“I can’t tell them no,” Rory said quietly after a moment. “Grandpa Pete always fixed their bikes in exchange for them leaving us alone. They wheeled them up around back and he took care of them quietly and sent them on their way. This is no different.”
The news came as a shock. She hadn’t known about Grandpa Pete’s deal with those men, though it occurredto her now that it had probably been pretty naive of her to think that he didn’t have one.
“This is completely different,” Evangeline protested. “They came right up to the front door and rang the bell.On a holiday.”
“Well, the Vagabonds are under new leadership these days,” Rory explained like it should have been obvious. “I told them today that they need to come around back from now on.”
She nodded, trying to hold back the tears that burned in her eyes.
Sweet as Grandpa Pete always was, there was a core of strength in the old man that probably kept the bikers in line when dealing with him. He was practical, but he wasn’t one to be pushed around. He always reminded her of a big, protective bear.
Rory, on the other hand, was more of a teddy bear. What if they didn’t respect the same deal with him?
“Hey,” Rory said, moving closer and pulling her into a hug. “I’m going to be okay. You know that, right? I’ve got this. You just worry about you, and that fancy new job.”
She hugged him back hard, nodding her head so he would know she trusted him. After all, her big brother had gotten them this far. Who was she to tell him what to do?
But when he let go and they headed back upstairs together, she couldn’t help hearing her grandfather’s words of warning in her head.
He’d repeated them so often back when Rory was a teenager and he was worried about him getting involved with the gang.
You can’t give an inch, because they always want a mile…
2
GRAYSON
Grayson Ward watched his ribeye sizzle on the grill insert of the brand-new six-burner stove and wondered why he felt so off-balance.
His dinner smelled amazing. Instrumental holiday music was playing on the built-in house speakers. And the big windows that stretched across the whole rear wall of the kitchen displayed a peaceful vista of the sun setting pink over the soft browns and grays of the fields and forest.
It was Thanksgiving. A beautiful Pennsylvania winter was on its way. And he had so much to be thankful for.
But somehow he still felt…off.
Maybe it was this big kitchen. His mom had always loved listing out all the amazing things she would have if she ever got her kitchen addition put on their old split level.
She never did, so Grayson had made all her dreams come true when he had his own home built.
There wasn’t much new construction in Trinity Falls,and this house had cost a pretty penny, especially when he told them not to bother with builder-grade anything and sent them his mother’s wish list.
But Grayson wasn’t worried about any of that. His investments while he was in the Army had paid off beyond his wildest dreams, and as they said,You can’t take it with you.In the big picture of his finances, this over-the-top kitchen hadn’t even made a dent.
The only disappointing part was that when he was making all the construction choices, he’d imagined his mom over here cooking with him and enjoying all this stuff he didn’t care about that much. But she and Dad were down in Florida now and didn’t really want to travel anymore. They had actually been surprised when he decided to settle down in his childhood hometown.
“Why are you moving back to Trinity Falls?” Mom had asked, sounding almost scandalized when he shared the news about the house. “You could come down here and hang out on the beach. It’s a fun scene for a single guy, lots going on.”
She had unknowingly landed on all the things he least wanted. The singles’ scene in some beach town sounded absolutely awful compared to the peace and tranquility of Trinity Falls.
Since leaving the service, Grayson had mostly kept to himself.
Except that one night that still made him cringe. What had he been thinking?
But he knew what he’d been thinking. He’d been trying to escape the panic he felt any time he thought about those terrible cries for help, and even worse, theempty feeling that always followed at the memory of those screams going silent.
Blowing air out of his lips, he flipped his steak before it was ready, needing something to busy his hands and mind before he let the darkness take over.
It’s Thanksgiving. I’m home. I have this amazing house. I’m eating my favorite thing for dinner because no one can tell me what to do anymore.
