Kristen Ashley - Play It Safe

Buddy opened his mouth to reply but Gray took a step back and beat him to it.

“That’s it then that’s it. You don’t wake up and be a man, that’s on you, not on me. You pile more shit on me and Ivey, it’s fucked, but it reflects on you, not me. You are obviously not wakin’ up but every time you fail to beat me, you… just… fail making you less and less the man you wanna be and more and more the man your Daddy feared you’d be. So, do what you gotta do. Nothin’ a pathetic excuse for a man like you could do could defeat me.”

And with that, he was done and I knew that when my man turned and walked through the snow toward me and Hoot Booker. He didn’t even glance at the cops and he didn’t look over his shoulder and give Bud Sharp any more of his attention. He just stopped two feet away from my father and me.

His eyes did a scan of my face then they went over my shoulder to Hoot.

“You wouldn’t mind, I’d like to have my woman.”

“Sure, hoss,” Hoot Booker muttered, letting me go and the second he did, Gray leaned in, grabbed my hand and pulled me to him.

Then he slid his arm around my shoulders, tucking me to his side, his eyes still on my father.

Then he lifted his hand. “Grayson Cody.”

God.

God, but I loved Grayson Cody.

Hoot lifted his, took Gray’s and gripped.

“Hoot Booker.”

“Ivey tells me you’re her Daddy,” Gray remarked, letting Hoot’s hand go.

“Reckon so, she’s got my hair, or, at least, hope it’s so,” Hoot replied.

Some tension left my body because that was sweet.

I heard movement and muttering around us and knew the officers were rounding up Buddy but, like Gray, I was done with him. He ceased to exist. So I ignored this.

Gray looked side to side then back at Hoot. “You got a car?”

“In town,” Hoot answered.

“Stayin’ at the hotel?” Gray went on.

“Yeah, paid for by that douchebag. Think that ride’s ended though,” Hoot noted and I swallowed a giggle but that didn’t mean I didn’t smile.

When I looked up at Gray I saw the dimple was out.

Then he said, “Right, how ‘bout this? We go in, have a cup of coffee, warm up. Then I gotta go get my Gran from the nursing home. I’m thinkin’ you can guess I don’t want Ivey too far from me so I want her with me. That said, my woman’s never had a family so I can guess, you’re here, she’ll not want to be too far from you.”

He had that right.

Gray continued, “So, you follow in Ivey’s Lexus, we get Gran, Ivey can ride with you on the way back and you two can get to know each other. Work for you?”

Hoot stared at him a beat not hiding his surprise. Then he looked to my car. Then back at Gray.

“You’re lettin’ me alone in a Lexus?” he asked softly.

“You gonna steal it?” Gray asked back.

“No,” Hoot answered instantly.

“Then yeah,” Gray replied and Hoot’s brows shot together even as he moved his big body uncomfortably.

“Hoss, maybe you don’t know, I –” he started.

“I know,” Gray cut him off firmly and my body twitched.

“You know?” I asked him, my head tipped back and he looked down at me.

“Lash,” he answered.

“Right,” I whispered, not sure how I felt about this.

“Told you, dollface, he told me everything about you. You didn’t know this because you’d had enough, he didn’t want to give you more. I saw his play and made the same one.”

Well, knowing my father was in prison for murder one would not have been joyful news, especially back then even if I was living happy limbo.

I supposed I could be pissed. Then again, the men in my life loved me and wanted to protect me so I decided not to be.

And anyway, it was Christmas. I had a father to get to know, a grandmother to pick up from the nursing home and cookies to bake.

I had other priorities.

“Whatever,” I muttered and Gray grinned down at me then he looked to Hoot.

“So, you wanna come in for coffee?”

Hoot stared hard at Gray then he looked at me then he looked at Gray.

Then he smiled a huge, wild-ass smile and stated, “Fuck yeah.”

Gray jerked up his chin then led me to the side of the porch. He disengaged from me to lift me up onto it even though I could, and had (often), jumped up on my own. He climbed up after me and led me to the house.

I glanced and saw the Audi and cruisers gone.

Gone.

Then I drew in a breath.

Then my man guided me and my newfound Dad into our house where we had coffee while Gray called the nursing home and explained the delay and I chatted with Hoot Booker and got to know my Dad.

Then we went to get Gran.

Then we brought her home.

Then I finished my cookies.

Then Gray, Grandma Miriam and Hoot Booker ate a bunch of them.

Then Norrie came over.

Then Gray and Hoot went into town so Hoot could check out of the hotel and get his car.

Then in a beautiful house on a big, beautiful patch of land, Grandma Miriam in her chair wrapped with her shawl, Norrie in the armchair, her hand wrapped around a mug of hot cocoa, my father sitting in another chair, his hand wrapped around a beer, and me curled into my man, I found myself surrounded by family.

The wait was over and I found Gray was right.

Good things come to those who wait.

But he’d left out one word.

Because those things were really good things.

* * *

Ten twenty-two at night, Christmas Day…

Gray and I were in bed, front-to-front, arms around each other, whispering in the dark about our day.

It had been a great day. So great it was hard to pick which part was the best.

But I was thinking it was the fact that Gray and I unintentionally settled on the same theme for each other for Christmas.

First, he unwrapped my gift which was a scarf. The minute he saw it, his eyes came to me. They were warm and soft with memories and when I tipped my head to the side and bit my lip, he looked at my mouth and burst out laughing. Then, right in front of everyone, he hooked me with a hand at the back of my neck and laid a hard, closed-mouthed kiss on me.

After that, I told him to look in the bottom of the box and muttered, “You preempted my instructions.”

I said this because there was a note at the bottom of the box on which I wrote, “Your real gift comes after a kiss.”

Even though he’d already earned his present, after reading the note, Gray gave me another kiss immediately.

That one was softer, shorter but no less sweet.

It also wasn’t closed-mouthed.

Then I gave him his real present, a kickass, to-the-hip leather jacket with warm lining. He had the same one he’d had since I met him and I noticed the lining was ripped, worn and some of it had come out entirely.

He loved it.

Then he gave me my presents.

First, a beautiful, soft wool knit cap and scarf in gray with the barest hints of black, the scarf wide and long and gorgeous. Second, a pair of gray suede gloves with fantastic stitching and lined in soft fur. And last, a matching hip length, hide coat that was like no coat I’d ever seen. The sleeves were belled and both sleeves and hem were jagged following the natural lines of the hide. The lapels also fell in the natural lines of the hide but they fell wide and deep exposing the thick, super-soft fur that was mostly gray with an undercoat of cream and wisps of black hairs that was the inside of the coat. It tied closed with a hide belt.

It was unusual, it was sophisticated, it was classy, it was cool, it was stylish and it was Colorado.

It was the perfect coat for a macho man rancher cowboy’s stylish soon-to-be wife.

I opened it, put it on, felt that soft fur against my skin, loved it instantly and my eyes drifted to Gray.

Then I burst into tears.

In turn, Gray burst out laughing. Then he held me as I cried and multitasked by ignoring it and continuing to hand out presents.

“Let’s see, dollface,” he muttered, breaking into my thoughts. “Got me an ex-con whose smile scares me a little and whose also my woman’s long lost Daddy snorin’ on my couch. Got my Gran in a rented hospital bed, also snorin’. Got my estranged Mom lyin’ in the guest bedroom, luckily not snorin’. And got no beer left in the house because my uncles drank it all.”

“I know,” I whispered, “isn’t it awesome?”

I saw his grin in the moonlight but he said, “Not fond of a house without beer.”

“I’ll go to Plack’s tomorrow,” I promised.

“Know you will, my woman takes care of me,” he whispered and I sighed happily.

I did, I took care of him. And I loved doing it. But I also loved knowing he noticed and liked it.

Then his arms gave me a gentle squeeze.

“You have a good Christmas, baby?”

I pressed closer to him. “Yeah, honey.”

“Good,” he murmured.

“You?” I asked.

“Best ever,” Gray answered.

Oh yes.

Yes.

I loved Grayson Cody.

“Good,” I said softly.

Then I dipped my chin, moved in and kissed his chest.

There, my lips against his skin, I whispered, “It’s been a wild ride and I can’t say over the years that I didn’t wish I’d made a different decision. But right now, in this bed with you, our family in this house, your ring on my finger, I’m glad that when I was on the sidewalk on the square in town with you and Casey all those years ago, I decided for the first time in my life not to play it safe.”

Gray’s arms gave me another squeeze, this one so tight I was forced to take my face out of his chest, tip my head back and look at him.

“I’m glad too, Ivey, seriously fuckin’ glad you took a chance on me.”

Yeah, I loved Grayson Cody.

He dropped his head and touched his mouth to mine, giving me a light kiss then ordering against my lips.

“Say you love me, Ivey.”

My lips smiled against his. “I love you, Gray.”

His lips smiled back.

Five and a half months later…

“Thanks Jeb,” I said quietly into the phone, my eyes looking out the window over the sink to the barn.

“Thought you and Gray’d wanna know, Ivey,” Jeb said quietly back.

I pulled in breath then asked, “You okay?”

“My wife misses her grandbabies,” he answered meaning he did too. “But she doesn’t miss the headaches.” This meaning he didn’t either. Then he stated, “Right,” in a tone that said the conversation was imminently over. “Candace told me to tell you to talk to Gray about you and him comin’ over for dinner again. She liked that. You talk to Gray, give her a call, let her know.”

I’d talk to Gray but he didn’t overly enjoy our last dinner with Candace and Jeb Sharp. He got what they were trying to do, apologize for the behavior of their son, and he was trying to be a good guy. He didn’t blame them. Still, he didn’t enjoy it.

“Will do. Take care, Jeb.” I gave my farewell.

“You too, Ivey,” he replied then he was gone.

I bleeped the phone off and looked back out the window.

Then I smiled.

Then I walked to the backdoor and pulled on my cowboy boots even though I was wearing a tight tank, a pair of cutoff jeans shorts and no socks. I also nabbed one of Gray’s raggedy baseball caps off the hook and tugged it on my head, tucking my hair behind my ears.

It was a crazy, cowgirl look but I knew I worked it seeing as the first time I pulled on one of Gray’s hats and my boots with shorts rather than ran upstairs to find some flip-flops in order to go out and talk to Gray, my message wasn’t received for a half an hour. This was because that half an hour was spent mostly naked in our hayloft.

And during that half hour, Gray didn’t take off my boots.

I loved those boots. But after our time in the hayloft, I loved them more.

I went through the backdoor and my eyes slid through the space. There were three dozen, wooden picnic tables sprinkled across the vast area beside the house, in front of the barn and beyond. In two days, these would be covered in white tablecloths with a bucket of daisies and black-eyed susans in the middle of each one. All the trees were already strung with Christmas lights and there was an enormous kettle grill set up on a stand of bricks. And, in two days, seven dozen white and yellow balloons and a wooden dance floor were being delivered.