A Breath Away (27 page)

When Hadley grew ill, his son had stopped taking his medication. He'd resurfaced, intent on finding a donor to save his father. The mother had knowingly allowed him to hunt for the women, meaning she was just as responsible, maybe even more so. She was a doctor; she should have kept him confined.

In the hospital, Violet revealed that Ross Wheeler had carried her to Hadley's son. Grady had nearly come unglued. Logan had brought Wheeler in, the reverend on his heels. Grady had jumped on the deputy, demanding to know where he'd been, but Logan had claimed he'd had a hunch and had been checking out some isolated places in the mountains near where he lived. He'd been searching for Violet.

At first, Wheeler had denied knowing the killer's identity, but Grady had discovered the brake lines to Violet's car had been cut. Wheeler finally admitted that he had cut them, hoping to silence Violet forever. He'd also confided that he and Hadley's son had been lovers. Wheeler had also confessed to making the threatening calls and setting fire to the hospital, claiming he'd done so to protect his lover. He'd also been with Hadley when he'd kidnapped Kerry from her house.

It had taken all of Grady's self-restraint not to kill the man with his bare hands. In fact, his deputy had had to pull him off Wheeler, reminding him that he was a lawman.

Logan glared at him over an open file now. One that belonged to Grady. “I see you've been investigating me.”

Grady clenched his teeth. “It was routine. I ran a background check on everyone new to the area. And since you were so secretive about your past, and you have a sealed file with a black mark on it, I figured I should follow up.”

Logan gnawed his lip, then gave a clipped nod. “Fair enough, I guess.” He paused. Fiddled with a paper clip. Adjusted his sunglasses. “All right, my file is closed because of the way I handled my last case in Nashville.”

Grady arched a brow and waited.

“My wife…” He looked away, stared out the window for a long time. “She disappeared. I suspected she was murdered, but so far, her body hasn't been recovered. I thought I'd nailed the guy who did it….” He paused, pinched the bridge of his nose. “I almost killed him, but…but the police had evidence…evidence that said he was innocent.” Logan grimaced. “But last week I got a note from her. She's happy and alive, cruising somewhere in the Caribbean with her new lover.”

Grady's hand closed around the file. How could he question Logan, when he himself had craved revenge for so long he didn't know how to live without the anger? When he'd wanted to kill with his own bare hands the man who'd tied Violet down? In fact, he'd almost choked Ross Wheeler when he'd been brought in. Logan had stopped him…. “Sorry, man.”

Grady reached out his hand to Logan. The deputy shook it, the bond between them silent but cemented.

* * *

W
ITH
V
IOLET'S RECOVERY
, came a flood of emotions. The loneliness she'd experienced when she'd returned
to Crow's Landing. The terror she'd felt at the sound of the women's cries. The guilt over not saving Darlene and the others.

Her blood sisters. She hadn't yet decided whether or not to contact the remaining ones. If they didn't know about their paternity, telling them might upset their lives completely. But she had a friend forever in Lynnette. And they'd both been relieved to learn the genetic abnormality wouldn't adversely affect them or their offspring.

At least Darlene's killer was behind bars. He would never hurt anyone else again.

The voices had all begun when the killings started. Now they had grown silent. All she had to listen to were her own thoughts. Her own worries. Her own need for Grady.

As if he realized that need, the doorbell rang. She practically ran to get it, then smoothed the folds of the pale blue sundress she'd slipped on. The purple smudges of her eyes couldn't be hidden.

When the door swung open, Grady raked his gaze over her. “You are so damn beautiful, Violet.”

The air compressed in her lungs. A hunger unlike anything she'd ever known flared in her chest. Her body tingled from the raw passion that ignited in his eyes. Without another word, he shut the door, then hauled her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Her childhood bear lay on the bed, but she moved it aside. Made room for Grady.

His clothes hit the floor as he pulled them off. Then he stood before her, all raw, primal male, declaring his intentions. His need for her surged strong and bold in his sex. She reached out and cupped it, but he shook her
hand away and reached for the straps of her dress, sliding them down effortlessly. He hadn't kissed her yet and she ached for his lips. For his touch. But he simply looked. Her nipples turn to hardened peaks as he unfastened her bra. The ceiling fan swirled lazily above, brushing her nakedness with cool air. But heat ignited in her belly. Warmth tingled down her legs. And her inner thighs quivered. He was only a breath away, and she desperately wanted him.

He dipped his fingers under the edge of her panties, and she smiled as he tugged them to the floor. He continued to stare at her, as if memorizing every inch.

“Do you know that fantasizing about this kept me going when you were missing?” His husky confession charged the air between them.

“I thought about you, too.”

“What did you think, Violet?” He moved closer. She felt his breath on her cheek. Throbbed for his touch again. Wanted him inside her. Moving with her. Loving her.

A devilish look twinkled in his eyes. “What do you want me to do?”

She blushed, but she was tired of denying herself. She wanted to feel again. To have him erase the pain of the past.

“Violet?”

“Touch me,” she whispered, her voice urgent. “I want you to touch me everywhere.”

“Yes.” He traced a finger over her lips. “Like this?”

Her nipples stiffened and a surge of sensations traveled down to her womb. “Yes.”

He licked his lips. She could almost taste him on her. Suckling her. Licking her. Bringing her pleasure.

“That's what I thought about, too.” His husky voice turned her inside out. “I imagined touching you like this, loving you.” His sex brushed her belly. His hand moved lower. Teased the insides of her thighs. Spread her feminine folds and caressed her. “Being inside you.”

“Grady.”

A purely male smile filled his eyes as he slid one finger into her. She groaned, throwing her head back and offering herself in wild abandon.

He grabbed her, lowering his mouth to hers. Then he claimed her lips, plunged his tongue inside. He cupped her breast, and she cradled his jaw with her palm, dragging him closer.

Seconds later, his body moved above her. Big. Strong. Surging with hunger. His sex replaced his fingers. He licked those as she watched, his eyes primal. Then he thrust deeper inside her, pulled her hips upward. She wrapped her legs around him, groaned and skimmed her nails over his buttocks as he filled her.

Muttering her name in a tortured whisper, he rocked deeper, taking her with an intensity that seared her straight to her soul. His husky moan and the feel of his body joined with hers became imprinted on her being forever. And when twilight fell over the room, cloaking it in darkness, she was no longer alone. Or afraid of the darkness.

Because Grady was there beside her.

T
HEY MADE LOVE AGAIN
and again through the night, the raw need between them palpable. The last time, just as dawn broke the darkness, a bitter sweetness filled Violet's chest. Unresolved emotions skittered through her. Questions about the future.

Was Grady telling her goodbye?

Inhaling his scent, she trailed a finger over his bare chest. “I need to see my grandmother today.”

Grady nodded and hugged her tighter. She'd never been so close to a man. Never experienced love. Then Grady loosened his hold. Kissed her forehead. Stood. She felt him slipping away. She missed him already.

She wanted him back. Wanted him to whisper that he loved her. But she wouldn't beg, or act like a needy virgin.

“I'll drive you to the nursing home.”

His muscular flanks bulged as he crossed the room to retrieve his clothes. Then he turned and his gaze floated over her, a myriad of emotions in his own eyes. Heat. Hunger. Regret that he couldn't make promises?

“Let me take a shower and then we'll go.”

He nodded. She hoped he'd join her, but he pulled on his jeans instead and went to brew coffee.

* * *

G
RADY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND
this desperate need raging within him to be with Violet. To take her to bed and never let her go.

Because he sensed he was going to lose her.

Lose her because he had no idea how to be the man she wanted. How to commit or please a woman forever. How to give of himself when he'd been empty for so long.

For God's sake, all he wanted to do was take. Bury himself in her sweetness and drive the ache of loss and betrayal away with her innocent, sultry kisses.

Hating himself for not being able to say the words a woman wanted to hear, he poured coffee, splashing it on the counter when she entered the room. She smelled like sex and soap, and looked at him with those damn big eyes that were both wildly loving and forgiving.

She understood he was wrestling with demons. With his failures and inability to be the man she needed. Yet she had loved him through the night, anyway. Given herself to him without asking anything in return.

And here he was, hot and horny and wanting to rip off her clothes and sate himself with her again. Right on the kitchen floor, if she'd let him.

She deserved better.

He braced himself against the counter, then cupped the hot coffee in his hands to keep from reaching for her.

“Do you want breakfast?”

“No.”

He saw the yearning in her eyes, and his body responded. But he couldn't continue taking without offering something more in return.

She headed to the door, and he followed like a love-sick puppy, too needy to do anything but cling to one
more moment with her before she saw him for his real self and walked away.

* * *

V
IOLET PUSHED OPEN
the hospital room door, shocked to see her grandmother sitting up. Grammy's sister, Neesie, sat beside her, her gray hair pulled into a bun, her gnarled hands flicking a crocheting needle back and forth.

“Grammy?”

“Violet…”

Her grandmother's speech was slow, but steady. Tears filled her eyes as Violet rushed to her and hugged her. Weak hands rose and patted her back in return.

“It's so good to see you, darling.”

Violet nodded, drinking in the sight of the rosy hue to her grandmother's cheeks. The nurse had assured her that her grandmother was doing better, making progress, but Violet hadn't believed it. Until now.

“You look great.”

“And you look tired, but…something about you has changed.”

A flush crept up Violet's cheeks. Could her grandmother possibly know that she'd given her virginity to Grady? That her childhood crush had stolen her heart years ago and had kept it forever?

That he would always hold it in his big hands?

“Tell me, are you all right?”

Violet's eyes jerked to Neesie. Apparently she'd heard about some of the events that had transpired, but wisely hadn't informed her grandmother of the details.

“I'm fine.” She filled the two women in on the basics. Relief spread over her grandmother's face at the news of her son's innocence. Then Violet recounted the
details of Darlene's real killer being caught, omitting the frightening ordeal of her own attack.

“Grammy, I found the scrapbooks of pictures,” she told her. “Grady said that Dad and Mr. Monroe didn't come forward when they suspected Mom and Teresa Monroe were killed—”

“He did it to protect you, Violet.” Grammy reached for her with a shaky hand, and Violet gently embraced her. “He sent you away because he thought one of those scientists had killed Darlene and might come looking for you.”

An undeniable sadness engulfed Violet as the truth of her words registered. Relief and a newfound respect for her father followed. “Thank you for telling me, Grammy.”

“It's true,” her aunt Neesie said. “Jed was miserable after you left. He might have known that you weren't his blood relative, but, honey, that man loved you until the day he died.”

Violet nodded, her chest tight. If only Grady loved her now… But he'd never said the words. And somehow she accepted that he couldn't. The tragedy that had happened years ago, the fact that Laney had given him up, even if it had been for unselfish reasons, had scarred him too deeply.

Violet couldn't place more pressure, responsibility, guilt on him.

She also couldn't stay here in town, seeing him every day, wanting him, yet knowing he could never love her.

“Grammy, I think I'm going to leave Crow's Landing,” she said. “I have the shop in Savannah. My art there. And the voices in my head…they're gone.”

Grammy patted her hand. “I know, dear. And I hope you don't mind, but I want to live here.”

Violet nodded. She'd sensed that her grandmother had come home to stay. This morning, Violet had even bought some new bedspreads and sheets for the rooms, just in case. “Dad left you the house. But it needs some repairs and a woman's touch.”

“That's okay. Neesie and I will have fun fixing it up together.”

Her aunt's eyes twinkled. “We're two lonely old ladies, Violet. We need each other.”

Violet nodded. She wanted her grandmother to be happy. Grammy had lived too long protecting her for Violet to deny her time now with her sister.

So she hugged them both, promising to write and to visit, then went to say goodbye to Grady.

* * *

T
HE RIDE BACK TO
V
IOLET'S
was almost silent. She had informed Grady about her grandmother's decision to live with her sister. Then she'd announced that she planned to leave Crow's Landing.

For the first time in his life, Grady wished he had the courage to do the same thing. He'd felt drawn to Crow's Landing for so long. To the town. To the secrets.

To the guilt.

Trapped by it all, yet unable to break free.

And now he had just discovered his real mother was here. He had a half brother. So much unresolved. Could he just walk away?

Still, as Violet packed, he felt a lump the size of a baseball in his throat.

He stood ramrod straight, his heart banging mercilessly as she carried her suitcase to the den. Long-ago memories flooded back. The childhood ones. The brotherly instincts.

The night Violet had returned. The scent of her. Those big blue eyes taunting him with her innocence.

The incessant hunger that festered between them. The courage she'd had when facing the Bone Whistler. The sheer terror Grady had experienced when he thought she might die.

“Violet.” Her name came out in a pained whisper.

She paused, then handed him a sketch. “I never draw people. Children.” Her eyes clouded. “But I want you to have this.”

His fingers shook as he studied the drawing. Darlene. Her small cherub face. Wisps of red hair feathering her cheeks. The marbles in her hand. Grady there on the dirt beside her, teaching her to play. Violet in the middle.

The one that had drawn them all together.

He opened his mouth to speak, but he was too raw inside to make a sound. She seemed to understand.

Then she brushed a kiss across his mouth, walked out the door and disappeared into the dusk. With her absence, she left the scent of her sweetness lingering behind, along with an aching emptiness that would never go away.

* * *

G
RADY WAS NEARLY
immobilized after Violet left. He drove into town, went to the jail. Everything was quiet. Then, for some reason that he couldn't understand, he drove to the Redbud Café.

His father's car was there. Laney was outside, a circle of children surrounding her. “Full circle,” she said. “Look to the sun and the moon. It is as with nature.”

Full circle. Had the circle brought him back to catch Darlene's killer? To find the little girl who'd brought them together in childhood, and now as adults? As lovers…

Laney's gray eyes shot up and acknowledged him. The children hugged her, and she returned the embrace before they dispersed, laughing and whispering. His anger rose again. How many times had he wanted a mother? Yearned for a hug like that? For the love she might have to offer? Yet Laney had been so close and had denied him.

“Violet left,” he said.

“I know. I spoke to her.”

Grady nodded. He figured she would have told Laney and Joseph goodbye. His family, and Violet had always been closer to them than he had. Because Laney had given him up.

So you would have a better life.

Only it hadn't worked out that way.

“I cannot change the past or my mistakes,” Laney said, as if she'd read his mind.

He gave a clipped nod.

“But you can stop yourself from making the same ones your father and I did.”

His eyes shot to hers, which were wise with age. With the pain of loss. “Violet did not want to leave you,” she said.

His body jerked in response. He hadn't realized he'd felt abandoned again, but maybe that was the reason he hadn't gone after Violet. He'd wanted her to stay, to prove that she wouldn't leave him as his mother had, as Darlene had, as Violet herself had….

“She cannot make up for what I did to you, Son.” Laney's fingers pulled at her long gray braid. “She did not abandon you. She has suffered herself and needs your love as much as you need hers.”

He wanted to argue that he didn't need anyone. That
he wouldn't. He couldn't. Needing and loving meant getting hurt. Being abandoned.

But Laney was right.

Violet had been hurt as badly as he had been, shunned by his father as a child. She'd been sent away by her own.

But she'd still given herself to him. Had even whispered her love in the midst of the darkness, although she hadn't expected him to love her in return. The price her own childhood trauma had cost her.

“Violet encouraged me not to give up on you, my son. That one day you will forgive me.”

His eyes met hers. He saw the regret. The pain she had suffered. The sacrifices she had made for him.

“I told her I could never give up on you. I love you, Grady.” She paused, her voice not quite steady. “But Violet, she is the one I worry about. She is leaving something very important behind, and she will carry the ache forever.”

He glanced around. Remembered his father threatening Violet right here in the café. “I know. All the bad memories of this place. Of the things I couldn't stop from happening.”

Laney shook her head. “No, Grady. Those are things in their own right, not your fault. What she is leaving behind—it is the love of her life.”

“I know nothing about love,” he said.

“I didn't think I did, either. Even worse, I didn't think it mattered. But I'm learning.” His father stepped from the shadows of the awning. He had been watching. “Laney's right, Son. Don't make the same mistake I did. I should have had the courage to admit my feelings for Laney a long time ago.” He moved next to her,
curved an arm around her waist. “I'm not hiding anymore. And I'm sorry I failed you, that I acted as if I blamed you for Darlene's death. I…that's unforgivable.”

“Love is instinctual and forgiving,” Laney said softly. “Even though Darlene wasn't your blood relative, you loved her, Grady. And you love Violet, even though you are afraid of losing again. Let your heart open.” She swept her hands in an upward arc. “Our people have another belief—that we should not dwell on things of the past, but look toward the future. Good things await you. A life with Violet. A baby that will put the ache of loss of your sister to rest.”

Grady saw the knowledge in her eyes. He had never believed in Laney's native sensitivities, but her wisdom transcended time. And so had her unselfishness.

He reached out a hand to shake hers. It was a start. Accepting and completely forgiving would take longer. She smiled knowingly, then lifted her arms.

He went into them.

* * *

V
IOLET BREATHED DEEPLY
to control the pressure in her chest. When she'd first driven into town in her Civic, bad memories had assaulted her. Now, she was driving a rental car out of town, hoping to leave those memories behind.

Only she was leaving behind something very precious, as well.

The love of her life.

But he hadn't wanted her….

The loss escalated into full-blown pain that throbbed deep within her as she stopped at the cemetery to make peace with her father. She knelt and spread the lilies
over his grave, her throat choking with emotions. “Dad, I know the truth now. It's all over—the secrets, the running….” she whispered. “Grammy said you sent me away to protect me.” She paused and inhaled deeply. “I'm so sorry we never got to be together again. I wish I could have known you.” She ran a finger over the tombstone, grateful that at least her parents were buried here together. A peace fell over her. They'd given her the greatest love of all—they'd died protecting her.