Page 38 of The Corner of Heartbreak and Forever
“You two are more alike than you might think,” Sable said with an air of boredom. “Last night Mom said she’s throwing a family barbecue next Friday night after Reed finishes the porch. Oh yeah, you’re supposed to invite him, and I was supposed to text you and let you know. Sorry.”
“Great.That should make him run for the hills.” Her family was a lot to handle in small doses. As a group they could be downright overwhelming, especially to a guy who was used to quiet.
Sable smiled and closed her eyes. “It’s best to indoctrinate him to the chaos earlier rather than later.” She set her hat over her eyes and said, “You don’t mind if I just crash right here, do you?”
Normally Grace would kick her out of her room, but she didn’t want to close the door Sable had only begun to unlock. She pulled off Sable’s boots and set them beside the bed. “Get some rest. I have to go run off my junk food.”
She wrote a quick note for Reed—Sable is sleeping on my bed, so don’t go in and whip off your clothes or anything. I went for a run. Xox, Grace—and went to the kitchen to find tape. She found it in the family junk drawer and put a piece on the top of the note. Then she grabbed a pen, crossed outGraceand wroteGracie.
Humming, she went outside and taped it to the outside of the glass door that led to her bedroom. Reed had done a gorgeous job on the porch so far, and she was happy that her childhood home was being lovingly restored.
Remembering the mornings she and Reed had secretly met by the football field before the sun came up, she took off jogging in that direction.
As she rounded the corner toward town, energized by thoughts of Reed, she realized her childhood home wasn’t the only thing being lovingly restored.
REED STOPPED BY Roy and Ella’s to catch his uncle up on his progress at the Montgomerys and check on the delivery status of the materials for his kitchen, which Roy had offered to handle. They were sitting at the table enjoying breakfast when he tapped on the kitchen door and walked in.
“There he is,” Ella said as she rose to greet him, and promptly ushered him into a seat. “I’ll get you a plate.”
“It’s okay, Ella. I didn’t come for breakfast. Sit down and relax.”
“You know that isn’t gonna go over very well,” Roy said under his breath.
“A working man has to eat.” She set a cup of coffee in front of him and patted his shoulder before turning back to the stove. “You just relax.”
“Thank you.” Reed took a drink.
“Cade said you’re almost finished with the porch,” Roy said. “He’s mighty pleased with your work, of course.”
“That’s good to hear. I’ll be finished by the end of next week.”
“More importantly,” Ella said as she set a plate of pancakes in front of Reed. “Why are we the last to hear that you and Gracie are together again?”
He’d forgotten how quickly word moved between towns. “You’re not the last to hear.”
Ella sat beside Roy and set her napkin in her lap. “According to my friend Rosie, who saw Hellie at bingo last night, the whole town knows about you two.” She sipped her coffee, her smiling eyes peering at him over the rim. “Are we done keeping secrets?”
Reed chuckled and stabbed a hunk of pancake with his fork. “We are definitely done keeping secrets.”
“Well, thank goodness for small favors,” Roy said. “You can’t ever find honest love when you’re shrouded in secrecy. Life doesn’t work that way.”
Reed focused on his breakfast and not the message his uncle was really sending, which had landed loud and clear. When he’d returned to town, they hadn’t been pleased to hear that he had been serious enough to almost have been engaged to a woman they’d never met.
Ella reached across the table and touched his hand, bringing his gaze up to hers. “Honey, we understand why you had to keep things hush-hush when you were in school. Kids can be cruel, and you wanted to protect your girlfriend. You did the right thing under the circumstances. And as far as that last woman goes, well, I can only assume she hadn’t yet kissed your heart for you to keep her a secret. But moving forward, we’d really like for there to be no more secrets.”
A spear of guilt pierced Reed’s chest. “No more secrets,” he agreed. “And I’m sorry for keeping them in the first place.”
“That woman was a stopgap, son,” Roy said as he cut his pancakes. “Someone to hold you over until the time was right for you to come back home and find your true soul mate.”
Reed’s fork stopped midair. “That makes me sound a little callous, Roy. I didn’t think of her as a stopgap. I just wasn’t capable of giving her all of myself.”
“That’s not what I meant, Reed, so put out those fumes.” Roy sat back and exhaled a long, slow breath. “Love’s a funny thing. When it hits, there’s no keeping your distance or wondering if you should do something to fix whatever feels off. That’s how we knew you and Grace were meant to be together, and that’s why we kept your secret, when the proper thing to do would have been to make you stand up to your friends and her friends and pick her up properly at her daddy’s house. ThestopgapI spoke of had nothing to do with you treating that other woman badly, or making a bad judgment call. I meant you were filling the emptiness inside you. That’s only natural, just as it was only natural for her to feel the weight of another woman in your heart.”
Reed set his fork down on his plate. “Roy, did you know Grace was coming back to town?”
“Imayhave heard she was scheduled for a visit,” Roy mumbled, and filled his mouth with pancakes.
“Ella?”
