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“I said fine.” She huffs, giving me a dismissive look over her shoulder, before returning to the window. I hit the green answer key and put my sister on speaker.
“Hey, Sophie.”
Grace’s head snaps around to look at me.
“Hey, Luke. How is my favorite brother doing?
“Good, better than I have been in a long time.” I glance over to Grace who is staring at me and the phone with wide eyes.
“That’s great. I’m so happy to hear. So, I heard through the grapevine that you’re heading back to North Woods for a few days.”
“Who told you that?” I tease, knowing damn well who did.
“You know there aren’t any secrets in this family, Luke. If you go see Elyse, give her a hug from me and when you get back you better come over and see your nephew and your niece. They’ve been asking about their uncle Luke for two weeks now. I keep telling them that you’re working but that’s not a good enough excuse to them.” I can tell she’s sad, and I wish like hell I could spend more time with her, and the kids, but it’s been rough between all of the jobs Xander’s got me on and keeping an eye on Grace. I’ve been traveling non-stop.
“I’ll come by as soon as I can, Sis. I promise.”
“I know, I just wish that would be more often… Oh, shoot, I have to go. I’ve got to pick Ren up from school. Come by soon, okay?”
“I will.” I smile, loving that my sister is finally happy.
The line goes dead and I put my phone back in my jacket before giving my full attention back to Grace. She looks much calmer now, which is exactly what I knew would happen when I answered Sophie’s call. Sophie and Grace were friends growing up and she thinks I betrayed them both. By letting her listen in on this conversation I showed her that Sophie trusts me again and so can she.
“Sophie sounds…happy. Did she marry that man you found for her?” Grace asks, while still trying to sound uninterested even though I know she’s curious.
“No, she ended up marrying someone she chose on her own. They adopted two kids, and she doesn’t just sound happy, she is happy.”
“Well I’m happy for her, and I’m glad you two were able to work things out.” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“We can work things out too, I know it doesn’t all make sense and there is a lot I can’t tell you, but I think with time you could trust me again.” I place my hand on her knee and will her to understand how much it hurts me to stay away from her, to keep secrets and remain hidden. At my touch she jerks her leg away and gives me a disbelieving look.
“No, we can’t. Nothing you say will change the past. I spent two years getting over you, Luke, only to have you walk right back into my life. I’m not falling for your bullshit again,” she whispers and turns back toward the window and away from me.
My hands curl into fists. I have to keep reminding myself that this is all a shock to her. I might have been watching her for the last two years, knew where she was and what she was doing, hell I even interfered in her life a few times, but she on the other hand had no idea I was still part of her life. For all I know she hasn’t even thought about me in months, years even. Maybe she forgot I even existed at all.
I can’t imagine what’s going on inside her head, but I’ll bet this is a lot for her to digest. And yet, she needs to know that I’m never going to let her go again. Now that I’ve finally got her back, I’ll be keeping her at my side. I need her, now more than ever. Hell, I’ve needed her all this time and I know she needs me too even if she doesn’t want to admit it yet. Her body doesn’t lie and if her mind doesn’t catch up soon, well, I suppose I’m just going to have to use her body as a reminder to show her how much she needs me…how much she craves my touch.
We land half an hour later, a car is already waiting for us at the private landing strip a few miles from Xander’s mansion. I take Grace’s hand into mine and as we’re walking down the stairs, she tries to pull away, but I don’t let her. I grip onto her hand harder and pull her into my side, making her squeak.
“Are you not tired of fighting yet, tired of telling yourself that you don’t want this when we both know that you do?” She pulls away, but I’m holding her so tightly to my side that she barely moves a single inch.
