Page 14 of Grid Search

He reaches in to help me, and when our hands touch, there is that zing again. Every time he touches me, I feel cherished and cared for.

Ryker walks me into the house and sits me on the sofa. “My dad said he’s going to have some food delivered. Do you want to get comfortable before it gets here?”

“Sure.” I head for my bedroom, where I change into a pair of soft sweatpants and a hoodie. The air has cooled a bit as evening settles in. When I walk back out, I see Ryker closing the door behind him and a young woman from the restaurant walking down the porch. I know her. She’s one of the hostesses. She and I haven’t really gotten along. I wonder if she said something to Ryker because his jaw is set tight when he turns around.

“Is everything okay?” I ask as I pull plates from the cupboard.

“Nothing to worry about, sweetheart.” He shrugs it off as he unloads the bag onto the breakfast bar.

I know there is more than what he’s saying, but I don’t argue. I don’t want to stress myself out any more than I already am.

We eat and get to know each other. I feel like I already know him from everything Isla had shared, but now it’s so much more.He tells me about how much he loves flying, being on search and rescue, and now with the fire department.

I need to share more about my past with him, and I try to think of something that’s not going to make me sound pathetic.

“When my grammy found me, I finally felt like I belonged. My parents weren’t like yours. My mother died from a drug overdose when I was fourteen. But even before that, she was only interested in spending time with me to make my father mad.” I don’t tell him that my parents kidnapped me. “My father died shortly after I was married to Sayler.”

“Dang, babe, that sucks. Your grammy sounds awesome, though. Why did she have to find you?”

I look down at my plate and push the food around. “My parents never told her where we were. I didn’t know how to contact her, plus I couldn’t.” I leave out the part about my father telling me she was dead. “When I saw her, I almost fainted. We were at the country club, and I didn’t want to make a scene. Sayler didn’t like her, neither did his parents. She helped me get the divorce from him. It tore me up when she died before the divorce was final.”

“Why did you divorce? Not that I’m not happy you’re no longer with him, just curious.”

“I was forced to marry him. They paid my father for me.”

“What?” His body vibrates with anger.

“It sounds worse than it is.”

“No, it is worse. Explain.”

I watch as he grits his teeth. It’s in that moment I realize I don’t fear him like I did Sayler. Whenever Sayler lost his temper, I was always the punching bag—verbally and physically. He’d apologize afterward, tell me how wrong it was, but he would still do it again later.

“Sayler said he was in love with me from the moment he saw me, but I think he just wanted to possess me. He was a spoiledchild and got whatever he wanted. He had his parents pay off my dad’s gambling debts in exchange for me.”

“Babe, that isn’t love or right. That’s against the law. How old were you?”

“I was sixteen. Sayler was a friend at the time, or at least I thought he was. He had to join the military and left shortly after we were married. He was home on leave when Grammy found me. She tried to contest the marriage, but at that point, it was too late. So we got an attorney and filed for divorce. I discovered Sayler had been seeing someone else, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Until he went missing. Then Grammy died, and I was left alone with that clause in the prenup, stating I had to give Sayler’s family a baby. The judge stipulated I had to give it one round. When it failed, I didn’t think about the fact I was on all those hormones. That’s when you entered. I’m truly sorry.”

“Lyn, I’m not mad. Well, not anymore. It freaked me out at first, but now I’m okay with it.” He takes my hand in his. I look down at it and then up at him.

Biting my lip, I try to find the words I want to say. “I’m glad it was you and not Sayler. I know that sounds bad, but I can’t deny it.”

“I’m ecstatic it was me too.” He squeezes my hand.

I slip off the stool to take my plate to the sink.

“I got it. You go rest.” Ryker takes my plate, and I glance at the sofa where my soft blanket is waiting.

I grab the blanket and move toward the French doors. I step outside onto the wraparound porch and settle into the oversized Adirondack chair. Wrapped up, I gaze out at the mountains in the darkness. I love the quiet peace of this place.

“This right here is why I never left. I couldn’t move away. I love how quiet it is and how peaceful I feel when I sit outside. My house is on the lake, and I sit out on the deck, looking across it at night. I’ll take you there so you can see it soon.”

I lean my head back and look up at him. He squats down next to me, and I look into his eyes. Something moves across them, and my heart clenches for a moment. I’ve never looked into anyone’s eyes like this. I let him see all of me. The fear and the pain. He brushes his hand down my hair.

“I won’t hurt you, Lynae. I promise.”

Tears come to my eyes, and he brushes one away as it slides down my cheek.

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