Page 48 of Keeping You

It only takes a few minutes until we reach the town’s downtown area. I’m not sure you can really use the word downtown to describe it, though. It’s small and looks like it’s only a few streets with almost everything situated on Main Street. Grayson parks outside the grocery store, and we head inside. While he grabs his items, I grab some snacks and meet him at the checkout. When we’ve finished, we leave everything in the back of the car and Grayson grabs a couple of collapsable lawn chairs. We walk a few blocks up the road, and I see people starting to gather on the side of the road. People are sitting in lawn chairs, kids are bouncing up and down, some of themholding water guns. Grayson selects an empty spot and takes the chairs out. As we settle in them, a woman in her late forties approaches us.

“Oh, Grayson, I heard you were in town making a fuss with your wife. This must be her.” She reaches a hand out to me, and I shake it. “I’m Trixie,” she says.

“Hannah.” I smile at her.

She pats the top of my hand with her free one before releasing it. “Well, it’s so nice to meet the woman who locked down our boy Grayson. We weren’t sure what was going to happen after everything him and Rebecca went through, but we knew he’s a strong boy.”

I give her a fake smile and say, “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Who the hell is Rebecca, and what the hell happened between them?

“Well, I just thought I’d come say hi. I’ll let you two enjoy the parade.”

As she walks away, I watch Grayson shift uncomfortably in his chair. I can tell right now is not the time to have this conversation, so I push it to the side to ask him later once we’re back at the house.

When the parade starts, the excitement from everyone is palpable. Kids run into the street, grabbing pieces of candy, and when the fire trucks make their way past, the kids spray the firefighters with their water guns. I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. When the parade ends, we pack the chairs back into their bags. Grayson throws them over his shoulder as we make our way off Main Street and down one that has tents set up with tables underneath showcasing different items. It’s a little market set up down a few blocks. Grayson lets me drag him from stand to stand as I check out everything.

I find a gorgeous pair of earrings and a matching necklace that were handmade by a local woman. I also get a print of blackbears drinking from a nearby river. Halfway down the market, Grayson’s hand slips into mine and I intertwine my fingers with his. We stop at a booth that has a bunch of silly things to take pictures with. I grab the pair of maple leaf glasses that have the wordCANADAprinted above them and wrap a red-and-white boa around Grayson’s neck. He pulls me into his side, and we take a few selfies. I make faces at the camera, and he follows suit. I giggle as he sticks out his tongue and bugs out his eyes. He pokes his fingers into my side, tickling me and causing me to squeal as I squirm and fight to get away from him. I finally escape his grip, and he holds his hands up and makes a tickle motion with his fingers and I giggle as I take another step back. I find a few photos I like and post them to my Instagram.

Enjoying small town life on Canada Day!

We take the items off and continue making our way through the booths. We’re at the second to last booth where I’m looking at a beautiful amber necklace when a woman asks, “Grayson?”

Grayson becomes very still next to me, his grip on my hand tightening. We turn and come face-to-face with a beautiful brunette woman. She’s about an inch shorter than I am and has a few more curves. She looks hesitant as her eyes bounce between Grayson and me. Her eyes finally stop on me, and she reaches a hand out as she introduces herself as Rebecca.

Is this the Rebecca Trixie was talking about earlier?

“It’s nice to see you, Grayson, how have you been?”

Grayson gives my hand a quick squeeze before he says, “Good.”

She smiles. It’s a soft genuine smile that causes the corner of her eyes to crinkle.

“I’m glad.” Her eyes come back to me. “I heard you got married. It was talk of the town last night after what happened with Davis in the bar.”

He grips the back of his neck. “Yeah, it’s quite new. We got married about six weeks ago.”

“That’s great.” She shuffles from foot to foot before she asks, “Have you visited the site yet?”

Grayson shakes his head. “No. I’ll go before we go home.”

She nods, and I feel so completely lost. What is their connection, and what site is she wanting Grayson to visit?

A little brunette boy, followed by a tall man who looks like his father, comes waddling up to us as he calls, “Mama! Mama!”

Rebecca spins and crouches, picking the boy up. “Hi, baby,” she coos.

The energy radiating off of Grayson right now has me knowing I need to get him out of this situation. I don’t know what he’s feeling, but he’s not well.

“Well, it’s been nice meeting you. We should probably get going. We have some things to prep before tonight,” I say, and that snaps Grayson out of his fog.

He says goodbye, and we make our way back towards the car. We make the walk in complete silence. When we get inside, he leans his head back against the headrest and closes his eyes as he takes deep breaths. I’ve never seen Grayson respond to any situation with such a visceral reaction. I give him his space to process, because I know sitting here in the car in the middle of town is not the place to try to have a conversation with him about what just happened.

After a minute, he starts the car and begins the drive back to his parents’ place.

When we get there, he helps upload the bags into the kitchen before turning to me and saying, “I just need a few minutes. I’ll be back,” and walking out the back door.

CHAPTER 18

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