Bonnie felt a chill.“He was stalking Vic in Fort Wayne.We still don’t know why.”
Grams shook her head.“Unfinished business, I expect.He was confident that Rosie had this cache of funds squirreled away.”She laughed bitterly.“Couldn’t be further from reality.Rosie never kept a dollar any longer than he had to, and Conner knows that as well as I do.It’s just that Conner never has let go of things easily.Neither do you, Vic, but yours is in a healthier way.You boys had different mothers, different lives, but you both got that stubborn streak from your daddy.”She reached over and patted Vic’s knee.“You stay safe, you hear me?Both of you.And if that boy shows up again, you let the club handle it.They know what they’re doing.”
Vic nodded.“We will.I promise.”
The conversation lightened after that.Grams brought out more cookies and told stories about Vic as a little boy.About how he’d bang on pots and pans in the kitchen for hours, how he’d once tried to build a drum kit out of cardboard boxes.Bonnie laughed until her sides hurt, the warmth of the house wrapping around her like a hug.
By the time they stood to leave, Bonnie felt something settle deep in her chest.Approval.Acceptance.Grams had welcomed her without reservation, and the relief of it made her eyes sting.
Grams pulled her into a surprisingly strong hug at the door.“You take care of my boy,” she whispered.“And let him take care of you.You both deserve it.”
Bonnie hugged her back, voice thick.“I will.Thank you, Grams.”
As they walked back to the truck, Vic slipped his arm around her waist.
“See?”he murmured.“Told you she’d love you.”
Bonnie leaned into him, the nervousness finally gone.“She’s amazing.You’re lucky to have her.”
“We both are,” Vic said softly.
They climbed into the truck, and Bonnie glanced back at the little house with the blue shutters one last time.For a change, the idea of family didn’t feel like something she had to run from.
It felt like something she could run toward.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Vic
Vic’s phone buzzed on the nightstand while he was half asleep in Bear’s guest room.He reached for it groggily, expecting a late-night text from one of the guys about tomorrow’s rehearsal.
Unknown number.
He opened it.
*You should’ve stayed gone, Montrose.Some ghosts don’t stay buried.Keep pushing and you’ll find out what happens to people who stick their nose where it doesn’t belong.*
