We watch for a few more seconds as she scales back up to the top, but then Lynley whips her head toward me, eyes wide. “I can’t watch. Distract me. Your brother? You said last night he was an ‘entitled little shit.’”
I look down at her with a chuckle. “We were raised the same, far as I can tell. And yet, we couldn’t be any more different.”
Lynley doesn’t say anything, her thoughts running a mile a minute behind her eyes. Finally, she murmurs, “I didn’t get the chance to thank you last night.”
I pause, one brow flicking up. “For what?”
“For how you handled that conversation with Mase,” she says simply. “I knew something was wrong. He’s been off for months, but the kid is a steel vault. No matter what I tried or what bribes I used, he wouldn’t break.” She swallows roughly. “Until last night. Until you.”
I don’t look away from her, sensing how important thisis. “I was worried you’d think I overstepped.” Her hand is by her side, so I drop mine, brushing my little finger against her soft skin. Heat creeps into her cheeks, but she doesn’t pull away. “I didn’t want to make things harder for you, or step in where I didn’t belong. But I also didn’t want to shut him down.”
She shakes her head, dark hair flying around her face. “No, no. I love that he opened up to you. That he felt safe enough to do that.” Her stormy eyes glisten with unshed tears. “You helped him last night, Grafton. He’s been carrying this burden, something he never should have had to, and you took it from him. You made it better. That’s not something I’ll ever be able to repay.” Her voice cracks, and I can’t resist any longer, tucking an arm around her shoulders and dragging her into my side. She leans against me, looking so vulnerable as she looks back out the window. “I’ll find someone for him to talk to—a professional. Ginny as well. Just to help with everything still to come.”
“That’s a good idea.”
She looks up, sending me a grateful smile, and I give her a squeeze, the press of her body against mine the sweetest kind of torture. But then it’s over faster than I’m ready for when the back door slams open and Mase races inside, calling, “Grafton! Mom! Come on. You need to judge our handstand competition!”
An hour later,Lynley and I are sitting side by side in the lush grass as we watch the kids play. It’s a warm day, and it was an easy decision for her to choose to keep the kids home, giving them a chance to relax after the last couple of days.
I don’t blame her for it. As much as she’s tried to shield them, they both know something is up. Mase is a quick kid, and it hasn’t taken him long to connect the dots, even if he never told his mother what he saw. And Ginny knows there’s a reason they haven’t gone home, even if they haven’t talked about it yet.
“Don’t you have work today?”
I lean back on my elbows in the grass, ankles crossed, looking over to find Lynley watching me curiously. My lips curve. “I do.”
“It’s almost midmorning. You got leisure hours, then?”
I lift a shoulder. “I told Judith I’d be in after lunch. I’ll head off in about an hour.” I wait a beat, my lips quirking up. “If I didn’t have a meeting I couldn’t reschedule, I would have taken the day off to be with the three of you.”
She shakes her head, but her expression is soft with quiet pleasure. “We could have kick-started all the shopping I need to do.”
I sit up, eyes intent on hers. “That sounds like you’re gonna let me help.”
She looks away, her hands tangling in the grass beside her hip. “Maybe. I’m still not sure about…any of this, I guess. But you’re winning me over.”
“You’re leaning in,” I surmise, my heart jumping in my chest. I feel like a schoolboy, hearing that my first crush likes me back, but the way her cheeks flood with color makes me grin like the Cheshire fucking Cat. “I like that, darling.”
“You know what?” she confesses, looking back at me. “I like it too.”
Ginny runs up then, and the tension dissipates as fast as it came, both of us turning to face her as she eyes me seriously.
“You’re pretty old,” she suddenly states, and Lynley splutters out a choked laugh.
“Ginny—” she starts, but I wave her off.
“D’you think?” I ask.
Her eyes are discerning as she tracks them over my face, lingering on the gray strands peppering my hair. “I bet you don’t even know how to play,” she declares.
My eyebrows climb my forehead, and I angle my head back, staring down my nose at her. She doesn’t blink, not giving an inch until I flare my nostrils dramatically, and she laughs.
“I can play,” I tell her. “I’ll show you.”
I get to my feet, ignoring the way my knees creak, even when Ginny lets out a howl of laughter. I’m positive Lynley snorts, but when I look, her expression is innocent.
Upright and fairly stable, I roll my sleeves up and stretch my arms out. “You ready for this, Little Dancer?” I ask playfully, and Ginny claps her hands excitedly.
“You have to do a handstand,” she instructs me, but then her expression turns to disbelief again. “Do you know how to do a handstand?”
