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M-O-M-E-N-T-O-F-T-R-U-T-H
The music was light and soothing in the candlelit ballroom, and Grady had to admit, his mother did know how to throw a party. Gala. Whatever she wanted to call it, the setting was brilliant.
Lincoln and Pippa strolled into the ballroom, with Patricia escorting them. Her hand was gripped tight over Lincoln’s wrist, seemingly clinging onto a source of stability, despite her attempts to mask it with a contented smile. Lincoln caught Grady’s eye and raised an eyebrow like the question mark he’d fired across many a lecture hall in law school, but, in classic Lincoln style, he played it calm and soothed Patricia with a confident nod and a smile.
Claire followed his gaze. “What are you thinking?”
His lips turned up in a hesitant smile. “I have an idea. Trust me?”
“Maybe.” She winked, moving with him to the music, close enough that the silk of her dress brushed against his pants, but she felt a mile away with all the air between them.
He grazed his fingertips along her back and along the edge of the silk. “I can’t figure you out. Jeans with thick wool socks when you’re tending to the horses, that sexy dress that night we...” He cleared his throat, remembering the moment too vividly. “... At the billiard table, the sweet skirt and sweater at dinner that first night, and now you’re a vision in an elegant silk gown. I don’t think I could begin to guess what you’ll be wearing tomorrow.”
“Snow pants.”
“See what I mean?”
She giggled and spun in his arms. “I’ve never built a snowman. Or made snow angels.”
“What time does our flight leave?”
“Five in the evening.”
“Plenty of time.”
Lincoln slipped from Patricia’s grasp and joined Asher and Zane by the window overlooking the gleaming white blanket that coated the hillside, the mountains glowing in the moonlight. Freya had dragged Ryder to the dance floor and joined them at the end of the song, arriving as Grady and Claire did. Freya was laughing, amused as she always seemed to be, and said, “You’ll regret that invitation soon. I have always wanted to paint the desert, and I may settle in for weeks until I capture all the colors of the Arizona sunset.”
Ryder seemed more relaxed than Grady had seen in years, smiling and accepting a beer from Zane. Asher still hadn’t dropped the glare, but the others seemed to realize Ryder wasn’t the creep Grady had believed him to be all these years. Because of one misunderstanding. “Absolutely, anytime. It’s not like anyone ever uses the spare bedroom.”
Grady motioned to Lincoln and asked, “Have a minute?”
Lincoln nodded to the empty corner next to the bar. As soon as they were out of hearing distance, Lincoln said, “It appears you finally apologized to Claire. Looking awfully cozy with your brother’s fiancée.”
Lips pulled tight in a grimace, Grady sighed. “She’s... so much cooler than I’d thought.”
“So, not a cheating whore?”
Grimace morphing into a full-on mirthless laugh, Grady accepted a beer from the bartender and chugged it down by half as they wandered toward the fireplace. His thumb traced over the foamy drip on the smooth glass. “No. Not even close.”
Gaze steady, Lincoln watched the bustling party and said over his glass. “That’s not what you wanted to talk about though, is it?”
Grady shook his head and stared into the amber brew in his hands. “I’m not... I hate being a lawyer.”
“I wondered.” Lincoln sighed and stuffed his free hand into his jacket pocket. Not looking anywhere in particular, he said, “I kept figuring that you’d settle. After Sophie, and then the chaos of starting Black Op, then the fire, getting stuck here, and Claire... I assumed you were just burned out.”
“I was. I am. But it’s more than that. Every day I have to go to court, I stare in the mirror in the morning and tell myself it’s not that bad, that I’m good at it, that it’ll get easier.”
“But it isn’t.”
“No. It’s getting worse. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Why didn’t you say anything? If you want to cut back on your hours, anything, I’m there for you.”
“I think...” Grady took a heavy breath and pushed his shoulders back. “I’ll stick around until you find a new partner, but I’m done.”
Lincoln took a slow sip of his beer, a suspicious twinkle in his eye. “Rumor has it, you’re going with Claire down to Phoenix tomorrow, then taking your time moving her up here?”
“I, uh, was getting to that.”
“No worries. How about you go on vacation, and when you get back, help me catch things up? I don’t mind taking over your cases, but I’ll need a hand until I find a new partner.”
“Sounds great.” He exhaled a long breath, the weight already starting to lift from his shoulders. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t.” Lincoln shook his head, calm when he should be pissed. Then again, Lincoln always looked calm. Born to be a lawyer, he didn’t rile easily. Unlike Grady. “Not going to say I’m not disappointed. I love working with you.” He smiled and took a long pull on his beer. “I mean, how am I going to find another partner that isn’t afraid to take a punch or two?”
“One punch. I won’t put up with a second.” He smiled back, the crunch in his jaw reminding him that even the first was a bad idea.
“March thirtieth.”
“What?”
“That’s your last day. It’ll give me plenty of time to start recruiting, or at least thin out the workload, while you transition to Black Op full time.”
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure how to even begin to tell you.”
“Any idea how you’re going to tell Patricia about Claire?”
Grady groaned and drained the last of his beer, setting the empty glass on the catering tray that brushed past them. “She already knows.”
“That would explain the vague comments about how wonderful it is to have honest people like me at the gala.”
“Ouch.”
“And that she’s hoping Pippa and I will help Claire feel welcome by keeping her occupied and dancing with her, visiting and showing her around. Pretty much making sure she’s never alone... with either of her sons, I gather.”
Grady looked across the room and saw Claire spinning across the dance floor with Asher this time. “You know? I haven’t talked with my mother all night. I’m going to go tell her what a nice party she throws.”
“Your funeral,” Lincoln muttered.
Haley caught his eye, releasing Zane from the dance and flashing him a wink. She met Grady at the bar. “Ready?”
“For what?”
“The plan.”
Grady grabbed a fresh beer for himself plus another for Patricia, while Haley grabbed one for herself. “Please tell me your plan involves a secret escape out the back door.”
“Like yours? I see that flash in your eyes. You’re looking for a fight.”
He turned toward Haley and saw her matching blue eyes sparked with mischief. “And you’re not?”
“Every time I close my eyes at night, I see big tits in a red lace bra, bouncing on top of my husband. The man that spent the last ten years slowly chipping me down to nothing.”
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I should have seen.”
“No. I hid it well. From myself, as much as anyone. Sometimes the status quo feels easier in the moment.” The corner of her lips turned up in a fishhook grin, but the humor it held was dark.
He glanced to Lincoln. To Ryder and Claire. “I know the feeling. Risks are exactly that. And I haven’t taken nearly enough of them.”
“Exactly.”
He glanced to Patricia and back to Haley. “Ready?”
“It’s well past time.”
Decked out in a midnight blue gown with a sharply square neckline, she had her arm linked with Bill’s and was laughing with her friends at some clever comment. Didn’t matter what it was, she knew how to play the game. Grady handed her a beer as they reached her, and she turned to smile at him. “Hello, Grady. Haley,” she said, a hint of warmth in her smile.
“Mother.” He nodded and took a slow sip, watching her over the rim of his glass. “You have turned what could have been a disastrous evening into a magical event. The atmosphere is somewhere between a glamorous nineteen-forties film and a calm evening in a mountain cabin.”
“Thank you.” She beamed, the shock evident in her squinty expression. “Are you able to relax after your ordeal?”
“Absolutely,” he said, a fire brewing in his gut that had nothing to do with the octane of the IPA.
Bill rubbed a hand over his bearded chin and laughed as he spoke. “We had some excitement around here.” He nodded to Grady and flashed him a twinkly eyed grin. “Our Grady is quite the hero.”
As only the most loyal, capable, and easygoing of Patricia and Bill’s friends had braved the roads to appear, most of the guests actually seemed to be likeable people, which probably said something decent about his mother and stepfather. Actively avoiding their social events, Grady couldn’t say what his parents were actually like around others.
Grady shrugged, not knowing how to respond without risking Claire’s comfort by giving something away. Even armed for battle, he wouldn’t risk her.
He didn’t have to. Bill laughed every few sentences, describing how the blizzard had turned treacherous. “Sweet girl, but a desert flower through and through. She’d never driven in the snow and had taken a rear-wheel drive out hiking. Well, she called within two hours of the snow hitting, and it was already so thick you couldn’t see ten feet in front of you—”
Patricia tensed and added, “And, well, we were all so worried about her. Our boys didn’t hesitate.”
Mrs. Olsen from the school board asked, her cheeks puffed with a dimply grin. “I thought I heard a rumor she was engaged to Ryder. Did he rescue her?”
Bill shook his head and powered on. “He was about to, but Grady’s got a good rig and was on the road in a flash.”
All eyes landed on Grady. Mrs. Olsen beamed. “So brave, driving in that storm to rescue your brother’s fiancée. I would imagine the visibility made the drive quite dangerous.”
Before he could talk, he caught Claire heading over, Ryder at her side. Oh boy. He cringed, imagining the epic awkwardness if the subject didn’t change. Fast.
Bill chortled over his beer and said, “I’ll say. But a little danger never stopped Grady. Now, Lenore, I didn’t say she was engaged to Ryder. I’ve heard that rumor as well, but...”
Grady cringed, dreading the next words from his stepfather’s mouth.
Patricia’s head whipped from Grady to Claire to Ryder. And back to Grady. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw so tight he risked the integrity of his molars.
Ryder started talking before reaching them, his voice merry and raised as he said, “Mrs. Olsen. It has been too long since I saw you last. Staying out of trouble, I hope?”
“Oh, you know me.” She giggled in response, another sucker for Ryder’s famous dimples and dashing smile.
“Have you all met Claire yet?” he asked the crowd. “Doc Parson just hired her on.”
Pia, an equestrienne friend of Patricia’s, equally tall and ramrod postured, marveled with what looked to be a genuine smile. “I heard about that and am so thrilled. Claire, we are regulars. I am sure we’ll be seeing you out in the stables often.”
“I will look forward to it,” Claire said as she shook her hand. “This is such a beautiful area. I’m so lucky to be able to settle here.”
Mrs. Olsen introduced herself to Claire and held firm with both hands wrapped around Claire’s one. “We are lucky to have you join our community.” She shifted one hand to Ryder, so she held both and beamed. “And to have you convince our Ryder to come home.”
Awkward didn’t begin to describe the cavernous pause. Ryder opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to change his mind and closed it again. Claire’s smile suspended on her expression as if she’d frozen in the blizzard after all. Grady feared Patricia would collapse straight over backward if he so much as nudged her.
Still amused with every word he spoke, Bill cleared his throat and chuckled. “I’m not sure anyone could convince Ryder to give up his career and come home to our little town.” Bill glanced to Grady and winked, his smile jolly and eyes lit up.
Haley patted Bill on the shoulder and laughed out loud. “I told Ryder he was going to confuse everyone. It would certainly be an intriguing mystery for those that don’t know Ryder very well. Claire and Ryder are roommates down in Phoenix. And, naturally, excellent friends, but nothing more.”
Patricia loosened up at his side, a new light in her expression, pouncing on her moment to shine. “When Claire heard about Foothills, she practically begged Ryder to show her around up here. She’s always wanted to move up here, haven’t you?” She nodded hopefully to Claire who nodded cheerfully back, her smile still petrified. “But, well, I’ll tell you. We’d hoped there was something going on between Ryder and Claire. Call me old fashioned, but I’d hoped she’d be the one to bring him home for good. But, as they’d told us all along, they’re just roommates.”
Gaze turning to Grady, Patricia almost seemed to relax. His brow quirked, his stomach clenched as he tried to read her.
“Bill and I are about the luckiest parents in the world. We’d met Claire as we sat to dinner that first night and were immediately charmed. But when Grady walked in, I could swear the fire in the hearth burned brighter, the sparks between these two were so strong.”
Reaching across Grady, Patricia took Claire’s hand and pulled her to her other side, examining the simple band on her finger.
Much like the others, Mrs. Olsen glanced at the odd love triangle and said, “That is... quite a story.”
Patricia patted Grady’s arm, in what seemed to be an affectionate gesture.
Pia’s smile widened with the others. “Oh my, I can imagine that storm must have set things in motion. Tell us how the sparks flew when you two met.”
Now that the story had set sail, Ryder was on it. In full charmer mode, he said, “It’s one for the books, that’s for sure. Love at first sight, as they say. Lucky for all of us, both were single and ready to take the next step in life.”
Grady bit the edge of his cheek, having no idea how to respond. His family had absolutely lost their marbles.
Haley topped the sundae with hot fudge and a cherry, adding, “While Ryder was ensuring my flight would land safely, Grady drove through the storm because he couldn’t bear to lose Claire, having only just found her.”
A hint of mist in her eyes, Patricia nodded enthusiastically. “That’s my boy. He’s always been such a romantic.”
After a dozen and a half pats on the back, the others filtered away until it was only the family standing together. Haley shifted so there was no room in the circle for anyone else to come with well wishes or to tease out the latest gossip.
Grady laced his fingers with Claire’s, the connection bolstering any hesitation that still hung with him. Now or never.
Patricia cleared her throat and leaned into Bill. As if it were an everyday habit, Bill wrapped an arm around her waist. Grady felt Ryder’s breath catch with surprise like his own had, the PDA so unfamiliar. But it didn’t seem foreign to their mother and stepfather.
“I am proud of you, Grady,” she said. “And happy for you. Few would have done what you did.” She turned to Ryder and added, “I’m sure you’ll find someone soon. Not everyone can make as perfect of a match as Haley and Nate.”
Haley cleared her throat and looked to her brothers. She let out a long, controlled breath. “Nate fucked my best friend. In our bed.”
Something looked to be choking Patricia right in the craw, her face growing deathly pale.
“I came home for the gala to see my brothers, so I had someone to talk to. I’ve contacted my attorney about filing for divorce.” Head held high, Haley’s smile was dripping with confidence.
Total silence. No one breathed except Haley, who took an easy sip of her beer. She studied the brew and nodded. “This is excellent. Well done, Grady.”
Heaviness coating his chest, Grady ripped off the last Band-Aid. “I hate being a lawyer,” he admitted on a heavy exhale.
“But you are such a talented attorney,” Patricia said, her matching ocean blue eyes swimming with question.
“I’m good at a lot of things,” he said with a casual shrug. “I quit. I’m going to work at Black Op full time, after I help Lincoln with the transition.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he couldn’t help but explain himself after years of dodging her judgment.
“I love the brewery. It’s soothing and thrilling. The only expectations of me are my own.”
“Well.” Patricia paused, then seemed to remember she still held the beer he’d brought her, which, admittedly, he’d delivered out of spite, knowing she wouldn’t refuse out of politeness. She took a sip and smiled. “It is a good product. And I could put in a good word at some of my favorite restaurants in Seattle.”
“Thank you. I would genuinely appreciate that.”
Ryder added, “I don’t work for free. But I could make an exception. It’ll look good on my resume.” He winked and flashed Grady a daring grin. He looked to Haley, and she nodded. They all looked to Patricia. Ryder’s smile fell, his dark brow heavy. “Mother, I know you mean well. I know you wanted us to have every opportunity. But we’re there. Let us float awhile. We’re going to stumble now and again. It’s good for us.”
Patricia’s lips pursed together, and she stiffened.
Grady said, “I know it’s not always obvious to you, but you raised good kids into capable adults that know their own minds.” He rubbed his thumb over Claire’s, and she stood tall at his side. “A few hours ago, I was ready to write you off. If you want your children to stick with you, start acting like it. No more pressure, no judgment.”
A relaxed expression softening her smile, Haley looked to be breathing the same sigh of relief Grady had been holding in. “I shouldn’t be afraid to tell my mother that I’m getting divorced. You’ll never be my shoulder to cry on, but I should know, one hundred percent, that you have my back.”
Patricia nodded and sipped at the beer again. Her ocean blues were misty and thick. “I’ve really blown it, haven’t I?”
Bill rubbed his hand over her shoulder and nodded to his stepchildren. “You are some great kids. I have no doubt you’re going to give us some sweet grandchildren that we can spoil.”
Patricia nodded stiffly, looking almost as if she were about to shed a few tears. “I would really like that. Give me a chance?”
“Fresh start, how does that sound?” Grady asked.
