Page 16 of Paths
When she’s standing in the open doorway, she swings her head around and gives me the first genuine smile I’ve ever gotten from her. “I’ll see you around, Grady.”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t agree more, sooner than later, in fact. “See you, Maya.”
I watch as she leaves. I’m sure she has no idea what just happened—the effect it had or what she stirred in me.
I should do what she said and ice my shoulder, because it’s starting to fucking ache. But I don’t. I quickly move up the stairs and finish getting dressed. When I get back downstairs, I head straight out the back door to Crew’s barn to look for a saw. Because for the first time in weeks, I’m ready to move forward.
Who am I kidding?
It’s the first time in fucking years.
After years of nothing but resentment and revenge streaming through me, it’s time for something different. Who the hell knew it would all start with physical therapy?
Chapter 5 – The Tingle is Back
Grady –
Finally. I’ve been waiting and she’s later than usual. I was beginning to wonder if her schedule had changed, but she’s back, pulling up the drive of the vineyard. I slip my phone in my pocket and go to the window of the upstairs bedroom.
Crew’s been cool with me laying low since we got back. I haven’t worked with the men once, not even in the classroom. I’ve tried, but I can’t wrap my mind around what happened. Deep down, I know I slipped, lost my edge, and got careless. Something triggered in me, and I can’t shake it—I’ve tried. Doesn’t matter how I spin it, it all comes back to my head fucking with me, and even I know when that happens, it’s over.
At first, I ignored it. Later, I worked out harder than I ever have before, trying to face it head-on. It was all pointless.
It never would’ve bothered me had it not been for Gracie. I’ve never had one single regret about what I did all those years ago. I’d do it again—even enjoy it—if I had the opportunity.
But it started fucking with Gracie, and knowing I caused that, it messed with me, too. It fucked with my head and my sleep. If I sleep, I can’t get rid of the dreams. If I fall into a deep enough sleep, there he is, fucking with me, or worse, the girls.
He’s been gone fifteen years and still causing havoc. I hope he’s rotting in the depths of hell—it’s the only place he deserves to be.
Knowing I came close to getting Crew killed almost did me in again. He followed me to that hellhole to have my back, and because I’d lost my edge, he had to save my ass. It doesn’t matter how many times he’s told me we’re good since it happened, or that he thinks I saved Addy, and probably him, that day in her vineyard. He’s tried to convince me we’re even.
Still, it’s not a good feeling.
Finding focus after being beaten to a pulp and almost having my hand chopped off has been challenging. Retreating has been the easiest option.
Until yesterday.
There’s no denying Maya’s gorgeous—any warm-blooded man would agree. With nothing to do for weeks, I’ve become obsessed. At first I’d just watch her come and go, run, or, on the rare occasion when she wasn’t working and the weather wasn’t too cold, sit outside by herself as she stared off into the woods.
But when she laid her hands on my bare skin yesterday, something clicked. I found it—my focus that disappeared. Even though it’s different and foreign, it’s the only thing that’s felt right in a long time. I’m not back to where I was—not even close. But the second I looked down into Maya’s light blue eyes with her soft touch on my skin, I knew.
I look out the window to the little house on Addy’s land as Maya gets out of her car to hurry inside. I can’t remember a day when she hasn’t been rushing around, coming and going, or working at the winery.
Why the hell does a physical therapist work two part-time jobs—one as a waitress and the other at an assisted living center? We’re located near one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country. She said she was waiting for a PT position to open up at the senior center, but it can’t be hard to find work in her field until then. Hell, there’re suburbs just fifteen minutes east of us.
It makes no sense, but it does make me curious.
I rub my forearm while flexing my fist, enjoying the feeling of not having that cast on for the first time in weeks. Sawing it off myself was an experience, and not as easy as cutting out my own stitches, but it’s done. No stitches, no cast, and I’ve decided I’m done with the sling.
Maya doesn’t make me wait long as I stand at the window. After locking her door from the outside, she jogs back to her car. Making a quick U-turn, she starts toward the tasting room instead of leaving the property.
I turn and grab my keys on the way out. I’m anxious but I don’t give a shit. If being near Maya feeds my obsession, I’ll take as much as I can get.
*****
Maya –
“Sorry again,” I call to Evan as I hurry out of the back room where I store my purse.
