Chapter 10
"Touchdown for YeeHaW!" Robert threw the football on the grass behind the ranch house, tossed his hands in the air, and did a silly dance.
Steven shook his head beside Damon. "That's such a stupid team name."
When the bachelor party started, they'd formed teams. His cousins Ben Young, Daniel Hamilton, and Robert and Jake Winters made up one team.
Damon and his two brothers, Steven and Matt, along with Gabe and his friend and physical therapy assistant, Luke Morrell, made up the other team. They'd named their team the Vipers.
They’d spent the first couple of hours at the shooting range. Where despite Damon's flawless shooting, YeeHaW had cleaned up. His brothers were rusty, and Gabe and Luke had only ever shot a gun once or twice.
Now, they played flag football. The Vipers had redeemed themselves a little, but they were still down by seven points. Damon's competitiveness came out more than ever when he was with his cousins. He wanted to win.
He studied his teammates, searching for their strengths. His brothers were fit enough, but they were more the intellectual type. Being a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Gabe was also intelligent and muscular. His assistant was built too.
An idea formed as Damon recalled the story Paige told him and Grace last night while they helped decorate the rec center; about walking into PT one day to find Gabe and Luke having a push-up contest. If Damon could convince the guys to add another event to their competition, they might have a chance of winning.
"Burgers are ready!" Uncle James called from the back deck twenty minutes later, just as the Vipers scored a touchdown.
He and Daniel's dad, Zane, who was also the ranch foreman, had been tending the grill.
Most people wouldn't bother inviting sixty-something-year-old men to a bachelor party, but since their wives were both at Paige's bridal shower, this was the logical place for them to hang out.
Especially since Lottie, Zane's wife, had graciously prepared a plethora of salads and desserts to go with their burgers.
"Perfect timing. I'm starving." Ben pulled the flag football belt from his waist.
"Me too," Jake said.
"Wait a minute!" Damon raised his voice. "Our teams are tied. We need a tiebreaker."
"Like what?" Robert asked, his keen gaze landing on Damon.
The only person in the family who was more competitive than Damon was Robert.
"Push-up contest." Damon gave a casual shrug. "Team with the last man still in wins."
Groans sounded from the group, and Robert's gaze raked over Damon. As the county sheriff with a home gym, Robert was in great shape.
"That's hardly fair," Jake said. "You probably do push-ups in your sleep; you'd beat us hands down."
"Fine, I won't participate. That makes it four on four." He motioned to his teammates.
Robert's eyes lit up, and he nodded his head at his teammates.
"I don't know, man," Ben shook his head. "I sit behind a desk all day. I work out a little, but I can't remember the last time I did a real push-up."
"I'm right there with you." Matt nudged Ben's arm with his elbow.
"Foods getting cold while you sissies stand around gossiping." Zane's taunt lit a fire in Damon's cousins' eyes, and everyone dropped to the ground.
Damon crouched near Gabe and Luke. "I'm counting on you two. Don't let me down."
Luke and Gabe gave each other a nod. Then Gabe smirked at the younger man. “You want to beat me, Luke? You’ve got to earn it."
Damon stood beside Uncle James and Zane, cheering everyone on.
One by one, his brothers and cousins dropped out as the count grew higher. Robert did an impressive thirty-five push-ups before he dropped and didn't get up again.
Gabe and Luke both laughed and kept going.
Up. Down.
Up. Down.
Again, and again.
Everyone gathered around them, watching their arms grow shakier and their grunts deeper. Then finally, Gabe dropped, gasping for air.
Luke did one more push-up then sprang to his feet and pumped his arms in the air as though he hadn't just done fifty-one push-ups. "Yes! Finally!"
Clapping and lots of backslapping ensued as they made their way to the back deck and the food. Uncle James said grace, then a line quickly formed.
Robert's arm hooked around Damon's shoulders just as he was about to step into line. "I hear you've been spending a lot of time with Grace."
You could say that.
He'd spent almost every waking minute with her when she wasn't at work. Doing bucket list things, digging up flower beds and planting rose bushes and tulips bulbs under Marisol's supervision. Grace helped him paint the dining room at his mom's house.
They'd helped decorate the rec center and assisted his mom and Amy with food prep for the wedding. Then last night, they spent a quiet evening with Marisol, making tamales that she hardly touched, and watched a movie.
Through it all, they laughed and talked about everything under the sun. Grace often leaned into him and nudged his arm when she was in a teasing mood, but she'd kept him firmly in the friend zone, always curtailing any opportunity for things to get serious.
"Yeah," he looked Robert in the eye. "So what?"
The last thing he needed was another person telling him to tread lightly where Grace was concerned. He'd fallen so hard for her, no way would he ever intentionally hurt her.
"That's great." Robert squeezed his shoulder. "But tell me something...when you and Grace get married and have kids, will they be first or second cousins to Paige and Gabe's children?"
"What?" The mention of having children with Grace set a fire in Damon's chest that took his breath away and intensified the desperation building in him. He only had a few more days to convince her to take a chance on them.
Damon chuckled as he shoved Robert away, then he turned to see Gabe standing a few feet away, watching him. A small furrow creased Grace's brother's brow. A part of Damon wanted to ask Gabe how to win his sister over, the other part wanted to avoid Gabe entirely.
He liked Gabe—what he'd come to know of him over the last two weeks.
He was Grace's hero, so Damon thought of him as something of a father figure to her.
Marisol had encouraged his pursuit of Grace, but he felt like he needed Gabe's approval as well.
Judging by the frown on his face, Damon wasn't sure he'd give it.
Most of the tables were full by the time Damon got his food, so he sat near Zane and Uncle James. He'd just bitten into his burger when Gabe sat across from him. He locked gazes with Damon for a long moment before digging into his food. Then, he lifted his head.
"Thanks for helping Daniel plan this." Gabe circled his hand in the air.
Damon swallowed the bite in his mouth. "My pleasure. Welcome to the family. If all these yahoos haven't scared you away by now, you'll fit in just fine."
"You mean the way you tried to scare me away the first time we met on that video call with Paige?"
Damon's next bite stuck in his throat.
"I believe you threatened to rearrange my face if I broke Paige's heart." Gabe's gaze bore into his.
Damon washed the food down with a swig of lemonade and forced a smile. "You knew I was kidding though, right?"
"Not at first." Gabe straightened and squared his shoulders. "But I'm not kidding when I say if you hurt Grace, I will pummel you. I don't care if you are bigger and stronger than me."
Damon gulped. "I may be taller, but I doubt I'm stronger.
That was seriously impressive how you pumped out those push-ups.
" When Gabe's posture and expression didn't falter, Damon squared his own shoulders and met the other man's eyes.
"I would never intentionally hurt Grace.
" Not wanting to draw attention and a boatload of teasing, Damon darted a glance at his brothers and cousins who talked and laughed at nearby tables.
Then he leaned toward Gabe and lowered his voice. "I'm in love with her."
Gabe jerked back a little, eyes wide.
"I know it sounds crazy because we haven't known each other that long—"
Gabe held up a hand, cutting Damon off. "I'm living proof it doesn't take long to fall for the right woman when she comes along." Then his eyes locked on Damon's face again. "But are you sure Grace is the right woman for you?"
"Yes." Damon's eye contact didn't waver. "Without a doubt, one hundred percent, yes."
Gabe's fierce expression relaxed, and he gave a slight nod. "I won't stand between you then. Just remember, she's all the family I've got. So you'd better bring her home often."
A surge of relief shot through Damon as though his parachute had just opened, leaving him floating on the breeze.
"Thank you. That means a lot to me." He studied his food for a moment before looking at Gabe again. "I'm uh...I'm thinking about getting out of the Army."
Gabe's eyes widened again. "For Grace's sake?"
"Yes. I know how close you two are, and I don't want to take her away from her family any more than you want me to." Damon scrubbed his fingers through his hair that needed a cut. "But there's one problem."
"What?"
"Grace doesn't feel the way I do."
"Are you sure about that?" Gabe arched a brow and cocked his head.
Damon thought about Marisol's words last week. "She wouldn't be spending time with you if she didn't like you."
Did Gabe agree? Is that why he looked surprised?
"Her actions tell me she only wants to be friends. I understand her hesitance to get involved since I'll be leaving soo—"
"That's not why she's holding back." Gabe shoved a forkful of pasta salad in his mouth.
"It's not?" Damon felt his own brows hike up. "Then why won't she give me a chance?"
"I can't tell you." The muscle in Gabe's jaw jumped as he slowly shook his head. "If she's not ready to share that part of her life with you, then it's not my place to do so."
"How do I earn her trust?" Damon's question was quiet. Partly because he wasn't sure Gabe would give him an answer, and partly because Uncle James and Zane had hit a lull in their discussion about the problems with genetically modified wheat and corn.
"You can't, unless she knows she’s absolutely safe with you.”
“She is. But I don’t know how to convince her of that.”
Gabe let out a sigh as he poked at his potato salad with his fork. "Grace has been hurt and...let down too many times by people she cared about. Consequently, she doesn't open her heart to just anyone."
Damon sank back in his seat, disappointment settling over him like a weighted blanket, hot and suffocating. He wanted to believe that after all the time they'd spent together, he wasn't just anyone to Grace. But until she gave him a sign that she wanted more, he didn't dare bring it up again.
He was running out of time though. The wedding was in two days, and he left in a little over seventy-two hours.
"She's testing you."
"What?" Damon's head snapped back up at Gabe's words.
"She's playing it safe. She knows you're leaving soon. When you're gone, and she doesn't hear from you, she'll know she did the right thing."
"But I plan to stay in touch with her." Damon's voice rose. He didn't care if Uncle James and Zane overheard their conversation. This was too important. "I'll email and text as often as I'm able. I'll call her every chance I get."
"Don't tell me." Gabe grinned as he picked up his hamburger. "Tell her."
Damon nodded, the motion growing bigger by the second.
Grace may have friend-zoned him, but she'd continued to spend time with him almost every day.
That had to count for something. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind, so if she really didn't want anything to do with him, she'd have told him to take a hike a long time ago.
So how did he get her to trust him?