Chapter Twenty-Two
Linx couldn’t putit off any longer. This thing with Jessie ate away at her, and tore her heart to pieces. She texted Grady a simplemessage.
I have a huge secret and you’re not going to like it. Meet me at myplace.
There was no ignoring such a message, and sure enough, he texted back.Comingover.
Date night had been a new beginning, and tonight would be the dreadedend.
The fact that Grady didn’t ask her what the secret was about meant he had aninkling.
Swallowing the bile that surged from her gut, she brushed her teeth and took a quick shower. She wasn’t going to flash him a boob or use sex to soften theblow.
There would be no makeup. No perfume. No sexy dress. No barethighs.
She would face his wrath head on and endure the aftermath, whatever itwas.
Cedar alerted her that Grady was at the door, so she hurriedly pulled a Dickies work shirt over her camisole and patted her damp hairdown.
Slipping her feet into flip-flops, she shuffled down the stairs and threw open thedoor.
Grady stood there, his face foreboding and grim, his eyebrows clenched and his jawtight.
“What’s this big secret you’re keeping fromme?”
Instead of answering, she took hishand.
It was stiff and unresponsive, but at least he didn’t twist out of hergrasp.
“Come upstairs and let me showyou.”
His mouth twisted to one side, and he narrowed his eyes, but he didn’tresist.
Gingerly, she led him up to her room up on the loft—her most privatesanctuary.
“Have a seat.” She patted her futon and opened the drawer on hernightstand.
He stood at the doorway, looking around her room, his eyes suspicious. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I’m tired of it. Tell me what you did to mybaby.”
Boom. She bent over, crumpling as if he’d punched her in the gut. Her hand shaking, she dug through the top drawer, setting aside her gun and Bible until she found what she was lookingfor.
Two of her most preciousphotos.
She handed him the first picture, and he raised an eyebrow. “Why are you showing methis?”
It was a picture taken of them back in her training days. In it, she and Grady sat on the grass at the town square. She was wearing a white tank top and black jeans with holes across both knees and he was holding her, happy, as if they had forever in front ofthem.
It was right before he told her he was going away, and asked her not to wait forhim.
“I want you to remember us that day. When you asked me to meet you in the park, on that field of wildflowers, I thought you were about to propose to me. I thought you were offering me forever.Instead…”
“I broke your heart,” he finished forher.
“No, my heart is too hard to break.” Even now, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. “You rejected me, but you know what? It made me tougher andstronger.”
He flapped the picture in front of her. “Were you pregnant at thetime?”
She nodded. “But I didn’t knowit.”
