Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(18)

Would she feel the hair on Gavin’s face or only his full, soft-looking lips? And what would a man who had long hair and tattoos be like in bed?

I like it soft and gentle, and I won’t get in the way of your search for a lesbian partner.

That she felt a tingle when she remembered the way he’d said those words told her she’d be hopeless as a lesbian. She hadn’t been serious in the first place.

Still, she wasn’t interested in another relationship. She’d been burned too badly. He just gave her something to daydream about that wasn’t upsetting, and she couldn’t see any harm in fantasizing if it made getting through the day easier. It wasn’t as though she’d ever act on those fantasies.

The stars were out. She hadn’t noticed them in ages. She stopped to gaze up at the sky and to feel the cool wind ripple through her clothes. She was glad she’d come to California. She felt she could breathe for the first time since the nightmare with Gordon started. She didn’t have to worry about the police dropping by to ask her any more questions, didn’t have to fear that every car she heard was someone coming to vent their anger, didn’t have to worry about what someone might say to her children or dread another visit from her mother-in-law. She’d unshackled herself. And even though that freedom would come at the price of living in a tumbledown old ranch house for a while, she was willing. For the first time since she said “I do” nine years ago, she realized that even her marriage had been confining. She’d accepted that being Mrs. Gray was her “forever” lot in life, would never have considered leaving Gordon, if only for the sake of her children. But now that he’d made the decision for her, perhaps one day she’d be glad that she’d been given the chance to reinvent herself.

That was an interesting thought, one she hadn’t considered in all the misery of the foregoing weeks, but one that seemed to hang in the air tonight as a tantalizing promise. The future could be what she made it...

Hauling in a deep, cleansing breath, she smiled as she continued to the creek.

She couldn’t see Gavin’s place from there, so she crossed over and peered through the trees.

There were no lights on at his house, and his truck was still gone.

It was after midnight. This late, he had to be with a woman, didn’t he?

Probably. Maybe he was even staying the night...

She told herself he had the right to do whatever he wanted; it made no difference to her. But she didn’t feel quite so relieved and happy as she turned and walked back to the broken-down house that awaited her attention in the morning.





5

Gavin was exhausted when he turned down the narrow road leading to his house. No Good Pete’s had been rowdy, and the crowd hadn’t left until the bar closed. Normally, he liked playing for a packed house. All musicians dreamed of being well received. But his mind hadn’t been on his music tonight. He’d been thinking about his new neighbor—about how pretty she was and about the fact that she’d been married to a rapist. How did something like that happen to a woman like her? And how had it affected her and her children?

He’d also been making a mental list of all the things she would need over the next few weeks in order to make her house a home, and he was so preoccupied with what he could do to help that he didn’t notice until he was ready to pull into his own drive that there was a Toyota Pathfinder in the way.

He recognized that SUV instantly. It belonged to Heather Fox, his on-again, off-again girlfriend for the past few years, who was now with Scott Mullins, a guy Gavin had known almost since he moved to Silver Springs at fourteen.

“There you are,” she said as he got out. “Your gig must’ve gone late.”

Her statement struck him as odd. “You knew I had a gig?”

“Yeah, I saw it on your website. I like what you’ve done there, by the way—how people can book online.”

He’d forgotten about the website. “It’s been convenient. I still go over all requests to make sure they’re not too far away and negotiate if they want longer hours or more than one show, but it handles a lot of the initial inquiries, since people can see my rates and whether I’m off on certain days or already booked.”

“It’s cool that your music career is taking off. You deserve it. You’re so talented.”

She’d always encouraged him when it came to his music. She’d been flattering in other ways, too. That was probably why he fell back into a relationship with her every once in a while even though he wasn’t in love. “Thank you.”

“So you were in Santa Barbara tonight?”

She must’ve gotten that from the website, too, because he hadn’t talked to her since seeing her at the Blue Suede Shoe three weeks ago, when she’d been with Scott. “Yeah. No Good Pete’s.”

“Oh. I’ve never seen you play there. I’ll have to go next time.”

With or without her current boyfriend? he wondered, but didn’t ask. “They’re having me come back next Saturday.”

“Perfect. Santa Barbara’s not that far. But...why are you home so late? Don’t most bars close at two?”

He could hear the jealousy in her voice. She suspected he’d been with someone. She hadn’t been happy the last time he—yet again—broke it off. “This bar did, too, but it took me a while to pack up.” He grabbed his guitar from the back seat. “What are you doing here? Did I miss a text?”