She kept her gaze glued to the sidewalk. “They said they would take me. I reminded them every single day from the middle of June until the weekend the carnival arrived. They promised me that we would go to the carnival as a family.”
“What happened?” Gideon said.
“I woke up the morning of my birthday and came downstairs to find Mrs. Wilson sitting at the kitchen table. My parents had decided on a whim to do a long weekend getaway, just the two of them, and asked Mrs. Wilson to babysit me.”
“Fuck,” Gideon said.
“They’d given Mrs. Wilson some money to take me to the carnival, but I refused to go. I spent my eleventh birthday in my room listening to the carnival music drifting in through the window and crying my eyes out.”
She smiled a little. “I always was a bit of a drama queen.”
“That’s not being a drama queen,” Gideon said. “Why didn’t you tell my mom? She and Dad would have taken you to the carnival.”
“Because I wanted it to be my parents,” she said. “I loved your mom and dad, you know I did, but just once…”
“I get it,” he said.
She risked a glance at him, hating the pity she saw in his eyes. “Don’t, Gideon. Don’t pity me.”
“I’m not,” he said.
“You are. I don’t need your pity. I’m fine. Maybe I didn’t have great parents, but I turned out okay. I don’t have any lingering emotional damage and I… I’m fine.”
He didn’t reply and, suddenly exhausted mentally and physically, she rubbed at the back of her neck. “I have a bit of a headache. Do you mind if we do some more donation stuff later?”
“Sure,” he said. “Are you coming to the meeting at Wanda’s on Wednesday?”
“Yes,” she said. “See you then?”
He nodded and opened her door for her. She climbed in and clicked in her seatbelt. “Thanks, Gideon.”
“For what?”
“For listening, for your moral support with my parents. For,” she smiled a little, “not calling my parents assholes to their faces.”
He studied her for a moment before letting go of her door and stepped back. “Drive safe, Gracie.”
Chapter Ten
“Yay, I’m not the only late one.” Rayna had just climbed out of her car when Grace parked behind her on the street.
“Hey, Rayna. Yeah, we had an emergency at work, and I stayed to help Grant with the root canal. I shouldn’t have gone home to change out of my scrubs but…” Grace shrugged.
“That’s a super cute top,” Rayna said.
“Thanks.” Grace tried not to blush. She really should have just left the clinic and gone straight to Wanda’s house. Instead, she’d raced home, had a quick shower and then spent way more time than usual on her makeup and her outfit. But she’d wanted to look good, and this shirt really did make her tits look amazing.
Waste of time, Gracie-Lou. Just because you saw a bit of the old Gideon on Monday doesn’t mean he’s gonna fuck you.
“Did you have an animal rescue emergency?” she said to Rayna as they walked up Wanda’s driveway.
“Nope, not this time. Plumbing emergency. Client’s kid shoved an entire hand towel down the toilet and then flushed. It was an epic clog… one of the top five of my career. Took me a serious amount of time to get the towel out. Kids, man.”
Grace laughed and knocked on the front door. “You must see a lot of weird stuff.”
“You have no idea,” Rayna said with a grin. “And if you have a sensitive stomach – you don’t want to hear the stories.”
“Ladies, welcome!” Wanda opened the door and smiled at them.
“Sorry I’m late again,” Grace said.
“No problem. C’mon in, we’re all in the dining room.”
Grace followed Wanda and Rayna into the dining room, smoothing her top self-consciously. Maybe wearing such a tight shirt hadn’t been such a good idea. She was at a volunteer meeting, not a bar, for God’s sake.
Too late now, Gracie.
She stepped into the room, her gaze automatically seeking out Gideon. Familiar jealousy pitted in her stomach. He was sitting next to Cheri again. Sitting next to her and smiling at her, and he hadn’t even noticed that Grace was in the room.
Her mood immediately soured, and she sat down with a hard thump in the chair next to Rayna. Arianna leaned around Rayna. “I love your top, Grace. It, like, totally brings out the colour of your eyes.”
“Thank you.” Grace glanced at Gideon. He was still talking to Cheri in low tones and when the woman rested her hand on Gideon’s arm and made a soft and sexy laugh, Grace contemplated how exactly she could get away with murder.
She watched a lot of Dateline. She could totally pull it off.
“If you need an alibi, I’ve got you covered,” Rayna said quietly. “I’d be pissed at her too.”
Grace jerked and stared at Rayna. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“She means,” Arianna lowered her voice, “that you’ve got murder in your eyes.”
“No, I don’t,” Grace said.
“Hey, I, like, totally get it,” Arianna said. “Your man is being hit on by that sexy little piece of fruit. I’d be pissed too.”
“Gideon isn’t my man,” Grace said. Her face was on fire and her hands were clammy, and why the hell did she ever agree to help with this stupid fundraiser?
“Girl, please.” Arianna leaned even closer, her shoulder brushing against Rayna’s. “The sexual tension between the two of you is, like, off the charts. Right, Rayna?”
“Yup,” Rayna said.
“There’s no,” Grace glanced at Gideon, “sexual tension between us. I grew up with him. He’s like a brother to me.”
“Ew.” Arianna said. “Like, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re having some serious messed up thoughts about your,” she made finger quotes, “brother.”
Rayna laughed. “If Grace could, in any way, convince us that she thinks of the sheriff as her brother, I’ll chug a bottle of Liquid Drano.”
“Oh my God,” Arianna said. “That’s so dark, Rayna.”
Rayna laughed again. “I’m not going to do it. Grace will never convince us.”
“True,” Arianna said. “It’s so cute when old people fall in love. Like, you have to promise to invite me to your wedding.”
“Old? How old do you think Grace and the sheriff are?” Rayna said. “Wait… how old do you think I am?”
“I don’t know, like, thirty-two, maybe?” Arianna perused her face.
“Oh my God.” Rayna turned to Grace. “Tell me I don’t look like I’m in my thirties.”
“You don’t,” Grace said. “At all.”
Rayna touched her cheeks. “Maybe I need to start moisturizing.”
“Moisturizer is so important,” Arianna said. “I have some great ones that will work perfectly for your dry skin. I’ll text you the brand names. Oh, and I’ll bring you some samples that I have at home. Trust me, once you start moisturizing every day, that scaly skin on your forehead will disappear.”