow, Melanie stilled the chaos he’d carried for years.
He’d felt it the first time they’d shared a meal at her kitchen table, seen it in Addy’s dimpled grin, and felt it settle deeper every time he held Melanie close.
She tipped her head, eyes on the scenery rushing past. “It’s so beautiful here. I want to take Addy hiking. There’s a trail that starts at the farm. It leads up a canyon to a waterfall. Delaney and I used to hike it when we were teenagers.” She smiled softly. “Addy would love it.”
“I know it. It’s a good hike.” He had to fight against inviting himself along, not wanting to push Melanie into thinking their relationship was too much, too fast. Though that ship had probably sailed.
Pancake poked her head between the seats, tongue out, tail thumping. Melanie chuckled but rubbed her belly where her hand rested.
“You good?”
She nodded, then hesitated. “I’m nervous about seeing Walker. I’ll admit it. I feel like butterflies are swirling madly in my stomach.”
“It’s okay to be nervous,” he said, glancing at her. “But you’re not walking into this alone. Not sure who’ll be there, but they’re all good people.”
“Oh my god. You think it’ll be more than Delaney and Walker?”
“Delaney texted you to come to the big house, right?”
“Yeah. So? That’s where she lives.”
“No, she and Walker live in the cabin at the north end of the farm, the one Walker’s grandfather lived in. Cam and Sawyer live in the big house. Unless they’re working, I expect they’ll be there. You remember Clara?”
“Sure. Delaney’s grandmother who raised her.”
“Yeah, but not only Delaney’s grandmother. Cam and Emery’s too. She still lives in the big house.”
Melanie slumped back in her seat. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
He reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “You’ll be fine.”
Instead of keeping her hand in his like he wanted to, he let her go. She was already on edge and he didn’t want to make it worse. She was more uncertain than he was, and with good reason. If anyone could understand how the past could linger and wound, it was him.
Gage turned onto Mill Creek Road, and Pancake gave a happy bark.
“She’s excited.”
“Yeah. She recognizes where we’re going.”
“Do you know Sawyer and Walker through Shane? Do you hang out with them?”
“Yeah. You know Shane?”
“Some. He was friends with Sawyer, so I’d see him occasionally when Delaney invited me over. They graduated several years before me so we weren’t in the same social circle.”
He nodded. “I stayed at Shane’s ranch for a year. That wasn’t long after Delaney and Walker married. Then Shane and Sawyer fell like dominos for Emery and Cam.”
“That must’ve been fun to watch.”
“Shane literally falling flat on his face for Emery? It was classic. Then with Keeley being tight with Delaney, she and Owen are also part of the group.”
“Found family.”
He took his eyes off the road to glance at her. “What’s that?”
“It’s the family you make rather than the one you’re born with.”
He grunted. “Yeah, I guess that’s what we have. Though there’s blood ties in there too.”
“How’d you end up staying with Shane?”
“I was on extended leave.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
He didn’t like talking about himself but found he wanted her to know.
“I had a case go bad. Real bad. Shane showed up at my hospital room when I was being discharged. Said he was taking me to the ranch to recover. I wasn’t in any condition to argue.
I was shitty company, but they made me part of that found family anyway. ”
He could feel her gaze on him. “Is that where the scars on your wrists are from, the case that went bad?”
Trust her to notice. “Yeah. Fuckers in the cartel killed my partner.” He clamped his mouth shut. He hadn’t meant to tell her that. That peaceful feeling he’d worked hard to give her, especially on this day, got lost in his past. Being around her was messing with his head.
He turned onto the farm road and took the fork that wound around a hill. He pulled up beside two trucks already parked near the big house. Pancake looked eagerly out the window, whining as the muffled sound of barking carried from the house.
Melanie reached for his hand, pulling up his jacket sleeve. She ran the tip of her finger over scars that were finally starting to fade. “Let me see your other arm.”
He showed her his left arm with its matching marks, and they received the same light touch. She turned his hand to trace the puckered skin around the back of his wrist. Fuck me. Her touch felt like a healing balm that soothed more than the scars.
“You were restrained, weren’t you? You tried to save your partner. They shackled you but you tried to break free to save your partner.” The gold in her eyes glinted with compassion. “Am I right?”
“Something like that. Didn’t do any good. Rafe still died.”
“A man like you, a protector? That hurt would cut deep.”
Pancake thrust her face between them, and Melanie let go of him. He was grateful for the diversion. She’d brought a sheen of acceptance over memories that’d brought guilt and rage, and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. “Let’s go.”
He opened the back door and wrestled with a wiggling Pancake to unclip her. Once free, she leapt out of the car. Shiloh, Sawyer’s big-ass German shepherd, bulleted around the corner of the house and they chased each other around the wide yard.
Gage caught Melanie’s attention. “Are we doing this?”
“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “I’m glad you’re with me.”
He put out his hand. After a brief hesitation, she clasped it, holding tight as they approached the house.
***
The front door opened and two dogs ran down the porch steps, one so tiny Mel worried it might get trampled. The other, medium size with mottled fur and bright eyes, leapt off the porch to catch up with Pancake and her friend.
Delaney followed the dogs onto the porch, a blonde-haired woman with a baby on her hip coming out with her. Melanie climbed the stairs, Gage a solid presence at her side.
“Hey, you two.” Delaney waved them forward. “Mel, this is my sister Cam and her boy JT, boycotter of naps. You missed seeing her at the farm the other day.”
“Oh, boycotting naps is not good. Nice to meet you, Cam.” The little boy studied Mel solemnly. “JT looks big enough he should be carrying you.”
“No kidding. He’s not even a year old and already wears a two-year-old size.”
The little boy switched his attention to Gage.
“Come on, bud. Let’s give your mom a break.” JT put out his arms and Gage released Mel’s hand to hoist him up.
Melanie didn’t know why it surprised her that Gage was so easy with a child. “JT looks like Sawyer’s mini-me,” she observed.
“He does, except for his eyes,” Delaney agreed. “That aqua color is all Cam. You’re a natural with him, Gage.”
“What can I say? Little dude likes me. Harper, on the other hand, acts like I’d eat her for breakfast.”
“It’s not only you. The people allowed to hold that girl are me, Walker, and Gran.
If she’s feeling generous, her aunties. She’s taken the stranger-danger concept to heart.
And,” she added, “we’re fortunate she’s napping because she’s been cranky with a tooth coming in on top of getting over a cold. ”