Page 34 of Saving Grace
Have you ever met a cowboy who wasn’t stubborn to the bone?
Yeah, me neither.
Kristen’s expression is sympathetic with understanding. She was a trauma nurse before changing professions and going back to school for psychiatry. She worked out of an Atlanta clinic for a while but finally opened her own practice here in Havenwood not too long ago. I’m pretty sure just about everyone in this town has gone to chat with her at least once. Just another way Havenwood is unlike any other town: everyone here promotes positive mental health alongside the physical.
“Well, come on. Find a seat,” she says before looking up at Drew. “Now that your dad’s added six pounds of butter to the potatoes—”
“And half the jar of salt,” Declan chimes in, chuckling.
“—and more than enough sodium, we should be ready to eat.”
Mrs. Flynn huffs in faked exasperation, her hands on her plump hips and a look of pure adoration on her face as she takes in the sight of all of us. “You’d think I raised you lot in a barn or something.”
Mr. Flynn cuts in, setting the pot of mashed potatoes on an iron trivet. “I tried, honey, but you said that it would be frowned upon to leave them in the stalls overnight when they were throwing fits.”
The whole table laughs as Mrs. Flynn rubs her brow and mumbles under her breath before swatting her dish towel at her husband. “I should’ve locked you in the barn a few times, too, mister. You caused just as much mayhem as these boys and Leila did.”
I scoff, only slightly offended. “I did no such thing.”
This time, it’s Drew’s turn to sound the exasperation. “Excuse me? Nine times out of ten,youwere the reason I got in trouble.”
I offer him a cheeky grin as I lean back against his chest. “Not my fault you always took the blame.”
He huffs but hugs me to him before dropping a kiss to the top of my head.
I turn my focus to Kaia so I don’t have to pay attention to the smug look on Drew’s parents’ faces. “Dec, I can take her.”
He’s already shaking his head before I can take a step forward. “Nope. You’re gonna sit there and eat in peace while Mom and Kris take turns fawning over my perfect angel of a niece. Then I’m going to steal her back and show her around the ranch. We need to see what her breed and color preferences are so Dad can buy her a horse for Christmas.”
“Declan,” I huff.
He passes my baby girl to his wife before moving toward me, stopping a respectable distance away. I’ve known him since I was tiny, but he knows his size is a trigger. My stepfather used his size to intimidate me, so anyone over six-foot has the potential to kickstart an episode.
Drew starts to step in front of me, the beginnings of a growl slipping through his lips as his protective streak swims to the surface. “Don’t start anything, brother. I love you, but I’ll gladly knock you out if you hurt her feelings, shoulder be damned.”
Declan shakes his head, palms up in surrender. Or maybe as a peace offering? “Apologizing, kid.” He glances between the twoof us. “We all made our own choices, but mine set all of this into motion.”
I shift my weight forward with the intent of telling him not to apologize, but Drew’s arm tightens around my waist, keeping me in place. Declan smiles, but the pain and guilt in his eyes is almost too much to witness.
“That night…all I heard was your scream. Every worst-case scenario slammed into me at that sound.”
“Wait,” I say. “You knew I was in your hotel suite?”
Drew’s body shakes in silent laughter, and it takes everything in me not to stomp his toe like a little kid throwing a tantrum. As my eyes move back to Declan, I realize he’s laughing quietly, too.
“You guys suck.” I pout even as those pesky little tendrils of hope and love continue to weave and interconnect the broken pieces of my soul.
“You’d be a terrible spy, Leila Grace. Anyway, I reacted poorly when I found the two of you, you know…” He glances away, his cheeks tinging as pink as mine probably are at the reminder that he caught me and Drew in bed together. Naked. Post horizontal hokey pokey.
Drew leans down to whisper in my ear loud enough for his brother to hear. “Kind of enjoying his embarrassment, aren’t you?”
This time, I do stomp his toe in warning, but a soft giggle slips through my lips. “You guys are nuts.”
“Damn right, it was embarrassing. I saw your naked ass more than enough when we shared a bathroom,” Declan shoots back before sobering. “Almost done, I swear. It was never my intention to force you guys apart. And then I made an ass of myself by assuming that you knew more than you did about Drew’s accident and surgeries and still chose to stay away.”
“Just wait until Doc gives me the all clear. You and me and the boxing ring,” Drew grumbles.
I reach back, rubbing his arm in soothing motions.
