"Why are we going to the church again?" Callie asked Annie as they rode up the grassy hill to the church in Annie's small buggy.
"Because the preachers wife, Mrs. Vently, wanted to see us about getting some skirts and dresses made." Annie replied. Callie crossed her arms over her chest.
"Is there any reason why she couldn't have come to us like every other person in this town does?" Annie fought to hide her smile at Callie's bad mood. It had been four days since Jack had died and been laid to rest and Annie knew that Grayson had grown a little distant from Callie during the last few days. Though she knew the real reason for Grayson's distance she was not about to let it slip to Callie. The girl would find out soon enough.
"Because she asked for us to come meet with her at the church." Annie replied. Callie didn't reply and Annie sighed and turned her attention back to the road. As they topped over the hill and the church came into view Callie's eyes widened slightly when she recognized Peter, Peggy Sue, Lauren and James standing outside the big oak doors.
"What's going on?" she demanded.
"He'll tell you." Annie replied nodding toward Grayson who was riding up on his large buckskin. Callie's eyes widened as he came to a stop beside the buggy and held his hand out for her. Callie looked at him questioningly but jumped from the buggy and up into the saddle in front of him.
"You all go on in. We'll be along in a minute." he said to everybody and then he rode up to the top of the hill. He jumped down and helped Callie from the saddle as well. He walked her over to a large blooming dogwood tree and held both of her hands gently in one of his large calloused ones.
"I love you, Callie." he said and Callie could hear the nervousness in his voice. She looked up at him questioningly.
"I love you too, Gray… What's going on?"
"Callie when I left here five years ago I never expected to come back. And when I did come back I didn't expect to stay. I was going to leave the same night I arrived but the thought of seeing you stopped me. I just wanted to check on you. To make sure you were okay after all these years. I thought for sure you'd be married and wouldn't want to have anything to do with the likes of me after all this time. Then I saw your face and I saw the look in your eyes when you looked at me and I knew there was no way in this world I could leave you again..
"The biggest regret in my life this far is leaving you behind the first time I left here. I love you, Callie Logan. You are the only person in this world that I need. I've always been proud of being independent and not needing anyone but I need you. I know I said I wouldn't marry you until I was sure I deserved you again but I'm beginning to realize that no matter what I do I will never really deserve you and I'm sick and tired of waiting. We should have gotten married five years ago Callie and while I can't give you back the years that we lost, I can promise to make every single year we have left together better than the year before.
"Now I don't have a ring and I can't afford to give you a big wedding but the preacher is down there waiting and our friends and family are here to support us so…." Grayson got down on his knee and looked up at Callie as tears fell from her blue eyes and slid silently down her cheeks.
"Callie Logan, will you marry me today?" Callie couldn't believe her ears. She had been waiting for so long for this moment that it truly felt like a dream.
"Is this real?" she asked breathlessly. Grayson looked up at her and prayed that her tears were a good thing.
"Yes honey, it's real. You've got the big, brooding, tough guy down on his knees begging for you.. Please put me out of my misery, Callie." Callie laughed happily and dropped to her knees in front of him. She laid her hands on his cheeks.
"Of course I'll marry you, you big dummy. I have wanted to marry you since I was five." Grayson shouted with joy and stood, lifting her to her feet and wrapping her so tightly in his arms that her feet came off the ground. He spun her around and around while she laughed happily and pressed sloppy tear filled kisses to his cheeks and neck.
"I'll never disappoint you again, Callie. From this moment on my only reason for living is you."
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The next morning Callie woke up to Grayson laying gentle kisses to her shoulder and neck. She moaned and pressed her back closer against him.
"Haven't you had enough?" she teased sleepily. Grayson shook his head.
"A life time of you wouldn't be enough." he replied. "Besides, judging by the way you keep rubbing you backside up against me, I'm thinking you haven't had enough yet either." Callie laughed and turned in his arms so she could look up at his face. Her body was sore… It was a good kind of sore but sore none the less.
"Gray…" she moaned as he pressed his lips against her collarbone. He smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Okay, Mrs. Fields. I guess I can let you have a little bit of a break."
"Oh how kind of you." Callie replied dryly. "So what are we going to do today?" she asked.
"What do you want to do?" he asked. She shrugged and buried her face in his broad chest.
"Sleep." she replied. He chuckled.
"Sounds good to me." They were both drifting back off to sleep when a loud angry knock sounded on the door. Grayson was on his feet within seconds with his pistol in his hand.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"I need to speak with my step daughter!" Thomas Whitaker's angry voice came from the other side. Callie buried herself deeper under the covers and Grayson threw the door open and glared down at Thomas. Thomas seemed taken aback at first by the sight of the angry six foot eight inch Grayson seething with rage and butt naked with a pistol in his hand.
"What the hell do you need to speak with my wife about?"
"You had no right to marry Callie without my permission." Thomas bellowed regaining his composure. Grayson snorted and walked back into the room. He found his pants on the floor and pulled them on.
"Last time I checked Callie was a grown woman and you aren't her pa." Grayson replied. Thomas's eyes fell on Callie who had the blankets pulled up to her chin and was watching both men with wide eyes.
"You knew I had my eyes set on the girl. What right did you have to ride in here after all this time and steal her away from me?" Grayson crossed his muscular arms over his broad chest and looked down at Thomas who was over a foot shorter than him.
"And you know that I told you the other day that there was only one person in that room who was going to marry her and it wasn't you… It looks like I knew what I was talking about."
"Callie, how could you marry this man who killed his own brother and then ran away for years without so much as a letter to check on you?" Thomas demanded glaring down at her. Before Callie had a chance to respond Grayson reached his breaking point with Thomas Whitaker.
"Get the fuck out of my room!" he growled stalking across the room toward Thomas. Thomas wanted to look brave and unafraid but there was just something about a man like Grayson stalking toward you with a murderous look on his face that made even the bravest man's legs turn yellow and take off running. He backed up until his back hit the side of the door jam. Grayson stopped less than a foot from Thomas and glared down at the man. His hand was itching to close around Thomas's scrawny throat and choke the life from him but he fought the urge… He was trying to work on his temper after all.
"You stay away from my wife, Thomas. She is no longer any of your concern and if I find out that you so much as breath in her direction and make her uncomfortable again, I will kill you myself." Grayson grabbed Thomas by the collar of his fancy suit and slid him up the wall so that their eyes were on the same level.
"Do you understand me, Thomas?" he growled. Thomas's icy blue eyes were wide with fear and he nodded quickly.
"Yes, Grayson. Yes I understand." he said. Grayson nodded and threw Thomas out the door. He slammed the door shut and locked it before walking back over to the bed and sitting down on the edge. Callie sat up and got on her knees behind him putting her arms around his neck.
"Well talk about a mood killer." she joked lamely. Grayson chuckled.
"What the hell is Thomas so hard pressed to marry you for?" he asked. "The man doesn't like you any more than you like him so what possible reason could he have for wanting you to be his wife?" Callie shrugged.
"I don't know." she said. "Do you know how incredibly sexy it is when you get all protective like that?"
"Really?" he asked as he turned his face to press his lips against hers. She nodded and pulled him backwards into the bed just before another knock at the door had Grayson storming across the room and jerking the door open.
"What the hell do you want!" he demanded and then he cleared his throat and shoved his hand through his hair when he realized it was Annie and Peter.
"Wow." Annie said looking at his bare chest with a raised brow. Peter rolled his eyes.
"Put a shirt on, Grayson." he said.
"Why, are you jealous?" Callie asked from the bed where she was once again buried beneath the blankets.
"I don't have to be jealous of the giant. I got Peggy Sue and she likes me just fine." he said.
"What do you two want?" Grayson asked, not even trying to hide his irritation at having his and Callie's privacy interrupted again.
"Why was Thomas cussing and yelling as he left the hotel and went to Raymond's office?" Annie asked.
"He's been spending an awful lot of time with Raymond since my mom died." Callie replied.
"Look I would like to know some things too but do you think the conversation could wait just a bit until Callie and I are dressed?"
"Uh.. Yeah sure." Peter said. "How about you meet us at the diner and we'll get some breakfast?"
"Fine." Grayson said and he slammed the door shut in their faces.
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"So what are we talking about?" Peter asked once all four of them were sitting in the diner and waiting on their food.
"I want to know why Thomas is so dead set on marrying Callie and I'd also like to know where Frank's money is and why the hell Thomas is living in Frank's house."
"Well I have no idea why Thomas wants to marry me." Callie replied. "And as far as my dad's money and house goes, I was told that my dad's money was gone before he died and his will left the land and house to my mom so it automatically went to Thomas when she died."
"Your father's money was not gone." Grayson said matter-of-factly. "Did you see your father's will for yourself?" Callie snorted and took a sip of her coffee.
"No." she said.
"Raymond tells her that it's not any of her business. She's tried a dozen times since her mother died." Peter said. Grayson nodded.
"Well after breakfast I believe my wife and I will just have to go have a talk with Mr. Collier." he said. The server brought out their food and they all began to eat.
"Gray, it won't do any good… I've tried." Callie said. Grayson just grinned in that charming way that made his rough masculine face somehow look boyishly charming.
"Callie, you have every right to see your fathers will and I think that for some reason Thomas and Raymond don't want you to and that makes me suspicious. Things will go better this time. I'm your husband so that makes the will my business and when I want something nobody keeps me from getting it."
"Hell yeah! Maybe it'll be a good thing that Grayson Fields came back to town after all." Peter said with a lopsided grin.
"Shut-up, Peter." Callie said tossing a piece of her scrambled eggs at him before turning to Grayson.
"What makes you so sure that my father's money wasn't gone?" she asked even though she had suspected the same thing.
"Callie, my father and I spent a lot of time with your father before he died. I know that his money wasn't gone."
"Well then why hasn't Thomas spent any of it? Trust me, I wasn't living a life of leisure with him and my mother and I have the stained dresses and calluses on my hands to prove it." She regretted her words instantly when she saw the guilt on Grayson's face.
"Callie, I know he hadn't spent the last of his money and I know he didn't will it or the house to your mother." Grayson said after several seconds of silence. Callie pushed her eggs around on her plate finding that her appetite had disappeared.
"How do you know that? Why wouldn't he have left his money to his wife?" Callie looked over at Annie who was avoiding her gaze as she ate her breakfast. Peter looked just as confused as Callie.
"What do you and Annie know that I don't?" Callie demanded.
"Tell her, Grayson." Annie said quietly. Grayson sighed and pushed his plate away.
"Callie, your dad would not have left all his money to your mother because he knew she wasn't being faithful." Callie's eyes widened and she dropped her fork onto her plate with a clink.
"That's ridiculous! My mother was a lot of things but not an adulteress."
"She was having an affair with Thomas. Your father found out about it a few weeks before he was murdered. That's why I'm sure he didn't will all of his money and property to her."
"Are you sure?" Callie asked quietly. She wanted to call Grayson a bold faced liar but she knew that Grayson was an honest man and he had never once lied to her. He wouldn't have any reason to start lying now.
Grayson sighed and nodded.
"I'm sure, honey." he said. Callie stood up quickly.
"Then I would like to go have that talk with Raymond right now." she said squaring her shoulders and smoothing out her skirt. Grayson nodded and stood as well.
"We'll see you all later." he said and he followed Callie out the door.
"Do you think Grayson will be able to talk Raymond into showing Callie the will?" Annie asked Peter. Peter shrugged.
"Would you tell Grayson Fields no?" he asked. Annie shook her head.
"No." she replied. Peter smiled and pulled Callie's plate over to himself to finish off her breakfast.
"Me either." he replied.