Chapter 19
Graham
It was late, but I couldn’t focus. I’d been sitting at home, in my favorite reading chair, trying to relax, but the words of the book in front of me might’ve been in another language for how much I comprehended.
This had been happening a lot since Quinn came into my life. My reading volume had gone way down because of it.
My mind kept replaying the moment Quinn and I had on the porch, the way she had gotten so close… Before we’d been so abruptly interrupted, I’d thought that she might’ve kissed me.
I could’ve been imagining it. Perhaps it was simply the intensity of the moment. She had told me about her brother and was in a vulnerable state. That’s all it probably was.
I should have been glad we didn’t kiss.
My hands tightened around my book, bending the flexible cover. I didn’t like the way Preston had looked at her, though.
I sighed, shaking my head after reading the same sentence six times. I still didn’t know what it said.
Preston was her boss, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with him. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to check up on her before I’d left. She hadn’t come down for dinner like I was hoping.
Which was another thing that concerned me. I had almost gone up to check on her, but we’d had a long day, and I didn’t want to disturb her if she was resting. She deserved rest.
I thoroughly regretted that decision, unable to stop the thoughts of her from consuming me.
I needed to know she was all right.
Giving up on my book, I set it down on the small table beside me when my phone rang.
My heart lurched. I had texted Quinn hours ago to check in—hopefully she was getting back to me.
I frowned when Roman’s name flashed on my screen.
“Hey,” I answered, wondering why the hell he was calling me so late.
“Graham,” my brother said in his deep, raspy voice. “Where are you?”
My stomach dropped at the almost imperceptible alarm in his tone. “I’m at home. What’s wrong?”
There was a pause. The sound of music and muffled voices lingered in the background.
“I’m at Callie’s getting a drink with some of the guys after our shift,” he began.
My brows pinched. Callie’s Tavern was the most popular bar in town.
“I wanted you to know,” he continued, “Quinn is here.”
I sat up straighter. “What?”
“Yeah, she seems to be here alone. I’ve been keeping an eye on her, but I don’t know how long she’s been here.”
I was standing without even thinking about it. “Is she okay?”
“I think so, but she’s been drinking and…I’m not sure she should be by herself. The bar is packed tonight.”
Of course she shouldn’t be alone.
A flurry of thoughts whirled through my mind like an upturned snow globe. Why the hell would she be at the bar? Quinn was smart. She knew this wouldn’t be a good idea. It wasn’t safe for her.
“I’m on my way.”
Iwalked into Callie’s Tavern. The place was as rambunctious as could be expected for a Saturday night.
The college kids were out in full force after the local football game, and the rest seemed to be OCU fans celebrating the rivalry win.
I barely gave the crowd a second thought. I was focused on one thing—Quinn.
I shuffled through the crowd. The bar was anchored in the center of the establishment, shaped in a large U. The outside walls were lined with booths that were all full. On the back wall, a local band was performing on the rickety stage.
The bar was swarmed. People were dancing and talking, stuffing themselves into every square inch of space. I felt like I was wading through a literal sea, desperately scanning faces for one particular set of pale-blue eyes.
Someone grabbed my shoulder, and I froze.
I turned, coming face-to-face with Roman. I raised my brows at my brother—this definitely wasn’t his usual scene.
Roman leaned close and shouted over the noise, “It’s crowded in here!”
“You think?”
He scowled. “I know. I wasn’t expecting this when I agreed to have a beer with the guys.”
My gaze swept over the crowd again, still not finding Quinn. “Thanks for letting me know,” I called back over the music.
Roman gave my shoulder a squeeze, and warmth swelled in my chest. It was nice to know that at least one of my brothers was still there for me.
“She’s over there.” He pointed to one of the booths in the back corner.
She sat alone, a half-finished draft beer on the table in front of her. The tops of her cheekbones were dusted red as she propped her chin on her palm. Some guy was standing at the end of her table, speaking animatedly. She blinked at him slowly, looking bored and annoyed and…incredibly sad.
When the guy planted his palm on the table and leaned closer to her, a feeling I was not familiar with prickled at the back of my neck. I didn’t like the way he grinned at her.
“She’s had a string of college guys rounding on her table. They always leave after a while, but it’s part of the reason I didn’t want to leave her here alone.”
I forced a glance at my brother, resisting the unexpectedly strong urge to yank that man away from her table by the collar of his stupid orange shirt.
Who the hell wore orange?
“Thanks for staying to look out for her.” I tried to give him a smile.
Roman patted my shoulder. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna get out of here and pick up my baby girl.”
“I’ve got it from here.” I nodded. “Give Hailey a hug for me.”
Roman turned with a wave and disappeared through the throng of bodies.
Immediately, I headed toward Quinn’s booth.
I couldn’t hear what the guy was talking her ear off about, but it didn’t matter. Quinn still stared at him with a glassy, glazed-over expression.
I clamped my hand down onto the guy’s shoulder, squeezing harder than I needed to. He straightened, whipping his head toward me.
Quinn’s eyes slid to mine, and she blinked, as if she wasn’t sure what she was seeing. Then they widened.
“What the hell?” The guy knocked my hand off, backing away.
“Sorry,” I shouted. We were so close to the band that the blaring speakers hurt my ears. “But you were in my way. This is my table.”
I said it calmly, taking the empty seat across from Quinn.
The guy crinkled his nose, looking from Quinn to me and back again. He hesitated, but then he shook his head. “Whatever,” he muttered as he shuffled toward the bar.
I scrubbed the back of my neck when he was gone, watching him until he blended into the crowd. My chest loosened.
Quinn glared at me when I looked back at her, an icy edge to her expression.
She took a long swig of her beer, watching me over the rim of the glass before she spoke. “What are you doing here?”
I would’ve sighed, but I stopped myself. This side of her was both familiar and exhausting. I thought we had moved past it. I shifted on the uncomfortable faux leather seat.
“I could ask you the same question.”
She set her glass down a little too hard. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m having a beer at a bar. That’s a perfectly normal thing for a person to do.” She leaned toward me as she said it so she didn’t have to scream.
I studied her, taking in every detail, from the furrow of her brow to the way her knuckles blanched around her pint glass. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but obviously something had happened.
I scanned the bar quickly before resting my gaze back on her. “Sure, it’s a perfectly normal thing for some people to do. Not you, though.”
She scoffed. “Don’t act like you know me well enough to make that judgment.”
I ignored the sting of her words. Interesting that she was trying to hurt me. “I know you’re smarter than this. If you wanted to come to the bar, you shouldn’t have come alone. This isn’t safe—”
Her eyes flashed, pointed and full of anger and…something else. Perhaps it was pain.
“It doesn’t matter,” she snapped, her voice low enough that I almost didn’t hear. “Ember Hollow has no reason to hate me anymore.”
The bitter hardness in her expression cracked briefly, her chest hitching. She bit at the corner of her lip.
I leaned closer without thinking, forcing myself not to reach for her. “What are you talking about?”
She looked away, her teeth worrying at her lip until a bead of blood welled. “I—I think I was just fired.”
I stared at her, convinced I heard wrong. “What?”
She looked down into her beer. “Preston—” She cleared her throat. “Preston Holloway doesn’t want me working for him, I guess. Ember Hollow doesn’t have to feel threatened by me anymore.”
She lifted her glass and drained the rest of the liquid, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
Fired? How was that possible? She had done so much work. She was a brilliant lawyer. That didn’t make any sense.
“Why? What happened?”
She pressed a palm against her forehead, as if she had a headache, squeezing her eyes shut. “I’m just—I’m not a good person, Graham.”
Her voice was thick and hoarse. I wished she would open her eyes and look at me, because I didn’t know how to read what was happening inside her head. I felt blind, and the crowded bar was overstimulating.
Quinn still wore the vintage Cardinals jersey. Her hair was a little tangled, which wasn’t normal for her either. If she was possibly fired…that changed everything.
“I think we should go, Quinn.”
At first, she didn’t move. But then she slowly dropped her hand, letting her arm fall onto the tabletop. “I want another beer,” she said, but her voice lacked the defiance she was reaching for.
I let out a pent-up sigh. She needed to get out of this place. The music had my ears ringing. It was hard to concentrate and be vigilant when I couldn’t think clearly.
“Just because you’re no longer the defense lawyer of a serial killer doesn’t make you automatically safe,” I muttered, and she flinched. “Whoever wanted to hurt you is probably still out there. You’re a target.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she wiped it away hastily.
“Let me take you back to the bed-and-breakfast.” It was a plea more than a request.
Another tear escaped, dangling from her lashes before she wiped at it, nose wrinkling. “I don’t want to go there,” she croaked. “I don’t belong there.” It was almost a whisper.
My heart ached.
“Of course you belong,” I said quickly.
She looked at me. Her blue eyes grew red with the tears she was fighting valiantly.
“But,” I continued, “if you don’t want to go back to your room tonight, you’re always welcome at my place. You have your own room there, too.”
Her shoulders fell, and she let out a breath. Defeated.
After a long pause, she said, “Okay.” She sounded exhausted. “Take me to your house.”