Page 71 of Forbidden Secrets
Moving in front of him, she laid her hands on his chest.His dark eyes held a storm of emotion.
“You can’t think you could’ve protected your dad from a drunk driver.Or your mom from that pain.”
“Our emotional baggage isn’t always rational.I remember Mom wrecked with grief and nothing I could do made it better.My sister Janie was a toddler and needed to be looked after.I tried my best to protect her, but she died too.”
“What happened to Janie?”
His gaze was on his fingers as he threaded them through her hair.“Fucking cancer when she was twelve.Her diagnosis was acute myelogenous leukemia.”
Melanie took his hands, holding them to her chest as she moved between his legs.She understood him enough to know revealing vulnerability wasn’t something he did easily.
“Oh Gage.I can’t imagine how awful that was for you and your mom.How old were you when Janie died?”
“Seventeen.And yeah, it was hard.Janie always seemed frail, even when she was a baby.I remember sneaking into her room at night to sleep with her because I was worried she’d need me, and I wouldn’t be there for her.Then there was a period when she was five or six and she would sleepwalk.I was afraid she’d fall down the stairs so I’d sleep on the floor in front of her door.Figured she’d have to get past me to get to the stairs.”
“But she still died.”
“Yeah, she did.”
“And your partner died.”
He nodded.Melanie let go of his hands so she could wrap her arms around him.It felt perfectly natural when his arms circled her, cradling her against him, her head tucked under his chin.
“You’re hardwired to be a protector, Gage.You won’t like it, but I think it’s noble.”
He shook his head and held her closer.She had the uneasy feeling that her feelings for him were speeding past like and admiration and catapulting straight into love.She’d always safeguarded her heart, but Gage had managed to blast through those fortifications as if they were made with balsa wood.
“You feel it, Mel?What’s between us?”
How could she deny it?Face pressed to his chest, she nodded.“It’s so damn scary.”
“I know.It’s scary for me too,” he whispered.“I won’t let you down.”
Listening to the steady beating of his heart, she held tight.He gave really good hugs.She wanted to believe he wouldn’t let her down.It was hard when a voice in her head kept reminding her to be cautious, to be careful about trusting someone, that the stakes were too high.
She didn’t know how long they stayed like that until he loosened his hold and pressed a kiss to her forehead.“Tea’s getting cold.”
She pushed aside the spreadsheet and her laptop.They brought the steaming mugs and plated cinnamon rolls to the table.
“You were making calls this evening.Turn up anything?”
“As a matter of fact.”Melanie forked up a bite of pastry and groaned as she chewed.“Let it be said, Cam is a genius.Apple pie cinnamon rolls are the best.”
“Agreed.”
She sipped her tea.“Still no response from Grafton.”
“His access to email will be limited, and he may not have a way to respond.Generally, emails are printed and delivered to the inmate.”
She sighed.“It’s worth a try.But I did make contact with someone else on our list.I talked with Greg Delano.He was on the football team and a friend of Chase’s.”
“What’d you find out?”
“He lives in Denver and confirmed he’d hung out with Rhonda Lockwood at the bootlegger.Turns out Greg always had a thing for Rhonda and when she showed up that night without Josh, he figured it was his chance.”
“They hooked up?”
“They did.In the back of his daddy’s Chevy pickup where Greg had a sleeping bag.”
