Page 66 of Secret Baby for Mr. Grump

She nodded. “Why would he do this?”

“Because he’s a conniving, vindictive bastard,” I answered in a softer tone for her sake. I needed to tell her who I really was, but there never seemed to be a good enough time for it. I debated.

“If it’s not him?” she pondered, and her gaze was careful as they set upon me. “What if it’s someone else in town who’s targeting you because of…because of what happened last time?”

The thought had occurred to me, and it hung in the air between us—the crime I’d been accused of that always seemed to surface whenever I thought it was over and done.

“Could be,” I admitted.

She watched me carefully, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this is still happening.”

I couldn’t believe it either, but I should have expected it, coming back here. Nothing was ever that simple.

“They never caught the guy who did it, you know,” she said. “I think that’s why folks in town are still mad about it. Because it was like someone was beaten to death—Old Man Clancy, of all people, one of the nicest people in town. And no one went to jail for it.”

“That’s sad, but you’re deluding yourself if you think that’s the real reason people are mad,” I said.

She glanced at me in question.

“People are mad because they thinkIdid it and got away with it,” I told her. “They already wanted my blood for what my father did. Then I got away with the crime too. Someone in town wants me to pay for it very dearly, and I won’t be surprised if it all escalates.”

She couldn’t deny it. She crossed her arms over her chest. “So what do we do now?”

“Easy,” I said. “We leave town.”

Her eyes widened. “Just like that?”

“Yeah,” I said. “There’s nothing for us here, and whoever it was has made it very clear that they want me out. So might as well give them what they want.”

“No.” Allie shook her head. “That‘s not the answer. We can’t just leave. Everyone I know is here. My entire family, Caleb’s psychologist….”

“Caleb can get a much better psychologist in New York.”

Allie’s nose twitched. “You want us to go to New York?”

Not really, but it was the only other place I knew. “We could go anywhere else. Just not here.”

“But, Marcus, we can’t just leave. I know people here haven’t been the nicest to you—”

“This isn’t about me.”

“Isn’t it?” she said. “You hate everyone in this town.”

“I don’t deny it,” I told her. “But I’m not doing this for that. I’m doing this to protect you. And to protect my son.”

“No one is going to hurt us,” she said.

“You don’t know that.” I stood up, starting to get frustrated. “You don’t fucking know people until they show you their worst side. And I’ve seen it. When the mob descended on my mother and me, they didn’t fucking remember that we had nothing to do with my father’s crime. They barely remembered that I was still a child. They tore us apart anyway.”

Sympathy reflected in her gaze. “And I’m sorry that happened to you, Marcus, but the answer isn’t running away. I mean, we don’t know anyone in New York.”

“You know me,” I pointed out.

“Yes, but that’s not enough. What if something happens? We won’t have anywhere to run to.”

The statement slammed into me like a freight train.We won’t have anywhere to run to. As if I would hurt them.

The ache in my heart shouldn’t have surprised me, but I did. Even after all this time, she was still scared of me.

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