Page 45 of Slow Kind of Love

“Nana!”

God. He shouldn’t be with a grandmother.

Elise shook out her hands, which were clenched so tightly together, there were crescent moons dug into her palms. She counted to three and was about to turn around when she felt warm hands go around her midsection and pull her back into a hug.

“You left without saying goodbye,” Link said, his breath warm against her face. “That was naughty.”

She shivered, not so much from the sensation, but from the emotion that coursed through her body.

“I didn’t want to wake you,” she replied lightly, careful to keep her voice even.

“Ew. Are you guys gonna kiss again?” Benji said dramatically. “It’s all Daddy and Poppy do. It’s gross.”

Elise glanced up and caught sight of the couple Link had been talking to. With Link out of the way, she recognized the woman, Ainsley Taggert, a girl who’d gone to school with her son, Boone. The woman quickly looked away, clearly embarrassed to be caught staring. But not soon enough. Elise saw her expression. Saw the questions and surprise.

Cheeks burning, she wriggled out of Link’s embrace. “I came to get Benji,” she said, pasting on a smile.

Her grandson’s face lit up. “Cool. Can I take Pancake to the dog park?” His grin faltered. “I thought Daddy was picking me up ’cause I’m supposed to spend the night at my friend Michael’s.”

“I’ve got you,” she said, bending down to kiss his cheek. “And I’ll make sure you get to Michael’s.”

“You okay?” Link asked.

Her smile felt brittle. Her face plastic. “Yes. I’m good.” She grabbed Benji’s hand. “I should get this little guy home.”

“I’ve got two more clinics to run, but dinner later?” Link said, eyes darkening as a wicked grin spread across his face. “My place?”

“I can’t. Heather is, well, she and Reg had a thing, and it’s…well, she’s exploring the possibility of working things out with him. I mean, not that they were okay or anything, I mean there’s a long way to go and stuff to dig through and…” She was rambling and felt like an absolute shit for lying and using her best friend as an excuse. “She’s coming for dinner so we can talk, so she can talk, rather, because she’s upset and…stuff.”

Link was silent for a few moments. She was scared he’d picked up on the nervous energy that suddenly flooded her body so badly, her legs jerked like a damn rubber band as she took another step back.

“I’ll call you in the morning.”

She turned Benji around and hurried him out of the complex. Her mind was a jumbled mess. Her heart was a jumbled mess. Everything in her life was a jumbled freaking mess.

She waited for her grandson to secure his seat belt and sent Boone a text message letting him know she had Benji, then aimed her vehicle back to town. Her mood was much more somber than it had been less than thirty minutes earlier, and she found she was close to tears.

She realized something about age.

It didn’t matter if you were a teenager or in your twenties or thirties or older. Relationships were tough, and love was even tougher. Especially when you came so close to having all that sweetness in your life, you could taste it.

Because the thing about sugar? It was a bitch to give up.

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