Page 22 of Rival Hearts

I refolded the paper, and when the creases wouldn’t fall into line, I crumpled it up. When Grady’s Superman photo somehow ended up on top, I groaned in frustration.

“Why? Why?” I gestured to the photo.

Lila slid a foot closer to the door. “He’s very photogenic.”

“You’re not helping.” I looked up from the mess of newsprint on my desk. “Where are you going?”

“Um, well.” Lila stumbled, her hand on the doorknob.

“Am I interrupting?” Emily’s strawberry-blond head appeared in the cracked open door.

“Nope. Nope. Not at all. I was leaving.” Lila patted Emily on the shoulder. “Good luck, soldier.”

Emily laughed.

My frown deepened.

As she approached my desk, Emily’s eyes strayed to the paper. “You’ve seen it.”

“Yes. All of it. Two photos on the front. Both of them make Grady look like some sort of sex god, and I look like an enraged lunatic. And then, you know, all the other stuff circulating because of hisdaringrescue.” Although my tone was mocking, nothing was a lie or false. His genuine desire to help people, to do the right thing, shook me to the core.

“It’s not quite that bad.”

“It’s that bad. You heard Lila use thesoldierword, so you know it’s bad.”

Emily chuckled and slid into one of the chairs across from me. “You should probably sit down and do some deep breathing exercises.”

“It won’t help.”

“It will. It works all the time with Amir.”

“Your son is four.”

“Exactly.”

In a huff, I eased down into my chair and leaned back. It wasn’t so much the photos. The bigger issue was how the photos made me feel, how seeing Grady racing off to Sabrina’s rescue had made me feel, how seeing him being carried away made my heart squeeze so painfully in my chest that I almost couldn’t breathe. After the third deep breath, I nodded at Emily.

A small smile spread across her face. “We need to chat, and you’re not going to like it.”

“This morning already feels like a dumpster fire. Let’s add more fuel to it.”

“I think you should call Trent and invite him to help Grady.”

“No.” I pressed my hands into the desk and rose again, my heart rate climbing once more. “No.”

“The last few days have been golden for Grady. He could literally take a shit in the middle of Main Street right now and people would covet it. That’s how golden he is. People will believe he’s shitting gold bars.”

The imagery was disgusting and priceless. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Tell me it’s not true.”

“You know I can’t. I mean, I’ve heard the buzz around town. He’s in a frigging Superman costume in the weekly paper.”

“His kryptonite is his convict brother.”

“Don’tsay that.”

“A few people’s kids went down in the bust with Trent. Voters have long memories.”

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