At the Hasting fosters reunion brunch, he held Gabriella’s hand and waited for Mia to arrive so he could tell them both the good news. He finally had a plan.
“Here comes Mia.” Gabriella rested her head on his shoulder as they sat side by side on the picnic table bench. “I think she was talking to some girls from school.” She squinted into the distance. “One of them is Megan Bryer. Remember her from the witness stand? She was kidnapped by Covington and his son at the same time as Heather.”
Clay glanced toward the playground. He recalled the testimony but didn’t recognize the girl from this distance.
He couldn’t wait to be far from this town where everyone they knew was connected to a crime or painful memories. He’d accumulated enough bad memories of his own in his time here.
He knew Gabriella felt the same way. She couldn’t leave Heartache fast enough ten years ago.
“I think it’s amazing how this whole town has pulled together to convict him.” Gabriella picked at a pastry he’d brought her from the buffet, tearing off bite-size pieces of raspberry Danish.
She’d done well speaking to Sam and the rest of his department about her ordeal, taking her time to give them a detailed account even though she had to be bone weary from all she’d gone through. He admired her so damn much.
“Morning.” Mia greeted them, her whole demeanor different than when they’d first met and she’d been furious with both of them.
Another sign that Clay was on the right track to forginggood relationships instead of hiding from them. He’d won over his teenage half sister.
Part of her good mood was that she felt relieved about Pete. Plus, the news that Connor had been arrested had to be a load off Mia’s mind. Clay had changed her cell phone number early this morning, making sure he kept his sister as safe as possible. His biggest security measures were yet to come.
“Morning.” He waved toward the picnic table bench opposite them, eager to share his plans. “Have a seat.”
“Is Pete still doing well?” she asked right away, her posture tensing.
“He’s the miracle patient of the day according to the doc.” Clay had been genuinely relieved to exchange a few words with his father when he awoke. In typical Pete Yancy fashion, there had been no heartfelt declarations, but from a few surly comments, his father made it clear that he’d heard Clay forgive him about Eddy. “He is being moved to assisted living tomorrow.”
“Close by?” Mia asked, leaning forward on the table. “Will we be able to visit?”
He hesitated, taking his time to choose his words.
“He’ll be about twenty minutes north of here, heading toward Nashville, but yes, we can visit.” he answered carefully, hoping she would see the benefit to Clay’s plans. “But now that Pete is doing well, Connor is no longer a threat, and Covington’s guilty verdict should come through next week, I want the three of us to move to Memphis. Start over together. Be a real family.”
For a moment his only response was the country music ballad piped over the amplifier. Across the lawn, families ate and laughed together, a few kids danced and playednear the gazebo, blowing bubbles from the tiny giveaway bottles.
Beside him, Gabriella shifted, freeing her hand from his. “Memphis?”
Mia frowned, her dark ponytail sliding forward on her shoulder as she shook her head. “Can’t we be a real family here?”
It occurred to him that he should have discussed moving to Memphis with Gabriella before mentioning it to Mia. He’d envisioned their responses much differently in his mind. This was a good thing. A step forward for all of them.
“How can we stay here when this town is so full of bad memories and unhappy times?” He wouldn’t do that to Gabby. “Gabriella left this town for a reason ten years ago. She’s stayed away from her home and her past because she wanted to move on?—”
Gabriella stopped his words with one hand over his wrist. “But the ghosts of the past weren’t in Heartache. They were inme. I’ve banished them all. For good.”
Her hopeful smile chipped at his heart. He wanted to make her happy. Be there for her in a way he hadn’t been ten years ago.
“I know, but why should you force yourself to stay here when we can start over fresh somewhere else?” He definitely should have had this conversation with her privately. The realization came with a strong dose of panic that this was too important to screw up and he’d already started off on the wrong foot.
“I’m not forcing myself. I want to be here.” There was a steely note in her voice, a defensiveness that he didn’t understand.
He tried harder. Dug deep. Played his most important card.
“I love you. And I want you and Mia to be with me.”
“You love me?” Gabriella asked. Her tone had softened but her blue eyes looked wounded.
Mia frowned. “I thought you said I could have a voice in my future?”.
The two questions—both critically important—let Clay know how badly he’d messed this up. Panic squeezed his shoulders and cold sweat popped along his brow at the realization that he was digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole he hadn’t anticipated. He shouldn’t have introduced this idea to both of them at the same time. But too late to redo it now.
