Especially not when it came to a highly virile dragon.
Charlotte patted my hand that was lying on the counter, leaving a small smudge of flour on my knuckle. “That’s how us women are built, my dear. When we give our bodies, we give our hearts. When men give their bodies, well…” She looked up as if trying to come up with the right words.
“They give their bodies,” both Kimberly and I finished in unison, and then the three of us dissolved into laughter. My heart soared with affection for both of them. I had missed having girlfriends around.
“Yes. So that’s off the table,” I said.
“Well, we’ll see,” Charlotte replied.
“No evil plotting,” I warned. Secretly, though, my heart was warmed to know Charlotte wanted to see a true relationship between Grayson and me. Perhaps, for her, it was mostly because she didn’t believe in the fake marriage we’d arranged—making it real would allow her to be happy for Grayson, rather than disappointed for him.
“Oh, no,” Charlotte said unconvincingly. “At least not so I get caught.”
I laughed softly and took a sip of my coffee. I was tempted to ask Charlotte about some of the things I’d learned about Grayson the other night, especially regarding Vanessa. But one, I didn’t feel exactly right talking about those things behind his back, and two, Kimberly was there.
“Will he forgive you?” I asked Charlotte.
“Oh, eventually. This right here,” she said, nodding to the dough in her hand, “is for his favorite blueberry scones. He likes them with jam and cream. He’ll act angry for a couple days just to preserve his pride, but after a few of these, he really won’t be.” She held up a finger. “Oh, that reminds me, Kira. I’ll need to go to the south field to collect the apricots so ripe they’re falling on the ground. Do you want to help me make a couple batches of my apricot jam?”
“Sure. I made strawberry preserves with my grandmother once,” I said, thinking back fondly to that day.
“I love this place,” Kimberly said again. “I think you belong here, Kira.”
Her words alternately brought me happiness and dread because I was beginning to love a lot of things about this place too.
And as we sat in the warm kitchen, fragrant with the smells of blueberries and coffee, eating oatmeal honey muffins, Charlotte prattling on about her weekend trip, it suddenly hit me: Grayson had said that, for all intents and purposes, he’d grown up with no parents at all. I still didn’t understand the exact dynamics of that situation. But he’d been wrong on one account. He’d had parents all along. Their names were Walter and Charlotte Popplewell, and they loved him as if he were their own. I wondered if Grayson even realized it.
After a little while, Kimberly told me she had to get going. I walked her outside, and as we stood at her car, she smiled. “This has been such a nice visit. I meant what I said.” She looked around at the Hawthorn property. “It feels like you fit here.” She studied my face for a second. “But take care of yourself. I couldn’t bear to see you hurt again, Kira Kat.”
I gave her a brief smile. “I will, I promise.”
She looked away for a moment. “I almost hate to tell you this, after seeing how well you’re doing here—”
My heart sank. “My dad’s been calling you, hasn’t he?” I asked, guessing immediately. She always got the same tight look on her face whenever my dad came to her mind.
“He’s called several times, even hinting once that if I didn’t get you to call him, he’d pull some strings at Andy’s job somehow—and I don’t think he means to get him a promotion.”
“That controlling bastard.” I seethed. Kim’s husband, Andy, was a police dispatcher, and I supposed it wasn’t out of the scope of the impossible that my father had some pull at the San Francisco Police Department, but for my father to even consider that? Was there no limit to the depths he would sink to control me?
Kimberly put a comforting hand on my arm. “Now listen. I didn’t tell you that so you’d contact him on our account. Andy is a little bit worried, but frankly, we’d rather collect unemployment than let your father influence our lives. I just thought you should be aware. Who knows what else he’s up to. It might be best for you to go to him now, so he doesn’t figure out where you are before you’re ready and show up here.”
I shivered at the thought alone. I agreed though. And I would not let this become my friend’s problem. “I will. Thanks, Kimberly.” Please let that marriage license come soon. I just needed to cash that check first…
I hugged her tightly, promising to visit soon and update her frequently, and then I watched her car drive out the gate.
I turned, staring blindly at the nonworking fountain, wondering what it would look like when it was fixed and flowing, wondering how far it was down on Grayson’s list of priorities. Grayson… He had spent the entire weekend in a state of utter torment thanks to Charlotte, and yet he’d selflessly cared for me, soothing my fever, and making sure I was never alone. Apparently, I’d been wrong about the Dragon, in some ways at least. He wasn’t the uncaring beast I’d originally thought. I pondered momentarily how he’d been betrayed by his brother, father, and stepmother. He was just a man—a man who held deep hurts and was trying his best to get by in a situation that, until me, had offered very little hope.
And I thought again about how I knew he’d been wronged not only by his own father but by mine too. Would he understand why I hadn’t mentioned that if he knew? I thought about telling him now… Only, our plan hadn’t changed. We would still part ways soon enough. What purpose would it serve?
My mind filled with worries, I wandered back into the house and headed toward the office—the room where I’d first officially met Grayson Hawthorn. I sat down at the large desk and started rifling through the pile of new mail Charlotte must have retrieved from the mailbox when she returned this morning, along with the large pile of old, unopened envelopes, separating it all into three piles: what looked like bills, junk, and personal correspondence. There were several unopened letters addressed to Grayson in what looked like a feminine script. I set those aside, but when I came to a postcard with the picture of a bicycle leaning against a tree and turned it over, I noticed the same handwriting and that it was dated very recently. I hesitated only briefly before letting my eyes drift away from the address to the message.
Grayson,
Remember when we were thirteen and I splashed mud all over you with my bike and felt so bad? You told me it was impossible to stay mad at me for long. I’m praying you still have it in your heart to forgive me. I’ll never stop trying…
All my love, Vanessa.
Vanessa. All my love? She still loved him? She was trying to persuade Grayson to forgive her? For marrying his brother? A strange ache had settled in my chest, making my skin feel prickly. I didn’t like it. And I didn’t like that I didn’t like it. Because none of it was my business.
I started to put the most recent mail aside, deciding I was done with the task, when I came upon a business envelope addressed to me. I sucked in a breath, tearing it open. I let out a small shriek, the prickly feeling dissolving into hopeful excitement when I saw that it was our official marriage license. I tossed the other mail onto the desk and walked quickly to the front door, calling toward Charlotte in the kitchen, “I’m going into town. I’ll be back soon.”