Betting on Grace (28 page)

The sound of Gracie’s words from last night resounded
in Grant’s head.
And don’t worry, we’ll get through this. I’ll make sure of
that.

Yep, Gracie had done what Grant didn’t have the balls
to do. She had gone to her father and told him the truth. He should’ve been
happy about that.

Jerry turned to face Grant, his mouth a firm, thin
line, his eyebrows downturned, making him look just a little bit evil. “She
told me she was in a relationship with you and Lane.”

Oh. Fuck.

“Either of you care to enlighten me on that one?”

Ummm … no. No, he certainly did not.

And this time, Lane was smart enough not to say a word,
either.

■□■□■□■□

Jerry was pretty sure he deserved a giant pat on the
back.

He’d come into the stable with the intention of
addressing Grant and Lane about the discussion he’d just had with Gracie. And
here he was having a civil conversation when he wanted nothing more than to
grab Grant and Lane by their shirts and yank them both off their feet,
demanding that they explain just what Gracie meant when she had told him that
she loved Grant
and
Lane.

At first, Jerry had thought he was hearing things.

He still wasn’t so sure that what had just happened
wasn’t some elaborate prank being played on him. He might’ve believed that was
the case as he had stomped across the yard to the stable, but the look on
Grant’s face right then told Jerry no one was going to jump out of the shadows
and inform him that he’d been punked.

While he waited for one of them to find their tongue,
Jerry thought back to the conversation he’d had with Gracie just a short while
ago.

“Dad, I need to talk to you,” Gracie said when Jerry
walked into the kitchen. Once again, his daughter had been there before him,
which probably had her a little suspicious as to why he wasn’t up with the
chickens these days.

Unlike the last time he’d dragged his ass out of bed,
this time he couldn’t thank a night of incredible sex to be the reason. Well …
unless phone sex counted.

Good Lord. He needed to get his mind out of the gutter
because seriously … he was standing here with his daughter, and he certainly
shouldn’t be thinking about Jan and her sassy words spoken in that sexy
whisper…

“Dad!”

“Huh?” Jerry jerked around to face her, nearly pouring
coffee on his hand.

“Are you not gettin’ enough sleep or somethin’?”
Gracie asked.

Or somethin’, Jerry thought to himself.

For the first time since he’d walked in the room,
Jerry looked at Gracie. Really looked at her.

She looked tired. Like she hadn’t slept at all last
night. Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying.

Sonuvabitch. He was going to hurt someone, he could
feel it.

“Could you sit down and stop glarin’ at me?” Gracie
kicked the chair with her foot, causing it to squeal on the wood floor.

Trying not to think of worst-case scenarios, Jerry
lowered himself into the chair across from her, keeping his eyes glued to her
face. He had to admit, Gracie was fairly good at hiding her emotions. Usually.
Today, everything she was feeling was written across her face.

“I’m sittin’,” he said, wanting her to ease some of
the suspense that was making his stomach twist into a knot.

“There’s somethin’ I want to say to you. And I don’t
want you sayin’ a word till I’m finished. Can you do that, please?”

Probably not. “Yes.”

“Okay, good.”

Jerry watched as Gracie squeezed her coffee mug until
the tips of her fingers turned white. She was staring at the damn thing as if
it had the answers to the universe’s questions — whatever those might be.

“I’ve kinda been dating someone,” she began, her gaze
coming up to meet his.

Right before his eyes, Gracie morphed from the
beautiful young woman who sat in front of him to the little girl he remembered
so fondly. The little girl who wasn’t quite so independent or hard-headed. The
expression on her face changed almost instantly, as did her body language.

“Okay, that’s a lie,” she continued, and Jerry leaned
back in his chair, continuing to watch her. “When I tell you this, you’re
probably gonna get mad. Just remember you agreed to hear me out.”

Jerry nodded, unable to say a word.

“I’ve been datin’ someone. But not just one someone.
Two someones. You’ve probably already figured out that Grant and I… Well … I’ve
been seein’ him for a few months now. But he’s not the only one.”

Jerry continued to watch her, trying to keep up, but
the roaring in his ears was growing louder and louder with every word she
spoke.

“I’ve also been seein’ Lane. I’ve been seein’ both of
them at the same time. I love them, Daddy.”

Wait … what?

Jerry was lost.

“You—” He tried to speak, but Gracie quickly cut him
off.

“No. My turn. You can talk later. So,” Gracie
continued, taking a deep breath, “I’ve been datin’ Lane and Grant. Both of
them. And they’re datin’ each other. And I know this probably doesn’t make any
sense to you, but I had to tell you. Last night, I was at Grant’s house, and
his father came over. He barged in on us… Oh, God, I can’t do this.”

Gracie jumped to her feet, but Jerry managed to find
his voice just in time to stop her. “Wait. Sit down. There is no way you’re
leavin’ here until you explain this. I’m not followin’. Or at least I hope I’m
not, because what I just heard was that you’re in some sort of … love
triangle.”

“It’s not a triangle, Dad. It’s … complicated.”

“I’ll say.”

“I’m telling you this ’cause I think Grant’s gonna do
somethin’ stupid like give his father money. The guy needs help. He barged in
on us while we were … uh … you know. But then everything got crazy. I don’t
want Grant to give his father money. Especially not if he’s doin’ it to protect
me. I love him, Dad. I love him, and I love Lane. I haven’t told either of
them, which I fully intend to rectify very, very soon. But, Dad,” Gracie said,
a plea of understanding in her eyes, “I need you to know. And I need you to
accept it. I’m gonna fix this because I’m not gonna let Grant screw this up.”

Jerry couldn’t help it, he chuckled. Just like Gracie
to want to make everything right. He had to admit, it took a tremendous amount
of guts for her to come in there and address him directly. Hell, he hadn’t even
had the guts to do the same with her. He had yet to inform any of the girls
that he was bringing Jan, a woman he’d been dating for months, to the dance
that night.

“Please don’t be mad,” Gracie whispered, and Jerry
realized she was waiting for him to say something.

“I’m not mad,” he said, realizing that was the truth.
He was confused, definitely. But at least he’d been right on one thing… There
was definitely something going on between Lane and Grant.

Jerry had hugged Gracie, assuring her that he wasn’t
going to go ballistic and saw Grant’s nuts off. Or Lane’s. He hadn’t been quite
so sure how honest that statement had been, but he’d said it nonetheless.

And now he was standing in front of the men Gracie
proclaimed to love.

God, did that stuff really happen?

“I fucked up,” Grant said, pulling Jerry fully back to
the moment.

“That’s what I heard.”

“Last night, my father… He kinda barged in on a
private moment,” Grant said, clearing his throat more than once just to get the
sentence out.

“And he’s gonna use that to blackmail you?” Jerry
asked, glancing between the two men.

“Yes, sir.”

“And you’re gonna tell him that it won’t work, right?”

“I… I wasn’t, no. I…” Grant’s back straightened, and
his chin tipped up just a little as he stared back at Jerry. “I’ll do whatever
it takes to protect Gracie and Lane.
Whatever
it takes. If that means I
have to give in to my father, then so be it. They mean everything to me, sir.”

“That’s stupid,” Lane interjected, sounding angry.
“Givin’ him money ain’t gonna help.”

Jerry agreed with Lane wholeheartedly.

“If you’ll do whatever it takes, then prove it, son.
Stand up and protect them,” Jerry barked, taking a step closer. “Givin’ your
father money is enablin’ him. He needs help. If you want to protect those you
love, you don’t give in. Why you believe that givin’ him money is the only way
out, I have no idea—” Jerry didn’t get the sentence out before Grant interrupted.

“Because if I have to choose between losing them or
paying my father to leave us alone, I’ll choose the latter.”

Okay, so Grant hadn’t expected to say that. The words
had just come tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them. And now
Jerry was staring back at him like he wanted to rip Grant’s head from his body.

Grant respected this man. Respected him as the owner
of Dead Heat Ranch, the man who signed his paychecks every week,
and
as
Gracie’s father. He hadn’t wanted it to come to this.

“And you thought, what? Giving in to your father is gonna
keep him quiet?”

Yes, that was exactly what he thought. But he didn’t
say as much.

“I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you that I
understand what’s goin’ on with you and Gracie … and … and Lane. I’m not sure I
want to know. But I
will
tell you that Gracie came to me because she’s
scared. And that’s on you, son. You’re the one who has to figure out how to
protect her from that fear. Do you think you can do that?”

Grant nodded his head.

“Good. Then get your ass outta here and figure it out
before I get mad,” Jerry yelled.

Well, shit. Grant’s feet wouldn’t move, and he knew
that was an opportunity if he’d ever heard one, but he didn’t know how to walk
away. He didn’t know how to fix what was broken. Grant was tempted to ask Jerry
for help because … because Gracie wasn’t the only one who was scared.

Hell. Grant was terrified.

Especially after last night, after making love to her
and coming to terms with the fact that he did love them both. That he would do
anything for them. Protecting them from his crazy father was high on his to-do
list, but without giving Darrell money, Grant had no idea how to make the man
go away.

Lane and Gracie had stood by his side when he’d been
worried about his mother, and they had consoled him last night when the relief
was so intense he could hardly breathe. And then what did he do? He was a
chicken-shit, and he let his father lead him around by his fucking nose. All
because Grant wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to protect the two people
he loved more than anything.

A firm hand landed on Grant’s shoulder, and he spun
around, coming face to face with…

Lane.

Holy shit. For a minute, Grant had forgotten he was
standing there.

“Come on. We need to talk,” Lane said.

And what did Grant do?

Well, he nodded, of course.

“But first we’ve gotta go help set up for tonight’s
dance,” Lane told him and turned toward the arena where they held their monthly
dances for the guests.

Grant had no choice but to follow him. When he glanced
over his shoulder one more time, he found that Jerry was gone. Where he’d gone,
Grant had no idea, but he didn’t slow down to find out.

It wasn’t until they reached the arena that Grant
found his voice again. With a gentle hand on Lane’s arm, he tried to get the
other man’s attention.

“What?” Lane snarled, his reaction surprising Grant.

“I thought you wanted to talk,” Grant bit out, trying
desperately to keep his voice low.

“No, what I really wanna do is punch you in the
mouth,” Lane disputed.

Great. Now they were going to have a fight right there
in front of half the ranch. Grant glanced past Lane to see that several
wranglers had stopped what they were doing to watch them.

“Get to work!” Grant hollered.

A chorus of grumbles echoed through the arena, but
Grant turned his attention back to Lane, studying the harsh lines of the man’s
face. Yeah, it was safe to say Lane was still angry.

Not that Grant blamed him. After what Grant’s father had
done…

“Look, I’m sorry that my father barged in like that,”
Grant began but was quickly cut off by the fury that lit Lane’s dark eyes.

“You think I’m pissed off because
he
came in?
No, man, I’m fuckin’ pissed because you’re enablin’ him. Do you think that
givin’ him money is gonna get him off your back?”

“No,” Grant growled. “That’s not what I think. But
there are more important things at stake here.”

“Like?” Lane asked, his arms crossing over his big
chest as he stared back at Grant.

“Like…”
Shit.
Grant couldn’t think. He didn’t
know what to say to Lane to make this better, and that was all he cared to do.

“Go on,” Lane encouraged. “Tell me what’s more
important. I wanna hear it.”

Grant’s jaw ticked, his anger making it difficult to
think.

“No, let me rephrase that,” Lane said as he moved closer,
lowering his voice, “I
need
to hear it.”

Glancing around, Grant noticed that there were still
people watching, and the last thing he needed to do was get into an argument in
front of God and everyone.

“You, damn it. You’re more important. You and Gracie
are it for me, Lane. Don’t you get that?”

“No, I don’t get that,” Lane announced. “Maybe if
you’d said something before, I might have an idea of how you feel.”

Okay. Point well received. Grant knew he hadn’t told
Lane how he felt. And last night, he hadn’t expected to tell Gracie, but
everything had come to a head.

He knew he should say something now, tell Lane that he
loved him, but he couldn’t. Not here. There were too many eyes and ears around.
So instead of doing the one thing that could fix their issues, Grant said, “I
need to get to work. We’ll talk tonight.” Grant turned to walk away, but he was
pulled up short by a strong hand on his arm.

Spinning around, he came face-to-face with Lane.

“Don’t walk away,” Lane ground out. “Tell me. Right
here. Right now.”

“Tell you
what
?” Grant asked, trying to keep
his voice low. “Tell you that you and Gracie are more important? Is that what
you wanna hear?” Lane didn’t respond, but he didn’t look at all convinced.
“Damn it, Lane. I fuckin’ care. Is that what you wanna hear?” Grant knew his
voice was getting louder, and he feared he was about to come out of the closet
with the entire ranch looking on.

“Yes,” Lane replied, the muscle in his jaw bunching as
though he were trying to refrain from saying too much.

Grant knew just what Lane was feeling, because as much
as he wanted to announce to the entire ranch that he was in love with Gracie
and Lane, he just couldn’t do it. Even though he had Jerry’s blessing, he still
couldn’t get the words out.

“So you didn’t give your father money?” Lane asked.

Grant’s brow furrowed as he desperately tried to
remember what they were talking about. How had this conversation gone from
feelings to money?

“No,” he finally said, some of his anger dissipating.
“I didn’t give him anything yet. I told him I’d talk to him later.”

Lane took a step closer. He was now standing so close
that their chests nearly touched, and the brim of their hats rubbed once.
“Don’t give him money. You hear me?”

“I don’t have much of a choice,” Grant rebutted.

“You’re the only one
with
a choice,” Lane said
through clenched teeth. “We’ll work this out. Understand me?
We.
As in
you, me, and Gracie. Don’t go off half-cocked thinkin’ you can make this
better. The only way to fix this is to man up.”

And with that, Lane turned and walked away.

Grant stared after him, feeling chastised by the man
he loved. It was the second time in less than an hour that someone had told him
to man up.

And if Grant hadn’t been angry before … well, he was
now.

■□■□■□■□

It took every ounce of willpower Lane possessed just
to walk away from Grant. But even he knew this wasn’t the time or place to get
in a knock-down-drag-out with the ranch foreman, especially when this was
personal. So after giving Grant his final two cents, Lane made a beeline for
the arena, glaring at every wrangler who dared look his way.

Busying himself for the next two hours wasn’t
difficult because his frustration fueled him, and before he knew it, the arena
was all decked out, ready for the dance that would bring the guests flurrying
to one place.

Lane happened to enjoy the dances that they put on.
Used to be that he enjoyed them because it was his only chance to get close to
Gracie, something he’d been trying to do for the last two years. Since his arms
ached to hold her again, he was actually quite ready for the party to start,
but there were still hours to go until that happened. Which meant Lane needed
to get some other things done in order to keep his mind off her and Grant.

As he made his way to his truck, trying to prioritize
what he needed to accomplish for the day, he thought back to the last bit of
the conversation between Grant and Jerry.

I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you that I
understand what’s goin’ on with you and Gracie … and … and Lane. I’m not sure I
want to know. But I will tell you that Gracie came to me because she’s scared.
And that’s on you, son. You’re the one who has to figure out how to protect her
from that fear. Do you think you can do that?

Gracie had actually approached her father to inform
him of her relationship with the two of them. And truth be told, Lane was
pretty sure that her going to her father meant more to him than if she’d
blurted out her love for him.

Maybe.

He still longed to hear the words, desperate to watch
them roll off Gracie’s tongue. His heart needed to hear them. There was an
actual physical ache in the center of his chest, and he feared that the only
thing that could relieve it was the three little words that he had yet to hear
from Grant or Gracie.

But this was close to being better than that. They no
longer had to hide from Jerry… Not that he really knew what that meant yet.
They still had the rest of the wranglers to contend with. Lane didn’t have any
idea what they were going to say or do when they found out that Lane and Grant
were together, much less that they were with Gracie as well. It was
complicated, but for Lane, it just felt right.

“Hey, man, you okay?”

Lane spun around to see Grant standing behind him.
“Great. Why?”

“Just makin’ sure,” Grant replied, his eyes narrowing
as though he didn’t believe Lane.

Since Lane hadn’t sounded all that convincing, it made
sense that Grant was questioning him.

“Would you … uh… Would you want to have dinner tonight?
Before the dance?”

Lane was tempted to stick his fingers in his ears and
wiggle them, just to make sure he wasn’t hearing things. Had Grant really just
invited him to dinner? Tonight?

“Yeah,” he said frankly. “I would.”

His response must’ve been the right answer because
Grant smiled, and Lane’s chest thumped painfully hard. “Good. That’s … good.
I’ll meet you at the dining hall?”

Lane nodded as he planned out his evening in his head.
Shower, dinner, dancing, Gracie, and Grant. Yep, tonight was going to be
significantly better than last night.

At least he hoped so anyway.