The Bachelor's Unexpected Family. Lisa Carter

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СКАЧАТЬ “The boy looks sixteen. Won’t happen again.”

      Gray inserted himself between them. “Canyon was doing me a favor. Teaching me how to repair engines. I like being here.”

      The woman squared her shoulders. “I absolutely will not allow you to put your life at risk.”

      Gray went rigid. “Moving here was supposed to be about making a new start for both of us. But since Dad died, all you care about is making me miserable. As miserable as you.”

      “I’m not—” She pursed her lips. “Being around airplanes will only make you feel worse, Gray.”

      Gray held his ground. “Just because you’re afraid of airplanes doesn’t mean I have to hate them, too. It makes me happy to remember Dad here. You’re the one who makes me feel sad.”

      Canyon angled toward Gray’s mother. “Your son’s a really good kid. Your husband would be proud. And I’d never put Gray in harm’s way. He’s good company.”

      The woman blinked at him for a moment.

      Canyon scrubbed his hand over his face. Bothered—strangely—that he’d forgotten to shave this morning. Bothered, too, that he was fighting so hard to keep the boy working at the airfield.

      She faced Gray. “Go back to the house. I won’t risk losing you the way we lost your father.” She glared at Canyon. “And I’m not afraid of airplanes.”

      Gray snorted. “You’re afraid of everything since Dad died. Afraid to laugh. Afraid to live. And I’m sick of living in the grave with you.”

      Hurt flitted across her features.

      An unusual—and unwelcome—sensation of protectiveness rose in Canyon’s chest. “Just a minute, Gray...”

      Gray’s brown eyes darkened. “You don’t know what it’s like. She won’t let me do anything because she’s afraid I’ll get hurt.” His shoulders hunched. “Stop treating me like a baby, Mom.”

      “Then stop acting like one, Gray,” Canyon growled.

      Gray flushed.

      Canyon sighed. How had he gotten entangled in this quicksand? Since leaving the Coast Guard, he’d spent the last three years making sure he stayed out of other people’s business and that people stayed out of his.

      He took a breath. “What does the K stand for?”

      “Kristina.” Gray kicked a loose stone on the concrete. “I like working with motors, Mom. And Canyon needs my help.” Gray leaned forward. “Tell her, Canyon. Tell her how much you need my help.”

      Kristina Montgomery’s lovely face hardened. “Your only job is school, Gray.”

      Gray clenched his hands. “Since you don’t have a job, I figure maybe I better.”

      Canyon’s brow puckered. “I didn’t realize you were looking for work. What do you do?”

      She opened her mouth, but once again Gray beat her to the punch.

      “Mom cuts great triangle sandwiches.” Gray’s mouth twisted. “She has a green thumb. And can clean a toilet like nobody’s business.”

      She quivered at his sarcasm.

      Canyon had had enough of the attitude. “Let’s you and me get one thing straight right now, Grayson Montgomery. I will not tolerate disrespect to any woman, much less your mother.”

      Gray’s and his mother’s gazes swung to Canyon’s.

      “She cares about you or she wouldn’t have come looking for you. Good mothers don’t grow on trees. I should know.”

      Canyon grimaced. What on earth had possessed him to share that little tidbit from his less-than-stellar childhood?

      Her cheeks heated. “I apologize for my son’s extreme rudeness.” She swallowed. “And to answer your question, I have an accounting degree from the University of Richmond that I’ve never used.”

      Canyon recalled only one other person on the Eastern Shore originally from Richmond. “Any relation to Weston Clark? The ex-Coast Guard commander who remodeled the old lighthouse on the Neck?”

      “He’s my brother.”

      Canyon noted the likeness then. Weston Clark had been married for not quite a year to one of the Duer girls—Caroline. Those girls had been a few years behind Canyon in high school. Closer to Beech’s age.

      The thought of his brother put Canyon’s stomach in knots. He didn’t have time for this altercation with Kristina Montgomery. He still had a ton of stuff to get done before he met Jade and the social worker at the bus depot in Exmore.

      He crimped the brim of his cap. “I can’t allow you to work here without your mom’s permission.”

      Gray sputtered. “B-but she’s being unfair.”

      Canyon shook his head. “Nevertheless, she’s your mother, and she gets to call the shots.”

      “I have an appointment in Kiptohanock.” Kristina Montgomery swept a curtain of blond hair out of her face. “And I meant what I said, Gray. Go home.”

      The boy’s countenance fell. “But—”

      “Do what your mother says, Gray.”

      Gray threw his mother and Canyon an angry look before he stomped toward the wooded path. Kristina Montgomery remained rooted in place, watching her son.

      “I run a clean, safe enterprise, Mrs. Montgomery. Let me take you on a short flight and give you a bird’s eye view of the Shore.”

      Canyon bit the inside of his cheek. Where had that come from?

      Her forehead creased. Gray’s mother didn’t appear to smile much. Maybe she hadn’t had a reason to smile in a long while.

      “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t trust airplanes.” She moved to follow her son.

      “Nor pilots, either, from the sound of it.”

      She stopped.

      “One word of advice, Mrs. Montgomery?”

      She crossed her arms but waited to hear him out.

      “If you refuse to let Gray pursue an interest he obviously loves, you might be the one risking everything.”

      Her mouth flattened. “What are you talking about, Mr. Collier?”

      “My name’s Canyon. And I’m talking about risking your relationship with your son. You could lose him for good.”

      She tilted her head. “And you, I assume, are an expert on parenting? Why do you care?”

      “Just being neighborly, ma’am.”

      Which СКАЧАТЬ