“Ugh!” she shrieked, making her older sister laugh. Becca shuddered and passed Oscar back to her. “Mom and Dad are crazy to ban me from seeing you. Hearing that is enough to keep me from having sex. Forever.”
Meredith tried to laugh at that, but she couldn’t.
Becca apparently saw the hurt, because her laughter died too.
“They pray for you every night, you know,” her little sister said.
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t need prayers. I need my mom and dad.”
Tears filled Becca’s eyes. “Well, you’ve got me.”
Meredith’s phone chimed in her lap, pulling her out of the memory. She wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands and tried to read the text through the blur of tears.
Gray:Are you still here?
“Oh, shit.” She scrambled to her feet and wiped her eyes again with her sleeve.
Meredith:Just about to leave. Do you need anything before I go?
Gray:Would you let the dogs out into the back yard for a few minutes?
Meredith started moving through the house while she typed.
Meredith:Of course.
Juno and Vulcan knew exactly where she was headed. They led her to the French doors along the back of the living room, and Vulcan even scratched at the exit with impatience. As soon as she opened the door, both dogs took off across the porch and into the back yard, sending squirrels scurrying up two great oak trees.
Meredith stepped out onto the broad wooden planks of the porch, admiring the view. A cypress rocker, a cypress swing, and an outdoor settee formed a welcoming space. She made her way down the steps and into the yard. A brick skirt fanned out past the porch steps, and Meredith stood there, waiting for the dogs to do their business. The trees made an otherworldly canopy over the yard, their dark branches and leaves filtering the already muted winter light. The resurrection fern that covered most of their limbs only added to the fairytale feel of the yard.
It was stunning.
Meredith wiped her eyes again, breathing in the cold January air and welcoming the natural beauty.
Sometimes she let herself cry about her parents, but only when she was alone. That left the shower and her pillow — but only when Jamie was offshore and only after Oscar went to sleep.
But she hadn’t even made the choice in Gray Blakewood’s kitchen. The tears just came. Under the shelter of the oak trees, she let them fall unchecked.
CHAPTER SIX
GRAY HAD LIED.
Against all odds, he’d not had a headache when Meredith Ryan arrived. He was hiding again. When she knocked, he’d known exactly who was at his door, and, like a coward, had grabbed his laptop off the kitchen island and retreated to the bedroom.
As soon as she came in, Gray had wanted her to leave. He contemplated sending her away for good, but he was almost certain Bax would be checking in with her to keep tabs on him. If Gray fired her, he’d have his brother back in his face before the weekend was out.
But she’d surprised him with her apologies and her kindness. He’d heard her tell Bax she’d make him cookies, but he hadn’t really thought she’d do it. Not on her first day. And her line about cornflakes amused him. Who put cornflakes in cookies?
He’d let himself forget how beautiful she was until she took the dogs into the back yard. Unable to help himself, he walked to the window and peeked through the blinds.
When she stepped off the porch onto the brick patio, he knew he hadn’t been mistaken. For the second time in two days, he looked at her and couldn’t pull his eyes away.
Beautiful and tiny.
If Bax hadn’t said she was a nursing student, Gray would have thought she was still in high school. But that was because she was so petite. She stood in his back yard wearing black leggings and an ivory sweater that slouched off her shoulder and hung past her hips. The leggings and her boots accented her shapely legs, but Gray could see there was little of her to spare. Still, what little there was, indeed, was all woman.
“I’m a creep,” he whispered to himself, ashamed to be secretly ogling a girl he now employed.
As soon as the words were out, she turned her face directly toward him, and he froze, fearing she’d heard. But then he watched her wipe her eyes. Her head bowed and her shoulders shook.