Page 56 of Mine To Keep (Southern Wedding)

I get out, grabbing the box from the trunk before starting to walk over. Stefano sees me and starts running across the grass toward me. “Hey,” I say when he gets close enough, “I didn’t know you would be here.” He takes the box from me and then leans in to kiss my cheek. Stefano was the one who drove me down here to visit when I was thinking about moving here. His best friend, Levi, and cousin, Eva, lived here with their little girl, Cici, who is now turning one.

“Couldn’t miss the big day,” he says to me. “Sofia was going to come, but apparently, your grandfather was going to get the new crib wired.” He looks over at me, and I can’t help but laugh.

“It’s going to be like that scene from Mission Impossible when Tom Cruise breaks in.” Stefano starts to laugh. “If I didn’t value my life, I would try to break in to see.”

I’m about to say something to him when I see him out of the corner of my eye, walking toward us holding Meadow’s hand. His head is down, holding a little gift bag in one hand while holding Meadow with the other. “The fairy,” Meadow says, pointing toward me, and his head snaps up. He’s wearing blue jeans and a white dress shirt under his dark-blue sweater, the bottom of the button-down sticking out. My eyes roam him up and down as I take him in like a cat does right before she pounces on the bird.

She lets go of his hand or he lets go of hers in shock that I’m there. “I know you,” Meadow states when she runs to me, “you picked me up when I was sick.”

“I did,” I say, squatting down to look at her. “I’m Grace.” I put out my hand, and she shakes it.

“Hi, Grace.” She looks over at Caine, who now stands behind her.

“Hi,” I greet, smiling at him, “fancy meeting you here.”

“I was just going to say the same thing,” he says, then looks over at Stefano. “I’m Caine.” He is about to put out his hand but notices the big box. “I’m Grace’s boss.”

I don’t know why that title bothers me, but it does. “Hey, you two,” I hear from behind me and look over to see Eva coming toward us, wearing a shirt that says Cici’s Mom on it. “So glad you could make it,” she says and hugs me, “and Caine.” She nods at him. “Have you met Stefano and Grace?”

I shake my head. “Caine is my boss,” I say, and Eva’s face says it all; her mouth hangs open. “Yup, that one.” Not knowing what she heard, but from the look on her face, I’m sure the family talk has been doing the rounds.

“What a small world,” Eva recovers. “Levi!” she shouts over her shoulder at her husband, who is holding Cici in his arms. He comes over to us, Cici with a hat on her head and a shirt that says I’m One. Levi is wearing a shirt that says Cici’s Dad. “Caine is Grace’s boss.”

“No way.” He chuckles. “We’ve heard all about you.”

I roll my lips and look over at Caine to see him just staring at them. I honestly don’t know what he’s going to say, but what I’m not expecting is for him to come right out with a dig. “Juice boxes, am I right?” he jokes with them, and we all laugh. It would take nothing for me to go and stand beside him. But instead, I stand where I am. Everyone goes away slowly, and Stefano moves to put the gift down. Eva and Levi go to greet other guests, while Meadow looks at Caine and asks if she can go play. He nods his head. “Not too far,” he tells her as she joins a couple of kids at the party, and they start chasing each other.

“Well, this is fun,” he finally says as we stand next to each other.

“On a scale of one to ten, how shocked are you to see me here?” I ask him as my shoulder touches his arm.

“In the words of Meadow, one thousand million and half trillion,” he exaggerates, and I can’t help but laugh, leaning into him. I catch myself right before I kiss him. In my head, I can feel his arm wrap around my waist and pull me to him, and then he leans down to meet my kiss. But it’s only in my head because reality is two different things.

I look over at him, and he looks back at me, smirking now. “You look cute in that hat.”

“Do I?” I ask, and he nods, trying not to look at me more than is normal, which bothers me even more because all I want to do is look at him.

“Yeah, you look even younger,” he teases, “which makes me feel even creepier.”

“Oh, stop it.” I push his shoulder with my hand, moving down his arm, and I’m about to slide my hand into his, but instead, I let our fingers graze each other. “Come on, Grandpa, let’s go mingle.”

twenty-six

Caine

The minute she calls me Grandpa, I put my head back and laugh. Something I’ve been doing a lot lately. “That mouth of yours.”

She turns and stops in front of me, her eyes twinkling in the sun even though her hat covers most of it. “Yeah, what about it?”

I shake my head and look around to make sure no one is listening to our conversation. “I’m going to keep it real busy tonight.”

“Is that so?” She looks up at me, an innocent look on her face. A face I want to hold in my hand and kiss because I can. My fingers tingle thinking about it. “I look forward to it.”

“Hey,” a woman says when she walks up to us and hugs Grace. “Stefano said you were here.”

“I am, Addison,” Grace introduces the woman. “I’d like you to meet my boss, Caine.”

Her face is like all the others, shocked with a touch of glare. “You don’t say?” She tries to keep a smile on her face, a fake one but still.

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