Page 156 of Return To You

I want it all with Grace.

fifty-one

Grace

Ifeel stupid young this morning. Young and loved and carefree. Everything is right. Everything will work out. Even the impending move of my business is just a bump in the road.

I swing by Easy Monday, the mug with the red roses cutouts in hand. “Chilled Maple Craze, please!” I ask Millie.

“Mmm, mixing it up? I like it,” Millie says. “Your fan group is outside,” she tells me as she hands me my drink.

I join Haley and Alex on the garden that slopes gently down to the river. I’m surprised to see Emma there as well, and even more surprised to see the three of them smiling and seeming to laugh together.

“Hey,” I say, sliding in the empty chair next to the hedge of hydrangeas.

“Hey, yourself,” Alex says. “I hear someone’s been looking out for you.”

Ohmygod, can they tell I’ve been getting so many orgasms? I feel myself blushing.

“Yeah, looks like my brother finally amounted to something,” Haley says, and I know there’s no way she’s talking about what I’m thinking.

I dip my lips to my cup to hide my confusion and look at Emma. I wonder why she’s here, with Alex, when she did things that were not cool at all and almost caused a final breakup between Alex and Chris. But hey, all the more power to Alex for forgiving her.

In small towns, you can’t hold a grudge for too long. You never know who you’ll need, who will be driving by when your car breaks down, or who’s going to give you advice or useful information. The pool of potential friends is just that big, and deep down, I know Emma had Chris’s best interest at heart. Even if she messed up big time. She was looking out for one of us, as she should have been.

And the fact that Alex is here, talking with her as if nothing happened, proves that she understands that about our small town.

We forgive each other. We’re bound to mess up, and holding grudges never helps.

“So I have this client…” Emma starts.

“Ohmygod, Ems, don’t tell me you’re about to break the client confidentiality rule again,” I warn her.

“Hear her out,” Alex says.

Well, if Alex is saying that, then… “Go ahead.”

“Let’s say I have a client who’s in real estate, and his mom is a big fan of your spa. Which she discovered, may I add, through a certain hot volunteer carpenter, if you get my drift.”

“Yeah, he’s not interested.”

Emma tilts her head.

“She texted her son in front of me, and it went nowhere. He knows about the sale and isn’t interested in buying the place.”

Emma has a sly smile. She leans closer to me. “He’s not interested in buying it because he already owns it. George Richardson is your new client’s son.”

I almost spit my coffee out. “Ohmygod, that’s too funny.”

Emma’s smile widens. “You think that’s funny? You should have seen the scene she made when she learned he was the one selling your building.”

“What? How do you know?”

“I was in his office, doing his books. She was shrieking so loud, I couldn’t not hear. Lemme tell you, little Georgie got quite an earful. She threatened to buy the building herself if he didn’t pull it off the market, and she dared him to reject her offer. I was right there in his office when he called his realtor and told him to reject Amy’s offer and pull the listing.”

My mouth hangs open. I don’t even know what to say, or think.

It’s over? Just like that?

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