It was funny to hear Rory echoing what Grayson had said earlier.
“So, you’re doing training?” she asked him, eager to change the subject.
“Grayson is paying for that, too,” he said, shaking his head. “And he already paid what the Vagabonds said I owed for that bike. He insisted on it, so I wouldn’t be worried about them tracking me down. But I want to stand on my own two feet. So, if you’re okay with selling the house, I can pay him back for all of it right away out of my half.”
“You want to sell the house?” she asked equal partsstunned at that news and relieved to hear that he was out of debt to the gang.
“I know,” he said, sighing. “Would you believe me if I told you it still makes me a little sad, even with all this?”
He gestured around Grayson’s opulent living room and the view outside.
“I do,” she said, nodding. “That was our home.”
“Yeah,” Rory said, smiling sadly. “We had a lot of good times there, didn’t we?”
She smiled back and nodded slowly, picturing all the holidays and regular days, the friends and family they had spent time with there.
“But it was only our home because we were in it,” he said. “It seems nice out this way, and we’ll both be here. I’ll get an apartment, and we’ll have a new home. I mean,Iwill. Looks like you’re already home, Buttons.”
He winked at her.
“There’s nothing between Grayson and me,” she said quickly.
“Maybe not yet,” Rory said, his gaze serious. “But he’s a good man, Eva. And he cares about you.”
Tears prickled at her eyes as she smiled at her brother, feeling wildly grateful that he had made a good decision and that he would be close by again.
And maybe just a little pleased that she had his blessing to keep falling for Grayson…
24
GRAYSON
Grayson spent every moment between Rory’s arrival and Christmas hurriedly completing the preparations for a great big holiday at home.
A huge snowstorm came at one point, trapping them in the house for two days and frosting the whole town white. But there was so much cooking and planning to do, the three adults and one sweet baby hardly noticed.
The gathering was Evangeline’s idea. She had called his parents without telling him, and chatted with Sam before shyly asking Grayson what he thought about a great big Christmas get-together for his family and any of the men who didn’t have a place to go.
But Grayson was happy to make it real, happy to share the preparations with Evangeline and Rory, and happy to have a home that felt a little less empty these days, and where there were a lot more smiles.
Rory seemed to fit right in. His booming laughter filled the house, and everything seemed to tickle the bigman’s funny bone. From cooking, to tidying up, to meticulously planning seating and a meal for a horde of hungry holiday guests, Rory threw himself into everything with infectious energy and good-natured humor. And even when there was no project at hand, he endlessly tinkered—changing the filters on the furnace, checking that the hose bibs were off, vacuuming the bottom of the fridge, and changing the oil in the SUV, as if making everything he touched run just a little smoother were as natural to him as breathing.
And the way he doted on Leo made Grayson smile.
Evangeline had pulled Grayson aside half a dozen times, thanking him for letting her brother stay for a while. But honestly, he was happy to have the man around.
Grayson was feeling more like himself—confident, content, and if not exactly easygoing, at least quicker to see the bright side of things.
And after a heart-to-heart he’d had at The Barrel with Dalton Tyler, well… he was ready to start taking his own advice.
He was ready to ask for more.
Christmas morning was a quiet, family affair. Grayson, Evangeline, and Rory opened their gifts, took turns cuddling Leo, and ate bacon and eggs standing around the kitchen island, laughing as Rory regaled them with tales of Christmases when he and Evangeline were small.
But soon it was time to get to work.
Rory headed out with a shovel to give the driveway and parking area one last clearing.
