Page 17 of Holding Grace

I watched as Michael jogged down the stairs, then with a final look and a wave, disappeared through the door to outside, and was gone. I listened for the rumble of the truck starting up, then closed and locked my apartment door.

Wrapping my arms across my stomach I slowly crossed back to the chair and sat down.

It was almost hard to take in everything that had happened. In less than 48 hours, I’d seen Michael again, told him my whole story – well, the parts he needed to know anyway – and he’d asked me to come back to Lark and Brothers Pub.

I knew that I should think through my options logically, make a list of pros and cons and weigh what mattered most. I should consider all the possibilities, all the ways things could go right and wrong.

I also knew I wasn’t going to do any of that. Michael had burst back into my life out of the blue and offered me what I wanted most, a safe – or safe-ish, anyway – place to live, a great job, and people who would help me watch my back.

And if it came with the huge potential for heartbreak if I couldn’t get my crush on Michael under control? If I was tempted to believe that his concern for my safety meant something more and let my mind go places it shouldn’t? Well, I’d just have to work harder at not letting that happen.

For better or worse, I was moving back to Lark.

Chapter 7

Michael

Four weeks to the day since I’d last seen Grace, I was headed south on I-65 on my way to pick her up and bring her back to Lark, for good if I had anything to say about it. And if her brother or ex ever did show up, they’d have a lot more than just Grace to deal with.

I hadn’t talked with Grace at all over the past few weeks, just texted with her a few times, mostly about logistics for the move. My instinct when she’d first texted to say that she was coming back to Lark had been to move her back right away before she had a chance to change her mind. She’d wanted to finish out the season at Barney’s, though, so I’d tamped down my impatience and tried not to bug her too much in the meantime.

That, and reminded myself daily that she wasn’t moving back for me, not directly. She needed a job, a place to live, and someone to help her watch out for herself. I was part of that, true, but it wasn’t as if she was moving to Lark because she wanted to be with me.

Now if I could just get my stubborn heart to accept that.

A few hours later, I pulled into Cameo’s lot and around the side of the building to the door up to Grace’s apartment, excited as a kid on Christmas morning to see Grace again. Tamping down my eagerness, I texted Grace to let her know I was there. Not thirty seconds later, the door swung open, and I saw Grace’s smiling face. My brain told me that her quick appearance simply meant she was ready to go while my ego argued that she was as eager to see me as I was her.

With that internal argument raging in my head, I stepped out of my SUV and returned her smile.

“Is this new?” She nodded at the SUV as I joined her. “What happened to the truck?”

It took me a few seconds to realize what she was talking about.

“The truck I was driving last time was Levi’s. We’d all driven down together, so I borrowed it when I came to see you. This...” I glanced back at the vehicle behind me... “is about a year old.”

“Got it.” I followed Grace up the stairs to her apartment, listening to her while simultaneously trying to convince myself not to stare at her perfect ass. “I remember the blue Civic you were driving when I lived in Lark before.”

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