Page 42 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

“Who’s dating?” Eli asked as he and Kenzi came around the back.

“Easton is dating Grace Wells,” Shayne announced.

“Yay!” Kenzie clapped her hands together. “Who’s Grace Wells?”

“She’s Audrey and Viv’s sister.”

Kenzie’s head tilted to the side. “Oh, I thought she lived in LA.”

Both of his sisters-in-law turned toward him for the answer.

“She just moved here.”

“When?” Kenzie asked.

“Today.”

“How do you know her?” Kenzie asked the same question he knew would come up on the show.

“Her car broke down and I stopped to help her.” It was the truth. He and Grace had agreed that he wasn’t going to lie on the show, even if reality wasn’t real.

“Whose car broke down?” Deanna asked as she rounded the corner with her husband Lucky Dorsey.

Lucky’s brother Levi owned the B&B he was staying at. He was an MMA fighter who now ran a gym that happened to be right next to the fire station. Easton didn’t know all the details of how Lucky and his cousin had met but he figured that probably had something to do with it.

“I’ll explain everything over dinner. At once. To everyone.” Easton truly hated talking about himself, but he realized that if they did get cast, he’d have to get used to it. Part of the show was doing daily confessionals.

His brothers and Lucky didn’t seem to care one iota about him putting off the story. The girls however didn’t seem as keen to have the conversation paused.

The guys stayed outside at the grill and the conversation quickly moved to sports. Easton had never really been into baseball or football like his brothers, and it seemed Lucky was, so he stood quietly thinking about the events that had transpired over the past day.

He’d always considered his life as an adventure, but he never thought the greatest adventure would be waiting for him so close to home.

The girls migrated into the kitchen where through the window he heard Deanna ask, “Whose car broke down?”

“Grace Wells,” Kenzie offered.

“Who is Grace Wells?” Deanna asked.

Shayne took this one. “She’s Viv and Audrey’s sister.”

“Oh, I think I met her a few months ago when she was here for their other sister Ava’s wedding,” Deanna relayed.

“Oh right, didn’t she get left at the alter?” Shayne asked.

“Yeah, but it worked out okay for her.”

“That’s right she just got engaged to Asher Ford,” Shayne commented.

His SILs and cousin weren’t speaking in a gossipy way, it was much more informational. That’s what he’d observed from hearing his brothers talk about Hope Falls which was different than the stereotypical small towns. This place was more like a tribe, where everyone knew everyone’s business but they all worked together to take care of one another. They also readily accepted new people into the Hope Falls fold.

After a few minutes, Evan announced, “Alright, let’s eat.”

As they all sat down around the table there was small talk at first but Deanna cut it all off. “Okay, I’m dying to know how you know Grace Wells. When you two started dating. And why I heard from Frankie that your name was in the running to be on Home Sweet Flipping Home.”

Easton stared at the faces surrounding him. And he realized then that he wished Grace was with him. Then this situation wouldn’t seem so overwhelming. Sex might be off the table but he might need to negotiate family dinners into the contract.

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