Her Forever Hero (Unexpected Heroes #3)(25)

“I have to say, you learned from the best, but you might just be exceeding me when it comes to matchmaking,” Joseph replied. He had to struggle to keep his naturally booming voice low.

“I’m just glad you were able to make it down this weekend. I have a lot to fill you in on,” Martin told him.

“Yes, phone calls get mighty old after a while,” Joseph agreed.

“What are you two doing hiding behind this tree?” Maggie asked, making both men jump.

“Quiet, woman, or you’re going to get us caught,” Martin warned her, holding a finger to his lips to silence her further.

Maggie jerked her arms across her chest and let out a huff. “Don’t you shush me, Martin Whitman, or I’ll smack you.”

“Are you three insane? You’re starting to draw attention to yourselves over here,” Eileen said in exasperation as she approached with Bethel. “How are we supposed to sneak away for our secret meeting if all eyes are on us?”

“Maggie started it,” Joseph grumbled.

“I most certainly did not,” Maggie replied haughtily. “And a gentleman would never shush a lady.”

“You’re right, darling,” Martin said. “We weren’t being very inconspicuous. Let’s go back to my place and get to planning. We’ll give Cam and Grace a little more time to pull themselves together, but if they don’t start moving faster, we might need to poke them along. We also need to start making plans for Michael. I can see something is up. I want to know what it is.”

The group began moving toward their cars.

“What is going on with Michael?” Bethel asked. “I must have missed something.”

“He’s been disappearing for weeks at a time and he’s being very secretive about it,” Martin grumbled. “I just don’t like it, especially after the display tonight.”

“Well, don’t you worry about it, Martin. We’ll get it all worked out,” Eileen assured him with a pat on the back.

“Of course we’ll figure it out. I have no doubt of that with you all here,” Martin said, and he gazed at Eileen long enough that a slight blush suffused her cheeks. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?”

“Oh, Martin. You’re such a flirt,” Eileen said with a youthful giggle, instantly shaving twenty years off her age.

“Only with you,” he told her with a wink that made the blush turn into a full-blown flush.

“You two done flirting? It’s cold out here,” Bethel growled, but she softened her remark with a smile.

“We weren’t flirting,” Eileen insisted as they reached the car and climbed into the backseat.

Maggie chuckled. “Oh, come, now, Eileen, it’s more than obvious that the two of you have been flirting for years now.”

“You girls just hush. I don’t want Martin to hear you, and he’s about to open the driver’s-side door.”

“Maybe the two of you need some meddling done on your behalf,” Bethel offered. The wheels were turning behind her eyes as she looked at Maggie.

“Don’t you dare!” Eileen snapped, and playfully slapped Bethel’s knee.

Then they couldn’t say anything more, because Martin and Joseph climbed into the car. The women hoped the two men didn’t notice the sudden silence.

“Hold on, ladies. We’re going to take the back way home,” Martin said with a laugh.

The group of lifelong friends had been through thick and thin together, and they were just barely tapping the surface of their adventures.





After a couple of hours, the crowd had thinned slightly, but the music had been turned up, and the party seemed to just be getting started. Grace knew she should try to sneak away, catch a ride back into town with someone, and let Cam figure out later that she was gone. But for some reason she didn’t want to. What she wanted to do was enjoy the slight buzz drifting lazily through her body, sit by the glowing fire, and have Cam sitting right next to her. Her mind began to wander.

That most likely wasn’t the smartest thing she could be doing. But why should she be smart all the time? Wasn’t it okay to be naughty once in a while? Everyone thought Grace was the experienced one, the person who had the world in the palm of her hand.

She’d grown up with a wealthy family, in a beautiful home, and she’d traveled. Man, how she’d traveled. She’d gone to Europe, Australia, Japan, Russia, and so many other places, she couldn’t even name them all. And she’d done most of it alone because she’d been running, either from her parents or from the ache in her heart after men had betrayed her. But one thing was for sure—Grace was sick and tired of running away.

Yes, she’d grown up with money. But she’d also grown up without love. She had thought she’d found love with the Whitmans, and she knew she shared a kindred love with her best friend, Sage, but Grace was so much more careful now when it came to such a crippling emotion.

Because aside from Sage and Grandma Bethel, Sage’s grandmother, no one else she had ever loved and who had professed to love her in return had actually stuck around—not even Cam.

Maybe she had rejection issues, to use shrinkspeak, and maybe she had issues with being controlled. But the reality was that it didn’t matter what psychological problems she had or what she was afraid of. Because reality didn’t lie, and the reality was that people she loved eventually always disappeared. Her heart couldn’t handle any more bitterness or despair.