16. Gage

16

GAGE

T ravis bent at the waist, propping his gloved hands on his knees. Sweat dripped from his hair onto the mat. "Dude, it's been hours. Don't you have to get to work?"

"Not for another hour." Their morning sparring had turned into a no-holds-barred match pretty quickly. Gage had taken the lead, and Travis was only starting to complain.

Travis straightened and pulled his gloves off. "I'm out."

"One more round," Gage panted. He was losing steam too, but there were still problems without solutions hanging around in his head. He did his best thinking when he was either laying on the hits or dodging fists.

"No. I'm not your punching bag. Save a guy's face, man. "

Gage tore off his gloves and stalked over to the bench. He gulped down half a bottle of water and leaned over, propping his elbows on his thighs.

"Wanna talk about it?" Travis asked as he took the seat beside Gage.

"This isn't that kind of therapy."

"No, but I'm afraid you'll punch someone at work today if you don't get it off your chest."

That was a valid fear. Gage had been mulling over ways to break ties with his family ever since his talk with Hadley, but there wasn't a way out that didn't involve blood.

He wouldn't put Hadley in the middle of that. Not now. Not ever.

Gage stared at the floor between his feet. "I've got a problem I can't fix."

"Need a thinking partner?"

Travis was a smart guy on the mat, but Gage had always kept their talks surface deep. Everyone in town knew Gage's family, but Howards never talked to outsiders about inside information.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have to figure this one out on my own."

Travis slapped a hand on Gage's back. "Relax. The right answer will come at the right time."

Easy for Travis to say. He wasn't dealing with half a dozen family members who'd just as easily kill him as hug him. Right and wrong were luxuries Gage couldn't afford .

"Is it about a woman?" Travis asked.

Gage sighed. Was he really sitting here having girl talk with Travis?

"Some of it," Gage admitted.

Travis slouched on the bench beside Gage. "I bet my woman story is worse than yours."

Gage huffed. "Try me."

"My fiancée left me for my brother."

Gage slowly straightened and turned to Travis. "You're kidding."

"Nope. They met when I brought her home to meet my family. She said she prefers brains to brawn."

Sucking in a breath through his teeth, Gage rested back against the wall. "That's harsh, man. You're not stupid though."

"No, but my brother is a successful attorney in Seattle. I'm just a paramedic in a small town. She said I wasn't going anywhere in life, and she wanted more."

"Sounds like you dodged a bullet with that one."

Travis wiped his head with a towel. "I guess so. I'm not still pining over her or anything, but rejection stings."

Hadley was doing the opposite of rejecting Gage, but even that was a problem. With Thea gone, he should be worry free. Instead, he was still spending all his time concerned about a woman in his family's crosshairs .

Gage slapped his hands on his knees and stood. "I guess I'll head to work early since you're too tired to spar."

"We've been here for hours! A man needs a water break every once in a while."

"Whatever you gotta tell yourself."

Travis stood and held out a hand. "I hope things get sorted out."

"Thanks." Gage was seriously hoping the same thing, but the answers were hiding too well.

After a shower at the gym, Gage headed to Beau's. After missing half a shift yesterday, he could get started early and make up some time.

The morning passed quickly with half a dozen vehicles waiting at the garage. Gage texted Hadley as he went to wash up for lunch.

Gage: You free today?

Hadley: Already on my way.

That was easy. It was a good thing they thought on the same wavelength. Gage had easily avoided relationships his entire life, but spending time with Hadley only made him want more.

Hearing about her faith in him last night had his insides playing a tug-of-war. As much as he wanted to lean into her hopes that he could turn things around, the truth was a black, greasy mess.

No one had ever seen as much good in him as Hadley, and the realization was both empowering and terrifying .

Beau walked up to the industrial sink as Gage was finishing scrubbing the grease off his hands.

"Olivia is bringing lasagna for lunch," Beau said.

"Hadley's coming, but I don't know if she's bringing food."

"Tell her she can eat with us. How are things going with her?"

"Pretty good." More like really good, but Gage didn't want to get too excited about it. Every good thing in his life could fall apart at the drop of a hat.

Female laughter rang down the hallway just as Olivia and her friend Anna rounded the corner. Olivia spent a lot of time hanging out at her brother's garage, and sometimes Anna tagged along. Gage made a point to avoid both of them as much as possible. Not because he didn't like them, but he had no desire to make friends with women.

The two girls were as different as night and day, but from what Gage had heard, they'd been friends for years. Olivia had dark hair and was always taking care of her brother and his friends, while Anna had blonde hair and smiled her way through life without a care in the world.

The women disappeared into the break room as two men entered the hallway. Olivia's fiancé, Dawson, held two large pans of what was probably lasagna, and the frat guy wearing a white polo shirt and khaki slacks carried two bags.

As the men reached the break room, Anna bounced up to the doorway in front of the man Gage didn't know. She looked up at the guy with a wide smile as she rested her hands on his chest. "Hey, babe, I left my phone in the car. Would you get it for me? I'm helping Liv get lunch ready."

The guy let out a weak sigh and looked back down the hallway. "Really?"

Geez. This guy was acting like she'd just asked him to put on a party hat and dance to the "Macarena." The parking lot was maybe thirty feet away.

Anna's shoulders sank. "It's fine. I'll get it." She stepped around him and headed back down the hallway.

"I don't know much about relationships, but that guy needs a 101 course," Beau said.

"Who's gonna tell her he's a loser?" Gage asked.

Beau shook his head and took his turn at the sink. "Not it."

Gage jerked his head toward the parking lot. "I'll be outside if you need me."

Hadley was pulling up in her purple car as Gage reached his truck. Trying to hide his excitement at the mere sight of her, he met her at her door and took the bags from her hands. She grabbed the drinks and followed him to the tailgate. When he turned around, she was wearing the cap he'd left in her car last night.

Good grief, it should be a crime to look as good as she did .

She put the drinks down and handed him the hat. He took it and placed it back on her head. "What's in the cup?"

"Sweet tea," she said with a smile.

Gage adjusted the hat on her head and brushed her hair behind her ear. "And sunshine."

She lifted onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Have you had a good day?"

He'd never categorized his days as either good or bad before. Days he was incarcerated would probably be considered bad days. Other than that, days were just days. There wasn't necessarily anything good about them.

Now, any day he got to see Hadley was a good day.

"Yep. What about you?"

She stepped up to the bags on the tailgate and started pulling out food. "I always have good days."

What would that be like? Maybe he'd get some insight about that when he talked to Hadley's boss.

He took the roast beef sandwich she handed him and unwrapped it. "So, who is your boss?"

She held up a finger and bowed her head. With her eyes closed, she didn't move for a good ten seconds. He hadn't forgotten that she prayed before her meals. He'd been watching her since they met. What was she saying when she talked to God?

When she raised her head, she looked up at him. "My boss is Mr. Chambers. "

Well, he'd guessed one thing right about Hadley. She worked at Wolf Creek Ranch with Brett. The Howards had been keeping a close eye on all of the Pattons, and while Gage had suspected Brett and Hadley's connection, he hadn't been one hundred percent sure.

"When does he want to meet?"

"He's pretty much free all the time, as long as he doesn't have doctor's appointments. He's a smart man, and he's kinda been like a father to me since I came here."

"What about your real dad?"

Hadley shook her head. "He'd probably give your uncles a run for their money."

The bite Gage had been chewing turned to lead in his mouth. Comparing anyone to Bruce or Tommy was never a good sign. "How so?"

She waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Mean, controlling, abusive. You know, the deadly trifecta."

Gage put the sandwich down on the wrapper. His appetite fled the state after Hadley's confession. "Where is he?"

"Don't know. Don't care. He's been gone since I was about five or so."

Gage stared at Hadley as she kept eating her lunch like she hadn't just slapped him in the face. "Did he hurt you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He wasn't the last, but he was probably the worst. "

Throat closing, Gage continued to watch Hadley. He joked that she was like sweet tea and sunshine, but she actually reminded him of those things. How could anyone harm her, especially a five-year-old version of this amazing woman?

Gage knew what it was like to be a kid and feel the sting of a grown man's fist against his jaw. He knew what it was like to see stars and lose consciousness. Those parts of his childhood had made a deep chasm of hate inside him.

If they'd both suffered the same way as kids, how had Gage and Hadley grown up to be so different? How could she still look at the world with hope?

Gage reached for Hadley, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to his chest. Even having her this close and knowing she was okay didn't ease the fire burning in his gut.

"Are you okay?" Hadley asked.

"No. Are you?" Gage answered honestly.

"Yeah. I'm over it. You don't have to worry about me."

No chance of that. Gage's main mindset these days was worrying about Hadley.

"How?" His question was soft but loud enough for her to hear as he pressed his cheek against her hair.

"I know who I want to be and who I don't want to be. I don't really remember the times he hit me. I was so little. Unfortunately, I remember the things he said–the names he called me. That was the hardest to get over."

Her breaths shook slightly as he held her, and he rubbed his hand up and down her back in slow circles. "Whatever he said, it's not true."

"I know that now. Kinda. It was hard to look at myself and see anything except what he saw for a while. It took a long time to realize I'm not a waste of space."

Gage tightened his hold and pressed a kiss to her hair. "You're special, Hadley. Don't let anyone tell you differently."

He didn't care what anyone else thought of Hadley. To him, she was the sun his world revolved around. How had she bound him to her so completely and irrevocably in just a few weeks?

She lifted her head and looked up at him with a smile. "Thanks. It's always nice to hear that."

"It's true. I don't know how we went through a lot of the same things when we were young and turned out so different as adults."

"We're different in some ways, but one of the things I learned that helped me is that we all have a chance to change the path we're on. The thing that changed my path the most was finding Jesus."

Back to religion. Gage had always looked at religion like a blind cult, shouting about love and peace when those things weren't real.

But Hadley lived with a happiness he'd never seen–one he hadn't believed could truly exist before he got to know her. He'd assumed her heart was innocent and pure because she'd grown up with parents who loved her and food on the table. Now, he was starting to rethink everything he knew about her and God.

"You and Thea could be the change, you know. The two of you could start over like Brett and Jess did."

Gage mulled over her words. His family spent so much time digging their own graves, and they did it all with sadistic smiles on their faces. How many years had Gage wasted following the wrong leader?

"Maybe," Gage said.

"You said you've never really had a girlfriend. Well, I've never been in a real relationship either. I mean, I've dated a few times, but I've never really been close to anyone."

"Because of your dad?" he asked.

"I think so. My mom dated a lot, and the men were usually nice in the beginning. Later, they showed who they really were. I want to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I'm scared I'll end up trusting the wrong person and get hurt."

Gage rubbed his cheek against her hair. "I'd never hurt you."

"I believe you when you say that. I just…I can't allow myself to end up in those situations like my mom did. I know how awful it is. "

"I won't let that happen to you." It was a promise he would keep, even if it meant risking his own life. He'd protect Hadley with everything he had.

Gage held her close as his heart rate kicked into a higher gear. The things he would do for Hadley after only a short time solidified his resolve. There was a bond between them that rivaled anything he'd ever known. He'd heard about love and commitment, but he'd never understood those things. It was like someone was opening a dictionary in his head and pointing to words that had always been blurry.

She'd bound herself to him in just a few weeks. Now, he was in too deep to pull away.

Hadley patted his back and stepped away. "I have to get back to work."

Man, why did his chest ache every time she had to leave? Even knowing he'd see her again soon didn't ease the draw toward her. "Same time tomorrow?"

"You know it."

When their trash was packed up, Gage closed the tailgate and turned back to Hadley. Wrapping her up, he pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead, taking the time to breathe in the floral smell she carried with her like the coming of spring.

She stepped away and grabbed her drink, walking backward toward her car with a beckoning grin.

He was in so much trouble .

When she turned and rounded her car, she sang the chorus of "Any Man of Mine," by Shania Twain until she closed herself in the vehicle.

Gage propped against his truck as he watched her drive away. She had a way of making him believe he could actually be the man for her. His life and history said he wasn't worth the dirt on the bottom of her boots, but her smile whenever she looked up at him said he could do anything with Hadley Morgan by his side.