AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sally danced upstairs humming “It Had to Be You,” and Eli went back to cleanup duty. He checked the time and realized it was early enough to call Gamma, who was two hours behind in Albuquerque. The phone rang twice, then she picked up.
“It’s my favorite little man! How are you?”
“Excellent. Listen, I called to tell you about multiple offers on the house…” He tried to be succinct in explaining the pros and cons of each.
When he was done, Gamma said, “The first offer. It’s not even a question. I don’t need the money that much, they offered first, and Iadorethe thought of giving newlyweds their first home.”
“I’ll text Keshonda and let her know. Everything good with you?”
“Fantastic. It’s early days yet, but I met someone special in my Bunko club. I’m cautiously optimistic, but she seemslovely.”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Eli said.
“Maybe you can come for Christmas?” Gamma asked in a hopeful tone.
“Maybe.” Fact was, the house would likely be sold by then. He didn’t want to think about leaving. “I’ll let you know.”
“Love you, talk soon!”
Sighing, Eli got back to work, tucking his phone in the pocket of his sweats. He was almost done, dishes stacked in the drainer, pots and pans upended on the mat, when Iris came into the kitchen. She seemed…determined in a way he hadn’t seen before, and he’d thought he was an expert on all her expressions.
“Hungry?” he asked.
They’d eaten every last bite of the spaghetti and salad feast, which had visibly made the old man happy. Being needed seemed to be a key component of Henry Dale’s psyche. And on that note, Eli couldn’t wait to see how the desk-chair combo cabinet turned out.
“No.” She chewed at her lip and paced around the space, touching stuff here and there. What looked like restless hands made her grab a dish towel and start drying, all without making eye contact.
Okay, this is weird.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“Not wrong. I’m just…reallynervous. And I don’t know what to say or how to say it or if I should say this at all. I might ruin everything.”
Eli strode over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.Maybe it’s family stuff?“Whatever’s happening, we can figure out a solution together.”
For some reason, that relaxed her. Iris smiled and took a breath. “I should’ve known you’d say that. Okay, here it is. I got upset when I found out you’d invited someone home because I thought it was a date. Lately, I’ve had…feelings for you. Romantic ones. And I was wondering if you feel the same at all. Is it just me?”
She peered up at him with hopeful gray eyes, as if she hadn’t just made all his dreams come true, just like he’d named her contact info when they first met. And if he just happened to be here, if everything was random chance, then maybe they could—no, I have to tell her. We can’t date under these circumstances.
But instead of the truth, he said, “I like you too.”
Just that.And she was so happy; she hugged him. He stood there frozen until his arms came up and he held her close, the way he’d thought he never would.
This is bad.
“You don’t know how much courage it took for me to speak up. I’m not a jealous person, but ithurtthinking about you with someone else.”
He had to say it because it was so unbelievable, something he never could’ve imagined. Dreams were dreams for a reason—they didn’t come true. Not like this.
“Because you want to be with me.”
“Exactly. I’m so relieved you feel the same. I can’t believe this worked! Violet Gables is the happiest place on earth, not Disneyland.”
“Careful, the Mouse will get you for that.”
Iris laughed, giddy and breathless. “We should probably lay down some ground rules. I don’t want our relationship to make the others uncomfortable.”
“Right, limiting the PDA.” He started to step back, but she held on.
