The next day, I still start to shake uncontrollably whenever I think about the shootout at Hawk’s place, and how close we came to being killed. When the rest of the club finds out what happened, Jenna immediately comes to the clubhouse to sit with me while the men have a meeting about it.

It’s the first time I’ve been in the clubhouse. Any other time, I might have been intimidated or scared to come here, but under the circumstances it makes me feel safe and protected to have the entire club here, all around me. I remember back to when Hawk got shot, and how the club decided to go into lockdown. As I wait with Jenna while the men have what they call church, I ask her if she thinks they might do that again.

“I don’t know,” she says. “It’s possible. It will depend on whether they think a lockdown is the best way to protect us all.”

“Why would this happen?” I ask miserably. “Who would have done something like this?”

Jenna purses her lips. “Cas said this morning that he thinks someone from the Lakeshore Tap might have seen us last night and followed us back to Tanner Springs. When we split up, they could have just made a decision to follow you instead of us.”

“Oh, my God!” I shudder, feeling suddenly cold. If they’d followed Jenna and Cas instead, the gunfire could have killed one of their kids, or one of them.

Jenna puts an arm around me. “It’s okay. We’re all safe now.”

“Does the club have any idea who would have done this?”

Jenna nods grimly. “Yeah. I think they do. Cas also said he thinks this was just a warning. A kind of ‘we know where you live’ thing to spook the Lords. He said that if their aim had been to kill one of us, they probably would have just done that, instead of shooting up the front of one of our houses.”

The door to the room they call the chapel opens, and the men come filing out. Hawk and Ghost come straight to us. Hawk sits down on the couch next to me.

“We’re not going into lockdown,” he tells me. “But you and I are going to stay here at the clubhouse for a few days.” He strokes my cheek with his thumb. “My place is gonna need some repairs, and I don’t want you going back to your grandma’s right now.”

I nod. I don’t want her to be dragged into this — whatever it is.

“Hawk, can you please tell me what’s going on?” I ask in a small voice.

“Just some problems with a rival club,” he murmurs. “It’ll get handled. But until then, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“But… I can’t just live here twenty-four seven indefinitely,” I complain. “I’ll lose clients. I’ve got the night class to teach. And photo shoots planned.”

At first, Hawk argues with me and threatens to put his foot down. Eventually, I manage to convince him by promising I’ll check in with him faithfully whenever I do anything or go anywhere, so he’ll always know where I am.

A frown darkens his face as he considers this. Finally, he nods once, even though I can tell he doesn’t want to.

“We’re putting a GPS tracker on your phone, too, and connecting it to mine,” he says, and it’s not a question. “You keep that phone on your person at all times. No exceptions.”

“I promise,” I say immediately.

Even though I didn’t want to be confined to the clubhouse twenty-four hours a day, I end up spending most of the morning here anyway. Truth be told, I’m a little nervous to go outside by myself. But eventually, I’m going to have to face the fact that I have things to do. Today is the day I’m supposed to meet Annika and her fiancé Justin for their engagement photo shoot. I need to go home and grab my equipment and pack some things for staying here the next few days.

Jenna stays with me until it’s time to for me to go. I ask her if she’d mind driving me to the carriage house so I can go pick up my car. She drops me off in front of Gram’s house, after giving me a hug and telling me to call her if I need anything. I decide to go through the main house instead of around the walkway to the back. I want to see Gram, just to make absolutely sure she’s okay — even though I know there’s probably nothing to worry about.

I find my grandmother upstairs in her bedroom suite, sitting on her favorite love seat and reading a novel, with Mary Jane at her feet. Her silver tea set is in front of her on the low coffee table, a half-drunk cup languishing on a saucer.

“Come sit with me for a bit, Samantha,” she says when I appear in the doorway. “I haven’t seen much of you lately.”

It’s true. Despite my promise to myself that I’d try to spend more time with her, I’ve been so busy — and let’s face it, preoccupied with Hawk — that I haven’t really done a very good job of being a better granddaughter. I cross the room and sit in the comfortable chair to the right of her.

“Would you like some tea?” she asks. “I can ask Lourdes to bring up another cup.”

“No thanks, I’m just fine,” I say with a smile. “What are you reading?”

“Oh, just some trashy novel,” she says dismissively. “It’s about a duke or a baron or something, who falls in love with the daughter of his sworn enemy. Honestly, I don’t know why I’ve bothered reading this far.”

I suppress a smile. Somehow, I kind of love the fact that I’ve caught my formidable grandmother reading a romance novel.

“I’ve not seen you around very much lately, Samantha,” Gram says. There’s something in her tone I can’t quite read, and I’m afraid she’s going to start criticizing me. The last thing I want to do today is fight with her, so I turn the conversation to something I’m hoping will make her at least somewhat happy.

“Well,” I begin, “I’ve actually been really busy with a bunch of new clients. In fact, I’m getting so much new business that I’m going to be looking into renting a space downtown and turning it into a photography studio. I need a space to do indoor photos, and I’ve gotten enough inquiries about things like senior pictures and family portraits that I’m pretty sure I’ll easily be able to afford it.”

I stop talking, and wait for Gram to start picking apart my idea. But instead, she’s still for a moment, and then nods.

“Congratulations, Samantha. That’s wonderful news.” She gives me a small smile.

I’m so astonished that I can’t help but gape at her, but if she notices she doesn’t show it.

“I hope that means that you have plans to stay in Tanner Springs,” she continues, and takes a sip of her tea. She seems suddenly very absorbed in the bottom of her cup.

“Uh, yes,” I stammer. “I think so. For a while, anyway. Business is good, and I like it here.”

She nods again. “Good, good.” She sets down her cup again, then clears her throat.

“You know, Samantha,” she begins carefully, “I did think about what you said regarding the… plumber you brought in to fix the kitchen sink.”

I tense immediately. Gram and I haven’t discussed this at all since the day she was so rude to Hawk. I brace myself for whatever’s coming.

“You were right,” she concedes. “I was rude. It’s just that I was surprised to have… an unknown person… in my kitchen. His appearance was… a bit jarring.” She looks at me. “I apologize.”

Is there something funny in that tea? I wonder briefly. “Well… thank you,” I say uncertainly.

“I recognize that perhaps I was too hasty to judge the young man on appearances. Though,” she says, sniffing, “I can’t say I approve of that death trap he rides around on.”

I smile in spite of myself. “I’m sure he’d take that under advisement, Gram,” I tell her.

“Yes. Well. Speaking of which,” she continues. “I’ve happened to notice the same plumber at the door to the carriage house on more than one occasion.”

Oh, no, here it comes, I think with an inner groan.

“He’s not a plumber, Gram,” I say quietly, and wait for the storm to hit.

“No. I assumed he hadn’t been coming to see you to fix the sink in your kitchen,” she says with a dry smile.

I feel like a thirteen year-old who’s been caught necking in her parents’ basement. “Gram,” I begin, and then stop, not sure whether I should apologize or try to defend myself.

“I hadn’t realized that the two of you were an item,” she murmurs. “You are, aren’t you? An item?”

It’s as good a word as any. I resist the urge to laugh at such a quaint word used to describe what’s happening between Hawk and me. “Yes, I guess you could say that,” I agree carefully.

“I’m not sure whether I ever told you about Richard,” she says next. “He and I were an item. After your grandfather.”

I risk an admission. “RuthEllen Hanson mentioned him to me once. At the library fundraiser.”

Gram’s eyes flick to me in surprise. For a moment I’m afraid I’ve said too much, and that she’ll stop talking. But she doesn’t.

“I met him many years after your grandfather’s death. Richard was a Vietnam veteran. And a professional gambler. Not long after we met, he confessed to me that he had a prison record. From the years after he got back from the war.” She looks at me. “I’m sure that when the fine people of Tanner Springs first saw the widow of George Jennings on the arm of a bearded, rough-looking stranger, the gossip was flying.” She takes a breath and then lets out a small sigh. “But I loved him. And he me.” She pauses. “And unlike my dear departed husband, he never once cheated on me. Nor threatened to strike me.” Her eyes glisten. “He was the kindest, gentlest, most loving man a woman could have asked for. I only had Richard for a few years, but every minute was precious to me.”

My hand goes to my mouth as I listen to her words. I can hardly believe what she’s telling me. For a moment neither of us speaks.

I clear my throat. It’s time for a confession of my own. “Did I ever tell you that when you wrote and asked me to come to Tanner Springs, I had just broken off my engagement with a man who was cheating on me?” I ask her.

Gram chuckles softly and shakes her head. “Perhaps poor judgment in marriages runs in the family. Your own poor mother made a similarly bad choice in your father, I’m sorry to say.”

Hearing her talk this way about her own son makes me sad for her, but I can’t deny she’s right.

“Well,” I say carefully, “it sounds like eventually you got it right.” I hesitate for a moment, then reach over and take her hand in mine.

She nods and squeezes it. “Perhaps you have, as well.”