Page 15 of State of Grace

“Hey, Lex. Come on in.”

“I’d love to, but I need to run down to the store to get some bread, and Harper’s more interested in her LEGOs than bread.”

“Thank Maddie.”

“Exactly.” They laughed. “Is it ok if I leave the door open and you listen for her? I’m sure she’ll be fine, but if you could, I would appreciate it.”

“No worries; I’ll go over there and hang with her for a few.” Emily paused the TV and carried her mug over to the door. She walked past Alexis and into the other apartment before sitting down on the couch near Harper. Harper acknowledged her with a goofy grin before turning back to her LEGOs. “Go on; we’ll be fine here.”

“I’ll be right back.” Waving a quick hand, Alexis headed down the stairs that led out to the street. Thanks to Sophia’s security system for the place, they often left the doors to their apartments open, but they never, under any circumstances, left the entrance to the outside unlocked. There were three locks on it: the regular lock, a deadbolt, and an automated deadbolt. All three were locked when they were all inside, but when one left, only the motorized deadbolt locked behind them, which was what Alexis did as she stepped out into the Maine sun. Her eyes blinked rapidly to adjust to the increase in light, and as she turned on her heels toward the store, she ran right into someone.

“Oh, my gosh, I am so…Isla.”

“No, I’m Isla.” The brunette laughed as she helped Alexis steady her balance from colliding with her. “Where are you going in such a rush? You’re not late for work for another,” she glanced at her watch, “thirty-six hours.”

“Very funny.”

It was then Alexis noticed that Blake was standing behind Isla with a bemused look on her face. Blake looked even more gorgeous in the sunlight than she’d been the last two times Alexis had seen her in person. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore the same baseball cap over it as she had before. It was probably to go incognito, but the dark wash jeans and Fleetwood Mac t-shirt did little to hide Blake’s natural beauty. Looking at her now, she looked more like Isla than Alexis had ever noticed before.

“Anyway,” Alexis tousled her hair nervously as she bit her lip, “I was on my way to the store for bread to make toast for breakfast.”

“Please tell me you’re feeding that little girl more than toast.”

“Oh yeah, the nachos, hot dogs, and frozen yogurt are for later.”

“Hey,” Isla snapped her fingers, “what are you two doing for dinner tonight?” She didn’t give her time to answer. “We’re all going to get pizza tonight if you two want to join us. It’s going to be us, Vera, and the kids.”

“Oh, I, um,” Alexis wished any excuse would come to her mind but instead, she shocked herself by saying, “yeah, sure. That’d be fun.” Nervously, she twirled the ends of her hair around her finger as she looked at Blake. “I’m sure my daughter would love to meet you.”

Alexis didn’t let her brain linger on the fact she’d filtered out saying Harper’s name out loud to Blake out of fear she’d think it was weird Alexis had named her after a character on her show. There were always two kinds of people when Alexis told people that information: those that loved it and those that thought she was a psycho-obsessed fan. She didn’t know Blake well enough to know which camp she’d fall into yet.

“I look forward to meeting her.”

“Great.” Isla nodded as she clasped her hands together. “Well, I’m showing Blake around town and wanted to take her to Carlson’s Café for lunch, so we better get going so we can get our tour of the town done before the crazy lunch rush.”

“Yeah, I gotta go too.”

“But we’ll see you tonight, yes?”

“Yep. What time?”

“Seven work for you?”

“That’ll work.”

“Perfect; see you then, Lex.”

“Bye.” Alexis waved goodbye to them as they walked past her. She knew she must look like an idiot standing on the street corner waving, and she quickly yanked her hand down by her side. Across the street at the flower shop, Alexis noticed Maddie standing inside the front door. Her mouth was agape as she pointed to Blake and Isla walking down the road. Alexis crossed over the street quickly as Maddie opened the front door.

“Umm, Emily’s right. She’s even more gorgeous in person.”

“I know, right?” They giggled like teenage school girls. Maddie, Emily, and Mason had all been best friends growing up, and, at three years their junior, Alexis had always been the little sister of the group. “I’m going to dinner with her tonight.”

“What?!” Maddie’s eyes shot wide as she excitedly grabbed onto Alexis’s arm.

“Well, I mean, Isla and Vera and the kids will be there too, but…” Maddie swatted at her playfully as Alexis took a step back, laughing. “I’m sorry; I had to do it.”

“You and your daughter, I swear. Always joking.”

---