Linx wanted to punch herself for being that kind of unforgivable person. Story of her life. She acted out of anger and never considered the other person’s point of view. Except Grady hadn’t truly looked for hisdog.
That was the only shred of an excuse she had, so she clung to it. He was so eager to disappear from her life that he’d never visited her rescue center or emailed her aboutCedar.
Now that he was putting roots in this town, her excuses had runout.
Why was she holding ontoCedar?
It wasn’t as if she could bring the past back—the times when she and Grady would snuggle in his cabin with Sasha lying on the rug in front of the fire. Times she’d imagined were happy. Only, she’d built a lie around herself, feathered it with childish stories about charming knights and white picket fences. Swing sets and playpens, playing baseball and hopscotch. Summer barbecues and wintersnowmen.
Both she and Grady thrived on adrenaline and the rush of firefighting, but what they had that fire season wasn’t based on anything other than lust andthrills.
He was over her as soon as the season ended, but she couldn’t deal with rejection. She never dealt well with rejection. Whodid?
She hadn’t even realized she was pregnant—at first, because she continued her harsh physical workout during the off season. Her body adjusted to working out hard and her periods became irregular, so she’d lost track until the pressure inside of her was too big toignore.
It was Salem who’d first suspected Linx was pregnant, and she’d made her buy a pregnancy test. Salem had been injured during rookie training. After she recovered, she’d rented a room in town and was Linx’s training partner. They worked out together and she pumped Linx for information about every detail of her season and was determined to tryagain.
Now, Salem was dead. It had to have been a freak accident. The wind could change on a dime and the fire itself created its own weather. One errant gust was all it took to push the parachute the wrongway.
As for Grady andSalem.
Saying their names together was like licking the bitter dregs on the bottom of a moldy cup ofcoffee.
She had no claim to Grady, and if it were true that Salem’s baby was Grady’s, it could explain why Grady gave upsmokejumping.
Linx never wanted to pity Grady, and he would be upset if he ever detected a whiff of pity from her, but truly, Grady had sorrows she knew nothingabout.
Keeping Cedar was the least ofit.
“I’m so, so sorry I kept you from him.” She buried her face in Cedar’s mane to hide her suddenly wet eyes. “Even though it’ll break my heart, I have to let yougo.”
* * *
Grady wokewith a start and shot up from his trailer bed perched over the fifth wheel. He was back at his property and an unsettled feeling ate at hisgut.
The night was pitch black and quiet—tooquiet.
He fought a chill from jiggling down his back and pushed aside the curtain on the side toward the building site. He’d taken delivery of the rocks for the foundation and the logs for the walls of thecabin.
The digging had been hard work, but he had nothing else to do. There had been no leads to the arson at his parents’ property, and he’d spent the last few days helping with thecleanup.
Grady pulled the curtain shut and turned onto his side, closing his eyes. He could still see his small cabin the way it was. It was the last place he’d seen Sasha, the last place he’d felt like a whole man, the last place he’d made love—with Linx Colson, before she’d turned into a raginglunatic.
How had it gone sowrong?
Sure, she was a temptress, and she’d hoped to use his influence as drill instructor to go easy on her. She’d been disappointed when he gave her the hardest time, but she’d surprised him by passing—despite the rope burns, the tangled chutes, and the hardlandings.
Then she wentnuts.
She’d expected him to change his plans after that first fire season—assumed too much. She’d followed him to the airport, begging him to let her either come along or to stay home with him for thewinter.
Five whole freaking months later, she pulled the pregnancystunt.
Like she had to wait that long before figuring itout?
That was when he’d blown up—screamed at her over the phone and told her in no uncertain terms that she was not to contact himagain.
She’d gone stoic on him and promised he would never hear from her—and she’d done exactlythat.
