Page 35 of Secret Santas and Holiday Dances

Jessie leaned on the counter. “One condition.”

“I’m not going to hurt her again,” he said, throwing his hands up.

“That’s not the condition.”

Liam narrowed his eyes at Jessie. “What then?”

Jessie grinned. “Tell me everything.”

Chapter 17

Three days ago, Grace would’ve bet good money that avoiding Liam in such a small town would be an impossible task. He may not be in love with her as she’d hoped, but he’d been a good friend, and even after everything that happened between him and Charlotte on Monday, he’d still tried to talk to her. But it turned out avoiding him was a very possible task. She hadn’t seen him once all week. She wasn’t ready to talk to him, not by a long shot, but she missed seeing him.

So, when she walked into the gallery after lunch on Thursday and saw him talking with Davina, her afternoon appointment, in front of Grace’s winter scene David had hung Tuesday, her heart did a crazy flip-flop in her, chest torn between wanting to soar and wanting to plunge to the deepest pit of sorrow and loss. Before he looked her way, she ducked back out the door and sprinted into Harold’s Market. She waited by the window for ten minutes, hiding behind a rack of sunglasses, watching for him to leave, and finally caught sight of him crossing the street to his building. She waited another five minutes to give him time to get inside, then hurried back to work.

Davina sat at her desk, her long black locks braided over her shoulder, and grinned when she saw Grace coming. “What was that about?” She pointed at the door.

Grace’s eyes went wide, but she tried to act cool. “What was what?”

“The mad dash you made out the door a minute ago?”

She blanched. “You saw that?”

Davina nodded. “I did.”

“Did he?”

“He did.”

Grace dropped her head into her hands and groaned. “Perfect.”

“I’m just wondering why on earth you’d want to run away from a hottie like that who stared at your spastic retreat with stars in his eyes like you were some angel,andwho came bearing gifts?” Davina pushed Grace’s rolling chair back and picked up a large wicker basket, setting it on her desk. “He says to tell you this is from your ‘Secret Santa’.” She put “Secret Santa” in air quotes.

Grace inched closer to her desk and glanced inside. He’d filled it with art supplies. Paints, paper, charcoal, pencils, an eraser wrapped with a teeny tiny bow. She picked it up, squeezing it in her hand. Perfect. Everything he’d picked were items she used and had lying around her apartment. Things he would’ve seen last weekend when he’d come over. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. This must have cost him a fortune.

What was he doing? First the buttermints and now this?

“Either he really, really likes you,” Davina said. “Or he’s in some serious hot water.”

She pulled out a paintbrush and ran her fingers over the soft new bristles. He’d gotten her new brushes. “He kissed my mother,” she said absently.

Davina’s jaw dropped. “You’re joking—please tell me you’re joking.”

“He didn’t kiss me,” Charlotte said from behind Grace. “I kissed him.”

Grace spun on her heel. Charlotte stood before her, decked out as usual. She wore a bright pink pantsuit today with a cream wool coat, large black glasses, and her hair up in a twist.

“That’s your mom?” Davina’s eyes went wide. No surprise there. People were always shocked when they found out Charlotte was her mother.

Grace swallowed the lump in her throat, remembering the pep talk she’d been giving herself all week to prepare for this very moment. I will not be a doormat. I will not be a doormat.

Charlotte crossed the gallery, and Grace stepped back reflexively. Charlotte stopped, letting out a long-suffering sigh. “Honestly, Grace. The way you behave, people would think I beat you.” She pulled her cream gloves off, one finger at a time. “It’s bad enough you made them print a retraction of my comments about you in the paper. Isn’t it enough that you have everyone thinking I’m a liar?”

“They printed a retraction?” Grace asked. She’d been avoiding the papers, living in fear of follow-ups to the Secret Santa story.

“Like you didn’t know.”

Grace took a deep breath, but her voice came out in a near whisper. “I didn’t know, but I’m glad they did.”

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