As she reached the other side, Grady held his hand out for her. She shook her head and released the breath she’d been withholding. “Thanks, but I got it.”
He ran his fingers through his surfer blond hair and stepped back.
Leaping off, she landed almost gracefully, then put her hands on her hips and grinned.
Grady beamed, “There’s that stubborn girl I used to know.” He yanked her close and knocked the air out of her lungs with a bear hug. Voice hoarse, he said, “Not the time, I know. But I was afraid that bastard had beat her out of you.”
Hot briny tears coated her eyes. She whispered, “He never hit me.”
Still holding her close, her brother murmured, “Not with his fists. But I helplessly stood watch as he carved you into what he wanted. If I’d realized sooner…”
She pulled back to look at him, biting her lips together before she reached full quaver. “I hate that I let him. ThatIdidn’t realize sooner.”
Grady’s aquamarine eyes were heavy, his cheeks clenched tight. “You didn’tlethim. Shit, Haley. No one plans for anything like that. I remember when you guys got married. He practically kissed the ground you walked on. When I saw you the following Christmas, you were all smiles, but there was something missing. Then your dad died, and you were lost. Each time I saw you, less and less often, you’d slipped further from the girl you were.”
“You tried to tell me.” She offered a watery smile, hating that it had taken ten years and a rickety log. “But I wouldn’t listen. I had everything I ever wanted. Wealth, a husband that put me on a pedestal, a social life.” It hadn’t been what she’d hoped. A trophy wife that knew how to schmooze, a yes-wife, an entitled hedonist.
Grady shook his head. “Don’t you talk like that. You were making the most of a shitty situation. It just took him crossing that last line for you to wake up and remember who you are.”
She took a deep breath and tried to let it go. To remember where she was and enjoy the day.
Crossing closer, Freya linked arms with her. “If you ever need anyone to kick his ass, give me a call.”
Smiling, Haley nodded. “Happily, but I get first dibs at his smug face.” She hated feeling helpless, but now, she felt a little less vulnerable.
She’d been furious, ready to crumble the day she’d walked in and found him with her best friend. He hadn’t even cared that she was due home any minute.
Within days, once she’d declared it was over, she’d felt such a weight lifted. She hadn’t even realized how oppressive the burden had become.
Turning, she saw Finn waiting perched on the log, listening. A soft smile on his face, a richness in his chocolaty eyes told her in one look that he had her back. With a few graceful steps worthy of a prima ballerina, he crossed the creek and hopped to the ground, most of his weight absorbed by his good leg.
Haley took a sharp breath, blowing out the knots that tangled in her gut. “I’m hungry. Let’s go.”
14
Fumble
Zigzaggingupthegentleslope, they joked and let the past blow away in the breeze. Finn had missed Foothills even more than he had realized. He’d come back regularly over the years, but didn’t see his friends much. A lot were still out of town or, like he and Trace, had grown apart. Asher had always been in San Diego, or all over the world when deployed as a SEAL. Grady and he had mostly been sports friends, as Grady had been a few years ahead in school, so they easily lost touch. With Trace, they’d tried the long-distance thing for a few months, but college football plus academics had overshadowed everything else.
Three or four shifts into tending bar, Grady and Claire had met up at Halseth’s with Asher and Sophie. Like so many of the wounded animals she tended to, Claire had roped him into their little social circle.
Ahead on the trail, Haley walked next to Zane, laughing as he told her some comical spin on a war story. Damn, she had a nice ass, some great legs in those tiny shorts.
Behind them, Grady was telling him something about… wait, what was he talking about?
Haley tightly crossed her arms, rubbing her hands over her goose-bumped skin. Without thinking, Finn opened his backpack and snatched out a sweatshirt. Catching up, he reached around her and handed her the sweatshirt, then lagged back with Grady.
A soft, “Thanks,” and she handed Zane her backpack while she pulled on the sweatshirt.
As they reached a clearing at the top of the hill, they reconnected with the terminus of the old logging road. A cluster of boulders marked the end of the trail, the view beyond was unparalleled. Jagged peaks lined the distance, the hill they stood upon felt miniscule by comparison.
Freya bounded ahead, picking out the tallest perch of the bunch for her picnic. Chuckling, Zane set his backpack on the ground and unzipped, revealing a can of beer for each of them.
Pippa rolled her eyes. “I still can’t believe you packed that crap all this way for a picnic.”
Offering her one, he asked, “Weighs a hell of a lot less than a ruck and body armor.”
She accepted the apricot lager he’d carted up the hill for her and shook her head, smiling despite her feigned sarcasm. “I guess.”
