“That’s kind of adorable,” she said quietly, biting her lip.
“She is,” I agreed. “So, what do you say? Come home with us?”
cleo
. . .
When we walked backto my parents’ house, Lennox met us outside with a half-asleep Charlie and a packed weekend bag for me, which came with strict instructions not to come back until Monday for riding lessons. I wasn’t sure how I felt about staying an entire weekend with them, but I owed it to myself and Grady to find out.
The ride was quiet. By the time we reached town, Charlie was out like a light. I had to stop myself from giggling when her soft little snores filled the silence in the cab. Sometimes I would catch Grady’s eyes drifting our way, a smile on his lips. I wasn’t sure if he was just shocked to find me in his truck, or if it was because he saw his daughter and me together. It wouldn’t be the first time. I often felt him staring at us when we were together.
Up ahead, the familiar craftsman house came into view. I’d purposely avoided this area after Grady’s mom died. The last time I was here was only two days before she passed. She’d called me, voice barely above a whisper, and I dropped everything to hurry over.
I held her hand the entire time we were together, laughing and crying as we dug into our past. Only for her would I walkdown a Grady-filled memory lane. Before leaving, she had tugged me back into a hug and thanked me for being such a presence in her life. As I went to leave, Robert brought in a large blue box with a gold ribbon on the top. Marsha told me not to open it until I got home, but I was too curious. I ripped into it the moment I was in my car.
I wish I had waited.
Inside, there was an all-too-familiar set of vintage Pyrex mixing bowls. One of the first times Grady brought me home to meet his mom, we had gabbed about how much we loved baking. I’d admired the set, with its blue snowflake pattern. Marsha said it had been passed down to her from her mother, and she hoped to one day pass it to her daughter-in-law.
I think, somehow, she knew it was going to be the last time we saw one another.
And she was right.
Grady cut the engine in the driveway, but neither of us made an effort to move. So much had been said tonight. Every part of my body felt heavy. Slowly, he reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. My heart did a little flip as I turned toward him. He was already staring at me, lips quirking up ever so slightly as my gaze dropped to his mouth.
“Help me get her inside?” he whispered, motioning toward his sleeping daughter. I nodded and followed him outside. He dropped the keys into my palm before walking to the other side and helping her out of her seat. I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking as I unlocked the door and held it open for them. I watched as he quietly padded down the hall and disappeared into her room.
The house had been remodeled at some point. The walls in the living room had once been a dreary off-white color Marsha used to complain about, but now they were a pastel blue that reminded me of her son’s eyes. In the kitchen, a colorful backsplash was installed below new white cabinets. I wondered whathis mom would think, since she was notoriously messy in the kitchen. She probably would’ve had a good time making Robert regret wanting something that was so easily stained.
I felt Grady’s presence behind me before he tentatively slid an arm around my middle and stepped closer. I let myself lean into his touch, be grounded by it. How had I fought this for so long when being with him felt so right?
“What’re you thinking about?” he whispered, tightening his hold on me.
I shivered, feeling his breath along my exposed neck. “That I’m an idiot.” His body grew tense, and I moved to correct myself. “Not in the way you think.”
“Care to enlighten me, then?”
“I keep wondering when this—being here with you—will feel awkward, but it doesn’t. It feels right. I think that’s what I’ve been fighting all this time.” I spun in his arms, unable to read the expression on his face. He was just as guarded as I was now that both of our hearts were on the line.
With one hand firmly planted on my lower back, he brought his other up to cup my face. “I know what a big deal this is for you, bluebird. And I don’t intend on fucking this up again. I hope you know that.”
There were so many things we still needed to figure out and talk about. There was the matter of his wife, or soon-to-be-ex, I guess. How did she feel about this whole mess we’d gotten ourselves into? And then, of course, there was the living situation. His entire life was in Tennessee, and mine was here. With Charlie in the mix, that added a layer of complexity to the problem I don’t think either of us knew how to navigate.
But I didn’t want to think about all of that. Not tonight, at least. It was too exhausting, and my emotions were spent.
“I know,” I said, sliding my hands up to rest on his chest. The feel of his heart beneath my palms was comforting. I hadn’t realized just how much until he’d forced me to feel it in thetreehouse. Laura would be pleased to hear about the breathing exercises, though. “I don’t want to hurt you either.”
“Is there a ‘but’ coming at the end of that sentence?”
“No,” I shook my head. “Not yet anyway.” A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he didn’t argue or push it. He seemed just as spent as I was. “So, where am I sleeping?”
Grady pulled me closer until there was no space left between our bodies. “With me. I’m not letting you out of my space for even a minute, not now that I’ve finally got you back in my arms.”
His words did something to me. I never understood what Grady saw in me when we were sixteen, and I was no closer to figuring it out now that I was thirty-six. I had changed a lot over the years, my body softer and battered. Thomas always made me feel insecure about not taking better care of myself, always telling me I needed to do more or I’d let myself go. But from the moment Grady saw me standing in the bar over a year ago, I’d never felt an ounce of anything but appreciation from him.
“You know you aren’t going to get lucky tonight, right? There will be no funny business.”
He chuckled. “Not even a little bit?”
