Page 19 of New Girl in Town
Chapter Five
“You want to tell mehow and whyyou got to Grant this morning?”
Melinda didn’t even have the good grace to look ashamed as we sat across the table—in her dining room, of course, because I had no furniture yet—and she shrugged at me before cutting into her dinner.
“Something had to be done,” she said.
“And I was going to do something about it, Mel. Me.Iwas going to do something about it.”
“You were going to shut it down, not do something, Aurora.”
I wiggled the fork in my hand and tapped it against my plate in agitation. “Shutting something down is doing something.”
“Not the right thing.”
“How do you know the right thing?”
She lifted her dark eyes to meet mine and pursed her lips. “Aurora…” She sighed and laid her silverware down. “You were glowing this morning.”
“So what?”
“Babe, you haven’t glowed like that since before Dylan. You were like a kid. You light up when it comes to talking about him.”
I shook my head, slumping in my seat. “That doesn’t matter.”
“It does. It really, really does. And after actually taking the time to talk to the man, I want to wholeheartedly let you know that I have zero shame in what I did today.”
“How did you even find him?”
“It’s a small town. I asked around, and boom. We ended up grabbing a latte at the exact same place.”
My eyebrows shot up, but I couldn’t suppress a laugh. “You stalked his coffee?”
“It wasn’t really that hard, but yes, I stalked the man’s coffee.”
“Mel! Coffee is sacred. You cannot just go bombarding people when they are trying to get caffeinated.”
“Like I said, it wasn’t that hard. There are like two places in town to get a decent latte, and I picked the one closest to your apartment building, so get that look off your face.”
The look she referred to was a mixture of consternation and shock, but in my opinion it was a well-deserved look for her showing up to chat with Grant about me without me in the loop.
“All I’m saying is that I appreciate you going the extra mile for me, but I can make my own choices. Please, let me do that, okay?”
Mel leaned back in her chair and blew out a long sigh before nodding. “Okay. I can do that.”
My body relaxed in relief, and I reached for my fork and knife. “Thank you. Now can we—”
“But I have something to say.”
The tone of her voice was one I was used to hearing. It was all business, level-toned and cool, and I knew it signaled she was going to say something serious.
“Fire away.”
“I think if you push Grant away, on the basis of age alone, then you’re making a huge mistake. That man is into you.” She leaned forward. “Like, so far gone that it isn’t even funny. It’s cute and adorable and he really has the best intentions about dating you. You deserve good, Aurora.”
The fork slipped from my hand and I only just managed to catch it. “Sorry, sorry,” I murmured, looking away from Melinda. I wasn’t ready for her to see how her words were a bullseye right to my heart. They echoed Grant’s earlier statement so well that it gave me chills.
“Okay,” I said, clearing my throat and giving her a tight smile, “thanks for telling me.”
