Rosa was fuming when she hung up the phone with Grant. Yes, she was falling for him and she could tell that he had feelings for her too. But that didn’t give him the right to control her life. She’d agreed with him that staying in Blossom Hill was a better idea than making a run for it, but she would be damned if he was going to tell her she didn’t have the right, or the strength or the male parts it might take to defend herself and her child.
“He’s just worried,” Nate said when she hung up the phone.
She narrowed her eyes at him. She should have known Nate would stick up for him. “Well, he needs to learn the difference between concern and control,” she said in irritation.
She could tell Nate was trying not to smile. “You’re right. But can I tell you something about Grant that you might not know?”
Rosa went over and sat down in the chair across from him. She was still mad, but she didn’t want to be. “Fine. Tell me something I don’t know. Defend your friend.”
He didn’t even try not to smile that time. “I’m sorry if it seems like I’m picking sides. I don’t mean to. Do you know that as long as I’ve known Grant he’s never had feelings for a woman the way he does you?”
Rosa felt her face go hot. She wondered if they talked about her. She’d heard men in the bar, bragging about their conquests. She had to admit that Grant and his team had not been any of those men. “How do you know he has feelings for me?”
“It’s so obvious. Grant’s a good guy, but he’s self-centered. He goes on these missions we do and he does his job like a champ, but he never gets personally involved with any of the people we’re looking after. He likes living up on that mountain alone and honestly we all thought he’d be the last one of us to ever fall in love.”
“In love? Grant’s not in love with me!”
“Okay, maybe I’m throwing that word around too soon. But even Sadie said she could see it in his eyes the other day at the bar. He was trying to tell Cade that staying here and making sure that you and Ariana were safe was more important than what he needed to do in Boston. Rosa, he had this fire in his eyes just like he had the night before when he chased down that maniac that was after you. I may be wrong and it might not be love, but it’s definitely the strongest feelings that any of us have seen him have for a woman, ever.”
“Well, that’s nice,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. She wasn’t comfortable talking to Nate about her feelings for Grant since they hadn’t even discussed them together yet. “But that still doesn’t give him the right to tell me what to do.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t. It’s good that you told him that. All I’m saying is this is new to him, but if you just keep talking to him, he’ll learn fast. He’s a smart guy, one of the smartest I know. He’s used to barking orders and having people jump. He was a high-ranking officer in the Navy SEALs and when we take a case, one of Cade’s biggest conditions for the client is that they do what we tell them to do, when we tell them to do it. So, he’s trying to go at this relationship thing from that mindset.”
“Relationship?”
“Damn, am I making this worse?” Angel had been in the bedroom with Ariana and came back in right at that time.
“Uh oh, what are you making worse?”
Nate stood up and gave her a sheepish grin. “I may have just told Rosa that Grant’s in love with her and suggested that he thinks they’re in a relationship.”
“You should not be allowed to talk to women,” Angel said with a sigh.
“I know, right? Why did you leave me alone with her?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Go up to Wanda’s and get us some of that pie she made earlier and let me and Rosa talk. You’ve done enough here.”
Nate gave Rosa the same grin and then kissed Angel on the cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t hurry, we’re fine,” she told him with a grin of her own. Once he was gone she turned to Rosa. “Let’s make some coffee and see if I can undo the damage he’s done.”
Rosa laughed. “It wasn’t that bad,” she reassured her.
“I’m sure it wasn’t, he always means well. But, believe it or not, as gorgeous as these men are, living in this tiny little town has made them almost naïve where women are concerned.”
“Is Ana asleep?”
“Yes, sleeping like a baby.”
“Okay, come on, I’ll make us some coffee and you can tell me about them, because Lord knows the way I was raised made me just as naïve about men.”
********
Grant was already showered, dressed, and sipping his coffee when Cade and Marcus made it downstairs the next morning.
“Did you get some sleep?” Marcus asked him as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Yeah, a little.”
Marcus and Cade exchanged a glance and Cade said, “You know the one thing I’d have to ding you on every time if I gave you guys evaluations?”
Grant wasn’t really in the mood for one of his lectures, but he forced himself to say, “What’s that?”
“Your lack of patience. Rarely is a case solved in a day, especially one that’s sixteen years old.”
“I know that,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m just feeling frustrated.”
“That’s my point. You’re damned good at your job, but that frustration that comes from not getting the immediate gratification you’re looking for gets in the way sometimes.” He went over and poured himself a cup of coffee and when Grant didn’t respond he said, “We’re making good progress in good time.”
Grant nodded. “I know, and I appreciate it. I do. I’ve just wanted this part of my life to be over and done with for so long and now I feel like I’m drowning in it at the worst time possible. Rosa needs me.”
Marcus and Cade looked at each other again. “First, by ‘this part of my life,’ are you referring to your past?”
“Yeah. That day I was pushed out that window ruled my life for years until I finally joined the navy and put it behind me. Now here I am, digging it all up again.”
“Well, that’s because our past never really goes away, Grant. Your past made you the man you are today, just like Duke’s past made him the man he is. The two of you had different coping skills and personality traits so thankfully, you didn’t choose the wrong paths the way he did. But you wouldn’t be the man standing here before me today if you hadn’t had the past that you did. None of us would be. Sometimes you have to take a trip back down those roads you thought you closed off, just to understand how far you’ve come. If you have a little patience and give us the time we need to do this right, it’s entirely possible that we can lay a lot of what haunts you to rest.”
Grant knew he was right even though he still hated getting lectured by a man that was only a few years older than him and spent most of his life living up on a mountain. Somehow, though, almost everything Cade said made so much damned sense.
“Okay, I’ll be patient. Sorry.”
“And then there’s this thing with Rosa.”
“I don’t really want to talk about that.”
“That’s fine. I’ll talk, you listen.”
“Really, Cade, I trust your advice on almost everything, but do you honestly think you’re in a place to give me love advice?”
Marcus started coughing. He was choking on his coffee. He turned around and spit it out in the sink.
Cade ignored Marcus and said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Why are you hiding the fact that you’ve got something going on with Bobbie Treager?”
Cade sat his cup down on the counter a little too hard. “What are you talking about? Is this because of Mickey’s bullshit gossip?”
“No, I saw her, Cade. I saw her in your house the morning we left. I see her with you at Benny’s a lot. There’s something intense going on there. It’s not just old friends meeting up for a drink, we can all see that.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“True, but that goes both ways, don’t you think?” Poor Marcus was choking again. No one ever talked to Cade like that. No one was even sure why. It was partially a respect thing and partially because although he wasn’t that much older than any of the rest of them, he always seemed so much older and wiser. Marcus had grown up following him around and hero-worshipping him. Grant had not. Maybe that was the difference. Cade’s jaw was set tightly and he was staring a hole into Grant. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“We have work to do. We better get on the road.” He walked past Grant without looking at him and Marcus stood rooted to his spot.
When Cade was out of earshot Marcus said in a hushed voice, “What the hell was that?”
“He’s not my dad. Hell, he’s barely old enough to be my older brother. Where does he get off thinking he has a right to lecture everyone else when he doesn’t even have his own business together?”
“He’s also the guy that’s put his actual business on hold to take care of your business and your new girlfriend’s business. Maybe you should think about that. I think part of the past you need to escape from is that part where you were a poor little rich boy with nobody to think about but yourself. Cade can be a little overbearing at times, we all know that. But you need to step outside of yourself a little bit and realize how much he’s done for you. You also need to realize that the reason we have no right to lecture him about his business is because he doesn’t dump his all over us the way we do him. You can’t constantly ask for a man’s help and advice and then get pissed off when he gives it to you. He deserves our respect because every single time we’ve asked for help, he’s given it, all without asking for anything in return.”
Marcus slammed his cup down, harder than Cade had slammed his, and stormed out. Grant was left standing there in the kitchen of a house that he hated and only reminded him of a past he wanted to forget, feeling like a world-class asshole for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. Maybe it wasn’t just a feeling. Maybe it was his actual personality and he’d just never noticed before.
Grant forced himself to go out to the car, half expecting Cade and Marcus to have left him. They hadn’t, of course. He got into the backseat and Cade drove them to the jail. The drive was quiet, but thankfully the traffic wasn’t bad, so it was quick. Grant was going in alone this time because he was only there for a signature so they were allowing it to happen during off-visiting hours. Once Duke got sentenced and was transferred to prison, things would be much stricter. His brother looked like they woke him up to come out to the glass partition and sign the papers. He handed them back through the slot and for the first time in a long time, he really looked Grant in the eyes. “Thank you for all of this. I’m glad you didn’t turn out to be a prick like me.”
Grant almost laughed. Little did Duke know.