Hour of Need (Scarlet Falls #1)(33)

“Hi, Grant. Hello, Faith.” Ellie patted the baby’s shoulder. She walked into the warm foyer and greeted the whining dog.

“Let me see if I can pawn this baby off on someone so we can talk.” He led the way back to the kitchen.

“Hi, Mom.” Julia sat at the kitchen table with Carson. A Candy Land board lay open in front of them.

The little boy forked macaroni and cheese into his mouth. “Hi, Ms. Ross,” he mumbled around the food. He picked a card and looked at it, then moved his piece.

“Hi, Carson.” Ellie walked over and folded him into a long hug. Still eating, he returned the gesture with one arm.

Nan was at the kitchen counter slicing pound cake. Seeing her daughter and grandmother safe eased the panic scurrying inside Ellie’s chest.

Grant leaned close to her ear. His breath drifted across her cheek. She stilled the urge to lean closer.

“Your grandmother brought us baked macaroni and cheese. It’s the first thing Carson’s eaten all day. I can’t thank her enough.”

“When Julia watched Carson in the afternoon, Nan liked to hang out with them, too. She gets bored when the house is empty.”

“I haven’t seen Carson since last May. I’m happy for all the guidance I can get. Are you hungry?” Grant shifted Faith to his other shoulder. “She made enough to feed a platoon.”

His arm touched Ellie’s, hard as iron. Tempted to press against his solid body and absorb some of his strength, she resisted. She needed to act normal.

“Tons is the only quantity she knows how to make.” Ellie watched the little boy move his plastic game piece on the colorful board. He seemed quiet, but almost normal. Maybe he was going to be all right.

Her gaze snapped back to Grant. He was a take-charge sort of man, ready to tackle domestic problems with the same determination he likely put into his military career. He obviously cared about his brother’s children. But what would happen when he went back to Afghanistan? A battle-hardened army officer could hardly be satisfied playing house for the next eighteen years.

What if she told him about the threat to her family? She remembered Kate telling her how worried Lee was about his brother, the conditions he’d fought under, his combat injuries. Lee had shown her Grant’s Purple Heart. If anyone could handle the man who’d threatened her, it might be Grant. But would he help? Would he keep her secret or would he insist on calling the police? The man had been clear about not involving the law. Unfortunately, she didn’t know Grant well enough to trust him, and she couldn’t take the risk. With no clues as to the identity of Hoodie Man, she was on her own.

She forced a smile onto the stiff muscles of her face. “No worries, though. Carson would eat mac and cheese for every meal if you let him.”

“I’ve been picking your grandmother and daughter’s brains for the last hour and taking notes. Let me find my sister to take Faith. Do you have a few minutes now?” Grant watched her with intent eyes that narrowed in suspicion.

She needed to improve her game face. Grant would not be easy to fool.

“Sure.” Ellie nodded, trying to appear casual when she wanted to race through the house searching for the file.

Grant turned to Nan and raised his voice. “Mrs. Ross? Have you seen my sister?”

“I told you to call me Nan like everyone else.” Her grandmother slid the wide blade of the knife under a slice of cake and lifted it onto a plate. She pointed to the back door with the knife. “Hannah is outside on her phone.”

Grant went to the window. Through the glass, Ellie could see a slim, blond woman pacing the back patio, coatless, arms curled around her middle as if she were freezing. Grant knocked on the glass and pointed to the baby. Hannah shook her head and pointed to her phone.

“I’ll take little Faith.” Nan held out her arms.

“Are you sure?” Grant hesitated. “If you stop moving, she starts screaming.”

“She is not the first colicky baby I’ve walked.” Nan tossed a clean dish towel over her shoulder.

Grant handed Faith over. Nan took her with expert arms. “You two go have a nice talk.”

Ellie followed Grant to the home office. He closed the door. The small room was set up to make full use of little space. The desk and hutch were pushed against the far wall. To the right of the door, a credenza held a printer and a stack of law books and periodicals. Grant gestured toward a wooden schoolhouse chair next to the desk. Ellie perched on the edge of the seat, her gaze searching for files. It wasn’t here. Or at least it wasn’t in plain sight. She needed to get a look inside the credenza and desk.

Grant swiveled the office chair to face her and eased into it.

“If Nan is intruding, please let me know,” she said.

“God, no.” Grant shifted his weight. The chair creaked. “I’ll take all the help I can get. I’m thrilled to see Carson eat. Between your grandmother and Julia, I now have a list of his favorite foods and the recipes to make them.”

He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. The small space brought him close enough that she caught a whiff of that woodsy aftershave. The skin around his eyes crinkled into crow’s feet, though she guessed he was only in his midthirties. War and responsibility aged a man, she supposed. She pictured the photo of him that graced the mantle in the living room. He was in uniform, rifle in hand, squinting though the Middle Eastern desert sun. A few wrinkles didn’t make him any less attractive. In fact, the lines made his face more compelling in a masculine way that sent a tiny shiver through her belly like a warning shot.