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She’d rushed to blame Jaime, but she had some ownership here, too. She was wrong to expect him to be one hundred percent healed when she was still very much trapped in the Giordano mindset.
He’d come so far this summer—was it so bad he’d failed his first test? Maybe all he needed was to see that Kinny would wear a cast, heal, and get back to skating.
And really, did she think she could charge into his life and ask him to heal himself on her timeline?
She hadn’t been fair. She needed to givehim space.
He’ll get there.
Right?
Please let him get there.
ChapterSeventeen
It wasthe last day of the Owl Hoot Summer Music Festival, and Grace was sick.
Anxious, nauseous…she wanted to be alone in her cabin, under the covers, and stress-eating.
Because even though Kinny was back home—she hadn’t needed surgery, and she was doing great—Jaime hadn’t come to visit her while she baked. That was their special time together, when they were in the zone and opened up, sharing all their random thoughts and feelings. He had valid excuses, of course. They had to onboard the new players—not just Ross but the new goalie they’d brought up from the minors. With exhibition games starting soon, both players had to get up to speed quickly.
They were competitive for the first time, so there was a lot riding on it.
Because of Cole. And Declan.
Yeah, lots of valid excuses.
But no touches. No kisses. And she was starved for them. Scared witless that he really had gone from planning a proposal to shutting her out of his life.
Because this is it. The last day. Tomorrow, Brodie would come for the truck, and Grace would have no job, no income, and absolutely no reason to stay in Calamity on the Dupree Ranch.
This summer, she’d made more money than even Brodie had expected. Since she had a little left over after fully paying her parents back, she’d officially begun to rebuild her savings.
The mid-August sun was hot, and Grace was thankful for the breeze floating through the pass-through window. Jeremy was on his break, and Ben had run to the van to grab more tarts from the cooler, so she was alone when Lorelei showed up next in line.
“Well, look who’s here,” Grace said. “I thought you were in the studio till five.”
“I got my part done early, so now, I’m going to surprise my boyfriend with a little afternoon delight.”
“Did I need to hear that?” Grace made an exaggerated grimace. “No. No, I don’t think I did.” This would be the last time she’d ever see Lorelei in one of her ridiculous disguises. “Nice beret. I hear most of Paris shuts down for August, so welcome to America.”
“Oui, oui. Merci. Je voudrais un…” She tapped her chin with a red fingernail, frowned, then batted her hand. “Oh, forget it. I suck at accents.”
“That’s because you’re the most real and honest person I’ve ever met.”
Lorelei froze. “Are you soaping my ass right now?” She had a wary expression. “Because in my world, people only say stuff like that because they want something. Are you sure you don’t want me to take a selfie with your or have you sing on my next number one hit song?”
Grace laughed. “I’m positive. I meant what I said. You’re awesome.”
“Well, thank you. That’s genuinely the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me.”
She’d never see the singer again, so she might as well go for it. “I never understood how you stayed so true to yourself in such a difficult industry. But now, I know. Even if you baked croissants for a living, you’d still be a happy and confident woman. It’s just who you are.”
“Okay, you need to stop. This is getting embarrassing for you. But since we’re signing each other’s yearbooks here, I can tell you the real reason you’ve got such a long line. It’s because you’ve got this light inside you, and it draws us to you. Which is probably why your pastries taste so good. Now, as you know, I have an agenda here, so I’ll take everything you have that’s filled with whipped cream.” Lorelei winked. “If you know what I mean.”
Oh, dammit. She was thrown back to the afternoon in Jaime’s car, licking the cream off his body. That was such a great day. The whole trip he’d planned…God.
Come back to me, Jaime. Please, come back.
