“Yeah, baby girl?”
“I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad I found you. Or you found me. However it happened, I’m glad.”
My throat closed up. I couldn’t speak. Could barely breathe.
So I just held her hand and nodded and hoped that was enough.
Hoped that maybe, after all these years, after all the mistakes and the lost time and the secrets that had kept us apart, we could build something new. Something real.
Maybe it wasn’t too late after all.
King appeared beside us and set a beer in front of me without a word. Our eyes met, and I saw the warning there. The promise.You hurt her, and I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what patch you used to wear. I will end you.
I nodded. Understood. Respected it, even.
Because that was what Grace deserved. A man who’d go to war for her. A man who’d protect her with everything he had.
The man I should’ve been.
The man I was trying to become.
I took a drink of the beer, letting the cold liquid wash away some of the tightness in my chest. Around me, the Silver Shadows moved through their routines. I was an outsider here. Might always be an outsider.
But I was Grace’s father.
And for now, that was enough.
CHAPTER FOUR
Trudy
“Nana?”
“Yes, dear?” I looked over at my granddaughter as she walked through the swinging doors that led to the kitchen.
“Have you seen Tyler?”
I turned my head so Pati couldn’t see my smile. “I believe he said something about going down to the hardware store.”
Pati took a deep breath, and I could almost hear her counting inside her head. Without a word, she ripped the apron off her waist and tossed it on the counter. Her steps were slow but heavy as she walked to the front exit.
“Pati, stop,” I called when her hand reached out to push the door open.
“Nana, don’t,” she snapped.
“What is the harm in him hanging out down at the store? You know Elbert won’t let him get away with anything.”
“That’s not the point, Nana.” Her voice was laced with frustration as she turned and walked back to me. “He can’t just take off whenever he wants without saying anything.”
I knew she was right, but I also knew that wasn’t what was bothering her. My granddaughter was more concerned with her son getting attached to the man who ran the hardware store.
“He needs a man in his life,” I reminded her as the bell over the door jingled. “At least he isn’t hanging out with bikers and their bad influence.”
“You love those bikers,” Pati cut back.
“Not all of them.” I spun around and walked into the kitchen, leaving Pati to serve the frustratingly sexy man who just walked in.
He’d been coming in more and more, ordering nothing but a coffee and sitting in the window reading that journal. The more he read, the sadder he looked. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could watch his heart break without ripping that thing out of his hands so I could see what he was reading. See what was making him so damn emotional.
