“I thought you said we were hiking,” Sophie said. She was gripping the armrest on the Jeep’s door and leaning forward, eagerly.
“We are.”
“But we’re heading toward your mom’s house. I didn’t think we were going to dinner with them until Friday.”
“I’m taking you someplace else. And I told them we’re not going to dinner with them.”
Sophie turned in her seat to look at him. “What? Why?”
He glanced over at her. “You really want to go to dinner with my family?”
“I love your family.”
He raised a brow. “You know they’re going to interrogate us relentlessly.”
She nodded. “True.”
“We’ll talk about it later.” He turned off the paved road that led to his mother’s house onto a rutted path that had nearly grown over.
“Are we headed to the creek?” she asked, the excitement rising in her voice.
“Yep.”
“Ooo, I love the creek.”
“I know.”
“The sound of water crashing over rocks and the shore, it’s like music.”
“That’s saying something coming from a musician.”
She laughed. “I know, right. It’s just so soothing to sit in the quiet and listen to nature.”
That’s what he was hoping for.
“Okay, we’re here.”
Sophie leaned forward and stared out of the windshield. “This isn’t the creek.”
“I said we were going to hike.”
“Oh, okay.”
He laughed quietly at her disappointment as he reached in the backseat for the bag he’d packed.
“What’s in there?”
“You’ll see.”
“I hope it’s food. I’m starving.”
He chuckled as he opened the door. “You’re always hungry, Cookie Monster.”
Sophie grinned at the nickname he’d given her years ago as she stepped from the Jeep and met him at the hood. She leaned against the bumper, taking in her surroundings while he took her in.
Huge pine and spruce trees dominated the land. They were standing close to the base of Canyon Creek Mountain, the top visible through the clearings of the tops of the trees.
“Come on,” Grant held out his hand, surprised when Sophie slipped hers into his.
They walked in comfortable silence, the sound of the creek echoing in the distance as the whispering of the trees rustled in the wind.
“Where are we?”
“My property.”
“You mean your mom’s property.”
“Nope. This is mine.”
She stopped and released his hand. “Seriously?”
He nodded but continued walking.
“Grant,” she called after him as she jogged to catch up. “This is seriously yours?”
“Uh-huh,” he answered. It was all he said until he’d reached a clearing where the creek was visible.
“Did you buy it from your mom?”
He dropped the bag on the ground. “No, she gave my brothers and me each a piece of land here.”
“Are you serious? When?”
“Shortly after my father passed away. She has seventy acres. Aunt Sally has fifty and my Uncle Mark has thirty. Or had thirty.”
“What do you mean?”
“He sold it to my father and aunt several years ago.”
“Why?”
Grant shrugged. “I’m really not sure. I never asked. He and my Aunt Lisa have always lived in a large house in town.”
“But this is like the best part of the land, right by the creek,” she turned and pointed toward the horizon, and the mountain range in the background. “Why wouldn’t your mom want to live here?”
“My parents built the house on their piece of the property years ago, purposely far from the water. She said she didn’t want to be close to the creek because she was afraid her kids would fall in.”
“Considering you and your brothers, that was probably a pretty good idea.” She snorted.
“You think a little distance would stop me and my brothers from getting into trouble on this part of the land?”
“True.”
Grant spread out a blanket, enjoying the bright sunshine overhead tamed by the coolness in the air. Fall was truly approaching and he knew that soon they’d have the first snowfall.
Sophie sat on the blanket and stared up at him.
“Food’s in the bag.” He chuckled.
She rummaged through and pulled out a granola bar and a bottle of water. “Want one?”
“No, I’m good for now.”
She ripped open the package of one of the bars and bit off a piece. She closed her eyes as she chewed, tipping her face up to the sun.
He watched the long column of her neck as she swallowed and felt something in his pants stir. Jesus, all she was doing was eating and he was turned on. Of course, he’d gone to bed with a raging hard-on last night after that kiss. A part of him wondered why he had slowed down their progress, but his gut told him it was the right thing to do.
“So all of your brothers have a piece of the land?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Kind of sounds like a compound.” She smiled.
“You know my mom. She’s praying for a shit ton of grandkids, and she wants them close.”
Sophie’s smile fell and she stuffed the empty wrapper into the bag.
He reached for her leg. “I’m sorry, Soph. You know I don’t care how we have kids, right? Surrogate, adoption. I won’t care.”
She shook her head, staring down at his hand. “It’s okay.”
But he knew it wasn’t. He knew she wanted children of her own. And he wasn’t still one hundred percent convinced she would stay with him.
“This is your spot?” she asked, surveying the area.
“Well, my mom gave us thirty of her seventy acres. My brothers and I can divide them however we want. Max doesn’t want his acreage. He and Devlin bought the original bed and breakfast.”
“I always loved that house.”
He smiled. “So did Devlin.”
“What about the other guys?”
“Well, Aaron wants a place in town near the medical clinic. Emmett and Elle are still trying to decide, but she has a dance studio in town so she’s thinking about selling her condo at the resort and buying a bigger house closer in. And Ben and Maggie seem pretty happy in her house in town, for now. He likes to keep her away from the lodge on her days off.”
“I can’t believe she’s running the lodge. I bet she has fun bossing Ben around.”
He laughed. “We all do.”
“So that just leaves you and Jake.”
“For now.”
“And you’ve staked your claim here.” She turned, sweeping her arm to indicate the land around them.
“Yeah, I like it here. I always have. I used to come out here when I was pissed, or frustrated, or confused.” They sat in silence as he thought about his youth, when he felt so out of control sometimes. “It always helped clear my thoughts.”
“I could see that.”
“I actually came here before I asked you to marry me.”
Her head snapped to his. “What are you talking about? We eloped in Vegas.”
Grant smiled at the memory. He and Sophie had teased about marrying each other even on their first date. He’d been serious, their connection being so strong, but he’d never pushed the issue.
Two months later Sophie had been in Las Vegas doing a New Year’s Eve concert. Afterward, drunk on the holiday spirit and the high of performing, he’d suggested they go to a chapel and marry. To his surprised she’d agreed. They were married on New Year’s Day, to the shock of family and friends, and the media.
He leaned back on his hands and stared out at the cloudless sky. “I’d thought about asking you a long time before I did.”
“Seriously?”
He turned and stared at her. “Of course. Marriage is a huge commitment. Just because we did it in Vegas, it wasn’t a whim, at least not for me.”
She sat up straight, staring down at the creek, her fingers picking at the blanket.
“So what do you think?” he asked.
“About the land?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s amazing, I love it.”
“Could you be happy here?”
She swiveled her head to him, her hair flying and whipping her in the face. “What do you mean, happy here?”
He turned his body to face her, crossing his legs. “Don’t freak out.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“I’ve been thinking a lot this past year and I think part of the reason we imploded was because we didn’t spend enough time together, just the two of us. We both had busy professions—”
“We still do.”
He held up a hand. “I know, hear me out.”
She drew in a deep breath and gave a small nod. “Okay.”
“We both have crazy schedules and our home-base is Los Angeles. That’s no place to rest and recuperate.”
“True,” she said.
He moved closer. “I want to be with you, Sophie. I’ve missed you so much it physically hurts. More than you know.”
“I know,” she whispered.
God, could he believe she’d missed him too?
“I think we really never had a chance to bond. I heard Shawn talk about stressed joints being re-glued and clamped while he was working around the barn. That’s when it hit me.”
“What?”
“We were stressed, individually and together, during our entire marriage. Our schedules, our lives, our professions…we were both going at break-neck speeds. It wasn’t surprising that we broke.”
“I know,” she said, “that’s why I wanted us to slow down.”
“I know,” he nodded, “and I didn’t listen to you. Well, I listened, but I thought staying relevant, being in demand, was more important.”
“And now?”
He scooted closer. “And now I know you’re the most important thing to me. Not fame or fortune or the next acting job. Not a concert or best-selling songs or anything, Soph. Just you,” he reached out and stroked her cheek, “and me. That’s the most important thing to me.”
She leaned into his touch and the nervous edge in his stomach receded as he breathed easier.
Her eyes fluttered closed and she covered his hand with hers.
“I was a selfish prick. I didn’t give our marriage the time and the attention it deserved. I didn’t give you the attention you needed. I want to change that.”
“You want to re-glue us?” she said, smiling.
“Yes, actually.”
“Wood glue could get messy.”
He slid his hand around the nape of her neck as he laughed and leaned in, pulling her toward him. “Not with glue. With love.” Before she could protest, he pressed a soft kiss to her lips, pulling away before he lost control. He smiled when he felt her lean into him.
Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at him, her blue eyes shining as she gripped his wrist for support.
“So, you want to move here? To Colorado?” she asked.
“Not permanently, no. I just thought, maybe this could be our respite place, the home we come to when we need to regroup, to reconnect.”
“To re-glue?” she repeated, laughing.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “something like that. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep you, Sophie, to give you what you want. A family, a career that soars. Anything.”
“What if we can’t have a family?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“What about your job? You just started directing.”
“We’ll figure that out, too. Together though this time. And if it’s too hectic, I’ll stop.”
She leaned back, skepticism etched on her face. “You can’t….stop acting, stop directing. You’re too good.”
He shrugged. “My life has changed now. I don’t need to act, don’t need to be on top to feel whole.”
Her eyes darted between his, her lips pressed in a firm line. “I can’t be what you need to feel whole either, Grant. That would only be a replacement. One drug for another.”
“I know.”
“What do you need?”
“Besides you?” he smiled.
She remained silent.
“I’m figuring that out. With the help of my therapist. But what I do know is that I’m committed to this, to you, to our marriage, if you are. I’ll make adjustments however I can to make sure our relationship is the most important thing.”
“So you would follow me around the world to concerts if it was the only way we could be together?”
He knew she was teasing but he wasn’t. “Yes, I would.”
“You would miss acting.”
“Not nearly as much as I’ve missed you. I know you feel the same way, Sophie. Otherwise you would have signed the divorce papers already.” He noticed she stiffened and her eyes darted away. “Soph? Are you okay? Do you still want to divorce me?”
There was a painful moment of silence before she finally shook her head.
“Thank God,” he breathed out.
“Just because I don’t want to doesn’t mean it might not be for the best. I mean, I know you’re changing, but so am I.”
What the hell did that mean? Oh, fuck. He struggled to keep his voice calm. “Is there someone else?”
“What?” she jerked back. “No, of course not.” She stared at him, eyes wide. “What about you?”
“Sophie, I’m a hot mess all on my own.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No, Sophie, there hasn’t been anyone but you since we’ve been married.”
Her gaze fell and she picked at the blanket.
“What?”
“I saw a picture of you and B.B. Shaw, in Entertainment News Now.”
“Sophie, we talked about this when we first met. Those are rag mags, created to sell fake and exploitation stories. We promised we wouldn’t read them or believe them. Remember?”
She nodded as her head fell.
“Sophie.”
She didn’t respond so he slipped a finger under her chin and lifted her face. Her cheeks were stained with tears.
“Oh, Soph, come here.” He grasped her and pulled her onto his lap. “Never,” he said, stroking her head, “I would never do that. And I sure as shit wouldn’t be dumb enough to parade around like that.”
She laid her head on his chest. “Not helping.”
He kissed her head. “That was probably taken from the set. You know B.B. starred in my movie.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “Or, at least I told myself that. But still…”
He understood all too well. It was the reason he’d lost his shit and beat the fuck out of his manager, and lost most of his money. But it had been worth it to protect Sophie. He pulled her closer to him and rocked her.
“I want to build a place here, Soph, big or small, it’s up to you. Whatever you want. But I only want to do it with you, if you want to.”
She lifted her head, her blue eyes still glazed over with tears. “Can I think about it?”
Well at least she wasn’t telling him to fuck off. “Of course,” he said, nudging her head back down.
“I love the sound of the creek.”
He smiled when she burrowed herself deeper into his hold.
“And the smell of you,” she said.
His heart beat hard. He knew they would find a way to make this work. They had to. He couldn’t live without her. “You’re my joist,” he said, kissing her head.
She slid her hands onto his chest and brought her legs fully into his lap. “And our love is the glue.”