Page 61 of Forbidden Secrets
“Delaney texted you to come to the big house, right?”
“Yeah.So?That’s where she lives.”
“No, she and Walker live in the cabin at the north end of the farm, the one Walker’s grandfather lived in.Cam and Sawyer live in the big house.Unless they’re working, I expect they’ll be there.You remember Clara?”
“Sure.Delaney’s grandmother who raised her.”
“Yeah, but not only Delaney’s grandmother.Cam and Emery’s too.She still lives in the big house.”
Melanie slumped back in her seat.“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
He reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.“You’ll be fine.”
Instead of keeping her hand in his like he wanted to, he let her go.She was already on edge and he didn’t want to make it worse.She was more uncertain than he was, and with good reason.If anyone could understand how the past could linger and wound, it was him.
Gage turned onto Mill Creek Road, and Pancake gave a happy bark.
“She’s excited.”
“Yeah.She recognizes where we’re going.”
“Do you know Sawyer and Walker through Shane?Do you hang out with them?”
“Yeah.You know Shane?”
“Some.He was friends with Sawyer, so I’d see him occasionally when Delaney invited me over.They graduated several years before me so we weren’t in the same social circle.”
He nodded.“I stayed at Shane’s ranch for a year.That wasn’t long after Delaney and Walker married.Then Shane and Sawyer fell like dominos for Emery and Cam.”
“That must’ve been fun to watch.”
“Shane literally falling flat on his face for Emery?It was classic.Then with Keeley being tight with Delaney, she and Owen are also part of the group.”
“Found family.”
He took his eyes off the road to glance at her.“What’s that?”
“It’s the family you make rather than the one you’re born with.”
He grunted.“Yeah, I guess that’s what we have.Though there’s blood ties in there too.”
“How’d you end up staying with Shane?”
“I was on extended leave.”He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.He didn’t like talking about himself but found he wanted her to know.“I had a case go bad.Real bad.Shane showed up at my hospital room when I was being discharged.Said he was taking me to the ranch to recover.I wasn’t in any condition to argue.I was shitty company, but they made me part of that found family anyway.”
He could feel her gaze on him.“Is that where the scars on your wrists are from, the case that went bad?”
Trust her to notice.“Yeah.Fuckers in the cartel killed my partner.”He clamped his mouth shut.He hadn’t meant to tell her that.That peaceful feeling he’d worked hard to give her, especially on this day, got lost in his past.Being around her was messing with his head.
He turned onto the farm road and took the fork that wound around a hill.He pulled up beside two trucks already parked near the big house.Pancake looked eagerly out the window, whining as the muffled sound of barking carried from the house.
Melanie reached for his hand, pulling up his jacket sleeve.She ran the tip of her finger over scars that were finally starting to fade.“Let me see your other arm.”
He showed her his left arm with its matching marks, and they received the same light touch.She turned his hand to trace the puckered skin around the back of his wrist.Fuck me.Her touch felt like a healing balm that soothed more than the scars.
“You were restrained, weren’t you?You tried to save your partner.They shackled you but you tried to break free to save your partner.”The gold in her eyes glinted with compassion.“Am I right?”
“Something like that.Didn’t do any good.Rafe still died.”
