Page 39 of Guarding Over You
Clay leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed.
Not surprising he’d take that stance.
When Clay returned over two years ago, the one who badgered him the most was Blaze. Wanting to know if the older brother who was a different person was riding the line of “fine’” or “lying” more than Charles Ponzi.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said.
“Try. It’s not like I haven’t been there if it’s what I think.”
Blaze looked up at the ceiling, letting his thoughts swirl in his brain. “I like her more than being friendly.” He put his hand to his stomach. “She’s got me right here.” His fingers inched to travel to his chest, but that would be silly right now.
“Have you met the kid?”
“Gracie. She’s six. Yes. Shy, but came around quickly. Guess that’s not normal. Or it was normal for her before her father turned into a bigger dick and scared her.”
“Which has to eat at you.”
“You have no idea.”
“So she gets this letter on the windshield, but Arden doesn’t think it’s from her ex?”
“She’s not sure. She doesn’t want to be clouded by it. It’s easy to think it’s him. They are fighting. Guess he’s got a girlfriend he wants Gracie to meet. Sounds as if he just follows his dick around, which is how he got messed up into the drugs more.”
At least from what he was putting together.
“Nothing else is going on in her life? No other ex or guy that has their eye on her?”
“Not that I can see or that she’s admitting. I don’t picture her the lying type. She carries a lot of guilt around for staying in the marriage as long as she had and how it affected her daughter.”
“As she should.”
“Don’t be an ass, Clay.”
“Just saying how I see it. What’s next?”
Typical Clay response. Brutally honest, then moving on.
“Not sure. She has my number if she needs me.”
“But you’re not going to wait for her to call. You can’t. Not if you’re coming here for this. So what isyournext move?”
His cheeks puffed out as the breath escaped his mouth and lungs. “Not sure yet. I start my rotation tomorrow. I may or may not see her for a few days. She’s off weekends as far as I know. Or she could have to cover a shift now and again. I never asked.”
Nor had he paid any attention to those things in the past.
He was there to do his job and she was there to do hers.
“She’s within walking distance for you to pop down and check on her. Kind of like you did yesterday.”
“If she hadn’t looked as if she wanted to throttle someone, I might have gone into my place without stopping down.”
“Bullshit. You would have found some other reason to be neighborly. You’ve got it in your blood like us all. This is more than a cute woman and young kid you want to protect. That’s thefirst in your mind, but the second is riding high on the coattail and you’re trying to navigate that.”
“Since when do you give dating advice? Meredith had to all but fall in front of you for you to do anything. Oh wait, she did that multiple times while you tried to push her away.”
“Good thing she’s stronger than anyone gave her credit for.”
Like Arden. He saw it, knew it, and it’d come in handy.
