Page 33 of Grissom
Grissom knew he should’ve been paying better attention to what Walker and Persia were telling Tuesday, but damn. Her tiny, delicate hands on him and her snarky words on his behalf were like honey to a dehydrated baby bee. He was basking—simply—utterly—basking in the radiant light of this woman defending him. Of finally being good enough to maybe even be loved. She didn’t have to say it. Tuesday Smart loved him, that was what the warm light beaming out of her was. It was love. Her love. This bright, intelligent, generous woman loved him as much as she loved his boys, and she was fighting for him like no one else ever had. Just like she’d squared off with Estes. She hadn’t stood a chance then, either.
He could hardly see through the blur in his eyes. What was it about Tuesday that turned him into just another unwanted little boy?
“Relax, ma’am,” Maverick said quietly, from behind where Grissom stood with Tuesday. “Murphy straightened everything out. Your man isn’t going anywhere.”
There was the confirmation Grissom craved.Your man.She hadn’t said it yet, but Maverick did. That helped. Maverick knew Grissom belonged to Tuesday, and he washer man. Her only man. Damned if the threat of tears weren’t turning him to mush. It was too soon, way too soon to speak the word he’d never once uttered during his entire marriage, surely not during his childhood. The L word was a precious, delicate thing. A sacred promise and a lifetime commitment. He used it with his boys every day, but for the first time in all of his years, he wanted to say it to a woman. To this woman. Tuesday.
Instead, he asked his team members, “Did I really agree to commit myself?”
Walker nodded. “Yeah, man, you did. But you hadn’t yet known the scope of your wife’s treachery then. None of us did, not until Murphy tried to notify Pam and couldn’t reach her. He asked Leisha to check with your neighbors to see if they knew where she was. That’s how we found out she’d destroyed your house and left with Estes, and… that he stayed at your house whenever you went OCONUS. Leisha dug into your wife’s financials like a badger after that, and discovered Pam took your boys out of the country.”
“And Estes, too,” Harley added, from the barstool where he sat with Judy on his lap. “She paid for that bastard’s ticket, too.”
“On your dime,” Maverick growled. China had one arm around his waist, and the cowboy looked as mellow as Grissom had ever seen him.
“Y’all know how Alex is,” Harley drawled. “He knows people. Once Murphy told him what went down and what the police were gonna charge you with, he made a few calls.”
“It’s not like this was his first time dealing with a drug addict,” Judy added.
“Grissom’s not a drug addict,” Tuesday snapped.
And once again Grissom was falling, so damned hard in love, with the sexy woman who still had her hands on him. He couldn’t concentrate on what the guys were saying, until Walker slugged his arm and ordered, “Talk to Doc Windhall. If you have any regrets about what happened off the coast of Costa Rica, you won’t after you check with him.”
“What happened?” Tuesday growled, apparently ready to take on everyone in the room.
“Karma bitch-slapped that bitch, that’s what happened,” Judy replied testily.
China shot Judy a high five. “Yeah, you could say herthree-hour tourended with a bang.”
Tuesday looked up at Grissom, the question burning bright in her green eyes.
He tightened his hold on her, loving how easily she molded her tiny frame against his bulk. “You don’t know?”
Her brows furrowed into the cutest V. She shook her head, sending her chestnut hair tumbling over her shoulder. “I guess not. Is she okay? What happened?”
“No, ma’am, Pamela McCoy is not okay, not that she ever was to begin with,” Walker drawled from where he stood behind Persia with both arms around her waist. “Turned out Mikey owned a couple planes. The day you rescued Grissom’s sons is the same day he and Pam flew several tourists out over the Pacific.”
A tiny “No” escaped Tuesday’s lips.
“The plane went down,” Grissom told her as gently as possible, which was difficult since he harbored no pain or regret at Pam’s death. She deserved what she got. “I thought you knew.”
“No, I… Oh, my God.” The tip of Tuesday’s tongue slicked over her bottom lip. Her chest heaved as if she were going to be sick. “Grissom,” she whispered, her fingers fluttering over both sides of his face, and her green eyes bright. “If I hadn’t been there… If she’d taken Tanner and Luke with her… Grissom, oh, God, they would’ve been… They could’ve been…” A set of ragged hiccups cut her short.
“Breathe,” Grissom ordered, tugging her under his arm. “She didn’t take them to her watery grave, and youwerethere, and my boysaresafe and sound, and…” Shit. He was tearing up again. “She got exactly what she deserved, and you know it.”
“But Grissom. She must’ve been scared, and the ocean’s so cold, and what if—? What if I hadn’t been there? Grissom!” Tuesday broke, just shattered there in front of everyone. “Youcould have lost everything. Your boys could’ve died! You could’ve—”
“See?” Persia interrupted quietly. “Destiny is real.”
All at once, Grissom was surrounded by three pushy TEAM wives, wrapping their arms and bodies around Tuesday and, by default, him, because he was in their way.
“That’s because you didn’t go to Costa Rica just to take pictures, sweetheart,” Persia, the wife who’d gotten in closest and now had both arms around Tuesday, crooned. “Destiny sent you to rescue Grissom’s boys from that awful witch of a mother. Don’t you get it? Destiny sent you to keep them safe for Grissom until he could get there.”
“Which means you saved me, too,” he murmured into Tuesday’s temple.
She whimpered, and, one by one, the wives stepped back from the huddle and left them alone with her face buried in his shirt. It was pretty wet, but he didn’t mind. He’d been peed on by the best. A few salty tears wouldn’t hurt. Grissom had finally found the reason behind all he’d endured in his life, and he wasn’t letting Tuesday Smart go.
Overcome with humility for the gift in his arms, he buried his nose in her fragrant hair and breathed in the loveliness that was Tuesday. “Destiny might be real after all,” he murmured. “Because something put you in Costa Rica, on that exact beach, in that specific hotel in Puntarenas, on the precise day my kids needed you.”
