“It’s okay. Why don’t you just go on inside with your brother? We’ll talk later.”
Caleb muttered something and she shot him a death glare. She was so disappointed to have their time together wrecked by a brother who apparently decided on a whim to return from college for the weekend. They never should’ve kept this relationship a secret for so long. Now it was all going so wrong.
Gray squeezed her arms. “Shelby, look at me.”
She gave him her attention, her breaths still coming fast and shallow. “Yelling in the street isn’t gonna do any good. You know that. Everything’ll be okay. I’m going to leave. Just go on inside, all right?”
A tear spilled over.
He swiped it away with his thumb, his expression softening. “None of that now. Call me tomorrow, okay?”
A lump lodged in her throat. She nodded.
Without another word, Gray walked off, disappearing into the shroud of darkness. When she turned back to Caleb, he was still scowling in Gray’s direction. “Dad won’t be happy about this either, you know.”
“Oh, shut up, Caleb.” Shooting him one last glare, she started for the house.
Gray hardly slept all night. He kept seeing the venom in Caleb’s expression, hearing it in the tone of his voice. What was worse, he understood it. If he had a little sister, he wouldn’t want her hooking up with a guy like him either.
But Caleb believed Gray was using her. That he’d just take what he wanted and drop her cold. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Gray had fallen hard for Shelby. He thought about her all the time. Lived for those fleeting moments alone. What would happen now that her family knew?
His gut clenched hard. There was no way her dad would be any more okay with it than Caleb had been. Especially since they’d kept their relationship a secret for three months. He pulled into the hardware store lot and parked the truck. He assumed Shelby would tell her dad this morning, and Gray prayed he’d hear from her soon.
Otherwise it was going to be a very long day.
Gray never took calls at work—he couldn’t afford to upset Lang. But when Shelby’s came in just before noon, he slipped behind the bags of mulch and answered. “Are you okay? I’ve been worried.”
“I’m fine.” She sounded as if she’d been crying.
She wasn’t fine and it was his fault. He was the one who hadn’t wanted to tell anyone. “Where are you?”
“At the bookstore. I’m on break, out back.”
He wished he could get over there and see her in person, but they were short-staffed today. He’d be lucky to get a break at all. “Tell me what happened.”
“My dad—” Her words pinched off with a squeak. “My dad was so upset. I’m grounded forever and he doesn’t want me seeing you anymore.”
His breath stuttered.
“He can’t keep me from seeing you! I’m almost eighteen. I’m not a child anymore.”
“Maybe he just needs a chance to adjust to the idea.” Even as Gray said the words, his hope ebbed like blood from a jugular wound. What father would want him dating his precious daughter? Especially when they’d been sneaking around behind his back?
“I tried to explain why we didn’t tell anyone, but I don’t think he believed me. He was so upset. So disappointed in me. He took my car keys—dropped me off at work like I’m fifteen.”
“This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have let it go on this long.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. He believes all those stupid rumors about you and your family. I was so mad at how he talked about you!”
“Aw, honey. I don’t want you to fight your dad over me. And they’re not all rumors, you know.”
“You don’t deserve the bad rap you’ve gotten. It’s so unfair.”
She was crying now and he longed to get his arms around her. He needed the comfort, too, because the whole situation was feeling pretty hopeless. “Hey, listen. It’ll be okay. He just needs a little time.”
“You didn’t hear him. He was so angry.”
“I’ll apologize to him.” But how in the world would he ever provehimself to her dad? There was only one way he could think of. It hurt just to think about it. “I have a plan. It won’t be easy, but...”
