Page 198 of Eight Years Gone

Brennan waved Grace over to look at his creation.

She knelt at his side, grinning with bright eyes as she nodded enthusiastically at whatever he was telling her.

“Fuck,” Jagger muttered, knowing that if he walked to where Grace spoke to Brennan, her smile would disappear. He would ruin her night all over again.

Turning around, he headed for the door, wanting her to have fun. No one deserved it more than she did.

When she got home, they were going to talk. He wasn’t about to lose the most important person in his life. They’d worked too damn hard over the last couple of months to get back to where they’d been.

Fifty-Two

Grace drove toward the house with Colton in her passenger seat after Amanda had been asked to take her little sister home early. “I’m sorry your night got cut short.”

Colton shrugged. “I’m fine with it. Britney definitely wasn’t feeling good.”

Grace winced, remembering how the little girl had cried in Amanda’s arms as she and Colton walked Amanda to her car. “Five iced cookies for a four-year-old is probably pushing the limit.”

Colton nodded. “I thought Britney was going to puke when Amanda was buckling her into her car seat. I held my breath the entire time. I really thought Amanda was going to wear it.”

Grace laughed. “Hopefully, they made it home without any issues.”

“They did. Amanda texted me a few minutes ago. Britney’s already tucked in with a trash can by the bed.”

“That’s good.”

Colton got more comfortable in his seat. “So, where’s Jagger? I thought you two were coming to the fair together.”

She felt her smile dim as she thought of Jagger’s conversation with his boss. Their chummy reminiscing and Jason’s warnings to Jagger about losing his freedom when she and him “popped out a kid” had taken her completely by surprise.

Not all that long ago, Jagger had assured her that he didn’t want to live the overseas lifestyle anymore, but as she’d taken her pictures at the fair tonight, it had been hard not to wonder if he’d changed his mind.

“He ended up having something else to do,” she fibbed.

“You guys are fighting. Because of me.”

Grace adamantly shook her head as she took her eyes off the road long enough to look at her brother. “No—”

Colton huffed out an unamused laugh. “One of the things I like best about being here with you and Jagger is that you don’t bullshit me. You don’t treat me like I’m some stupid kid. You two were just fine before Jimmy and Greg showed up at the shop.”

She sighed because that was true. But it also wasn’t that simple. Especially after what she’d heard tonight. “All right. We had a fight. But it’s not because of you. Things are hard all the way around right now.”

“Which is because of me.”

She shook her head again. “Nothing that’s going on is your fault. You took a job to make some extra money. You didn’t ask to get caught up in a car theft ring.”

“No, I didn’t.” He sat back in his seat. “All of this sucks.”

She nodded as she turned onto Summer Street. “It does. But that doesn’t mean it’s your fault.”

“Well, I hope you guys can fix things. You and Jagger are good together. Someday when I’m old like the two of you, I want a relationship like you guys have.”

She huffed out a laugh as she pulled into the driveway. “I think there was a compliment in there somewhere.”

He smiled at her.

She smiled back, aware that he was teasing her, trying to cheer her up. “We’re not that old.”

He shrugged. “You’re almost thirty.”

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