Page 65 of Sins of the Fathers
A week had passed since the rescue on the mountain. The newspaper in the town closest to the cabin reported a “fire of unknown origin” at an abandoned building, speculating about lightning strikes from the wild storm that night.
Gibson’s magic had cleansed Grady’s wounds, which he deemed to be at risk for infection because they were caused by a fae weapon. He hastened healing but couldn’t completely prevent scarring, leaving Grady with a thin, jagged, pink scar at his throat and on one wrist.
Grady felt self-conscious about the scars, even though he sometimes rubbed the one on his wrist without thinking.
“They’re beautiful,” Dawson said, not for the first time, although Grady still didn’t quite believe him. “They mean you’re still here with me.” He lifted Grady’s hand and kissed the raised pink lines. “Never hide them. They’re battle scars. Be proud of them. Just like I’m proud of you.”
Grady felt his cheeks color and tightened his grip on Dawson’s hand. “You saved me. I’m proud of you too.”
He had welcomed going back to the utter normalcy of the auto body shop as soon as he had recovered enough to last a full day. Nightmares still woke him, but he hoped those would gradually fade.Our lives create lots of fodder for bad dreams. Goes with the territory.
Gibson and Tucker had wrapped up their part of the case and headed back to Tennessee with a promise to help out when needed. Knox made a full recovery, which meant he and Colt went back to their apartment, and Denny got his house to himself again.
Sheriff Rollins had let Denny know that the surviving HDF and SPS members were being brought up on a long list of charges, and he hoped that taking a hard line would remind others that they weren’t welcome on Cunanoon Mountain. Coming from the grouchy lawman, that was the next best thing to an olive branch.
Grady realized that he’d been lost in thought when he looked up and couldn’t immediately recognize the scenery. “Where are we?” he asked as they wound up a twisty mountain road with beautiful scenery and a steep drop to one side.
“It’s a nice day,” Dawson said, keeping his eyes on the road. “Thought we could take the long way home.”
Grady knew the area well enough to realize this route didn’t take them home. He stayed quiet, wondering what was going on.
Near the crest, Dawson pulled off at a scenic overlook. They got out and walked to the stone wall, looking over the mountains that were bathed in the late afternoon sun. Dawson wrapped his arms around Grady from behind, and Grady snuggled back against him.
“It’s beautiful,” Grady said, taking in the view. “It looks so peaceful. Hard to believe from up here all the crazy that goes on.”
“I don’t care about the crazy as long as I’m with you,” Dawson murmured, nuzzling Grady’s ear.
It took Grady a moment to realize what was happening when Dawson slid down to his knees and turned him around to face him. Grady was just about to make a smart remark about scenic blow jobs when he realized Dawson had a small black box in his hand.
“Grady King. You are everything to me. I want us to be together forever. Will you marry me?” Dawson sounded nervous, and the worry in his eyes was at odds with his big smile. He opened the box to reveal two matching rings.
Grady folded his hands around Dawson’s and the box and sank to his knees to face him. “Yes. I’ll marry you. I never want us to be apart again.” He leaned forward and kissed Dawson slow and deep.
When he pulled back, they were both flushed. Dawson took one of the rings and slipped it on the third finger of Grady’s right hand. Grady did the same with the other ring, catching his breath as he pushed it onto Dawson’s finger.
“A promise—until we get a ceremony scheduled, and we can move it to the other hand,” Dawson said. Grady kissed him again.
“I love you,” he told Dawson. “I think I’ve always been in love with you. We’ve been everything to each other—adding ‘husbands’ makes it complete.”
Dawson pressed his lips to their joined hands. “I love you too. Let’s go home and celebrate. I’ve got some ideas to make it a verymemorableevening to seal the promise. We deserve a break. Someone else can save the world—at least for tonight.”
