Page 100 of Break My Fall

“Oh, I know.” Gray smiled. “But I’m not worried.”

“He didn’t have to be so blunt.”

“What’s the matter?” Gray studied her. “Are you worried about me? Do you think I’m upset?”

“Clearly you aren’t. But I am. He should treat you better thanthat. I hope he doesn’t plan to act this way for long. I won’t stand for it.”

Gray would have given up dessert for a decade to be alone with Meredith in this moment. As it was, he leaned toward her and whispered, “Sweetheart, I love the way you’re trying to protect me from your family. I really do. But I promise you, I’m fine. Your dad and I are fine.”

He stepped back, but her expression still hadn’t cleared. Was this what it was like to have a woman care about you? Was this protectiveness, this worry, going to be part of his life? Was this what he’d been missing? Because if so, he’d been a fool.

The warmth in his chest trickled through his entire body, and it was a heat that had nothing to do with the stifling temperature of the room.

“Let’s go find your mom and then we can go for a walk.”

Meredith was quiet as she led him toward the back of the house. They entered a room that had probably been an open back deck at some point but now was enclosed with large windows. This space was noticeably cooler than the rest of the house, but significantly warmer than it was outside. Gray concluded there was no heat or A/C in this room.

Jacqueline sat in a rocking chair, and when they entered her face lit. “Oh, there you are.” She stood and gave Meredith a hug, and then hugged Gray. He patted her in what had to be the world’s most awkward hug. For one thing, he was in full uniform, which made all hugs a bit weird.

But the real issue was that she was hugging him. Why?

“Oh, don’t look so surprised.” She winked at him and patted his arm. “Mothers take a different approach. Dads get grumpy.Brothers get dramatic. But a mother? She sees the way her daughter’s spark has grown brighter, and the way she’s all fierce and determined to defend you. I bet Doug gave you a hard time, didn’t he? And it got her all riled up.”

Jacqueline returned to the rocking chair. “She’s protective of those she loves. You’ll get used to it. Or maybe you won’t. That might be better. A lifetime of delight is hardly a bad way to live. I should know. My husband’s the same way.”

She turned her attention on Meredith, then patted the arm of the chair beside her. “Now, come here and tell me why you’re fighting with Mo.”

Meredith, her expression a bit befuddled, took the seat her mother had indicated. Gray took up a post leaning against a window, where he could see both women.

“What makes you think we’re fighting, Mama?”

“I’m not as strong as I used to be, but my brain works just fine, Meredith Catherine Quinn.”

Uh-oh. She’d full-named her.

“You were almost late for church. You sat by Mo, but you both looked like little thunderclouds. You didn’t speak to him. You didn’t turn your head in his direction even once. While he—what’s the term?—oh yes, he had his head on a swivel.”

Gray coughed a little. Jacqueline knew her children well.

“Spill.” There was command in that word, and Meredith dropped her head.

“He won’t leave me alone. He follows me everywhere. He’s convinced someone is going to jump out of the trees and grab me. He’s making me paranoid.”

“It isn’t paranoia if the threat is real,” Gray muttered.

Jacqueline pointed at him. “Exactly.” She shifted in her seat. “He’s trying to protect you, Merry-girl. He’s lost so much. He can’t lose you. You know that.”

Gray wasn’t sure what loss they were discussing, but now wasn’t the time to ask.

“He’s suffocating me.”

“He’s a Quinn.” Jacqueline winked. “It’s a family characteristic.” She leaned back in her chair and rocked a few times. “As I recall, I had to have a conversation with you about the very real possibility ofyoulovingmeto death.”

Meredith looked at the ceiling. “That was different.”

“How so?”

“I wasn’t...”

---