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Authors: Cara Colter
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the other on the gear shift. She liked the look on his face, relaxed but alert. Ready.
And she liked the way he drove. Many men would have gone crazy driving a car like this, but Rory drove without aggression, playing with the power but not unleashing it totally. It was as if he was riding a high-strung horse and he was in perfect control.
He put a CD in and the raspy tones of an old rock-and-roll band that had stood the test of time and could still fill stadiums filled the car.
The choice of music. The way he drove. The house he had come from. If you ever need anything, Gracie, I’m your go-to guy. How could he think she did not know anything about him?
She leaned back into her seat, felt the wind play with her hair. And surrendered.
* * *
Rory sat across the white linen tablecloth and watched Grace. The view of the lake from where they sat on the marble outdoor terrace of the Blue Water Resort’s restaurant was amazing. Grace had already told him, her eyes sparking with excitement, the transformations she planned for this space when the Warrior Down fundraiser was to be held here in the last days of August.
He had talked her into a glass of wine from a local winery, while refusing one himself.
“You’re not going to have one?” she asked.
“No. You don’t drive a car that powerful and that sensitive with anything in your system that could impair your judgment.”
He could tell she liked that, that his attention to safety appealed to her.
But there was a deeper truth behind his refusal to join her for a drink—and it wasn’t just that he wanted to prove himself right that she would be soused on two.
He had long ago come to rely on his instincts. There were times his survival and the survival of others had depended on that. Now, he rarely ever did anything that made those instincts fuzzy. He had not had a drink in at least five years.
Was it just about his instincts being muddied? Or was part of it about his family’s history with alcohol, trying to divorce himself from that completely?
And he was acutely aware there was already something about being with her that had impaired his judgment.
He didn’t talk about his family, ever, and he tried not to think about them. What had made him bring it up? Just the fact she already knew? The fact she had grown up just down the street from the ongoing circus that had been his family life?
No. More than that.
He had trusted her with something about himself he did not trust everyone with.
“What happened to your fiancé?” he asked. For a guy who prided himself on his instincts, it was probably the wrong question. The door of camaraderie that had been opening between them snapped shut.
Or maybe that was exactly what he wanted to happen.
“What do you know about my fiancé?” she asked warily.
“Graham talked about your engagement when it happened. He didn’t much care for, um, Herbert.”
“Harold.”
“So, what happened?”
She was so silent that for a moment he thought she wasn’t going to tell him. She looked out at the lake, where children were playing on a float. Pushing each other off it, their splashing and laughter shivering on the air.
But when she looked back at him, he saw she was struggling to contain her emotion.
He was not good with emotion.
He wished he hadn’t opened this kettle of fish. That door of camaraderie that had squeaked shut, was suddenly flung open, wider than before.
“He left me,” she said bravely, tilting her chin up as if she didn’t care. Her eyes told a completely different story, and he was aware he was seeing Gracie at her most real and her most raw.
And that she was trusting him with that.
Just as he had trusted her.
He waited.
“He left me because he couldn’t stand the grief. He said it was time to get over it. He said it was time to be who I was before.”
Rory felt a ripple of pure fury that he was very careful not to show her. In fact, his voice was very measured when he spoke.
And she liked the way he drove. Many men would have gone crazy driving a car like this, but Rory drove without aggression, playing with the power but not unleashing it totally. It was as if he was riding a high-strung horse and he was in perfect control.
He put a CD in and the raspy tones of an old rock-and-roll band that had stood the test of time and could still fill stadiums filled the car.
The choice of music. The way he drove. The house he had come from. If you ever need anything, Gracie, I’m your go-to guy. How could he think she did not know anything about him?
She leaned back into her seat, felt the wind play with her hair. And surrendered.
* * *
Rory sat across the white linen tablecloth and watched Grace. The view of the lake from where they sat on the marble outdoor terrace of the Blue Water Resort’s restaurant was amazing. Grace had already told him, her eyes sparking with excitement, the transformations she planned for this space when the Warrior Down fundraiser was to be held here in the last days of August.
He had talked her into a glass of wine from a local winery, while refusing one himself.
“You’re not going to have one?” she asked.
“No. You don’t drive a car that powerful and that sensitive with anything in your system that could impair your judgment.”
He could tell she liked that, that his attention to safety appealed to her.
But there was a deeper truth behind his refusal to join her for a drink—and it wasn’t just that he wanted to prove himself right that she would be soused on two.
He had long ago come to rely on his instincts. There were times his survival and the survival of others had depended on that. Now, he rarely ever did anything that made those instincts fuzzy. He had not had a drink in at least five years.
Was it just about his instincts being muddied? Or was part of it about his family’s history with alcohol, trying to divorce himself from that completely?
And he was acutely aware there was already something about being with her that had impaired his judgment.
He didn’t talk about his family, ever, and he tried not to think about them. What had made him bring it up? Just the fact she already knew? The fact she had grown up just down the street from the ongoing circus that had been his family life?
No. More than that.
He had trusted her with something about himself he did not trust everyone with.
“What happened to your fiancé?” he asked. For a guy who prided himself on his instincts, it was probably the wrong question. The door of camaraderie that had been opening between them snapped shut.
Or maybe that was exactly what he wanted to happen.
“What do you know about my fiancé?” she asked warily.
“Graham talked about your engagement when it happened. He didn’t much care for, um, Herbert.”
“Harold.”
“So, what happened?”
She was so silent that for a moment he thought she wasn’t going to tell him. She looked out at the lake, where children were playing on a float. Pushing each other off it, their splashing and laughter shivering on the air.
But when she looked back at him, he saw she was struggling to contain her emotion.
He was not good with emotion.
He wished he hadn’t opened this kettle of fish. That door of camaraderie that had squeaked shut, was suddenly flung open, wider than before.
“He left me,” she said bravely, tilting her chin up as if she didn’t care. Her eyes told a completely different story, and he was aware he was seeing Gracie at her most real and her most raw.
And that she was trusting him with that.
Just as he had trusted her.
He waited.
“He left me because he couldn’t stand the grief. He said it was time to get over it. He said it was time to be who I was before.”
Rory felt a ripple of pure fury that he was very careful not to show her. In fact, his voice was very measured when he spoke.
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