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“Grant?” My voice carried in the wind as I let myself in the side gate. When I found him he was kneeling in the grass, pulling weeds, headphones in his ears.
My hand touched his shoulder and he let out a shriek that had him falling back on his butt, cursing wildly before his eyes settled on me.
“What the heck, Ellie? You trying to give me a heart attack?” he gasped, clutching his heart and streaking dirt across his shirt. So much for wearing gloves to keep the mess at bay.
“Sorry. In my defense, I called out to you.” I laughed, dropping my things on the swing and pulling up my sleeves. “What are we working on, just pulling weeds?”
“What are we avoiding today?” he teased. “I know you can’t enjoy my company this much.”
“I have tea for you, don’t make me take it back with me,” I shot back with a glare. “You love my random stop-ins, don’t act like you hate it.”
“I don’t hate it,” he agreed. “At least you aren’t here to baby me like my sons.”
“They’re just worried,” I said gently. “You scared them.”
“I did,” he agreed. “But I’m good now. Even picked up coffee and jogging, I’m a whole new person now.”
We fell into companionable silence as I started pulling out weeds and piling them up behind us. The manual labor was calming and I was finding my shoulders relaxing and my mind clearing.
“You ready to talk yet?” he prompted after we’d moved to the backside of his garden plot. I swiped the sweat forming on my forehead and sat back, letting out a long breath.
“Somehow, Candace from the network found out something she shouldn’t have had access to. The only ones who knew about it were Bear and the other girls.”
“And you’re afraid he was the one who told the information?” he asked. From the understanding in his eyes, he knew that it was tearing me up.
“Yeah, and I feel like a dick for even thinking that. But I’ve been burned a bit too much lately to not hold on to a bit of skepticism.”
He nodded and pulled off his gloves. “Come on, lemonade break.”
I followed him inside, taking my things along with me. Grant was healthier than ever, moving fluidly through the kitchen as he made our drinks.
“Have you asked Bear yet about it? You can tell a lot about a person’s intentions by their reactions,” he pointed out.
“No,” I admitted. “Because it’ll just show I don’t trust him, when I really do. There’s just a hint of doubt and the uncertainty of not knowing who could have told.”
I loved that Grant didn’t ask me what the secret was. He was simply giving me any advice he could with the information he had.
“Maybe bring it up to him, he’ll be just as confused most likely and you can at least face it together,” he offered gently. His phone rang then and he stepped away to grab it. When he walked back in, frowning, worry hit me. He kicked on speakerphone and Kat’s voice echoed in the kitchen.
“That bitch is here, in town. I don’t know if they called her or what, but Ellie isn’t answering her phone. Have you seen her?”
“She’s here right now,” he reassured me, his expression grave as he met mine. “Morgan is in town again, Ellie.”
“Fuck,” I groaned. “This is the last thing I need. Why can’t they just leave me out of this and let me live my life. They made their own reputations. I had nothing to do with it.”
“People like Morgan thrive on drama,” Kat said. “She fucked over the twins, then you, then Bear, now you again because you’re the easiest one to blame here. The world sided with you and she wasn’t expecting it. She thought a sexy dress and flirty demeanor would keep the world from seeing who she really is.”
“She’s a bitch,” Grant added with a hollow laugh. “I’ll never forgive her for what she did to my boys.”
After his pack left him behind I couldn’t blame him for his anger. It’s a shitty feeling and he had to watch his sons face the same.
“Has she been hanging with Trevor and Jacob?” I asked, wanting to know if they’d changed plans.
“No, but she’s not alone. About five minutes after Serenity and I watched her park, a van of men with cameras showed up. I doubt very much that’s just a coincidence. She brought the cameramen to paint her in a better light.”
“Avoid town, got it,” I said as I closed my eyes and took a breath. “I wish they'd just leave.”
“Call your pack, they’ll want to know, too,” she warned. “Bye, Ellie, bye, Grant.”
