Loan Shark Love

My life flashes before me behind the veil of my memories, and I can recall my mother, raven-haired and beautiful and dying before her time. I remember my mother’s perfume and my black cotton dress, and my father’s tearful goodbye to her.

I think of my dad, cooking us eggs and hash on Sundays and just trying his best to love me as she would have. I think of Grey, tangled in my heart and aching in my soul.

I love him.

I know that I love him, and I’m leaving him.

Suddenly, my body is thrown to the ground by familiar, warm hands, and Grey lunges for something on the polished wood of the deck.

Three shots ring out in quick succession. My elbow throbs from the impact of the fall, and Natalie on the lower deck, screams something at me and points at Anderson.

He’s not dead! He’s not dead, Rose!

I sit up slowly from my spot under the railing, holding my ribs. I remember very quickly that there was gunfire, and I look desperately across the shore. My dad stands, staring down at the two men lying prone on the ground before him. I let out a sob of relief, clutching at the railing as I do.

I remember Grey holding a gun, and there were three shots, not two.

Please no, don’t let it be him. Take me instead because I can’t live without him.

I spin around quickly, and I can’t see him. He’s nowhere to be found. My mind conjures a horrible image of him being shot and falling overboard, lost in the storm over the lake's waves. My heart pounds, and I can’t breathe.

“Rosie,” calls a quiet voice behind me, and I turn so fast that my head spins.

I run to him, throwing myself into his arms. He’s okay. He’s okay. He’s okay.

I kiss him deeply, relishing in his safety and the love that I feel from him.

“We’re okay, Rosie,” Grey tells me, breathing into my hair. “We’re all okay.”

Natalie is holding Anderson in her lap, but his eyes are open, and he looks like he’ll almost certainly survive the gunshot to his shoulder. Natalie kisses him, and Grey raises an eyebrow at them both.

Natalie gives him the finger and turns back to Anderson.

“Those two?” I ask him, feeling surprised. I didn’t even know Natalie knew the bodyguard like that.

Grey shrugs as if he expected it all along. “They’ve known each other for years now. I think he’s always loved her, but they were afraid of what I might say about it. I don’t care, by the way, Anderson, just don’t hurt her.”

Anderson lifts a hand weakly and gives him a thumbs-up, closing his eyes tiredly.

Natalie scoffs. “We weren’t afraid of you, dear brother. I just didn’t want you in my business, that’s all. But thank you anyway.” The last words come out soft and sweet. She curls around Anderson, and his hand soothes over her back.

Grey kisses my head and makes sure I’m okay before he goes up to the controls to drive the boat to the dock by the house. My dad is waiting on the shore, and when Grey exits the boat, my dad lands a solid punch to his jaw.

Grey stumbles back, shaking off the pain. He’s wearing a T-shirt and his swim trunks, and he’s barefoot. My dad looks him over, accessing him.

“Dad!” I cry, trying to hurry off the boat to reach them both.

He points at Grey, looking livid. “That’s for putting my little girl in danger and for loaning her money in the first place without my permission. And also for being with her in the first place without my knowing. What the hell, Grey?”

“Dad, I came to him,” I tell him, striding across the sand. I wrap him in a quick hug, squeezing him tightly before we both pull away. “Please, it was me that did it.”

“No,” Grey breaks in, rubbing at his jaw. He opens his arms, and I come to him, clinging to his side. “No, Sam. I’m sorry she was in danger, and you too, but the blame lies with me. I did loan her money because she wanted to save you.”

“I didn’t need saving, and I could have figured it out myself,” my dad says, rubbing a hand over his face in a stressed-out way. “Rose, what the hell were you thinking getting involved with a man like Grey?”

“You never told me about him,” I accuse him, pressing my cheek against Grey’s chest. “I never even knew you were a part of a business before the bakery.”

“I didn’t mean to keep it from you,” Dad says. “I just wanted you to have a normal life after your mom passed. I didn’t want to change you.”

“I've changed now anyway, Dad. That’s what happens when you grow up.” I tell him softly, and Grey squeezes me.