Love Restored (21 page)

He’d call that progress if he could figure out the path he was on.

“We’re here!” Rowan said as she bounced around him, though he kept his hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t fall. “Mom said we’re going to the salad place for lunch.” She crossed her eyes. “I hate lettuce, but I like putting things
on
lettuce. And then after you eat your salad, you can have soup and mac and cheese and chili and rolls and cornbread and pizza and cookies and sweets and then ice cream. All because you ate a salad!”

He couldn’t help but laugh as she kept going on and on about the things she’d have at the salad place. He wasn’t a fan of lettuce either, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Rowan that. If this were one way to get the kid to eat her vegetables, he’d take Blake’s side on this. Plus, he knew from experience, the more you filled yourself up with salad, the less likely you’d be to eat too many sweets and carbs afterward.

“Are you hungry, then?” he asked as she twirled around on one foot, pretended she was a ballerina.

“
Starving
,” Rowan said as she put the back of her hand to her forehead and pretended to swoon. “But Mom said you’re going to show us the place she grew up in first.” Rowan quieted down and toed one foot along the sidewalk. “Is that okay?” She leaned forward and beckoned to him, so he bent so she could whisper in his ear. “Will it make Mom sad if we look?”

And with that, he fell for Blake’s little girl just as hard as he’d fallen for Blake. That Rowan would want to take care of her mother’s feelings above all else spoke of how Blake had raised her.

Graham kissed her little cheek and gave her a fist bump. “We’ll take care of your mom,” he whispered back, not quite answering the question. He wasn’t sure how Blake would feel, but if she was here at all, then she was set on showing Rowan around. Graham would help them then because they couldn’t be alone. Not now. Not ever.

Blake cleared her throat. “Hi, by the way.”

He straightened and slid his hand on the back of her head before bringing her closer. “Hi.” He kissed her softly then, aware that it was the first time he’d fully kissed Blake in front of Rowan. “Welcome back to the site.”

Blake’s eyes widened, and she gave a cautious look in Rowan’s direction. Graham looked as well, and only saw stars in Rowan’s eyes. Blake’s whole body stiffened, but Graham did his best to soothe her. He might have made a mistake kissing Blake in public, but he wouldn’t take it back now.

He’d fallen in love with Blake Brennen. Her daughter, as well. Now he just had to figure out what to do about it.

Graham took one of her hands and held out his other toward Rowan. “Ready for the tour?”

Rowan slid her small hand into his and nodded, a bright smile on her face. “Yep! Do I need a hat like those guys?” She pointed to his crew, who were working hard and doing their best to try and look like they hadn’t just been staring their way.

Graham shook his head. “We aren’t going inside, actually. I’m going to give you the tour from the outside in the safe zones. When we get closer to being finished, I’ll take you and your mom inside.”

Rowan looked so disappointed, he had to hold back a laugh. “But I’m sure I can find a hard hat that fits you if that’s what you really want.”

The little girl raised her fist to the air and cheered while Blake groaned.

“What?” he asked.

“She’s going to want to wear that around the house now,” Blake said dryly. “She’s already been using my measuring tape from the toolbox to measure things for you to build or fix. If she picks up a hammer, I’m afraid my little girl is lost to the construction bug, and I’ll have to be worried for my drywall.”

Graham chuckled but led them to the trailer anyway. “If she’s going to want to play, I might as well teach her a bit how to be safe about it.”

“I know a little home maintenance, but not enough to feed her curiosity I don’t think.”

Graham nodded. “Then I’ll help.”

Rowan walked into the trailer first to meet with Owen, who gave her a high five and knelt down to talk hard hats and tablets. That gave Graham enough time to kiss Blake a little harder and smile.

“Hi again.” He brushed her hair back from her face.

“Hi,” Blake breathed. “And stop that.”

“Not going to,” he promised.

“We’re going to need to talk about this,” she warned.

“Good.” Because they needed to for sure. Something was changing between them, and though he’d told Owen it wasn’t serious, that had been one hell of a lie.

Graham looked up as his brother walked toward them, his phone in hand. “I need to answer this. Have fun today.” With that, Owen left, and Rowan started to wander around the small trailer that hosted their office on-site. It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

“I’m going to go get you both a hard hat,” he said with a smile.

“I don’t need one, do I?” Blake asked as her phone rang. “I thought we weren’t going anyplace she could get hurt.”

Graham shrugged. “If she wants one, there’s no harm in her wearing one. As for you, if she’s wearing one, you’ll look cute in it. Now, answer the phone, and I’ll be right back.”

Blake’s eyes narrowed then widened as she looked at her read out. “It’s my lawyer.” She answered. “Hello? Yes, can you wait one minute for me to get outside so we can talk? Thanks.” She hit mute on her phone. “Go get the hats or whatever and I’ll be right outside the door. Is she safe in here alone” She bit her lip, and Graham wanted to kiss her worries away.

“She’ll be fine,” he promised. “Right, Rowan?”

Rowan was currently playing with four pieces of wood samples, making building blocks for herself. “Yep! I won’t leave. Or look at anything I shouldn’t. Promise.”

Blake nodded, her phone in her hand, and they walked outside the trailer to stand on the tiny walkway that led to the ground below.

“Do you want me to stay?” he asked.

Blake shook her head. “Just come back quick. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

He kissed her hard, then ran off to get hard hats and make sure the crew was ready for visitors. He left her pacing in front of the trailer, one hand on her hip, the other keeping her phone to her ear.

Graham was as fast as he could be, grabbing the two smallest hard hats they owned and stopping by Owen’s side to make sure his brother knew what was up. He was on his way back to Blake when he heard the scream.

He dropped what he was holding and ran as fast as he could back to the trailer, Owen and the members of the crew that had been near, right on his tail.

“What is it?” he yelled as he got closer.

“Rowan!” Blake yelled. “Where are you? Rowan!”

His heart thudded, and he sped up until he was right by Blake’s side. He took her by her arms and tried to get her to calm down enough to talk to him. “What’s going on? Where’s Rowan?”

Her eyes were wide, her face pale. “I walked in after I’d hung up and she wasn’t there. She isn’t there, Graham. Where is my baby?”

Owen cursed and ran into the trailer, calling for Rowan. Graham turned on his heel to the men and women on his crew. “Rowan might have run off. Help us find her. Drop what you’re doing. Got me?”

“We’ll find her,” one of his crew said.

“You got it, Graham,” another said. “Don’t worry, Blake, she might have just gotten curious. We won’t let anything happen to her.”

Later, when they’d found her, Graham would be grateful for his crew and their quick thinking on their feet, but for now, he was trying to stem his own panic so he didn’t freak Blake out any more than she already was.

“I need to call the police,” Blake said, her voice devoid of emotion. “What if…what if it’s Chris’s parents? What if they took her because they don’t think they’ll win? That was my lawyer calling just now to tell me that he thinks the case is going to get dismissed. What if they panicked? Where is my baby, Graham? Where is my Rowan?”

His hands shook, but he pulled out his phone. “We’re calling the police now, just in case. We’re going to find her, Blake. If it’s the last goddamn thing we do. I’m not letting another little girl get hurt because of things out of my control. Do you understand? We’re going to find her, and everything is going to be fucking fine.”

He was starting to panic, but oddly enough, it seemed to be helping Blake. She kept nodding, but the overwhelming sense of confusion radiating from her dimmed. Now she looked like she was on a mission.

“Hey, Graham?” Owen called out, and Graham turned on his heel.

“Did you find her?” Graham asked.

“Where is she?” Blake said as she pushed past him.

Owen shook his head. “I haven’t, but call the police if you haven’t already.” His mouth was set in a grim line as he met Graham’s face. “The back window of the trailer is open, and the blocks she was playing with are on the ground beneath it.”

“Oh my God,” Blake whispered. Graham wrapped his arm around her shoulders to keep her steady. He ignored the way she stiffened at his touch.

“And we can’t find Sean, the new guy. He was here earlier when Rowan and Blake first showed up, but he’s gone now. Might be a coincidence, but we need to call the cops.”

The ground beneath Graham’s feet shifted, and he felt as if he were falling. Only he wasn’t, and it was only his mind.

Someone had kidnapped Rowan, and it had been on his site, on his watch. She’d been
right there,
and now he might have lost her.

He’d already lost one child.

He couldn’t do it again.

He dialed 911 and did something he hadn’t done since he’d buried his little girl.

He prayed.

When the first police cruiser pulled into the parking lot, Blake knew this hadn’t been a dream, hadn’t been a nightmare, it was all too real. The wind rushed through her hair, though she could only feel the absence of the strands on her neck as it blew across her shoulders, not the wind itself. Her fingertips went numb, yet the skin on the rest of her arms was so sensitive it felt like hot coals danced along the fine hairs. Why that was, she didn’t understand.

She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as it echoed around her brain, but because she wasn’t moving as quickly as she could, she knew it had to be beating faster than she heard.

There was a metal taste on her tongue she would always associate with sheer panic and fear.

Someone had taken her daughter, and there was nothing she could do about it. The years she’d spent doing what she could to keep Rowan safe had meant nothing. Her daughter was out there, in danger, and out of her hands.

And every time a Gallagher brother tried to help her or touched her arm to keep her sane, she wanted to scream. She couldn’t rely on them, couldn’t rely on anyone. She couldn’t even rely on herself.

Because no matter what she did, it was always the wrong decision.

“Mrs. Brennen?”

She turned at the sound of the officer’s voice and stared bleakly at him. “Someone took my child.” She didn’t sound panicked, but she knew he could see it in her eyes. There was no hiding that, no hiding the innate fear that would come if they couldn’t find Rowan within the next few hours.

More cops came, more investigators. They didn’t let anyone leave the site and didn’t reassure her like she needed. Instead, she felt their stares, their recriminations as to who she was and how she could have possibly let this happen to her daughter.

Her world had crumbled, but she didn’t show the break. She didn’t have the right to show weakness until Rowan was back and safe in her arms. She’d deal with whatever came next, and once her daughter was returned, then and only then would she find a place to let her fears win.

Now was not that time.

While people prowled around the site, asking their questions and looking for answers, Blake stood between the Gallagher brothers, Graham on one side, Murphy and Owen on the other, and did her best to be who she’d pretended to be all along.

Someone far stronger than she truly was.

And just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, Chris’s parents pulled up to the site in their fancy car, stepping out in their fancy shoes.

“You!” Chris’s mother stormed toward Blake, her small purse clutched in her hands. “What have you done with our granddaughter?”

The police officer Blake had been talking to frowned at her before turning to the incoming drama. “Excuse me, ma’am, you can’t come here, this is an active scene. Who are you?”

Chris’s father raised his chin. “We are the Carmichaels, and your police chief personally called us when he heard the news of our granddaughter going missing. We have every right to be here.” He pointed at Blake, though he didn’t bother to look at her. “
That
, however, should be behind bars. How dare she let some lower class man near our granddaughter. That is how she was kidnapped. Have you arrested the lowlife? That one. The one with the beard and all the tattoos. It must have been him. They’re all alike, you know.”

Blake took one step forward to smack the look off the man’s face, but Graham gripped her wrist, holding her near him. She let out a breath, knowing he was probably saving her from jail time. Beating up the Carmichaels in front of witnesses, police officers at that, probably wasn’t the smartest move at the moment, but it was the only thing she could think of when she already felt so freaking hopeless and helpless.

“Why don’t you come over here with Officer Broderick,” the officer that had been speaking to Blake said, blocking her view of the Carmichaels. He motioned to another man in blue and nodded. “We’ll get all the information we can before we move on.”

“
She
was the one who did this!” Mrs. Carmichael spat. “She isn’t fit to be a mother. We want our granddaughter back.”

Officer Broderick led the Carmichaels to the other side of the site, leaving Blake with the Gallaghers surrounding her.

“I’m Officer Lansing, by the way,” the officer said softly. “I know you were a little stunned when I introduced myself earlier. I need you to tell me everything that happened.” He looked around at the Gallaghers and frowned, his gaze piercing. “I’m going to need to speak to you privately.”