Grady’s brow furrowed. “About what?”
“My brother.”
Ignoring Ambrose’s death glare in my direction, I fixed Grady with a plea in my eyes. Thanks to his intuitiveness, he picked up on my signal and took out his phone as if it buzzed with a message, which I knew, standing beside him, it hadn’t.
“Damn, I have an emergency at the office. I’ll talk to you about it soon, Ambrose. But, Keston, can you come here for a sec?”
He pulled me to the front of the shop, and believing it was about Ambrose jumping at him about Lucas, I apologized.
“Bro, I’m sorry. He never lets up about his brother, but I don’t want to bother you with it.”
“Not a problem. Maybe next week, but I did come by for a reason.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s up?”
For the first time, Grady seemed nervous, and he ran a hand through his thick waves. “I’ve…I’m gonna propose to Lauren, and I want to throw a party.”
My jaw dropped. “Whoa. That’s…congratulations.” We hugged. I truly was glad for him.
“I’m gonna do it Thursday night, and I’ve taken Friday off and rented a place up in the mountains. I want you to come—you have to, as my brother.” He paused. “And best man.”
Something twisted in my chest. Since we’d discovered each other, Grady had made every effort to include me in his life, yet I still didn’t quite believe I measured up to him. Grady was a college man, a PhD, and a partner in a law firm. Soon to be married to the perfect woman and starting a family. He’d managed to move beyond our troubled beginnings.
Then there was me. Problem teen, barely made it through high school, with the only person who’d ever known the real me gone forever.
“Me? Best man?” The words squeezed through the tight achiness of my throat.
“Yeah.” He smiled at me. “Who else but my only family and best friend? Please? We’re having Lauren’s close friends and mine. It’s spur-of-the-moment, and her sisters can’t make it, so they’re coming next week. I need you there, or it just won’t be right. I know you work weekends, but can you take the time off?”
“Yeah, of course.” My lips formed the words without a second thought. “I’m happy for you, Grady. And Lauren.”
“She loves you.” He checked his watch. “And now I really do have to go.” His voice dropped low so only I could hear, although I saw Ambrose eyeing us. “Ambrose is still convinced his brother is innocent?”
No way was I going to bug Grady now about Ambrose’s loser brother. He had important things to think about.
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay. I’ll text you the address.”
He walked out the door, and my client came in. The afternoon kept me busy as hell, and it wasn’t until I was at home and lying on my couch, sucking down some drunken noodles, that I checked my phone.
As promised, Grady had texted the address of the cabin. Somewhere up in buttfuck New York. I’d have to check train schedules, since I wasn’t about to rent a car. I hadn’t driven in years—thank you, New York City MTA—and it looked far enough away that I had no desire to get behind the wheel and get stuck in traffic. And taking the Harley wasn’t even a question.
No other messages from anyone else.
Anyone meaning Bailey.
I didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.
“You’re a fool. He’s probably banging whomever he had waiting in his apartment. You were a walk on the wild side for Mr. Suit and Tie.”
Chapter Twelve
Bailey
“You’re such a fool,” I muttered to myself. “He probably forgot all about you.”
I’d already had a hell of a week, and it was only Tuesday. The day before had been taken up with me pleading with my sister to drop her idea and get into therapy instead, but she refused. Belinda remained adamant about withdrawing her order of protection, and when Tuesday rolled around and she told me she’d never talk to me again if I didn’t do what she asked, I had no choice but to comply.
