“No shit?” Spencer asked, opening it. “She’s gonna fucking love it.”
“Yeah?” Brick paused to admire the brushed gold band with its scattering of inset diamonds and jewels. He’d known it was hers the second he’d seen it in the shop that afternoon.
“Yeah. It’s artsy. It’s a little chaotic. A lot cool. Just like your girl. Congratulations, man.”
“Thanks.” Brick tucked the box back in the drawer.
“Know when you’re doing it?”
As soon as he could get her father’s blessing and then her alone.
“Soon,” he said. “She’s a snooper. She’ll find it sooner rather than later.”
Spencer grinned and paused in the doorway again. “Hey, thanks for letting Dad be here. It means a lot to him. And me.”
Brick cleared his throat and nodded.
“And just because I’ve never said it, and Audrey opened a couple of bottles of wine before dinner, and I’ve got a happy buzz going, I’ve always looked up to you, and that’s never once changed. You’re a hell of a guy, Brick. I hope I’m just like you when I grow up.”
His throat tight, Brick grabbed his brother in an affectionate headlock and ruffled his hair. “You’re the best guy I know, Spence. Now get the fuck out.”
It took him ten minutes to get Gilbert’s attention and wrangle the man out onto the front porch away from the pre-dinner chaos unfolding inside.
“If this is about my bar back performance the other night—” Gil began.
Brick hid his smile. “It’s not. You were great, and Darius and I are happy to have you aboard.”
Gilbert perked up. “Thank God. I thought you were firing me!”
“No. But I do need to ask you something. Something not bar related.” Brick felt the words get stuck in his throat. This man had been more of a father to him than his own. How could he ask him to trust him with his daughter’s future?
“I’m all ears,” the man said, straightening his sweater vest and picking up a nearly overflowing glass of wine.
“What’s all this?” Darlene Ford, still in uniform, demanded as she trudged up the porch steps. “Ooh! Wine.” She took the glass from her husband and drank deeply.
Gilbert slung an arm around his wife’s waist. “Well, it’s Family Dinner Night. Kimber and Kyle are reconciling. It looks like Spencer and Audrey are finally hooking up. And Brick here is trying to work up the nerve to ask for my blessing to marry Remi.”
Chief Ford paused, mid-swallow, to eye Brick over the rim of the glass.
Brick was hot and cold all over. It was like a spotlight was on him, and he’d forgotten all his lines.
Darlene handed the wine back to her husband. She looked Brick up and down and nodded briskly.
“It’s about fucking time,” she said.
Then she grabbed his face and gave him a smacking kiss right on the mouth. “Welcome to the family.” With that, she opened the front door and went inside yelling, “What’s for dinner?”
Brick stared after her open-mouthed. “Uh…I…”
Gilbert clapped him on the shoulder. “I don’t have much more to add besides I can’t imagine a better man for our girl. You’ve loved her through the bright spots and the dark. You’ve never once not been there for her. Never once not protected her even from herself. A father can’t ask for anything more than that. And I know I’ve had a lot of wine, but I would be honored to call you son.”
Brick’s throat felt like it was on fire. His eyes watered, blurring everything in front of him. He swallowed hard, barely managing to rasp a “Thank you.”
Gilbert gave his shoulder a squeeze. Brick couldn’t tell through the blur, but Gilbert’s eyes looked a little shiny, too. “Thank you for loving my wild child exactly as she is.”
He didn’t even flinch when Gilbert planted a kiss on him, then slapped his cheek a little too hard. “Congratulations. Now let’s eat before we’re all shit-faced.”
52
Dinner with everyone crammed into Brick’s dining room felt festive. As if wine, good food, and music somehow managed to block out the bad that lurked just beyond their little island. Camille was deep in conversation with Kimber and their father, filling them in on Remi’s gallery exhibitions.
Even Brick seemed lighter than he had when he came home. He ate left-handed just so he could hold her hand under the table, his thumb brushing possessively over her ring finger again and again.
Brick Callan was going to ask her to marry him. And she was going to say yes.
She felt like she was ready to burst. Like it was Christmas Eve, and there was a pile of presents waiting for her under the tree. Only Brick was bigger and better than any present, and a lifetime with him would last longer than any Christmas morning.
Good things were in store for them. All of them, she thought, looking at the way Kyle watched Kimber like he was seeing her for the first time. Spencer and Audrey seemed to be sharing a secret joke at the end of the table. William was answering Hadley’s questions about what it was like to be an investigator.
The shrill ring of her mother’s phone cut through the chatter.
“This is the Chief.”
Remi felt Brick tense next to her as a text came in on his.
Tension replaced the relaxed vibe in the room.
“Pick me up on the way,” Darlene said, pushing out of her chair and squeezing her husband’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Remi asked, reaching out to clasp Camille’s hand.
“It’s a fire,” Brick said as he rose, giving her hand one last squeeze. “The Grand Hotel.”
He followed Darlene out of the room.
“I can’t leave her unprotected,” she heard him say to her mother.
“I know. Call Brice. No reason she and White should get any sleep tonight if we’re not.”
Brick swore, and Remi heard him taking the stairs two at a time.
Darlene was on the phone again, and everyone else stepped out onto the porch. The Grand Hotel was around the bend and uphill, but there was an eerie glow in the night sky.
“This has nothing to do with Warren,” Remi reassured Camille. But her friend didn’t look so sure.
“Dad,” Brick, in uniform again, poked his head out of the door.
William stepped inside, leaving the door ajar. Remi waited a beat and followed. They had their heads together in the dining room.
“This is a big ask. She’s the most important thing in the world to me, and I don’t trust the feds. I need you to keep her safe—both of them—until I get back.”
William nodded solemnly. “I’ll do whatever it takes. You and Remi have something real and right. I won’t let anything happen to her. I promise you that.”
Remi’s eyes misted when Brick squeezed his father’s shoulder.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Turk’s here with the car,” Darlene said, opening the front door.
Brick spotted Remi in the hallway.
“I can’t leave until they’re here,” he said.
Her mom gave him the nod. “We’ll see you up there then.”