Page 21 of Steal My Heart

Hilliard met his gaze. “I don’t have an answer for you. I honestly don’t think that will happen. But what we do is up to you and to Beverly. It has to be you who make the decisions.”

“Don’t you dare,” Gran said from the living room doorway, and Brian stiffened and jumped back. “You are not stopping. We are so close to proving your innocence, and we have to have some backbone. No one is going to hurt me.” She slowly sat down in her chair, sighing when she finally settled.

“But Gran—” he began, and she cut him off.

“That’s enough. We’re going to go through with this. Now, you make sure your truck is secured and do all the things Hilliard suggested. I’ll keep my doors locked and watch out for prowlers.” She closed her eyes. “We need to figure out who might have done this, and no backing down now.” She had always had a fierce streak, and Brian knew better than to argue with her.

“I thought you were napping.” Brian figured he could change the subject. No matter what Gran said, he was still worried about any repercussions, especially toward Gran. She was the only family he had. She was getting older, and his time with her was limited. He didn’t want to lose a second of it.

“And you two were canoodling on my sofa. What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?” She shook her head, and Hilliard chuckled next to him.

“She has you there.”

“He agrees with me.” She seemed way too self-satisfied.

“That we were canoodling on the sofa? Yeah, we were.”

Gran leaned forward. “Neither of you is too big for me to take over my knee.” She was nearly smiling, and her eyes sparkled. “That’s enough of the teasing. What do you need me to do?”

“I DON’Tknow if I like putting Gran on the spot like that,” Brian said that evening as they sat on Hilliard’s back porch, each with a beer in hand, the marine layer fog in the air reflecting back the lights of the town.

“She’s the only one who can do it because everyone will listen to her. Just relax. It’s only a few phone calls and some talk after church. Besides, do you think now that we have proof of your alibi that she isn’t going to crow about it a little? She never doubted the truth, and that says a lot.”

Brian sipped his beer. “I know. I hung on to the fact that she believed me while I was in jail. It isn’t that I worry about. She says she can get the police report.” The question of how she was going to do that had his head spinning.

“Your grandmother has resources neither of us has. She’s been here almost her entire life. She and your grandfather have a well of favors and goodwill to call in that neither of us does.” He set the empty bottle beside his chair. “We’ve gone over this with her, and I don’t think we need to do it again.”

Brian wasn’t convinced. “I’m worried, okay? I can deal with whatever comes my way, but I hate Gran being in the line of fire in any way.”

“All she’s going to do is tell a few friends that she was right and that we have proof of it. Then she says she has a way to get the police report and that we are not to ask anything more.” Hilliard’s lips quirked. “I keep wondering what your Gran has in mind. My brain keeps picturing something naughty, and every time it does, all I want to do is groan because I do not need to be thinking that about your grandmother.”

Brian snickered. “Can you just imagine Gran calling the station to talk to a certain officer and offering to bake him some of hercookies?” He did his best to make it sound dirty, and Hilliard cackled. “Or that she’s hurrying over to the station to give him what he always wanted?”

Hilliard met his gaze. “I have to ask. You don’t think she got us out of the house because she is going to lure over some officer near retirement that she’s had her eye on for the past few months?”

Brian shivered. “I wouldn’t put it past her. Not that there’s anything wrong with her having a life after Gramps. Still….” He shivered again, and Hilliard pressed another bottle of beer into his hand. “Thanks. I think I needed that.”

“No one wants to think about their parents having sex….”

“But your grandmother in a teddy heading down to the police station is more than I want to think about—ever.”

Hilliard nearly did a spit take. “For the first part, wow, that’s some imagination you have… and second, I did not need to have that image in my head.” He opened the beer and drank. “I might need to get drunk to wipe it away.”

Brian sipped his beer, and they settled into silence for a while. When he was in jail, silence and the dark were the enemy. It meant he had only his own thoughts to while away the hours, his mind repeating almost constantly that he didn’t belong there, that he had done nothing wrong. But the silence with Hilliard felt completely different. Brian was comfortable and content, something he used to doubt he would ever feel again.

Hilliard placed his hand on top of Brian’s, and he turned it over, entwining their fingers. “Have you decided what you’re going to do with the house? Are you going to stay? You know you could sell it in a matter of days if you wanted.” God, he hoped that Hilliard didn’t intend to blow into town and then breeze out again like the rains that sometimes came through.

“I still haven’t made any long-term plans. Every time I think about going back to Cleveland, my belly aches, and I know that isn’t the right thing for me. So then I think about what I could do if I stayed here, and I wonder if I can make a living as a gay lawyer. My practice in Cleveland was pretty general. I haveexperience in a number of areas of the law, and I’ve applied for membership in the California bar, but it will take some time for them to review my application and paperwork, and I have to take an exam. The next one is scheduled in a few months, and I applied to sit for it.”

“Are you nervous? Is that why you’re hesitating?” Brian asked.

“No. I have the materials, and I’ll spend a couple hours a day preparing. I should be fine. I passed the Ohio bar on the first try, but I’m not taking any chances.” He paused. “I just don’t seem to be able to make any decisions right now, though a plan is formulating in my mind.” He brought Brian’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

“Change sucks sometimes, and I understand how you feel. Your ex really hurt you, and it’s only been a few months. But this house is yours, and it could be the basis of a good life here.” It wasn’t like he was asking Hilliard to commit to a life with him.

“I know. I think I just need some time and some stability. Taking the exam and being accepted to the bar here won’t hurt my career or my standing in the profession. So I’m going to go forward while I think things through.” He continued holding Brian’s hand as he finished his beer.

“Is that partly why you haven’t done anything?” Brian asked. “I mean, you kiss me like you want to devour me, and you set my head on fire, but you never do anything beyond that.” He sat forward. “Is there something wrong with me?”

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