Page 74 of You First
His mother took two steps forward, blinking away her tears, the look of hope in her eyes making him ill. “Gray, is this young lady your girlfriend?”
What could he say to that? She wasn’t, of course. Not nearly. But he wanted her to be. At his hesitation, Meredith tried to step around him then, but he held her steady. Keeping her by his side, he turned to face his family.
“Mom, Dad, this is Meredith Ryan.”
Bax piped in. “She’s the one I told you about. The one who’s been helping Gray.”
A look of shock overtook his father’s face. “And you mauled her at the front door?”
Gray felt more than saw Meredith cringe beside him. He would not allow her to be embarrassed. Not when the stolen kiss had been entirely his fault.
“Meredith is…special. Please. Let me talk to her in private.”
Dahlia Blakewood had always been a beautiful woman, and she’d aged gracefully. Losing Cecilia had deepened the lines on her lovely face and hollowed her cheeks, and she’d stopped coloring her hair afterward. Not because she’d given up on life, she’d told her sons, but because it felt foolish to pretend. And now her dark hair was going silver around her face.
But instead of muting her beauty, the effect was magisterial. She looked more aristocratic, more high-born than ever, and Gray’s mother had always been able to pull off high-born with grace and exceeding kindness. Though her look of hope slipped, she smiled bravely at the girl he clung to.
“Very nice to meet you, Meredith.”
Meredith nodded beside him, blushing. She was trembling. Gray could feel it as he gently held her elbow. “Same to you, Mrs. Blakewood.”
His mother smiled, genuinely. “Please, call me Dahlia. And this is my husband, Lowell.”
Gray watched his father smile at her, but the man couldn’t hide the naked curiosity in his gaze. “Hello, Meredith.”
“Hello, sir.”
“Okay. You’ve met her. Now let us talk,” Gray leveled, growing impatient. Meredith was a mess beside him. He figured she’d bolt at the first opportunity, but he wanted to salvage whatever he could.
Bax raised a brow at him. “Good. Talk. But you have to tell her everything.”
Gray narrowed his eyes at his brother. “You stay out of this. You’ve interfered enough.”
“Everything, Gray,” Bax repeated, unfazed. “The odds with surgery and the odds without.”
Gray clenched his jaw and moved his grip to Meredith’s hand. “C’mon. Let’s go outside.” He walked her past them, and the dogs followed, eager to head to the back yard.
The sky was just a smear of low winter clouds as he led Meredith to the bench where he’d watched her play with Vulcan and Juno. Had that only been three weeks before? Impossible.Maybe time slows the closer you get to death,he pondered.Or maybe the tumor is distorting my concept of it.
Either way, the hours he’d spent with Meredith seemed to claim much more of his life than a mere handful of weeks. When compared to the last few months, even the last few years, they weighed so much more. Like gold over silver.
When they sat, Meredith’s strength seemed to leave her, and her shoulders bowed. She still shook, and he knew it had nothing to do with the cold. Gray held her hand in both of his. She looked at the ground and then up at the tree branches that canopied his back yard. He let his eyes follow hers, and he searched the one pecan tree for any sign of green. They wouldn’t leaf out until after every chance of frost had passed, and he could spot no such promise. Spring was still a long way off.
Gray wondered if he’d be around to see it sprout again.
“I know I should have told you,” he said finally.
“Why didn’t you?” she asked without looking at him. Her voice was soft, absent of the accusation he deserved, and he was grateful.
Gray sighed. He wanted to be honest with her now. Honesty felt like a gift. And maybe giving it to her would make him feel better.
“I saw you. The day you came to interview.” She raised her eyes to his then, looking just as innocent, just as radiant as she had that day. “I’d opened the door to come out and confront Bax, but as soon as I laid eyes on you, I knew I couldn’t.”
Meredith frowned her pretty frown. “Why not?”
Gray had no control over his face. He felt his smile wobble with the intensity of the memory. “Because you were so beautiful I didn’t want to look at you and see pity in your eyes.”
“Pity?” Her brows drew up, and she looked at him in disbelief.
