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“Why? What’s going on?”
“It’s Mariana, she must have snuck out of school and now no one knows where she is.”
My shoulders relaxed and I shook my head at her from across the table, mouthing the worlds, “You’re in big trouble,” to her. “It’s all right Shannon, I know where she is. Found me on my way to the diner and she’s inhaling a burger right now.”
“Oh, thank god! Grant is going crazy!”
But he didn’t bother to ask for my help, which made me sad and angry. “I’ll drop her off as soon as we finish eating. Will you let him know?” There was no way to get out of seeing him all too soon, but I was happy to put it off for as long as I could.
“Yeah, sure,” she sighed. “Is everything good with you guys?”
“Yep. Just peachy.”
“That’s a lie but there are three big bad SEALs going crazy over a missing little girl. Talk soon.” The call ended and I stared at Mariana until she cracked.
“You’ve been reported missing, little girl. Prepare yourself for a lot of trouble.”
“Yeah, so what? I don’t know anyone here but you and him so it’s the same as being in trouble anyway.”
I couldn’t really argue with that logic. “You say that now, until you’re sent to bed with no dessert, you can’t watch any TV and you’re forced to watch sports with your daddy.”
“Ugh.” She picked up the burger and took another oversized bite that left a ring of chili sauce around her mouth. “So good.”
It looked really good. “I’ll trade you a bite of that burger for a bite of potato nachos.”
“Deal!” Her wide, chili stained smile flashed adorably as she pushed her plate towards me and waited expectantly for me to do the same.
We ate in a satisfied, grunt filled silence until both plates were clean and our bellies were full. “Ready to face the firing squad, Mari?”
She shrugged. “Don’t matter to me.”
“We’ll see about that. Come on.” We went back to my car and I drove Mariana to the house on the lake, taking my sweet time to delay adding any more sadness to her young life. But, as with all things, you can only delay them, not put them off forever.
So, we both went inside, where Grant waited for us both. “Mariana! Where have you been? I thought someone had kidnapped you, dammit.” His big hands gripped her shoulders, his face filled with worry and anger. “What were you thinking?”
She shrugged out of his grip. “I don’t like it here and you don’t want me here anyway. Just do what you’re gonna do.” Her amber brown eyes glanced up at me. “We’ll still be friends, won’t we?”
“You bet.”
Grant let out a groan of frustration, put his hands on his knees and pushed himself up to his full height. “Go to your room until I’ve decided what to do with you.”
“I’ll pack my stuff.” Mariana waved at me and then stomped off, as loud as her little legs would allow.
Silence filled the room, thick and tense as Grant turned his full attention to me. “Thanks for bringing her home.”
“No problem. Happy to help.” That wasn’t quite as awkward as I thought, which made it the perfect time to make my exit. “Good luck.”
“You haven’t called.” His words stopped me before I made my exit and I let out a deep exhale before turning to face him.
“Neither have you. Not even when Mariana went missing.”
“I’m not the one who walked away.” He shook his head and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “Why did you walk away, Brenna?”
“To protect myself. Obviously.”
“From me?” He seemed genuinely shocked which was about what I expected from him.
“Certainly not from Mariana.” Although I should have considered that too, letting the little girl worm her way into my heart was bound to leave me with an even bigger heartache.
“I thought maybe you left because of her.”
“I did, just now how you’re thinkin’.” I folded my arms across my chest and sighed. “We were having fun, Grant. Things were casual and it worked for us, for both of us. I knew you didn’t want anything serious and I was having enough fun with you that it didn’t matter. Figured I’d let things play out however they would because it wouldn’t last too long.”
“You weren’t in a hurry for anything serious.”
“With you? No. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to meet the right man one day and fall in love, have kids, the whole dang shebang. But you’re fun and gorgeous and I like you so I figured, what’s the harm.”
“Until it turns out I have a kid? Then you bolt like your ass is on fire. Right?” The anger in his voice kicked up a notch and I laughed. At first it was just a bark of laughter and then it was a full bellied laugh.
