Page 56 of Vegas Baby

Raina tapped her finger on the bottle in her hand, breath held. Howler never spoke about his father and by the tenseness of Grams’s back, the subject was a painful one for her as well. Raina wanted to ask a million questions but bit back the urge. Someday, she hoped Howler would open up to her about his dad. Until then, she’d have to bide her time. Difficult, but necessary.

The older woman cleared her throat, her shoes crunching on the gravel path. “The creek isn’t too far from here and it’s a beautiful day in more ways than one. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have you in the family.”

Warmth flooded her entire being at the welcome words as Raina scanned the horizon, drinking in the bucolic scenery of the mountain oasis. “Thank you, that means a lot to me. I’m looking forward to spending time here and getting to know you and Clark. Family is very important to me and I hope we can be friends.”

Grams plucked a dead leaf off a nearby plant, twirling the dried foliage between thin fingers. “I am sure we will. After all, we already have one thing in common, we love Xavier.”

“Yes.” Yet another lie Raina was forced to utter. She swallowed the rush of shame. Time to move the subject to safer areas. “Xavier has told me a lot about this place. Do you only foster boys?”

“No, it just seemed to turn out that way this time. I’ve had many girls over the years. David is my only biological child, and Xavier my only grandchild. As kids Xavier and Sam were inseparable. He is the best thing that happened to my Xavier—what with my son’s—well, Sam has a way of bringing out the best in people. And David—” she cleared her throat and looked away.

Raina patted her forearm, amazed how comfortable she felt with Grams already. “I’m sorry to hear about your son. I’m sure it can’t be easy losing a child.” Her hand fluttered to her stomach as if she could protect the life growing inside her from harm.

Grams dropped the leaf. Tears brimming her brown eyes, the abject sorrow palpable. Raina’s heart ached for the woman and the pain she’d gone through. And for Howler. To lose his mother and his father tore at her soul. A lost little boy, and in many ways, a lost man who closed himself off to love. The male version of herself. What a pair they turned out to be.

Fractured.

“Losing a child, a great way of putting it. I won’t lie, it’s more difficult in many ways knowing he’s doing life in prison and unable to save him from himself. I think the hardest part for me was coming to terms with what he’s done and trying to forgive him.”

Raina snapped her head around, unsure if she missed something in the conversation. Howler had said his parents were both dead. Why would he lie? “I’m not overly religious but anyone with a sense of morality can agree murdering another human being is wrong,” Grams said in a quavering voice that cut through the quiet.

David wasn’t dead. Raina swayed on her feet as the full impact of the revelation hit. He was in prison for murder.

And Howler never told her.

A surge of anger shot through her and she followed Grams up the path, her mind spinning. Why didn’t he tell her? Did he think she’d never find out?

Or maybe he was ashamed.

Her shoulders drooped the slightest bit. Either way, she’d force the truth from him. He owed it to her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Well speak of the devil,” Pop said, hands on his hips as he grinned at Howler from the top of the path. Short and stalky, he was completely bald now, but those sharp eyes could still stare him down.

Howler jogged the last few feet, panting for breath in the high elevation. How many times had he taken this path? Running until he couldn’t run anymore. He used to live and breathe the woods, finding solace in nature. This ranch was his small oasis away from the horrible outside world.

He held out his hand and Pop brought him in for a hug. In his late sixties, he’d been a mentor to Howler, an anchor in a stormy sea.

“You done good, son. She’s a keeper,” he said, pulling back and clasping Howler on the shoulder.

“Because she knows how to cast a line?” he joked, swallowing his regret because he had chosen well, if he were the fall in love kind of man, but he wasn’t.

“She’s a natural at this.” He pointed to Raina who was in hip waders, casting her line.

“Would you like to take my gear and join her?” Pop asked, hands hooked inside his suspenders.

“Sure, why not,” he said, more excited than he should be as he donned the rubber gear and waded out into the river. His morning in the shower with her was uppermost in his mind and he could hardly wait to get her naked again.

“Hey,” he said, bumping her elbow with his own.

She glanced over at him, the solemnness of her expression catching him off guard.

“Pop is impressed with your fly fishing. Is there something you’re not telling me? Are you a closet fisherman, or woman, I guess?”

“Is there something I’m not telling you? You said he was dead.”

He cast his line; jaw tight. Grams let it slip about David. Fuck. “He’s dead to me Raina. What he did is unforgivable. Period. There are no excuses, and no amount of remorse from him that will make me change my mind.”

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