She nods then looks at Cade and Carson. “It’s nice finally meeting you both.” With that, she ducks her head and goes inside.
Once she’s gone, I turn back to face my brothers.
“She’s cute,” Carson says pulling his eyes from the door to look at me. “Real cute.”
Shaking my head at him, I ask, “Where’s Dad?”
“Out in the shop,” Cade answers, so I head down the steps and to the back of the house, with my brothers following. Opening the door to the shop, I find my dad where he normally is when he has a free second, which is tinkering with his bike.
“Get me a beer?” he requests as soon as he spots us, so I head over to the fridge and grab a beer for him and one for myself. Opening both with the bottle opener on the front of the fridge door, I take a pull from mine while I place his in his hand. “Is Gia inside?”
“Yeah,” I reply, taking a seat on the wooden bench against the wall.
“You still not going to bring up the gun?” he asks, looking worried.
“What gun?” Cade questions before I can answer, and I look at him as he hands a beer to Carson.
“My nine is missing from the gun vault in my garage.”
“What?” He gets closer and takes a seat on one of the chrome and leather-topped rolling stools.
“My nine is missing. I went to get some cash out of my vault today and noticed it was gone.”
“Did you file a report?” Carson asks after taking a pull from his beer.
“Yeah, a detective is looking into it.”
“When was the last time you saw it?” Cade questions, and I can tell he’s going into police officer mode.
“A few days ago.” Anytime I have tips, I put the cash in there so I’m not carrying it around with me, and that’s the last time I saw it.
“Does anyone have the code?” Cade continues, crossing his arms over his chest and planting his feet apart.
“Mom and Dad, but no one else that I know of. Neither of them took it out, so I have no idea who would have gotten in there. Or why the fuck they would take that gun and nothing else. I have guns in there that are worth close to a grand each. It doesn’t make sense,” I say, resting my elbows on my knees.
“Your code was your birthday, someone could have guessed that.” Dad says and I sigh. He’s right someone could have guessed it.
“You’re not telling Gia about it being missing?” Cade asks, and I look at him.
“She’s already dealing with enough shit. I don’t want her to worry about this.”
“Is that the real reason, or do you think she took it?” he asks, and I sit up straight.
“She didn’t fucking take it,” Dad inserts for me while shaking his head. “Did you meet her?”
“I met her.” He nods, looking suddenly thoughtful.
“That girl would probably run if she ever even saw a gun. Why the hell would she take it?”
“I don’t know.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m just asking questions to see if I can figure it out.”
“Well you’re asking the wrong fucking questions,” Dad grumbles, and I grin. He likes Gia and has obviously become protective of her. “We should head in before your mom comes out here to ask why I haven’t started up the grill.” He stands with his beer and heads for the door.
Going across the lawn to the house, we head through the back door that leads into the kitchen. As soon as we step inside, “Uncle Colton!” is shouted toward me in unison. Smiling at my five and six-year-old nieces, I head to where they are both sitting on the large, white marble-topped island in the middle of the room, mixing something in a bowl.
“Hey, Mizza.” I kiss the top of her dark head then lean over to do the same to her sister. “Hey, Imma.” I kiss her cheek, and she tips her head to the side, studying me.
“We met your girlfriend,” she informs me, then continues, “she’s pretty.”
“She is. I agree.” Rubbing the top of her head.
“Are you going to marry her?” Mizza asks, and I smile at her.
“I don’t know, honey.”
“I think you should marry her and let me be the flower girl.”
“No, I get to be the flower girl,” Imma disagrees loudly, glaring at her sister.
“No you don’t,” her sister denies louder, glaring right back.
“What on earth are you two fighting about now?” Janet asks, coming into the kitchen carrying grocery bags, with Gia behind her carrying a box of beer in one hand and a case of wine coolers in the other.
“Mizza said she gets to be the flower girl at Uncle Colton’s wedding,” Imma whines, looking at her mom and crossing her arms over her chest, then pouts. “I want to be the flower girl.”
“You can’t be, because I’m going to be the flower girl when he marries Gia,” Mizza says, looking smug.
“Oh my,” I hear Gia whisper, then turn to see her eyes are wide and her cheeks are pink.
“Before you girls totally freak out Gia any more, how’s if we talk about this when the time comes to talk about it?” Janet suggests, and I hear Mom laugh and notice she didn’t even attempt to wade in to get them to stop fighting.
“Let me get that, baby.” I take the stuff from Gia, kissing the side of her head, then walk to the fridge to drop the beer and wine coolers inside. Going back to her, I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “I take it you met everyone.”
“I did.” She looks up at me and smiles still looking a little shell-shocked.
“Gia, can I be your flower girl?” Imma asks, apparently not liking the idea of talking about it later and possibly missing her shot to her big sister.
“I—”
“No, can I be?” Mizza interrupts, and Gia’s hand that has wound around my back tightens in my tee.
“I… well…” She pauses, lifting her shoulders. “If that happens one day, I would love for you both to be my flower girls. But,” she adds quickly, “only if that ever happens.”
“Yippee!” Mizza yells, throwing her hands in the air.
“Wahoo!” Imma shouts, doing the same as her sister.
“Christ,” Carson mutters from my side and I smile, then hear Gia laugh.
Hearing that, my hold on her tightens as I tip my head down to hers and wait for her to look up at me. As soon as her head falls back, I plant a kiss on her lips then lean away an inch to search her eyes. She doesn’t look worried anymore; she looks happy and relaxed, which is a relief. “You want a beer?”
“No she does not. She wants a wine cooler,” Janet says, and Gia and I both look at her. “Then she and I are going to go have some girl time.”
“Can I come, Mommy?” Mizza asks.
“Me too?” Imma adds, looking hopeful.
“Sorry, babies, no men and no kids.”
“That sucks,” Mizza grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing.
“Wha’d I say about saying sucks?” Cade asks, and her eyes go to her dad and widen.
“Sorry, Daddy,” she murmurs.
“I still need help making the apple pie,” Mom says, and both girls look at her then begin to bombard her with questions about what their jobs will be.
“You ready, girl?” Janet asks, and I feel Gia nod.
“I’ll be on the back deck if you need me,” I tell her, taking another kiss.
“I’ll be okay,” she whispers.
“She’ll be fine.” Janet rolls her eyes at me before going to her husband and getting up on her tiptoes for a kiss. Once she’s got that from him, she walks across to the fridge and grabs two wine coolers. Coming back to Gia, she takes her hand and pulls her along with her out of the room toward the front of the house.
“Should I be worried about that?” I ask Cade, and he shrugs.
“I don’t think so. You know Janet never liked Lisa, so my guess is she’s trying to feel Gia out to make sure she’s good enough for you,” he replies, and I look to where they just were. “They will be fine. Come on. We need to make sure Dad isn?
??t putting too much damn lighter fluid on the grill again.”
“Right.” I smile, remembering the time he singed half the hair off his face. At the time, it wasn’t funny, but looking back on it now, it’s hilarious.
~**~
Taking a pull from my beer, I watch Gia move inside through the sliding glass door with Mom, Janet, and the girls to go get the pie they made, and vanilla ice cream. Dinner was good, and Gia was relaxed and funny, which made it even better. I could tell my family was falling for her just as quickly as me, which isn’t a surprise. It’s hard not to like her when she’s being sweet with two little girls, helping Mom in the kitchen, or joking with my brothers—something she did easily all evening.
“I like her for you, man,” Carson says, and I pull my eyes from the door to look at him. “She’s sweet, and it doesn’t suck that she’s not hard to look at.”
“I know, and I’d appreciate it if you stop fucking checking her out. And stop flirting with her,” I mutter, and his smile gets bigger and turns into a grin.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy or this relaxed,” Cade inserts, and I roll my head on my shoulders.
“Probably because I haven’t been this happy or relaxed in a long fucking time,” I admit. “You know how it was when I thought I would never walk again. From the instant I was shot, it was like I was stuck in that moment. Even when I learned to walk again, I was still living that shit every day. And now…” I pause, running my hand through my hair. “Now it’s like it never happened. She fucking erased that shit for me.”
“Told you,” Dad says, and I look to see him giving me a knowing smile.
“I still need to convince her that she should move here permanently. I won’t feel good about any of this until I know she wants to live here with me. She’s never lived in a town this small before, so I don’t know if she can really be happy here.”
“She hasn’t moved here for good?” Carson asks, and I shake my head.
“She’s still got most of her shit in Chicago, at the place she and her friend rent there. She hasn’t mentioned anything about moving down here for good, and since things between us are so new, I haven’t brought it up to her.”
“You should probably tell her how you feel,” Cade suggests, taking a drink from his own beer.
“I’m going slow. I learned today that she’s never even had a boyfriend before, didn’t even know that’s what we were. She didn’t want to assume this was more than it was, even though she wanted it to be more.”
“Women are fucking confusing,” Carson mutters, and Dad grunts in agreement.
“So she’s the one?” Cade asks softly, and I feel my chest get tight and warm.
I don’t even have to think about the answer to that question, because I know without a doubt, down to my bones that she is. “Yeah, man. She’s the one.”
Now, I just hope like fuck I’m the one for her too.
CHAPTER 10
Butterfly
Gia
DIGGING THROUGH COLTON’S DRAWERS, I find a pair of his socks and put them on, then head downstairs to check on dinner. I had the day off today, so I decided to get the stuff to make a roast with all the fixings, including baby potatoes, carrots, gravy, and homemade sweet rolls—something my mom taught me to make. Seeing that the roast is still not done and the rolls are rising, I take my cell phone off the counter then grab a glass and go to the fridge. I pour myself a glass of wine and take it and my phone with me, heading out the front door to the porch. After setting my glass down on the wooden rail, I dial Nat.
“Hey, stranger! I was just about to send a search party to Tennessee to look for you,” she says when she answers on the second ring.
“No search party necessary.” I smile, taking a sip of wine. “Sorry I haven’t called. Things have been a little crazy here this last week.” I say, thinking that’s not a lie. Between dinner with Colton’s family last Sunday, work this week, visiting grandma, and dinner with Nina and Ned yesterday, I haven’t had a chance to really catch my breath.
“I understand crazy,” she says, then asks, “How was dinner with Colton’s family last weekend?”
“Good,” I reply softly. Dinner was good; actually, it was perfect. I loved the feeling of being a part of a family. I hadn’t had that in so long that I forgot just how good it felt to have that connection, to sit around a table with people who care about each other, and listen to them talk and share stories. I missed it, and having Colton with me, holding my hand, and keeping me close made it even better.
“Just good? I know you were worried.”
“Really good. His brothers are cool and his sister-in-law is sweet. Plus, his nieces are adorable, and you already know I love his parents. The whole thing was good. I was worried over nothing.”
“And things with you and Colton?” she prompts, and I take my wine with me over to one of the rocking chairs and sit down. As soon as I do, Loki comes and puts his head on my lap.
“I’ve completely fallen for him,” I admit softly, while looking out at the water as it takes on the pinkish color of the sky above.
“You’re scared,” she whispers, reading my tone, and my eyes close briefly.
“Terrified,” I whisper back, taking another sip of wine. “Two days ago, he brought all my stuff upstairs from the room I had been staying in when I got here, and told me to unpack. He had cleaned out some drawers for me and made room in his closet.”
“He’s not messing around.”
“He’s not,” I agree, biting my lip. “It’s all happening so fast. Do you think it’s too fast?” It’s the same question I’ve been asking myself for the last week.
“Does it feel right?” she asks back, and I don’t even have to think about my answer.
“Yes.”
“Then it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you’re going.”
God, I love my best friend, and I miss her.
“I miss you.”
“I miss you too, which is why I’m planning a trip to come see you in a couple of weeks.”
“Really?”
“Really. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to stay for too long this time, but I figure I can always come back. Maybe over the summer for a few weeks?”
“You can always come back, and you know you’re welcome anytime,” I say, looking forward to introducing her to Colton and his family, maybe even Tide and Olivia.
“How’s your grandma?”
On that question, pain hits my chest and radiates through me, making my stomach twist. “Not good. She’s back to being withdrawn. She’s… I don’t know. She’s just not herself, or the self she was when I first got here.”
“What are the doctors saying?” she asks, sounding worried.
“Nothing new, that it’s the progression of the disease.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” I set my wine glass on the ground at my feet so I can run my fingers through the fur on top of Loki’s head.
“What’s going on with the arson investigation and the house?”
“I haven’t heard from the detective again since the last time we spoke. Colton and Tide helped me get everything from Grandma’s house that I could salvage, and I’ve slowly been going through it all, but there’s a lot of stuff. I also contacted her insurance company a week ago, and they told me they are still looking into the claim and doing an investigation of their own.”
“Hopefully they’ll get that all sorted out soon.”
“I hope so,” I let out a breath. “Grandma’s insurance is covering her right now, but I don’t know if that will last long term. If it doesn’t, I’m going to have to find a way to pay for her to stay at the nursing home until I can sell the house for her.”
“Let me know if you need me to help you out.”
“It should be okay. Except to pay for school, I still haven’t touched the little bit of money my dad left me. If I need to, I’ll use that.”
“Still, you know you can ask me and I’l
l give you whatever I can.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s what best friends are for.”
“So when do I get to be the one to save you?” I joke.
“You got suspended for beating up Nick Krouger when we were eight when he put gum in my hair. I think we’re even.”
“I enjoyed beating him up,” I mutter, and she laughs. It’s not a lie. I did enjoy it. He was a bully; he picked on everyone all the time. And after I punched him in the nose, he stopped doing that and actually became a good friend.
“Speaking of beating people up, how are things with Colton’s ex?”
“She’s been quiet. I don’t know if her dad talking to her worked, but she hasn’t been around again.” I say leaving out the fact that her friends did come by the bar when Colton’s friend Evan was in town with his girlfriend June.
“That’s good.”
“It is. Hopefully it stays that way,” I sigh.
“I hate to let you go, but I need to get to sleep, I have court in the morning at eight, but I need to be up by five to go over a few things before I head into the city.”
“Get some sleep.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Call me soon. Don’t wait so long next time.”
“I won’t,” I promise, hanging up when she does. Dropping my cell phone into my lap, I bend over and place my face close to Loki’s. “You get to meet my best friend soon,” I tell him, burying both my hands in the fur on either side of his head, and he lets out a huff then his ears perk up.
Hearing the purr of a motorcycle engine getting closer, I lift my head and watch Colton pull up and park in front of the house. I knew he would be a sight to behold on his bike, but I had no idea just how turned on I would get seeing him straddle the seat, put on his black helmet, and start the engine this morning. When I saw all that, I wanted to run out the door after him and make him come back inside to take care of me. It was even hotter than when he came to get his keys in the middle of the night before the fire happened.
As Loki takes off down the steps to greet Colton, I pick up my wine glass and walk over to the railing. I lean against it, smiling as he takes off his helmet and puts it on the seat behind him before running his hand through his hair.