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Soon, they needed to get back to normal. He knew that. So did Steele. The shooter and the kidnapper had been taken care of. As had Brooks’ uncle.
There were no more threats. They all needed to get back to their lives.
Effie’s gaze lifted and her smile grew bigger as she spotted him. She ran toward him.
“Grady!” He kissed the top of her head. She was acting like she hadn’t seen him in weeks rather than a couple of hours.
But he liked that.
“Hello, sweetheart.” He kissed her. “Yum, you taste like sugar.”
“I made cupcakes!”
Brooks looked up and smiled at him before gathering his stuff up. He walked past them and Grady reached out his hand and lightly grabbed his arm. “You don’t have to leave, Brooks.”
“Don’t worry, I’m finished. I’m going up to my room to call the twins. I get why Steele freaked and put us into lockdown, but I really want to get back to school.”
“Soon,” Grady told him.
When Brooks was gone, Grady picked Effie up, cradling her against his chest. “Come, show me these cupcakes you made.”
“They’re peanut butter and chocolate!” she said. “They taste sooo good, Daddy G.”
“Do they?” he murmured, setting her on the island. Reaching over, he picked up a cupcake and held it out to her. “Want a bite?”
She took a huge bite, chewing happily. He took a smaller bite, watching her.
God, she was beautiful. What had he done to deserve such beauty?
“See? Good, right?”
“Delicious.” Leaning forward, he licked some icing off the corner of her lips. “Just like you.”
He might not think he deserved such beauty. But he would do whatever was necessary to keep it.
* * *
Effie kneeledin front of the grave, tracing the name with her fingers.
“Seven years today, honey,” she whispered. “A lot has happened since I last talked to you. I know Brooks has probably told you some things. I let him go first so he could catch up with his friends. I’ve met two men. I know, two! They’re amazing. Smart, protective, sexy. I think you’d like them. They take care of me and Brooks. I know he’d rather have you. But they help fill a gap, I think. He needs strong men in his life. He’s made some good friends and is doing well in school.”
She took in a deep breath. “I’ve started seeing a therapist. I know you’d be proud of me for that. We did our first few sessions online because I’ve been on lockdown. I’ll get to that. I needed to talk through losing you. And my childhood with Nan. The good news is, I’m finding it much easier to block out her voice. Not entirely, but I’m getting there.”
She dug her hand into her pocket and drew out the packet of jelly beans she’d brought with her. Opening them, she spilled them into her lap. “Red and orange for you, right? Hmm. Who is going to eat the black and green? I can do black. But green is just gross. Where was I? Oh yeah, therapy is going well. Even though I feel exhausted after it, I think I’m getting somewhere. Lockdown . . . that’s harder to talk about. Because it involves Tanya. Such a bitch.”
She took him through everything that had happened. “But in the end, she lost and Brooks and I won. Because she’s not getting out on parole and lost any privileges she had. I don’t know how my guys did that. They also found out that that she’d called me a few times and then hung up, hoping to speak to Brooks. My men weren’t too pleased that I hadn’t told them about those calls. But I pointed out that we weren’t together then. Oh, and the Fox assures us that the professional hitman isn’t going to take any more jobs in Billings. I honestly don’t know whether to be alarmed or relieved. I haven’t heard from Wolfe again. My guys still aren’t happy that he was following me, but they’ve stuck to their word.”
She ate some of her jelly beans. “I know you might think it’s crazy, but they give me everything I need. We’re moving in with them tomorrow. I mean, we’ve been living with them for a while, but with being on lockdown, we haven’t had a chance to move our stuff. Apparently, I’m not allowed to lift anything. Some of their friends are going to help them. I don’t think they realized they had friends. But these are good people. They belong to an MC. I think I might join. No reason women can’t join, right?
“I reckon I’d look great on a bike. They’re overprotective. Sometimes, really overprotective.” Steele had gone into overdrive this last month and she’d mostly let him. But he was going to need to ease up, and soon. She looked up and saw Steele standing just out of earshot, his eyes traveling around the area. Grady was standing on the opposite side, doing the same.
“But they’re good men. The best.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I never told you I love you, Joe. I hope you know that I did. And that your son is the most amazing kid in the world. I think you’d be proud of us both.” She finished up the jelly beans, leaving the rest for him. “Bye, honey.”
* * *
“Effie!What do you think you are doing?” Steele yelled.
Eek!
