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Tommy stared after her with narrowed eyes. Ethan did seem like a nice guy, and definitely not the kind of guy who spent his whole life "hustling" as Dane called it. The man had always seemed willing to work twice as hard as he would have to if he had a normal job, and Tommy had arrested more than a few guys like him throughout his career so far.
And, low-and-behold, now Dane was in prison.
Shocker.
"Tommy!" Nick's voice cut through his thoughts, and Tommy looked up to see his friend waving him over. Nick held up a beer that had just been dropped off at their table.
"Thanks," Tommy muttered, nodding gratefully as he made his way over to join his friends. After the day he'd had, he definitely needed it.
* * *
"All set, Ida,"he called out a few weeks later, carefully climbing down from Ida's roof, his breath visible in the crisp winter air.
"Thank you, dear," the elderly woman replied, as she stepped onto the porch. She had a red flannel blanket wrapped around her shoulders for warmth, and she winced as she lowered herself onto the porch swing with her eyes full of gratitude. "I'm glad you didn't fall to your death in the process."
Tommy snorted. "You're too kind."
The gutters had been a mess, and Ida didn't have anyone else to help her with tasks like these. Her only family was a nephew, who'd recently moved to Japan on military orders. He was a Marine, and although he had managed to visit Ida when he'd been stationed in the States, Japan was an entirely different story.
Tommy got that, but when he'd been in the army, traveling from place to place and only making it home to visit his family a few times a year, his Nonna had a bunch of other grandkids around to help her out.
Ida didn't have anyone, so if their odd meeting had led to him becoming her honorary grandson, he was all for it.
As Tommy jumped off the last rung of the ladder, the front door creaked open, revealing Grace holding three steaming mugs of cocoa. Two of the mugs were in to-go cups, as Ida hadvery aggressivelyinsisted they take some for the road as payment for the gutter-cleaning. In weather like this, it was preferable to the overly-sweetened lemonade she paid him with after he mowed her lawn in the summer.
Grace's cheeks were flushed when she emerged from the warmth inside, making her all the more radiant. And as he stepped toward the porch to accept the cocoa she held out to him, Tommy couldn't help but admire how good she looked today.
She didn't have on a special outfit or anything—just a navy blue sweater, leggings, and tall boots. But she looked stunning every day, no matter what she wore, so it wasn't surprising that his hands tingled with the urge to reach out and wrap his arms around her, letting her snuggle into his chest.
And she knew it, too, considering the hint of amusement in her smile as she handed Ida her cocoa.
"Thank you, Grace," Ida said, patting Grace's hand before turning back to Tommy. "I don't know what I'd do without you, kid."
"Anytime, Ida. You know I'm always here to help," he replied.
As Ida asked Grace about our plans with our friends tonight, Tommy's thoughts traveled to his plans with Grace—bigger, more substantial plans. Plans that he might never put into action because he wasn't sure he'd get the chance.
In such a short time, Tommy had come to care for Grace in a way that had his heart jumping every time he thought of the woman. With each festive activity they'd done together, from decorating Ida's home to attending holiday events in town for her blog, he fell harder.
And each memory brought a mix of joy and sadness. Just over a month with Grace meant she was less than a month from leaving, and Tommy truly had no idea what he was going to do when it was time for her to go.
After they said goodbye to Ida—who had plans of her own tonight, babysitting Noelle with Mrs. P while the rest of them decorated cookies for Holly's birthday—they slipped into Tommy's car and turned the heated on full blast.
"What were you up to in there while I was trying to clear a few months of yuck out of the gutters?" he asked, driving them toward the inn so they could freshen up. It wasn't far, but today was colder than it'd been all season so far, and he knew he'd need to defrost after spending the afternoon on a ladder with handfuls of icy sludge.
"We just hung out," Grace replied with a contented sigh. "Ida has a huge library, so we just sat in there and read by the fire. It wasverycozy. Andwarm."
Tommy slid her a look. "You trying to make me jealous?"
"Maybe."
He glanced at her again, almost as if his eyes had some kind of quota to meet. But he knew it wasn't just the physical attraction that drew him in. There was something special between them... a connection that went beyond mere looks.
The way she'd spent her afternoon had him thinking about quiet moments they'd spent together just like it over the last month or so—sitting by the fire, talking about their lives, their dreams, and everything in between. Grace had been opening up to him more and more since that first time, and they'd shared some of the most intimate conversations Tommy had ever had.
Withanyone.
But as much as he wanted to hold onto her and make her stay, he'd made a promise to keep things light and casual. Sure, he'd been slowly reneging on that promise—even if only in his mind.
