Long Way Home (15 page)

Grace walked into Gossamer the next day and came to a full stop. Walker stood by the cash register with his hands flat against the counter. His expression was one of complete frustration. Could have had something to do with how Mallory had her back to him as she paged through a magazine.

Yeah, they were definitely dating or sleeping together . . . or they were. Now Grace had no idea what they were doing other than fighting.

Mallory wore a purple wrap dress and boots that gave Grace footwear envy. She thought about calling out, but there were eight women around the long table in the center of the room. Looked like they were scrapbooking and gossiping. A pretty great afternoon in Grace’s view.

She walked up to the counter and stood beside Walker. He did a double take.

Nice and slow, he straightened and his expression went blank. “What are you doing here?”

He had the nerve to sound pissed about seeing her. Never mind that he was in this town, hanging out in his suit while on administrative leave, and not talking. For some reason he was making her the bad guy. The man was a constant frustration.

“Such a warm welcome,” she said, smiling as his scowl darkened even further.

Mallory turned around and leaned with her back pressed against the desk next to the wall. She had her arms folded over her chest and wore a frown that bordered on a snarl. “Ignore him.”

His gaze went right to her. “You are.”

“Don’t start with me, FBI man.”

Grace cleared her throat. She wanted to send them to their respective time-out corners. If she was going to be a mom, handling these two might be good practice. “Is this a bad time?”

“Walker is being a jackass, but since that seems to be his natural state these days, you’re not interrupting.” Mallory pushed off from the desk, glaring one last time at Walker before turning to Grace. “How are you?”

“Maybe we could keep some things private?” Walker mumbled the request as he glanced around the room, taking in the table of women and another group over by the bookshelves.

“Like the fact we’re sleeping together?”

“Were.” His gaze flashed back to Mallory. “You made it pretty clear last night that was over.”

Grace felt as if she’d walked right into the middle of a bedroom conversation. Something so intimate and private that she didn’t dare say a word. She should have walked away or pretended to look at books or something. But she couldn’t move. The scene riveted her, what with her stern former partner backpedaling and stammering, and her new friend going in for the kill.

Fact was, these two belonged together. Grace never would have set them up or imagined them working as a couple, but she’d never seen cool-man Walker floundering, and she loved that he had finally found a woman who got him there. She just hoped he was smart enough to realize the gift and not blow it.

“We’re on hold until you stop hanging your head and hiding information.” Mallory didn’t yell, but she didn’t bother whispering either. “Start talking about why you’re really in town and what you have on Callen, and you can climb right back into my bed.”

With each word, Walker winced. “Maybe you could keep your voice down.”

“We’re grown-ups, and I’m not ashamed of being with you.”

Silence fell. Walker stood there, his chest rising and falling on heavy breaths as if he were wrestling with his self-control as he watched Mallory, who lounged, assuming a relaxed stance even as energy pulsed off of her and bounced around the room.

Grace figured this was a good time to wade in. “No response to that, Walker?”

That broke the staring contest. He glanced at her then. “Why are you here?”

“Mallory said she had some things for me.” Grace had ordered some notebooks and a few research books for her new true crime project. They shouldn’t be in already but Grace was happy not to wait.

“What kind of things?” he asked.

Mallory reached under the counter and grabbed a bag. She plopped it on the counter in front of Grace. “They are for her, not you.”

“Aren’t you the one who hates secrets?”

Man, these two could go all day. Made Grace wonder what their private time looked like. No quiet nights for them, she’d bet.

She reached over to pick up the handles, then stopped. She could read through the transparent bag and see one of the titles. This haul had nothing to do with work. This was about the pregnancy. Looked like a few books and a baby toy or two.

Grace loved the thought. She hated the timing.

Bracelets jangled as Mallory reached a hand across the counter toward Grace. “How are you feeling?”

The question caught her off guard. One surprise after another, starting with seeing Walker here.

“Uh . . .” Yeah, that’s all she got out.

Walker’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sick?”

Not wanting to have this out here, Grace plastered what she hoped was a genuine-looking smile on her mouth. “I’m fine.”

Since Mallory’s mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide, Grace guessed she’d failed.

“Oh,” Mallory said, not sounding one ounce more confident than Grace had.

Something in their tones had Walker’s gaze flipping between the women. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Mallory grabbed the corner of the bag and tugged it closer to her.

Walker slammed a palm on top, crinkling the paper and drawing the attention of some of the women milling nearby. “I’ll confiscate the bag.”

Right when he started to glance down, Mallory snapped her fingers and brought his gaze up to her face. “I don’t think so, big man.”

Grace’s stomach rolled. Actually felt like it picked up and spun around. She hadn’t had waves of nausea like this for months, and she knew the baby wasn’t to blame. This was about anxiety and subterfuge and more stress than a pregnant lady should have.

She did the bulgy-eye thing and tried to telegraph a silent message to Mallory. “This isn’t the best time for this.”

Walker turned and faced her head on. “Holy shit, you’re not marrying Callen, are you?”

The full power of Walker’s wrath blew over her. She fought to keep from fidgeting. “No.”

“Then what could it be?”

Mallory opened her mouth, but Grace stopped her with a shake of the head. She knew the anxiety stemmed from the lying, so she took a giant step toward ending that now. He would figure it out soon enough anyway. The only reason he hadn’t already picked up on the signs was because he wasn’t there while she was so sick. It didn’t take a law degree and FBI training to figure out what constant barfing in a woman of a certain age might mean.

“I’m pregnant.”

All the color drained from his face. “What?”

“We’re having a baby.” When a woman at the table turned in her chair, Grace rushed to explain. Last thing she needed was to start the wrong rumor and have poor Callen rushing around insisting he was the dad. “Not us, of course. Me and Callen.”

Walker still didn’t move. His stare bored into her, and his gaze stayed fixed. The guy didn’t even blink.

Mallory winced as she reached out to touch his arm. “Say something.”

Worried now, Grace tried, too. “Walker?”

Without a word, he turned on his heel and walked out. Stalked to the door and slammed it open, then disappeared onto the sidewalk.

“Are you sure there was never anything between you?” Mallory asked.

Grace didn’t blame her for asking the question. That reaction was not normal. It bubbled with unspent rage and more than a bit of disappointment. “Not even a kiss on the cheek. Really, there was nothing.”

And Grace knew she hadn’t missed the signs. Seeing Walker with Mallory, Grace recognized when the guy had it bad. He’d never reacted that way toward Grace or any other woman she knew.

Mallory gnawed on her bottom lip. “His face . . .”

Yeah, that.
“I know.”

***

Callen hated the itchy sensation that hit him being in his mother’s new, but temporary, place. Like his skin caught on fire or something. And
mother
is how he thought of her despite every effort otherwise. He’d tried to drive the term out of his head, but it stuck. All those years, all that pain in being taken from her by Charlie, and Callen developed a way of thinking about her that he couldn’t break.

Declan’s words rang true. Callen had never viewed family as a biology-only thing. He wasn’t denying her because he thought she didn’t love him. He pushed her away as a means of survival.

Despite that, when it was time to deliver the news about the baby, Callen didn’t want her hearing it from one of this brothers. No matter how she took it, she deserved to hear it from him.

“Is everything okay?” The concern was evident in her voice.

“Yeah, why?”

“You haven’t moved in ten minutes,” Tom said as he sat there next to her on the couch with his arm around her shoulders.

Callen didn’t love that.

She put a hand on Tom’s thigh as she stood up. In the small room of her garage apartment, one step and she was in front of Callen. Her eyes narrowed with compassion and worry. “You’ve barely talked to me for weeks, and now you’re in my family room.”

“Tom’s family room.” The comment came out with a sharp whack before Callen could stop it.

“Callen James, really?” She used the middle name. No matter how old a guy got, that usually meant trouble.

Truth was he didn’t blame her for wanting to date. And Tom was a good man. He worked at the house every day and never goofed off or acted like an asshole.

Still, it took a guy a little bit of time to adjust to the idea of his mom being in a sexual relationship, and from the way they touched each other and Tom smiled down at her, Callen knew that’s what it was.

Looked like he had a lot of adjustments heading his way.

“Sorry.” He exhaled, trying to get a grip on the conversation and rally his thoughts. He didn’t come here to fight with her. “Any chance we can talk alone?’

Tom stood up, looking every inch the formidable construction guy who could lift a car if he had to. “Last time you ran me out of here. I’m not inclined to go a second time.”

Callen couldn’t think of a smart way to say it. Where was Beck when you needed a fast talker?

So Callen went with the easiest explanation, trying not to offend or make things worse. “It’s family business.”

For a second no one said anything. Callen half wondered if he’d said it wrong.

His mom finally broke in. “Tom can stay and—”

“No.” He put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “If Callen is going to admit you’re family, then I’m willing to step out.”

Tom smiled. Mom smiled.

Callen had no clue what was going on. “I’m not sure why I need your permission to talk with her, but okay.”

“And by ‘her,’ you mean your mom?” Tom shook his head as he walked to the door. “Honestly, you are so fucking stubborn.”

As if Callen didn’t hear that every damn day. “That’s not news.”

“I’ll come down later,” she called out after Tom as he waved and shut the door behind him.

Yeah, that’s what they were doing now. Checking in with each other. Callen tried to wrap his mind around it. “So, you two are really dating?”

She smiled. “How’s Grace?”

“Pregnant.” Good thing he didn’t plan to waffle, because he just dropped it right there in the middle of the conversation.

Mom looked ready to laugh, as if he’d told an odd joke. “What?”

Hoping to stave off the lecture and any disappointment that might come flying in his direction, Callen jumped in again. “Yeah, I know how to prevent it. We messed up.”

Mom’s mouth dropped open and her eyes filled with tears. “She’s really pregnant. You’re going to be a father?”

She looked happy—at least he thought that’s what this was. Joy . . . hope. Man, he wished he could grab on to any of those feelings and hold them. “Yes.”

She hugged him then. Reached out and grabbed him and pulled him in tight. The whole thing was awkward on his part. He wasn’t sure how to respond or where to put his hands.

They’d never been real touchy-feely. A part of him always blamed her for letting him go with Charlie when he was a kid and held back emotionally from her, all while longing to be closer. Now, as a grown-up, he understood she couldn’t have made a fuss because she really didn’t have any rights, but back then it tainted a bit of what they shared. Gave him a kick of envy when he saw her touch Beck’s hair or smile at Declan with a look filled with respect.

She pulled back, and her gaze traveled over Callen’s face. “Is that how you think of the baby? As a mistake?”

“I don’t know what to think.” And that was the dead honest truth. “I’m too busy worrying I’m going to screw this kid up.”

Sadness moved into her eyes. “You won’t.”

“Look at my history.”

“I am.”

He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it was the second time he’d gotten that response. “Now you sound like Declan.”

“Did he tell you that you’re a good man? That you got dealt a terrible hand and somehow rose above it all?”

Callen tried to swallow but something clogged his throat. Full and sudden, and he tried to choke it back. “You don’t know what happened back then.”

“When you were gone? No.” She reached out and slid a hand over his cheek. “It makes me ache and sad and homicidal toward Charlie, but no.”

This time Callen didn’t flinch or move away. “I didn’t always . . . At times it was easier to do what he wanted.”

She sighed. “Believe me, I know.”

Of all the people Charlie hurt and used, only a few understood this feeling. Callen got her point. She had made terrible sacrifices for Charlie, but she never lost her soul.

That was the difference. Callen looked, and there was no question that he had. For a while. “What do I do with a baby?”

“Easy.” She fiddled with the buttons on his shirt and straightened his collar. “You love him and love his mother. You stop running and you grow roots.”

“I am. Well, at least the last part.”

She patted a hand against his chest. “Nothing makes me happier.”

“I asked her to move into Shadow Hill.” Everything tumbled out now. Whatever hope he had of keeping a secret or two, of hiding his feelings, got squashed when she threw him the look she’d given him so many times when he was a kid getting ready for church. “Thought maybe I could watch over her and make sure she’s okay if she was closer.”