19
Dane
I was 16. You were 27. You told me I was too young to love you. You said you knew better. You lied. I love you as much now as I did then, and I’m going to find a way to tell you. Even if you send me away again, I will only leave after speaking my truth. -K
Need you to hurry!They have James, don’t know where. Please, come home.
My heart raced in my chest as soon as I read the incoming text from Brook. I crumpled onto Grady’s couch, doubling over as I tried to get my breathing under control before I passed out.
“Hey, you okay?” Jen sat down next to me and rubbed my back. Little Pax reached out and patted my face, although I couldn’t be sure that wasn’t just a reflex of him reaching out for the nearest adult while his mommy was preoccupied.
Unable to speak, I simply shook my head. I hated James for what he’d done, but knowing he was in danger while I shared a bottle of wine with friends, wishing more than anything that Brook was here with us, made me want to puke.
She swiped the phone out of my hands and read the message. “Grady! We need you out here.”
Ugh. I didn’t want to involve him any more than I already had. “What’s going on?”
“We need to get him home,” Jen told her husband. “Sounds like shit’s gone south in a hurry and he may be running out of time.”
“I’ll get the flight booked,” Grady said without hesitation. “There’s one leaving at six tomorrow morning.”
“Not good enough. I could drive faster than that, but I can’t leave yet. Dad needs me here,” I argued. A weight dropped on my chest as I realized that no matter what I did, I’d be letting someone down. Rushing back to Brook would mean not being here when Dad was released and staying here meant leaving Brook to fend for himself. I told him I loved him, but was I showing him how much he meant to me if I let him deal with the mess my family created? “I can’t go anywhere until tomorrow night after he’s out.”
“Yes, you can,” Grady insisted. “You and Jen leave tonight with Pax. I’ll pick up your dad and we’ll follow.”
“You want me to take them with me? Are you fucking insane? That’s the most ridiculous possible idea. What if these guys hurt them?” No way in hell was this happening. Against all odds, Grady had forgiven me for what my dad had been accused of doing to his family; we wouldn’t overcome the damage if his family got hurt because of mine. “If I go, I’m going alone.”
“No you’re not,” Jen argued, already hopping off the couch. “You’ve had a long day already and you’re tired. We go together and we can take turns driving. It’s almost bedtime, so Pax should sleep a good chunk of the trip. Have these guys threatened any of the guests so far?”
“Well… no.” Their sole focus so far had been on James, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t change tactics if they realized he didn’t have the money to pay them.
“And they haven’t messed with any of the staff other than being a general nuisance, correct?”
“Not yet, but we don’t know what they’ll do. Until today, they’d never kidnapped anyone either,” I countered. The situation was escalating and these guys were unpredictable.
“You don’t know for sure that they took your uncle against his will. There’s a chance he left on his own, trying to keep them from hurting the business.” Grady excused himself to make a phone call, and Jen dumped Pax into my lap and started shoving supplies into the diaper bag.
I held him close to my chest, deeply inhaling the scent of a freshly bathed baby. I’d always thought people were morons when they claimed simply holding a baby could be relaxing, but as I closed my eyes, I realized they were right. I did feel a bit better.
“And remember, this isn’t just about you anymore. We have a vested interest in making sure everything turns out.”
“I know.” I slumped back on the couch, and Pax curled up against me. I slowly rubbed his back. It was wrong of me not to tell Brook that when we realized I didn’t have quite enough assets to liquidate on my own, Jen and Grady suggested buying into the business with me. This was supposed to be our fresh start, and I was kicking it off with a huge lie. No matter how many times I promised Brook that Grady was ancient history, I could tell by the way he quieted whenever I mentioned my friend that our past relationship, if you could even call it that, made him uncomfortable.
“You keep saying you’re ready to make a change in your life,” Jen reminded me as she shifted to a basket of clean laundry. Without needing to be asked, Grady brought her an empty suitcase. “This is your first big test. It’s time for you to believe that people love you and want to help you. Not everyone is going to lie to you. Those who matter aren’t going to be scared off when times get tough. Let us in.”
“Do I have much of a choice?” I quirked an eyebrow and glanced down at the already stuffed suitcase.
“No, you don’t.” This from Grady, who was in the other room. “You should know by now that arguing with Jen is pointless. She will win every time. And in this case, she’s right. Once the paperwork is signed, your uncle gets the money and loses his claim to the inn. Honestly, sheshouldbe there since there will be paperwork for her as well. And once the trust clears, we can make the rest official.”
“But what if something happens?” I repeated.
“Nothing will happen because even if they have someone watching the inn, I have a plan,” Jen informed me. “You’re going to drop us off on the other side of town, and we’ll get a cab to the inn. As far as anyone else knows, we’re just a mom and her little boy in desperate need of a vacation. And that won’t be a stretch for one of us. Believe me, it’s no hardship to spend time at the beach, especially since Uncle Dane and Uncle Brook are going to show their undying gratitude once this is all done by babysitting so I can have a little me time. I’d be willing to bet Brook even knows of a spa nearby where I can get a little pampering.”
Hell, at this point, I’d hire someone to come in and give her whatever massages or beauty shit she wanted. She didn’t have to, but she’d saved my ass time and again, and didn’t seem to hold it against me. I handed Pax to Grady, excusing myself to the guest room that’d always been mine when I visited. As I shuffled through the hall, I chuckled, thinking about how similar tonight was to the last time I’d seen Grady and Jen.
I stared at my cell phone for a few minutes, trying to build up the courage to call Brook and come clean. It wasn’t fair to him to be left in the dark, and if Grady being my business partner was a sticking point for our relationship, I needed to know that sooner rather than later.
He picked up before I even heard it ring on my end. “Hey, did you get my message?”
