Page 31 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

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Grace steppedout of the shower and heard voices in the hallway. Shelby had mentioned that there was going to be a long-term guest, but she’d said that he would be arriving later today. It seemed he was early.

She’d introduce herself before she headed over to the realty office. She checked her phone and saw that she was meeting her realtor Lauren in less than twenty minutes.

Damn, she needed to hurry.

After drying off and securing the towel around her chest, she grabbed her hairdryer out of her bag, plugged it in and started her drying/straightening process. As soon as she flipped her head over, her thoughts went to where they’d been going every second that she’d been away from Easton. Right back to him.

Last night still felt surreal and she couldn’t quite wrap her head around the fact that it had actually happened. Those few hours that she’d spent with Easton, curled up together in the back of her SUV had been the most connected she’d ever felt to another person. It had truly felt like only the two of them existed.

They’d talked for hours, and she’d only made it through about half of the intimacy questions from the book. The conversation just flowed. She honestly didn’t even remember drifting off to sleep.

She had just flipped her head back up to start drying the top layer when her phone vibrated on the marble countertop. Her first thought was that it was Easton. But then her common sense reminded her that he didn’t have her phone number so that would be impossible.

When she grabbed it she saw that she’d gotten a message from Gary Brighton, who had been her mentor in real estate and was the listing agent on her condo. He was doing an open house today and wanted to know if he could do best and final.

Best and final meant that anyone who wanted to put an offer on the house had to submit their best and final offer. It saved time and a lot of haggling back and forth. It would be the easiest and fastest way to close so she messaged him back that it sounded good.

That downtown LA penthouse had been her dream for so long. When she’d first started in real estate, she’d represented a buyer who had purchased an apartment in the same building, and she’d made it her goal to live there some day. It had taken twelve years but on her thirtieth birthday, she’d signed the papers making that dream a reality.

And now, she was letting it go and she had no feelings about it. She wasn’t happy. Or sad. She just felt numb.

She’d just set the phone down and started putting on lotion when it buzzed again. This time it was a text from her sister Audrey. She’d planned on texting both Audrey and Ava before she got into the shower to let them know that she was in town, but she’d spent her time doing a Google deep dive of Easton Bishop. She’d planned on only taking ten minutes, an hour later she was still sitting at her computer. Seeing the time, she had to rush to take a shower.

Audrey: Just talked to Josh and he said that you were in town.

Grace typed her reply.

Grace: Yes, I just got into town. Can you do dinner tonight at Sue Ann’s at six?

She’d just pressed send when the bubbles appeared.

Audrey: Yes! Can’t wait to see you.

Grace almost didn’t respond because she was running late, but she couldn’t help herself.

Grace: Josh, huh? You two hanging out?

Audrey: We’re just friends.

Grace: Friends with benefits?

Bubbles appeared, but then they went away indicating that her sister had typed something but then erased it or stopped typing. Grace normally didn’t press her baby sister on her love life, but after the past twenty-four hours Grace had an entirely different outlook on life.

She didn’t want to live with any regrets, and she didn’t want the people she loved to do so either.

After two more times of the bubbles appearing and then disappearing a text came through.

Audrey: Just friends.

Grace sighed. She hated that her sister had had a crush on the man for over two decades and hadn’t done anything about it. When they were younger, Grace understood. Josh was her age, which meant he was three years older than Audrey. The difference between a ten-year-old and a thirteen-year-old was huge. But now that they were adults, and it was obvious that her sister’s feelings hadn’t changed, she didn’t know why they were still just friends.

Especially since she saw the way Josh looked at her baby sister. He was obviously attracted to her. Yet, they both maintained they were “just friends.”

Knowing there was nothing Grace could do about that situation now, she picked up her hair straightener and had just started on her bottom layer when her phone vibrated again. She looked at the screen and saw that this message was from Ava.

Ava: You’re here?! I had no idea you were coming.

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