Page 37 of The Corner of Heartbreak and Forever
“Besides time to breathe?”
He rubbed his whiskers over her cheek, sending titillating tingles all the way to her toes. “Come on, Gracie. I want to help.”
“Orgasms,” she said with a playful smirk.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that, since I haven’t been there with you. We’ll have to make sure you go back fulfilled and have lots of FaceTime trysts in between visits.”
“FaceTime trysts? I can’t…”Can I?She was surprised to realize she wanted to. She shivered with the idea of doing something so naughty with Reed.
“Baby, there’s nothing we can’t do together.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek, and his eyes darkened seductively as he dragged that thick digit over her lower lip. “You can, and we will.”
“Okay,” came out easily, surprising and exciting her at once.
“Now, focus on your job for a second. How can I help you find that excitement again? Do you want to figure out a way to teach? I know you want to write. Can you do that on your lunch hour, or on the weekends?”
“You’re such a fixer,” she said, smiling, because he’d always tried to fix things for her when she was younger. It didn’t matter if it was an argument with a sibling or trouble memorizing her lines for a play, he was there by her side trying to figure out a solution.
“And you’ve always been too stubborn to let me help. But why was that? Is it because you’re the oldest and you think it’s your job to help everyone else? Let me in, babe. Let’s talk about it.”
She’d seen needing help as a sign of weakness for as long as she could remember. She prepared to tell him that he had no idea of the magnitude of her schedule and that if she couldn’t figure it out how could he, but she forced herself to slow down and take a step back.
She’d felt this way about her job for the last several months, and she’d done nothing to make it better. Maybe talking it out would help her see things more clearly.Maybe if we’d taken the time to talk through all of our options before I’d gone to college, I wouldn’t have jumped to the wrong conclusion and spent a decade carrying around unnecessary hurt. Maybe you never would have left town. Or maybe you would have come to New York at some point.
She squeezed his hand and said, “Do you have any wine?”
Chapter Twelve
TUESDAY MORNING GRACE got up early, ate a handful of M&M’s, and pulled on her running clothes even though she and Reed had probably worked off enough energy last night to negate the caloric content of the candy. After they’d talked about her crazy life in the city, she’d felt much better. Not that they’d come up with any firm answers, but they’d come up with some ideas for her to think about. More importantly, she’d been handling her own issues in such a vacuum for so long, it was cathartic to share her innermost thoughts with someone who cared aboutherwithout any ulterior motives toward her work or trying to get her to move back home. They’d finished painting the walls, ended up naked, painted, and intertwined on the tarps in the living room, and then they’d taken a shower together, where they cleaned each other up only to get down and dirty again.
She was lacing up her running shoes when Sable sauntered into her bedroom, wearing the same outfit, from boots to Stetson, she’d worn yesterday. She walked past Grace, grabbed a fistful of M&M’s, then sat beside her on the bed. Grace glanced at the time—6:02—and bit back the urge to tell her to find her own boyfriend and eat his M&M’s.
“Who was the lucky guy last night?”
“Nobody got lucky.” Sable shoved the candy in her mouth and flopped onto her back. “After band practice we went to JJ’s Pub and hung out until it closed. The only guy who piqued my interest was a certain fireman who’s blown me off too many times for me to try again.”
“Who?”
Sable gave her a deadpan look. “How many hot firemen do you know that would blow me off?”
Grace pushed to her feet and began stretching, uninterested in guessing, but knowing one for sure. Chet Hudson had never given Sable the time of day, which made him the ultimate challenge for her ballsy sister. “I’m surprised you didn’t find some other hot guy to hit on.”
“I did, but I wasn’t into him.”
“Maybe you’re getting tired of hookups.”
“Bite your tongue. I was sidetracked. I’ve been working on some new ideas for songs, so I sat out on the hill and tried to get inspired, but…” Sable sighed. “I’m just not feeling it. I’ve been having a hard time with that lately. I even spoke to Axsel for a while. He’s so good at opening my creative pathways.”
While Grace never liked to ask for help, Sable preferred people not to haveanyinclination that she might even need it. Grace was glad to see her easing up on the typical tough-as-nails vibe she gave off and not only turning to Axsel but sharing with her, too. It helped Grace feel closer to the one sister who had always made her feel a little unnecessary. Her mind traveled back to her conversation with Reed about her predicament at work. He’d had some good suggestions, like cutting back from three productions a year to two and trying to work in a few more afternoons off once each production was up and running. She’d been on such a fast track for so long, the idea of taking any time off just to rejuvenate had somehow become slated as wasted time. How had that happened? Time off to sneak in some writing or enjoy a long weekend with Reed was definitelynotwasted time. She had a lot to consider.
She caught the tail end of something Sable was saying and realized she’d zoned out. Trying to play catch-up, she said, “How is Axsel?” Axsel was just shy of six years younger than Grace, and he traveled so much, she saw him only once or twice a year.
“Has he evernotbeen great?Chill boyis always good. He never gets rattled. He’s back in L.A., and bummed he’s not here to hang with you.”
Grace laced her fingers together and stretched her arms above her head. “I miss him and Pepper, but I guess there’s always Christmas.”
“Speaking of Pepper. Mom invited her to the barbecue next Friday night, but she can’t make it, of course. She said something about a research project.”
“Pepper is always researching, but what barbecue?” She shifted, stretching her hamstrings, thinking about how infrequently she saw her scientist sister.
