“They tried to take custody from me. Thank God my parents helped me fight that legal nightmare.”
“That sucks. Do they have visitation with him?”
“Nothing legally, no.”
“And now you’ve taken their grandson two thousand miles away?”
“I don’t plan to keep him from them. I’m sure we’ll go back and visit. I just… after everything, I needed to get away.”
“There any other reason?”
He reads me like a book.
“A guy?” he prods.
“Okay, there was this guy. He got abusive, and I needed to get away from him.”
“Give me his name. I’ll take care of him.” He’s completely serious.
“I’m not giving you a name. That’s over, and you don’t need to take care of him. What does that even mean?”
“It means I’ll deal with him in a way that he won’t ever bother you again.”
“Cody, I—”
“I’m serious as a heart attack. This guy ever shows up, you come to me, understand?”
“Sure.” I say it to placate him.
“Glad we got that straightened out.”
“Cody?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you saying that because you feel like you owe a military buddy a favor?”
“I owe Ryan a hell of a lot. Band of Brothers? That shit’s real. So, yeah, I’ll do anything I need to keep you and his kid safe. You think he wouldn’t do it for me if the situation were reversed?”
“I suppose he would.”
“Damn straight he would. It’s the least I can do.”
“So, is that all this is? A debt you feel you owe?”
“I don’t want to talk about debts I owe, because that’s a heavy topic, but no, that’s not all this is. Guess I’ll lay my cards on the table right now, because I’m not sure I’m ever gonna get another shot with you. For all I know, you may blow me off after this. I’m attracted to you, Heather. Big time. Guess you already saw that. I feel a connection with you. I have since the moment I stopped on that bridge. I know that sounds weird as fuck, butit’s true. I wish we could have had that meal I promised you that day. I guess I wish a lot of things. What I’m hoping is maybe this is our second chance.”
“Wow. That’s a lot.”
“I guess it is. Let me ask you something. Do you believe in coincidences? Do you believe in fate?”
“What do you mean?” I frown.
“Maybe this will sound crazy, but I think Ryan put me on that bridge at that exact moment so I could save you. I don’t think running into you at the cemetery was a fluke, and I don’t think you being here in Cali, working at Sonny’s is either.”
I stare at him.
“Come on, babe. I wasn’t even supposed to be on that bridge at that moment. I was supposed to have already been long gone. Only reason I was hours behind the rest of my club was the fact that I needed to change a plug on my bike. It was a freaky thing. My plugs weren’t old. One shouldn’t have given me trouble, but suddenly, out of the blue, it did. The thing looked fine when I took it off. I didn’t understand it. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think none of it was random. I was where I was supposed to be at that exact moment.”
