Page 34 of Grissom
“Not destiny, Grissom. God,” Harley cut in with certainty. “He knew what you needed, so He sent the best person for the job. He sent someone who wasn’t afraid to stand up against polar bears, bullies, or black widow spiders. He sent Tuesday Smart.”
Leave it to Harley to bring God into the picture. The only recovering alcoholic slash drug addict on The TEAM, he’d gonethrough his own personal hell back when Alex had first hung out The TEAM’s shingle. Harley was still known to gift one of his dog-eared, scribbled-in Bibles to other struggling agents. Like Beau Villanueva. Like Renner Graves. And yeah, like Grissom. That was what they’d been talking about on the porch earlier. Harley’d handed over a well-worn Bible and the offer of one of his comfort dogs. Grissom accepted the Bible, but the dog was a discussion for another day. Not like that’d stop Harley. The guy was generous with his pedigreed pups, all of them trained service dogs. Which meant most agents now owned at least one, sometimes two.
“Okay, yeah, God,” Grissom agreed. Believing in God made more sense than believing in destiny. He was, after all, the best, most loving Father in the universe. Destiny, on the other hand, sounded like a capricious wind that might blow in your favor, but not always, and never when you needed a good stiff breeze. But God? Grissom chose to be like Harley—a believer.
“Doc Windhall’s on your side, Grissom,” Walker said quietly. “We all are.”
“Amen, brother,” Harley added somberly.
“Ditto,” Maverick declared.
“Me, too,” Tuesday breathed against his heart.
Grissom followed those confidence builders up with, “Thanks, guys. I’ll stop in and talk to him.”
But whatever Doc Windhall might say, and even knowing these men still valued him as a competent operator, couldn’t compare with what Tuesday whispered. Her honest,‘me, too,’told him she’d never back stab or cheat on him. She wasn’t made that way. Tuesday Smart was the warm, nurturing ray of sunlight he’d lived without most of his life. She loved him, and right then, her love was brightening the darkest hidden corners in his gnarly heart. Her love was lighting the place where he’d buried his soul a long time ago.
“Daddy!” Luke shrieked from the faraway master bedroom. “Georgie’s cheating!”
“Again?” Judy whispered. “That boy is going to be the death of me.”
“Figures it’d be Georgie,” Harley grumbled as she slid off his lap.
“Kyrie’s with them,” Maverick said. “Give her a minute to get things under control and—”
“He’s squishing Tanner!” Luke screamed. “Daddy, help!”
While Harley and Judy hurried to rescue Tanner, Grissom stayed put. “You know what I finally figured out?” he asked Tuesday, as the hubbub in his bedroom died down.
Sniffling, she gave her head a shake. “What?”
He slid his palms up her back and beneath her hair, cradling her head and so damned much in love. “That even messed-up guys deserve a happily-ever-after.”
“Of course they do. Everyone does.”
“Not everyone, but you and me sure do. Stay and talk once everyone leaves?”
“Okay, sure, but would you mind taking me back to get my car first?”
“Love, I’ll do anything you ask. Anything at all.”
Chapter Seventeen
At last, this emotionally draining day was drawing to an end. Game night turned out to be endless video games for the kids and conversation with adults. It was easy to see the respect these tough, warrior-types had for their women. The soft glow from the fireplace added a touch of romance, but it was the real friendships on display that saturated the air and conversation.
Unfortunately, all that comradery also worked against Tuesday. Seeing Maverick with China, both strong personalities who seemed to read the other’s mind, as often as they’d finished each other’s sentences. Seeing big, tough Walker Judge, so tender with Persia wrapped up in his arms since they’d drifted into the family room. And Harley. Man, Harley. Tuesday could’ve spent all night watching him with Judy. The way he teased her, incited her temper, and turned her creamy complexion nearly as fiery red as her hair. Which was often. How her sharp green eyes softened when she snapped back at him. They were the embodiment of opposites attracting, Harley being the carefree jokester and Judy his practical, no-nonsense other half.
Witnessing the love these couples shared made Tuesday think twice. Grissom had flip-flopped often today. How could she trust that being cozy with him now, wouldn’t end with him pushing her away the minute everyone left? She was the fraud, allowing the illusion of being a happy couple to continue, when they weren’t really anything at all. Not even friends. Merely acquaintances who’d shared a kiss or two. If anything, she was an empty-headed Disney princess. One kiss did not a futuremake, and there was no such thing as happily-ever-after. It was a fairytale and a lie, a risk she refused to take.
She’d feel better once she found a motel or nearby bed-and-breakfast, after she showered and had a good night’s sleep. Things would make better sense in the morning. All too soon, this time with Grissom, Tanner, and Luke would be just another memory to revisit when times got tough, which they always did. As if any time in her life hadn’t been difficult. But she’d known plenty of people who’d dealt with worse catastrophes than she had, so she wouldn’t complain. Not as wealthy as she was, another thing that stood between her and Grissom. She wondered how much he knew. If he knew anything at all. Other than she was the woman who’d rescued his boys.
At the moment, her comfy boots were leaned beside the leather couch. She couldn’t remember where she’d set her blazer, but it had to be somewhere in this fabulous house. She’d taken the corner of the couch opposite Grissom, going for distance instead of too much, too soon. Her legs were extended out straight, and he’d corralled her feet the moment she’d sat down. They were talking. Just talking. But his fingers massaging the bottoms of her weary feet were working wonders on her frayed nerves.
It was easy to see how much Harley, Maverick, and Walker respected Grissom. Judy, China, and Persia were just as generous when they’d invited her to Kelsey Stewart’s place for their regular girls’ night out before they’d left. Tuesday wasn’t sure she was staying in Virginia long enough to make that happen, but the invitation was kind and the concept of having girlfriends again was tempting. She’d been on her own for so much of her adult life that, honestly, the drama between the TEAM wives tonight wore her out. She wasn’t part of their intimate circle. Didn’t know if she’d ever belong anywhere again.
The Tuesday Smart the world knew was a world traveler, used to the hubbub and chaos of international airports and flights, as well as the isolation of a hundred private landing strips and destinations the world over. She knew the pinch of having stayed too long in some of those places, after her food supply ran out, all for the sake of getting the perfect shot. She’d faced down a few wild animals, and she’d even eaten a rodent or two, when roasting their little bodies over a can of Sterno meant the difference between living and dying, waiting for the bush plane to take her home. Tuesday excelled at her craft, that much was true. She was worth every penny Robert paid her, and she’d received more than her share of awards and notoriety.
But in the end, she was still, and always would be, alone. That was her lot in life and she’d accepted it. Most photo assignments were tiresome bag-drags, getting herself and her gear from one airport to the next and then back again. Since her parents’ and Freddie’s deaths, she preferred silence in the middle of nowhere than sitting in any theater packed with today’s self-absorbed fans. At the end of the day, she’d rather sit by herself while the colors of the sky changed from clear bright blues to inky pitch blacks, listening to the whistles, warbles, and chatter of birds searching out places to roost for the night. Mother Nature was the same the world over, gracing all living things with the same lights of day and of night, the same sun, moon, and stars. One had only to look up to appreciate how insignificant one was in the grand scope of creation. Tuesday was feeling every bit of that insignificance tonight.
