Page 4 of Griz's Edge

“These aren’t from Daddy,” I acknowledge.

“No,” Grandma whispers slowly and clears her throat. “It’s not from your daddy.”

“I didn’t think Mom had any other boyfriends before Daddy.”

My parents were always talking about how they were high school sweethearts. The only reason they moved and stayed where they were was because of Dad being in the Navy before he’d gotten out and started his landscaping business.

“Your momma didn’t date anyone else, child. I didn’t even think she kept that letter.” Grandma clears her throat again and shakes her head. “What else is in the box?”

I set the letter to the side and look back into the box. I pull out a thing of flowers that were tied together like a headband andseveral more letters. At the very bottom, there were a few other trinkets similar to the flower headband.

By the time I finish, my grandma’s expression is one that I’ve never seen before. “Are you okay, Grandma?”

Nodding, she clears her worried expression away and gives me a smile. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Let’s put this stuff back in the box. If you want to take it with you, you can. But do me a favor, don’t mention it to your mother.”

“Okay, but why?”

Why wouldn’t I mention a box that evidently belonged to my mom to her?

“Let’s just keep this between you and me, Marley. Your momma doesn’t need to remember this box.”

Now, that makes me curious as to what’s in the box all the more, and I’m going to have to find out. Otherwise, it’s going to drive me bonkers until I know the truth.

CHAPTER TWO

GRIZ

Walking into the clubhouse after finishing at the garage, I find the men I’m looking for in my Prez’s office.

“Got a minute, Prez?” I ask, looking between him, Nines, Keys, and Markus.

“Yeah,” Blow says, nodding for me to come in. “What’s going on?”

“Got served these papers earlier today.” I hold up the wrinkled papers and hand them straight to Markus. “It’s a bullshit protective order.”

Markus takes the papers immediately and scans over them. “Do you know this Hattie Deets?” he demands, holding the papers up.

“She’s my ex. I broke it off with her when I found out she was a cop’s daughter. She didn’t like the fact I’d broken it off with her because she hadn’t told me. But in my book, a lie’s a lie,” I tell him with a shrug.

“And you haven’t been in contact with her since you broke things off?” Markus asks, handing the papers over to Blow.

“No. I haven’t contacted her. I’ve been busy between work at the garage and doing stuff for the club. I haven’t even been to my house in weeks,” I tell him and throw my arm out toward my brothers. “Everyone in this room can attest to that.”

“He’s right, man’s been on a mission,” Nines says, nodding.

“Thanks to him, we’ve got all our work at the garage complete and no cars waiting to get worked on,” Keys grunts.

“And this woman hasn’t come around here or anywhere else you’d be?”

The repeated question is starting to piss me off. I get that Markus is just doing his job and asking questions even if it’s the same question phrased in different ways.

“I haven’t so much as seen her or spoken with her. You can have my phone to check. Key can look up records if you need them. I’ve got nothing to hide.” I didn’t. I was an open book to my brothers. I didn’t hide shit from them.

Thanks to Hattie, I nearly fucked us, and I wasn’t going to do that again. No bitch was worth the headache it would bring on. Hattie was a lesson learned. Yeah, I’ll admit I’d thought about her. I couldn’t get her out of my head, but then I was introduced to a woman who wouldn’t even give me her name.

I’d even put on the charm a bit to get her to tell me her name and give me her number, only for her to get in her car and drive away. Even now, I wanted to know her name more than I wanted to deal with this bullshit.

It’s a good thing I’d thought to take a picture of her license plate.

---