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“Okay, okay. I get it. You want me to find someone steady so I can go on double dates with you and Daniel. Well, as of now, you’re out of luck. If my date with Todd taught me anything, it’s that there’s just a shortage of good men out there.”
Megan frowned. “Don’t compare all the guys out here to your dad. Just because he couldn’t hack it doesn’t mean every guy is like that. Who knows? Maybe Grant is the man of your dreams.”
Bella rolled her eyes again, but deep down, she let herself toy with the idea. That wouldn’t hurt anyone.
CHAPTER NINE
Grant watched Nick run toward the school, his backpack bouncing against him as if it were the object propelling him forward. He was swarmed by all the other children as they merged as one huge wave into the building.
It was hard to swallow the fact that he’d missed six years of his son’s life. There were a lot of firsts he’d never get back. While he wanted to blame Dee for not telling him about his son, deep down, he knew it wouldn’t do any good.
Resentment was a poison he couldn’t afford to be infected with.
“Dad!”
Grant spun around, finding Nick charging toward him. He crouched down, his head filling with all the reasons his son might be coming his way. Was he hurt? Did something happen?
Nick threw his arms around his father. “I love you, Dad.”
Slowly, Grant’s hands came around his son. “I love you too, buddy.”
Pulling back, Nick grinned. “Do you think we can see Bella today?”
Grant’s head reared back and he nearly choked on the air he sucked in sharply. “You want to visit Bella?”
“Yeah. I wanted to make sure she was okay. She seemed sad when we had dinner with her.”
“I don’t think so, kiddo.”
Nick frowned. “Why?”
“Nick!” A teacher stood a few feet from the school building. “Time to come inside.”
Grant gave his son a little push. “We can talk about this after school. Go on. Your teacher can’t wait too long.”
Nick hesitated. “Are you going to pick me up?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
His son spun around and rushed for his teacher. Grant shook his head and chuckled. Bella would have probably gotten a kick out of how much Nick adored her. If he had her number, he might have called her to tell her.
No, that would have been weird. She’d think he was hitting on her. Still, the temptation to head over to the sheriff’s station ate at him. Would it be so bad if he paid a visit to see if she had any ideas for moving forward? He hadn’t heard any updates at the ranch.
He got into his truck, and while he told himself he was just heading to town to get a few things, he ended up finding himself parked in front of the building he knew he should be avoiding.
Grant stared at the brick structure, his brows furrowed. There was no reason for him to be here. He couldn’t make any excuses. So why couldn’t he force himself to take his leave and get out of there?
The door opened and Bella herself appeared. He stiffened as her eyes locked with his. At first, she peered at him like she wasn’t sure it was him. Then she folded her arms and marched over to the driver’s side.
“Mr. Shaw. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Oh,” he shook his head, “I wasn’t here to visit you.” Heat rose into his face. Shoot! He’d been caught staring at the building and now she was going to point out his bald-faced lie. He should just tell her he wanted to see her.
Bella lifted a brow, proving his thoughts were correct.
And yet, for whatever reason, he couldn’t bring himself to any of that. “I wasn’t,” he insisted. “I was actually going to run over to the shop right there.” He gestured vaguely down the street, and she glanced in that direction.
“The jewelry shop?”
