“Did you tell her how you feel?”
“Sort of.” Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “I will.”
“How does Ryder feel about it?”
Shit, he hadn’t even thought about Ryder’s feelings. He really was an ass. “I don’t think he knows.”
“Okay, Grady? As your baby sister, a pissed-off, cheated-on woman, and a human being, I’m going to be bossy here. Ready?”
Chuckling mirthlessly under his breath, he agreed. “Shoot.”
“Where are you now?”
“At Asher’s.”
“Okay. Tonight, you’re going to plan your case. You’re a natural orator and will come up with something great. In the morning, hit the gym or something to burn off that temper, or you’ll blow it. Then, you’re going to talk to Ryder and see how he feels. Finally, you’re going to talk it out with her. Tell her how you feel and, if she’s the right one for you, she’ll be thrilled you did and you can sweep her off her feet.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Trust me, as a woman that is finally free of the jerk of a man that she’s been saddled with for the last ten years, I’m realizing the importance of honesty and fighting for what you want. And you, Grady, you never fight for whatyouwant. You swallow your pride and accept what others want for you, and then you take it out on the ice or the field or wherever you can throw that negative energy.”
Needing a long draw of oxygen, Grady nodded. “Got it.”
“Just don’t get hurt.”
“Sure,” he said, glaring one last time at the distorted reflection of his shiner before turning away.
“And I’m coming to the gala.”
“I was kidding. Don’t do that to yourself.”
Her voice vibrated with snarky enthusiasm. “It will be perfect. I have a plan.”
Avoiding Ryder hadn’tbeen difficult. In yet another meeting, he was already in the office before she got out of bed. Now that he had no reason to set aside time for her, he wasn’t even pretending to be on vacation.
Claire hid in the stables and visited the horses until the stablemaster arrived, then snuck back into the house. Hattie hung around longer than necessary to make sure Claire ate something. While she didn’t pry, she unsubtly regaled Claire with stories of Grady’s heroics and adorable antics. The puppy he’d rescued from the side of the road as a kid. The bully he’d knocked flat that had pushed Haley into the mud.
When Patricia and Bill returned from a charity brunch, Claire was suddenly finding Mallory Mansion too small for comfort. Hattie tipped her off about a nice hiking trail and packed her a snack, ensuring she had a warm hat and gloves.
The Riverside Trail was as gorgeous as she’d hoped. After following the thundering river for a mile, she hooked to the upper loop, too fired up to notice the temperature was dropping.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Ripping off her gloves, she dug into her pocket and bumbled the phone, only half disappointed when she realized it wasn’t Grady. And then remembered he didn’t even have her phone number.
“Hi, Mom,” she answered.
“Uh oh. I called to see how you were. You don’t sound good.” At the sound of her mother’s voice, her eyes welled with that damn pressure behind them, and her vocal cords rattled.
“I made it worse.”
“Oh. Honey. What happened?”
“I don’t even know where I went wrong. I broke things off with Ryder.” She tugged her lip into her mouth, squeezing until it hurt. “That went okay, better than I thought. But... I tried to tell Grady how I felt.”
And her maternal patient pause. “He didn’t feel the same way?”
“I thought he did. We... I kissed him again, and it was amazing. Fireworks and lightning and all that good stuff. But he left. Apologized and stormed out.”
“What? Why would he apologize after a fireworks kiss?” Val’s voice was fiery on her behalf.
