Page 13 of Steamy Nights

His brows rose slightly. "So we have two options. We can go over as if nothing is going on. Jace won't tolerate any bullshit there. And, certainly not toward me. And, not toward you by extension. Or we can walk Chiefy in another direction."

Grace bit her bottom lip and squared her shoulders. She would not be a coward. "Chiefy just loves the water and she hasn't done anything wrong to be slighted her time to play."

"I agree with you. I simply wanted you to be comfortable."

She stepped back. "That biker today didn't do anything more than sit and stare. Scare tactic. I'd like to be cautious, but not be a scaredy cat about anything that isn't there."

She was nervous for sure. But, she had been a coward her entire adult life. When her ex said she couldn't do something and made her feel small. Inept. Helpless. She'd silently accepted it to avoid more backlash. She'd told herself when moving here that she'd never be helpless again. Those bikers were trying to scare them, and while they were kind of doing that, she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. Plus, what would they possibly do in public?

Sid nodded once. "Okay, let's go then."

He stepped forward and opened the door for her and Chiefy. As they stepped onto her little patio area, she turned and locked the door with her key. Sid waited next to her, Chiefy pranced. It was difficult for her to contain her excitement and she didn't understand what was going on with the bikers.

As they walked across the front lawn, Sid took her hand in his, and they held hands across the road and the lawns in front of the little bungalows on the beach. His hand felt so good holding hers. His was roughened by work and strong.

He led her between two of the bungalows and pointed to the one on the right. "This is my bungalow for the time being."

"Boy, you have the best beach view."

He chuckled. "That I do. But, the down side is I hear all the beach activities. The music is nice, but as the patrons drink more, they get louder and that carries into my place."

Grace chuckled. "I hear that sometimes too. And, I'm slightly removed from where you are."

"Yeah." He turned his head and looked toward the Tiki Bar on the sand. "If I were on vacation here, it wouldn't be that bad. It adds to the vacation lifestyle."

"You are sort of on vacation, aren't you?"

Sid looked out at the water. "I suppose I am. But, for some reason, it feels like I'm now a resident here. I enjoy working at the Garage. I enjoy visiting with Jace and Quinn."

She smiled, "Tell me about them?"

He swallowed. "Quinn owns a construction company here in town. He's the reason Jace came here. Quinn was born and raised here. Jace had gotten out of the military and struggled with his PTSD. Quinn told him to come down for a bit and see if a change in scenery helped. Jace stopped in at the bar." He tilted his head toward the bar. "He got a job as a bartender on his first day. He thought, 'What the hell?' and started tending bar. But, there were things he tried fixing up or changing and the old fella who owned it, didn't want all that fancy stuff, as he called it. Then, one day out of the blue, a couple of years later, the old fella walked in and told Jace he could buy the bar if he wanted. Jace didn't need to think about it long. He's been fixing it all up since that time. He said it's helped his PTSD a lot to have so much to do and think about."

Grace smiled. "That's great. He's found a way to channel it. Good for him."

"Yeah. Quinn has done a remarkable job too. He owns a construction company and he only hires veterans. He's so proud of that. Jace is leaning that way as well. It's harder for him though, it's not easy finding former military personnel who want to wait tables and tend bar. But, he only hires Quinn's company for work because of their friendship, but also Quinn's mission. Plus, Quinn is an excellent contractor."

Grace bent to release Chiefy's leash. She giggled as Chiefy ran into the water but when her eyes turned toward Sid's, she found him watching her.

Her cheeks burned almost instantly. Her throat dried and she swallowed to wet it. Sid grinned. "Tell me about your brother."

She inhaled a deep breath and glanced toward the water for Chiefy. She came bounding from the water with part of an old tennis shoe. Dropping it at Grace's feet, she waited for her "good girl" then bounded off again.

Grace laughed briefly as she watched her energetic pup. "My brother's name was Travis. He served in the Army. He was deployed to Iraq twice. He came home changed. He'd seen countless atrocities. He didn't want to talk about them. He refused help. He tried committing suicide twice before he finally accepted counseling. He got Chiefy. She helped him. But, he struggled so much. He took too many pills one night and didn't wake up again."

She swallowed the dark emotion that welled up in her. She remembered going to his house in the morning because he didn't answer his phone. Chiefy was howling inside and the sick dread that filled her took her a couple of years to erase.

"I'm sorry, Grace."

She sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh as Chiefy ran up to her with a soggy piece of cardboard.

She blinked away unshed tears. "Thank you. He saved me though. He couldn't save himself, but he saved me."

"How so?"

She bent to put the soggy cardboard at her feet into the garbage bag. "I knew then that I'd divorce. I wasn't going to stay in that toxic relationship anymore. I wasn't really living either, and Travis had told me that more than once. He worried about me as much as I worried about him."

Sid stood staring out at the water with her. The seconds ticked by, both of them lost in thought. Chiefy came running toward them, breaking the melancholy spell that had fallen over them. She shook her wet coat over them and they both jumped back and laughed. It felt good to laugh. It felt great to have someone to laugh with.

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