Page 47 of Bidding on a Second Chance
“You thought I’d be upset.” For once, Teddy stayed curled up in a sleepy ball, and Piper rubbed behind one of his ears. “Idon’tfeel great about it, but at least no one was hurt.”
Graham had been hurt, but the tenderness in his elbow and scalp where he’d hit the pavement was already fading. The bruise on his elbow had turned into a kaleidoscope of green and blue. She probably meant she was grateful no one had been shot. “I’m grateful for that too.”
The upward tilt of the corners of her mouth gave him courage. He reached across the seat. Resting his wrist on Teddy, he touched her fingers, and she slid her hand into his.
Unbelievable.
“You’ll still come for dinner Friday?” He swallowed, remembering the meal wasn’t supposed to be a date. “We’re still friends?”
She cocked her head, eyeing their hands.
Yeah, maybe he didn’t hold hands with his friends, but he couldn’t seem to let her go.
She squeezed his hand. “I think it’s important for both of us to be honest.”
“What do you want to know?”
Eyes lowered, she traced his fingers with her free hand. “I want to know if, maybe, on Friday …” She was killing him. He ended the statement a hundred ways before she finally got around to it. “If it would be okay with you if it were just you and me.” On the last word, she lifted her gaze.
He couldn’t imagine a clearer indication that she’d conquered her fears than her reaction to the robbery. “More than okay.”
Her smile turned impish. “I did promise, after all, to go on a date.”
“I don’t know. It needed to be with someone you cared about for it to matter.”
She squeezed his hand. “Then it has to be you.”
“I’m in.” He wasallin.
If it weren’t for the way she released him and opened her door, he would’ve kissed her. But then, she was out of the cab, and he wasn’t about to let her get her scooter from the bed of the truck alone.
As he rounded the vehicle, he dismissed the niggling worry that the conversation about the robbery had been too easy.
With all the hard things in life, too easy sounded just about right.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Piper’s stop at Charlie’s Hardware on Friday would be quick. In and out.
And nothing terrible would happen, unlike the last time she’d tried to make only a quick stop at Charlie’s. God was good, and He was taking good care of her. She could trust Him. Life was looking up.
Way up.
She flexed her ankle. Half an hour ago, the doctor had cleared her to stop using the boot. This trip to the store marked the first she’d driven herself anywhere in weeks.
God was good—and in more ways than she would’ve dared to ask.
An outfit for tonight’s dinner with Graham was laid out at home, waiting for her to finish this errand. She would layer a camel-colored cardigan over a simple green dress, paired with her trusty cowboy boots. Worn in to perfection, the footwear choice should be easy enough on her feet for a couple of hours, especially since the night wouldn’t involve much walking.
She pushed open her car door and plopped her new, white tennis shoe—with an extra thick sole per the doctor’s instructions—right into a pile of parking lot slush.
When her familiar pessimism rose up, she dismissed it mid-sentence. A pile of slush wasn’t awful. The minor inconvenience would do her a favor, even. She liked clean shoes, but not the shining white of a brand-new pair like this one.
She shook the icy sludge from her foot and continued inside.
Charlie met her at the paint counter. The older man, with his droopy cheeks and eyes, reminded her of a friendly hound. “No boot!”
She grinned. “I feel like a new woman.”
