Page 21 of The Valiant Knight (The Ravensmire Chronicles #2)

“No, he couldn’t sleep on my couch,” she said, seeing the look on Finn’s face. “I’d let him sleep in my bed. If he was going to follow me back, that’s commitment. Like I’d hope that if I stayed, he’d do the same for me. It’s a big move for anyone to start over in a new country.”

Graham grinned.

“I think I like you, Lassie.”

She snorted.

“Well, if you want to get married, just say it. I’ll move into this castle any day, Graham,” she joked. “One kiss, and you’re addicted. I have to kiss more men.”

Graham was amused.

Finn was not.

She’d kissed the man?

What the hell?

Because he saw the look, Graham made it loud and clear that he wasn’t about this life. He was about the dick life, and always would be.

“Why can’t I find a Gabby, but with a penis?” he asked. “A Gabriel maybe? Have a brother? A friend? Some kinky cousins who like men?”

She snorted.

“No to all of that, but if I find one, you’re the first person I’ll let know.”

Finn was glaring at Graham.

“So you were kissing Gabby, were ya?” he asked, that accent thick.

Oh, someone was irritated.

“It was a kiss on the cheek, Finn. Calm the fuck down. I didn’t have a momentary lapse and think she was a dude with those breasts. I have gaydar not breast-dar.”

Gabby looked down and found that amusing.

When Tony entered the room, he was in a good mood, and he was carrying two shovels. It appeared it was time to go dig up some bones.

“We have remains to move,” he stated. “Is the cop coming to watch us?” he asked. “Now that we know his kink?” Tony teased.

Graham was amused.

“You should make him dig. He has some pent-up frustration he should get out before I beat his ass for staring at me like that.”

Tony didn’t miss a beat.

“I hear sex works for situations like that.”

Graham had someone to tag team his friend with, and it was about damn time.

“Same. If only he could figure that out. There’s a pretty girl five feet from him, so you’d think this would be a no-brainer.”

That was enough.

Finn wasn’t going to let them bury his chances with Gabby. They needed to just get this done.

“Give me the shovel,” he said, flipping Graham off when only he could see it.

That made him laugh.

In good-natured teasing, Tony patted him on the back.

“Come on, let’s go dig up a body. This is my favorite part of every day.”

And honestly, it was.

Only, Graham wasn’t left out.

“Come on, Chuckles. You’re not free from this since you were busting his ass. You’re going to play nice and lead us to the grave. You’re the caretaker. Now, take us to your remains.”

He sighed.

Well, that wasn’t what he’d planned. Honestly, he wanted to be as far from the joy as possible.

Instead, he was eyeball deep in it.

Damn.

What did a guy have to do to wallow in his own self-pity?

The four of them headed out, and Graham led them to the location that Gryphen and Ian had found. They followed the yellow ribbons, and finally reached her grave.

Once there, they took a minute.

“Ceit, we’re going to put you back with your husband,” she said. “Don’t get angry.”

Graham looked around.

“Honestly, since Gryphen and Ian found her grave, I haven’t heard or seen her. Maybe she’s at peace,” he offered, hoping that was the case.

Oh, they really wanted that to be factual. No one should have to spend the afterlife miserable.

Taking the two shovels, both Graham and Finn began digging, as Gabby sat there watching them.

She was curious.

Had they really been talking about marriage?

Now, she was piecing the facts together, and trying to figure out if what Finn had told her was accurate, or a one-sided story.

Honestly, the man was sexy, funny, and a decent guy.

Why would a woman get off that ride?

Was she insane?

Right now, he had pulled off his shirt, and was down to a tank top underneath as he worked up a sweat.

And his body was magnificent.

Gabby was still thinking about it since their little bathroom conversation.

It was clear that someone worked out, and she appreciated that. She wasn’t one to workout, unless she had to requalify for the FBI.

She was a nerd, and liked being at a computer—not running from a killer.

She was crazy like that.

It wasn’t lost on her that he’d carried her from the lake to the bedroom and never broke a sweat the entire time.

Granted, they’d been in freezing water but still. That took stamina.

As they both dug, Tony was taking pictures of the ground, and looking for anything out of place.

Like artifacts.

Relics.

Unfortunately for him, nothing was there.

“Stop a minute,” he said, when they were down a good three feet.

“You can see by the changes in the sediment that she’s been here a while,” he admitted.

Finn actually pointed at the stone.

“The date is right here, Doctor. This is a no-brainer,” he said.

He actually laughed.

Oh, you could tell who didn’t have a forensic anthropologist at their beck and call at work. If he did, he’d know they didn’t look at the obvious.

They looked at the whole picture.

“Gabby?” he asked.

She explained.

“Forensically, he’s looking for evidence that she’d been dug up before. The breaks in the dirt lines would tell him if someone pulled her out or not. What he’s telling you is Ceit’s grave, until now, has never been opened. He’d see that in the dirt if it had been.”

Well, that was clever, now wasn’t it?

Oh, he understood now.

From where she was parked, Gabby was curious.

“Why do you think she was buried all the way out here?” she asked.

Graham stopped to tell her.

“Gryphen and Ian found the letters. We assume she was divorcing him, took the leap, and Duncan didn’t want her in the castle with him or his son. This would be a spite grave,” he admitted.

Tony sighed.

“Suicide is the cowardly way out,” he stated. “She jumped and ruined a child’s life. That might be why she’s not at peace. Guilt.”

That had Graham’s attention.

“Pardon?” he asked.

He explained.

“Taking your own life ends your pain, but prolongs everyone else’s.

Life is full of pain. The game is to overcome and beat it back.

We all have moments where we’re struggling.

It’s better to reach out and let someone help you than succumb.

The people you leave behind will never forgive you if you take the easy way out. ”

He laughed.

“Coming from a doctor, who has a wife and kids, that’s easily spoken. Not everyone has a shiny, perfect life, Doctor Magnus.”

Tony faced him.

Oh, well, he had no clue then.

“That’s your perception,” he admitted. “Before I found my wife, I was a mess. I wanted to die all of the time.”

They all listened.

“When I was four, my mother disappeared. For almost all of my life, I believed she abandoned me. I was found by the police locked in an apartment with no food or water.”

They were all very quiet.

“Then, I went to foster home after foster home. Some were good, most were not. Not everyone gets a loving family, Graham. That’s a fact of life.”

He said nothing, but he was thinking about his own childhood. It was good.

Until it wasn’t.

When he came out, that love was conditional.

Tony kept talking.

“I worked so many jobs to pay for school. I busted my ass, cried myself to sleep, and finally graduated. I applied to the FBI, and by some freaking miracle, I was hired. I met Elizabeth and Chris, and they became my family. They are the only reason I made it. Without them, I wouldn’t be here with my ‘shiny, perfect life’ . ”

Graham saw the pain in his eyes, and he recognized it.

It lived in him too.

When someone was damaged, they could find that in other people.

“For years, I slept with people, trying to find myself. I ended up in bed with a dead woman, and nearly lost my job. I lived by the mercy of my friends, lost and unloved. So, I get it more than you think I do.”

Apparently, he did.

“I’m sorry, Doctor.”

Tony was honest.

“There wasn’t one day when I didn’t wake up and think about checking out. I was tired. I was worn down, and one day, I really wanted to die.”

Graham was curious.

“How did you get through it. I’m struggling,” he admitted, and it was the first time he’d said it out loud.

Tony moved closer.

“I had one person I could call, and when it became so overwhelming, I sent her a text. I told her I was done. Elizabeth came and found me. She let me lie in bed and cry. She protected me when I was too weak. I learned in that moment that one good friend, or two, is all you really need. If you reach out and they come, you’re loved enough that you should stay.

You stay for them, until you have a reason to stay for yourself. ”

Gabby wiped her eyes.

All the people there were broken.

She’d been abused, Finn had a fear of abandonment, and Graham had issues too.

“Every day I fought, and it wasn’t easy, but saying goodbye to a friend who would hurt because I was a coward kept me here.”

Graham understood.

He’d promised Gryphen he’d stay, and he was fighting to keep that promise. Although, he was one travesty away from bottoming out.

“Then, I met my wife,” Tony said, pulling his phone out to show the man.

On the screen was a gorgeous woman with pretty eyes, and a caring smile. With her, there were two little ones. One favored her mother, and the boy looked like his dad.

“She’s lovely.”

He tapped it.

“She saves me every day. I had to chase her down, because I knew she was worth it. I knew that I couldn’t do this without her.

She’s my peace and calm. Because I chased her down, I eventually found out the truth about my mother.

She didn’t leave me. She was taken, forced to bear children, and then, was murdered. ”

Graham was so sorry.

“Doctor, I don’t have words.”

He did.

“So, she led me to the truth, and that led me to my children,” he said, flipping to the next screen where there was a little girl holding a spider, and a boy smiling with his grin. “So you fight, and you keep fighting because what is now, is not always going to be forever.”

Graham went back to shoveling. Without saying another word. That was a lot to digest.