Page 28 of Holding Grace

I swung the door open and felt my stomach jump when he aimed that gorgeous smile my way.

“Morning, Grace.”

“Good morning.” I stepped back to let him in, the tantalizing scent of fresh, warm bagels wafting through the air as he passed me. I closed the door and let myself appreciate the exceptional view as he walked to the island and set the bag down. “Did you buy one of everything?”

Michael chuckled as he turned toward me, looking far too awake and alert and just...yum...for this early in the morning. I told myself my mouth was watering because of the bagels but I wasn’t sure that was true.

“Close. I wasn’t sure what you liked best, and I didn’t want to ask you to make decisions before coffee, so I bought a dozen different ones, and they gave me one free.”

He was not only a kind man, he was a smart one. Not that I didn’t already know that.

I was walking over to join him when I realized what he’d said and stopped. “Wait. Did you just say you bought thirteen bagels? For the two of us?”

“Nope. Bought twelve, got one free. I got three flavors of cream cheese, too.” He held up a smaller bag I hadn’t even noticed he was holding. “Plain, onion and chive, and strawberry.”

He said it as if it wasn’t completely over the top.

“You and Jamey.” I shook my head as I joined him at the island. “You both must have been Italian grandmothers in a previous life.”

Michael chuckled again. “I don’t doubt it.” He nodded toward the bags. “You get first dibs. I like them all, so grab whatever you want.”

A couple minutes later, we were settled side-by-side at the island, Michael with his black coffee and sesame bagel with plain cream cheese, me with my light, sweet coffee and a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

We ate in companionable silence and were just finishing up when the downstairs door buzzed, signaling the arrival of my mattress.

Michael stood, the last of his bagel in his hand. “You get that; I’ll take care of the food.”

I nodded, finished off my coffee, then hurried to the door to buzz the delivery people in downstairs.

Then I opened my door and waited. Before long, I saw the first guy’s head appear in the stairway, then the top edge of the mattress. Not a minute later, he and another guy were carefully carrying it through my doorway into my apartment.

“Morning,” the first guy said, then exchanged nods with Michael where he stood in the kitchen, wrapping up the bagels we hadn’t eaten. “This go upstairs?”

“I’m afraid it does.” I cringed a little. “Sorry, I know you already had to carry it up one set of stairs.”

“Naw, this is nothing. The next delivery on our schedule is to a renovated 4-story brownstone. King-size that needs to go all the way up to the fourth floor. Now that one should be fun.”

He picked up my mattress along with his partner and I led the way up the stairs to the loft. They set it on the bedframe, we checked to make sure everything looked okay, then they followed me back down.

As I hit the bottom of the stairs, I looked over to see Michael washing out our mugs, looking like it was something he did every morning, and I felt a surge of gratitude both for his presence and his thoughtfulness.

I signed the delivery guy’s tablet, tipped him and his partner, and with a “thanks” from both me and Michael, they were on their way.

Michael stood, hands in his front pockets, watching me as I walked toward him.

“Easy peasy. That couldn’t have gone better.”

Michael nodded. “I agree. Thanks for letting me be here.”

That was an interesting way to put it. As if I’d done him a favor, not the other way around.

“Thanks for being here. And for breakfast. For the next two weeks.”

There came the grin.

“You’re welcome. I’ll get out of your way so you can get on with your day.”

I reversed direction and we walked slowly toward the door. “Are you working today?” I asked Michael as we walked.

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