Page 78 of Beautiful Mess

“You mean, hurt her like I did?” Cole deadpans.

“Not only you, but yes.”

“Ouch.” He breathes out a laugh. “Way to call me out.”

“It wasn’t meant to be a call-out,” I say. “But Son, I think it’s time you take a long, hard look at yourself and how you treat the women you get into relationships with. I think you really need to dig deep into yourself and work through whatever it is that has you incapable of being faithful. Let this divorce be a lesson, and please, learn from it.”

“You’re annoying when you’re all in love,” he quips, a smile tipping up his lips.

Laughter climbs up my throat before I can stop it. “I would’ve said the same damn thing to you, regardless. I mean it. And for the love of god, get your ass back to work while you’re at it.”

Letting his head drop back, he groans before saying, “That’s enough father/son talking for one day.” Patting my shoulder as he walks by, Cole adds, “I’m going to take a shower.”

I wave him off, more than ready to end this discussion as well.

“Still not crazy about you banging my ex-girlfriend, but when I’m done, I want to hear about this magical plan of yours.” Flashing me a grin over his shoulder, Cole disappears down the hall.

After I change into something cooler, I head out to the garage, knowing I need to mow the lawn today because it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow. It’s the perfect time for me to come up with the quote-unquote magical plan because I meant what I said to Cole. I’m getting Grace back, and there’s nothing I won’t do to make her see I’m not like the men who have come before me.

I’m not going to hurt her.

I’m going to show her how a real man treats the woman he loves.

Thirty-Three

Grace

“Have you talked to Conway at all?” Gemma asks as she hands me an ice-cold glass of sweet tea before taking a seat beside me on the porch swing Everett put together for her recently.

“Oh, pray tell, my traitorous sister, did he recruit you to ask me that?” I tease, before taking a sip. “I’m still mad at you, by the way.”

My sister laughs, bringing her legs up underneath her. “Oh, stop it. You are not mad at me.”

Glowering at her while biting back the smile trying to escape, I hum. “Jury’s still out on that one.”

“And to answer your question. No, he didn’t recruit me to ask you that, you weirdo. I’m the one who wants to know.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Not aside from talking about tonight.”

A pang hits me right in the chest as my throat tightens. It’s been a little over a week since Conway and Davis replaced the pipe at the bakery. Eight days, to be exact, and I’m no less overwhelmed by it all than I was when I walked into my office that day and found them there. The heavy wave of emotion that always rushes over me when I think about it is strong enough to knock me off my feet. Thinking about the trouble Conway had to go through to get access to the bakery without me knowing—because he’s absolutely right, I never would’ve asked him—how he and Davis worked on it all night, and how he still—eight freaking days later—hasn’t sent me an invoice, nor has he responded to my messages regarding the cost. Knowing Conway did all of that…for me, and purely out of the goodness of his heart because he cares about me, it’s too much. It makes me feel too much, and it makes it too damn hard to stay away.

“My god, you’re more stubborn than I gave you credit for,” Gemma muses, eyeing me from over the top of her sweet tea before she takes a sip.

Rolling my eyes, I huff out a sigh. “It’s not being stubborn, Gem. It’s being logical and realistic.”

“Personally, those wouldn’t be two adjectives I would use to describe what you’re doing,” she teases. A moment later, her gaze softens as she takes me in, and it’s like she can read my every thought. Like some sort of weird older sister voodoo. “That man is crazy about you, Grace,” she says softly. “There hasn’t been a single day where he hasn’t checked in on how you’re doing to both Georgia and I.”

My heart thumps in my chest as Gemma’s words settle over me. “Has he really?” I ask, already knowing Gemma wouldn’t lie to me about that.

Her smile is warm as she touches a hand to my knee. “Yes, he really has. That man is torn between wanting to respect your wishes and cannon ball his way back into your life.” Gemma pauses for a moment before adding, “My only question is, why are you still hell bent on pushing him away, when you’re clearly miserable doing so? It would be one thing if you genuinely weren’t interested, but that’s obviously not the case.”

Pressure builds behind my eyes, and I avert my gaze out into the yard where the kids are playing catch. “Because Gemma, I won’t ask him to pick between me and his son.”

“But why does there have to be an ultimatum at all?” she pushes. “Have you talked to Cole? Do you even know how he feels about it all?”

“No.” I hate the weight pressing down on my chest when I talk about this. “And it wouldn’t matter even if I did.”

“Of course it would,” Gemma says, the stern tone of her voice causing my head to turn and our gazes to collide. “If you ask me, I think you’re purposely avoiding talking to Cole, because a part of you knows it’s not going to be as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be, and that scares you.”

---