Page 16 of State of Grace

“Hey, Harp’s working on the Death Star right now if you wanna pop over later.”

“Oh, I will definitely be over later.”

“Sounds great.” She nodded a few times as the silence settled in between them. “Well, I was on my way to the store before I got distracted, so I should go before Harper drops more LEGOs on the floor.”

“Over the coffee table.” Maddie shook her head as she laughed. They’d both told Harper the exact phrase so many times over the last few years. “She’ll learn one day.”

“Well, she is my kiddo, so don’t be so sure.”

“Yes, you Hollands are a breed of your own.”

“True that.”

“Enjoy your date tonight.”

“Oh, you know I will.” Tossing a wave over her shoulder, Alexis carried on down the street to the store. She didn’t overthink the spring in her steps; she simply soaked in the happy feeling like she was savoring the warm summer day for a cold winter night.

It’d been years since she’d been in any dating relationship. Since Harper had been born, Alexis’s sole purpose in life was keeping her safe and happy. Dating never factored in. She’d been hurt before and wasn’t willing or ready for it to happen again. No matter how many blind dates her friends tried to set her up on or how many times they tried to get her to create an online dating profile, Alexis had resisted.

She’d been in love once.

Or well, she thought she’d been in love once.

Michelle Johnson has shattered Alexis’s heart into so many pieces she still found herself picking them up off the floor occasionally. She’d been smitten with Michelle since they’d met Alexis’s freshman year of college. At five years her senior, Michelle was insanely attractive to her not only for her beauty but for her mind as well. She was the best writer Alexis had ever met, and she knew Michelle would be a famous published author one day.

Throughout their two-year relationship – if it could even be called that – Michelle had strung Alexis along like a whipped puppy. Alexis would have followed her anywhere. She would have given up anything Michelle asked her to for the chance to get to be with her. That’s how deeply Alexis loved Michelle.

But what she didn’t know at the time and only learned later was that she was in a toxic relationship. Michelle never loved her. She only wanted to be with Alexis when it was convenient for her. After her engagement to a gorgeous Spanish woman, Alexis no longer served a purpose to her and Michelle had ghosted her better than Casper ever thought about doing.

It had taken her years to get over Michelle, years longer to not say her name with spite.

And yet, the pain from their time together had damaged Alexis more than she cared to admit to anyone outside of Sophia and her therapist. If it hadn’t been for Harper, Alexis might not have pulled herself out of the dark days that followed her time with Michelle. Harper gave her hope. Harper gave her a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Alexis didn’t need to be in a relationship. She was happy with her and Harper’s lives.

No matter how tempting it was to imagine herself dating Blake Calloway.

Chapter 7

Blake was nervous.

And she didn’t get nervous.

She wasn’t nervous on set filming her big scenes. She wasn’t nervous standing in front of a room full of people and accepting an award. She wasn’t nervous on a panel with her co-stars in which she knew the questions would get personal.

But sitting across the table from Isla was doing the trick.

Her palms were sweating, and her legs seemed desperate to bounce her to another state.

“So,” Isla tapped her fingers on the table, seemingly as nervous as Blake felt, “are you sure you’re ok being here? We can get this to-go if you want. There are some tables in the park, or we can take it home or…”

“This is fine.” Blake cut her off. She set the vinyl menu down and crossed her arms on the cool metal table. Looking around the room, she could see a few patrons looking her way and whispering and pointing, but that happened wherever she went.

The weird part was that these people knew who she was. Sure, they knew her from her show; they knew she was Captain Avery Romano, leader of the rebellion on the Lorcan Colony on Mars. But they also knew she was Isla McKenzie’s daughter. There was no way to know what Isla had told people about her, putting Blake on edge.

“Hey, Isla.” A redhead about Isla’s age walked over to their table with a notepad in hand. She looked back and forth between them. Her eyes went wide as she looked away from Blake to Isla once more. “What can I get for you two this afternoon?”

“I’ll have a BLT, please, Maggie.”

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