by Shirley Jump
“Well, that’s an ambitious schedule, but sure. Either way, I hope whomever buys this house creates lots of happy memories in it. But I guess I’m just a romantic.” Savannah handed him a business card. “Let me know if you have any questions. And say hello to Beth for me.”
He thanked the Realtor, and after she left, Grady released Monster from kitchen jail, pulled out his phone and leaned against the door to get a better signal in this middle-of-nowhere town. He would have gone out on the porch, but the rain was still beating hard against the house. A few seconds later, Dan picked up. “Hey,” Grady said. “House is going on the market tomorrow at the latest.”
“Good. You think it will sell fast enough? Because I just heard Jim Givens is looking into that property in Lower Manhattan, too.”
The mention of Grady’s biggest competitor made him jerk to attention. “How did he find out about it? I thought we had an early window.”
“That window’s closing, Grady.” Dan sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you, but Bob told me he’s officially listing it at the end of next week.”
Grady cursed. He’d thought he’d have more time. How the hell was he going to get this house sold, closed on, get the money and buy the property that fast?
“And there’s more,” Dan said. “I need to take a couple days off. Doctor’s orders.” He chuckled like it was a joke, but Grady knew the truth. Dan’s heart, already fragile, couldn’t take the eighty-hour work weeks and constant worry being COO of a sinking ship demanded.
Being CEO was no walk in the park, either, but the stress and pressure Grady felt were multiplied by the guilt in his chest. Dan had had that heart attack because of Grady’s choices. He never should have taken that big of a risk with the building, one that wasn’t a definite flip. Never should have put other people’s livelihoods on the line. “You okay?”
“Nothing a little R & R can’t cure.” Dan paused, then seemed to read Grady’s mind. “Quit blaming yourself. Businesses fail. It happens.”
“You warned me, Dan. I should have listened.”
At his feet, Monster pawed Grady’s leg, whining to go out, so he headed down the hall behind the mutt. As soon as Grady opened the back door, the puppy ran into a puddle, then circled the yard, spraying mud behind his paws. Great.
“I think I’ve got two interested buyers in this new property. I’ve been calling pretty much everyone in my contacts list who would be a fit for that place,” Grady said. “I’ll speed things up over here. See what I can do.”
“Sounds good. Also...while we’re on the subject of Jim...” With Dan, who was usually confident and decisive, pausing was never a good sign. “He’s offered a buyout. Said he’ll take that empty building off our hands.”
Jim Givens competed with Grady for many of the same properties in New York. He’d known Jim off and on for years, and they got along well on the golf course, not so well in negotiations. More than once, Grady had been quicker on the draw or better in the selling game, which pissed Jim off no end.
“Here come the sharks, circling the fresh bait.” Grady cursed under his breath. “What’s his offer?”
“Less than it’s worth, but enough to pay most of the debt.”
Monster leaped into a puddle, then popped back, surprised at the splash in his face and the depth of the water.
“And if he can buy this new location before we do—”
“He can offer even less,” Dan finished. “Jim’s a smart guy. But you...you’re smarter. You jump off cliffs I’d never even climb. So yeah, maybe the last decision you made was a total turkey, but you’re going to come out of this.”
But would he do it soon enough? If Dan had been ordered to take some time off, what wasn’t his COO sharing? “If you want to find another job, Dan, I’ll write you a hell of a recommendation. Call in some favors. You’d be a valuable asset anywhere you go.”
“If you keep making me that offer,” Dan said, “eventually my feelings are gonna get hurt. I’m right where I want to be.”
Grady’s chest was tight and his breath was thin when he hung up with Dan. Standing on the porch, watching Monster chase his tail in the rain, Grady concentrated on breathing deeply, slowing his rushing pulse, while conflicting thoughts pounded in his head.
The puppy finally grew tired of his tail and made a beeline for the house. Grady tried to block him, but the wet dog wriggled out of his grasp and then danced around the kitchen, down the hall, into the living room and back again, leaving a muddy trail across the kitchen Grady had cleaned an hour ago and the floors he had buffed yesterday.
Great. Just great. But at least the distraction of the dog’s path of destruction had taken his mind off work and the panic that caused nowadays.
“You are officially off my Christmas list,” he said to the dog. Monster yipped, jumped up and left two paw prints on Grady’s sweatpants before charging off down the hall again.
Damn it. That dog was going to be the death of him. As if he didn’t have enough to deal with already.
Instead of chasing after the mud machine, Grady pulled out his phone and hovered his thumb over Beth’s name. He pressed it, and as soon as she answered and he heard her voice, the aggravations and regrets moved aside to make room for something that felt like...happiness.
“Do you want to meet for breakfast?” he asked. They talked on the phone a couple times a day, but only chatting about the dog and her dad. They’d met for a few more training sessions, and every time, she’d been matter-of-fact, focused on the job and gone the minute they were done.
In this moment, hearing her voice wasn’t enough. He needed to see her, see that smile and those eyes that saw past the man he had been. “I’m starving, my fridge is empty, and I figure we can talk about how to get this puppy to avoid puddles.”
Yeah, that’s why he wanted to see her. To talk about the muddy mutt. Not because she’d lingered at the edges of his every thought ever since that kiss. When she hesitated, he filled in the pause, like a nervous teenager. “I’ll meet you anywhere Monster can’t go.”
“Okay, sounds good,” she said with a little laugh. “But we will have some puppy-and-you time later. You can’t train him if you always leave him at home.” Beth gave him the address of a café downtown and agreed to meet in half an hour.
Grady put Monster back into puppy jail. “You stay here. I’ll be back. And for the love of all that is holy, please chew this—” Grady grabbed a Kong toy that he’d filled with peanut butter, then frozen per Beth’s advice yesterday “—and not my shoes, my chair legs or the molding. Deal?”
Monster wagged his tail, and gave Grady a sure, Dad bark. Grady was pretty damned certain he’d come home—no, not home, to the house he was selling—and find more destruction and chaos. He drove across town, parked outside the Good Eatin’ Café, and wondered if it was too early for a beer. It was barely past nine in the morning and already Grady’s frustration level was off the charts.
He sat in the car, replaying the conversation with Dan. The level of anxiety in his chest began to spike again, curling a tight fist around his lungs. Was he moving too fast? Too slow? Should he have tried harder to get a loan? Should he take Jim’s offer?
Uncertainty and hesitancy. Two words that would never have described Grady Jackson a year ago. But every time he tried to make a decision, he saw the faces of the people he had been forced to let go, and saw Dan in that hospital bed, hooked up to a heart monitor that beeped way too fast.
Grady ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep breath. He’d fix this, somehow. He had promised Dan. Promised everyone, really.
In front of him, the tiny diner had four bricked stairs that led into the restaurant. Beth could be in there right now. What he had with her was as temporary as a summer storm, and yet just the thought of seeing her eased that fist open.
Inside the diner, bright white speckled tiles were offset by de
ep red bench seats and bar stools. A neon-pink open sign flashed in the window, and lush, thick English ivy plants lined the shelf above the tables. It was all shiny and new, with chrome accents and an open kitchen that sparkled. A wiry, gray-haired woman rushed up to greet him as soon as he crossed the threshold. “Welcome to the Good Eatin’ Café. I’m Viv, the owner.” She waved toward an open booth beside one of the plate-glass windows. “Come, come, have a seat. Let me get you some coffee.”
He barely managed a “yes, thank you,” before Viv was gone and back again with a steaming mug of rich, dark coffee. “I haven’t been here in a long time,” he said, as he took a seat and gave the diner another appreciative glance. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”
“Why, thank you! We just finished renovating. Had some help from the Barlows. Are you from Stone Gap? If so, you must know them.”
Savannah was a Barlow and he knew from Beth that she was a house restorer. Undoubtedly the same family. “I don’t, but I’m not really from here—I only used to visit in the summers. My grandmother, Ida Mae Jackson, brought me and my brothers to this café on Sunday mornings.”
The smile fell from Viv’s face. “Oh, you poor thing. I heard that she died. She was such a wonderful person. I’m sure you’re heartbroken.”
“She was one of a kind, that’s for sure.” There were still moments when Grady couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t be there when he opened the door, with a ready plate of cookies and a hug. Her presence was in every inch of the house, in the apron hanging on the hook by the back door and the black line scuff down the kitchen tile from where she’d successfully tried riding his skateboard one June afternoon. Ida Mae had been a big part of what Grady and his brothers had missed in their childhood, and now that she was gone...
He’d never have her fun, loving and adventurous spirit around him again. The same spirit that had flowed in his blood for as long as he could remember, then lost the day the business crashed and burned. The only time he’d come close to finding that again was when he was with Beth.
Temporary. It would pass, he was sure. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? He couldn’t be getting hung up on a woman who lived half a country away.
He settled into the booth while Viv studied him for a minute, an order pad in one hand and a pen in the other. She tapped the pen against her lip. “Wait. Ida Mae Jackson... You must be Grady, the one who’s marrying Beth Cooper.”
Grady froze. “Uh, how did you hear that?”
“Honey, this is a small town. If you put down a welcome mat, I guarantee you’ll have fifty people on your doorstep before the sun sets, bringing you casseroles.” Viv smiled. “Reggie Cooper is so excited that his little girl is getting married that he called about half the town. Says to be prepared for the biggest and best wedding Stone Gap has ever seen. Why, he’s even talked about having the shindig over at the inn. They have a real pretty lawn area, and that Della Barlow can put on one hell of a party. She did it for her son’s wedding, and for Katie and Sam Millwright. It’s so nice to see Sam get a happy ending after what happened, with his wife dying and all.”
The names and places came at Grady in a blur, but they all spelled one thing—this simple little masquerade he’d proposed was no longer quite so simple. “Uh, sure.” Which wasn’t really an answer to anything, but Grady wasn’t certain there was an appropriate response that didn’t include we’re just pretending, so don’t buy anything from the nonexistent registry.
“So, what can I get you?” Viv asked. “We’ve got an omelet special. Three eggs with cheese—”
“Yeah, sounds good,” he interrupted, his mind still grappling with what she had told him. How did a simple favor for Beth turn into a major shindig at the inn, whatever that meant? “Thanks.”
Viv gave him a curious look, then shrugged and headed to the kitchen, calling out something about a “triple bypass” to the chef by the stove. She greeted a couple who entered, and seemed to forget about Grady for a while, which was just fine with him. Maybe she—and the rest of Stone Gap—would also forget about this whole wedding thing.
Then Beth walked inside, hesitating in the doorway as she scanned the room. It seemed like everything came to a halt, and the only thing his attention zeroed in on was her smile. She had left her hair down, long blond waves that curled at the ends. She had on jeans and a T-shirt, which clung to her in a way that made his hands jealous.
Across the way, he could see Viv grinning as she pointed the two of them out to another woman. The Stone Gap Gossip Train was running at full speed. God help him.
Beth spied him and came walking down the aisle. “Good morning.” She settled across from him. “Viv gave me the strangest look when I walked in. I’m here all the time, but today it was like it was Christmas and my birthday.”
“Or your fake wedding.” Grady arched a brow. “Which isn’t so fake around here. Apparently there’s going to be a shindig, and Reggie has invited the whole town?”
Beth’s cheeks pinked and she sighed. “Oh no. Really? When I left his house yesterday, my father was pretty excited, but I didn’t think he’d actually start planning anything. I was going to tell him that it wasn’t real but...” She bit her lip. “It’s the first time he’s truly taken an interest in my life. And I... I guess I selfishly want that. I’m sorry. If you want, I’ll tell him the truth today.”
Half the diner was watching them talk, rubberneckers curious about their relationship. Viv was standing by the register grinning like the Cheshire cat, as if their romance had been all her idea. Grady barely noticed. The look on Beth’s face, the craving for something she’d needed all her life, trumped the gossip and whispers and stares.
“I spent my life with parents who didn’t care what I did, as long as I brought home a perfect report card and behaved in public like the perfect son.” He shrugged, as if it no longer bothered him. It did, but he wasn’t going to change anyone at this stage of his life. According to Nick’s text a couple months ago, Dad had started a tentative relationship with Nick, and reached out a couple times to Grady, but he hadn’t replied. The last thing he needed when he was barely managing to tread water was recounting, to the most judgmental man he’d ever known, a list of all the ways he had failed. “I can understand that, Beth, and don’t want you to break your father’s heart by admitting it was a lie. Besides, what’s a little shindig planning? We’ll make up some excuse to delay it later.”
She reached across the table and took his hand in both of hers. The simple gesture eased the knot between his shoulders and the iron grip on his lungs. “Thank you.”
He nodded, then pretended to study the menu, because if he didn’t, he might turn around and thank her for helping to lift the albatross he constantly carried. Too bad he couldn’t just put her in his pocket and bring her back to New York, for those moments when he panicked about his business tanking. “Anyway, I, uh, hope the food is good. I ordered something called a triple bypass.”
Beth laughed. “It’s the most delicious thing on the menu. Don’t tell my doctor, but I usually order that or apple pie when I’m here for breakfast.”
He liked that she was a pie-for-breakfast kind of girl. Liked that a lot. “I’ll have to remember that,” he said, then realized just as quickly that there was no reason to remember. He’d be leaving town in a few days at most. He wasn’t going to be taking Beth with him or even coming back for her. As soon as the house was on the market, he was back on his own, trying to yank the Titanic up before it sank to the ocean floor.
He needed more coffee. Viv seemed to read his mind, because she brought the glass carafe over along with his omelet. The egg dish before him was stuffed with sausage, cheese, ham and bacon. The omelet sat atop a pile of cheesy, chunky home fries. Not a vegetable or piece of fruit to be found anywhere.
Beth grinned. “Now you can see why they call it the triple bypass.”
Viv laughed. “It’s he
arty, that’s for sure. Enjoy. Oh, and I was talking to Della Barlow about you. Told her to stop by your table and introduce herself. That Stone Gap Inn really is a masterpiece. They have a fabulous menu and a great rolling lawn for events. It’s a nice setting for a wedding. Just sayin’.” She gave him a wink, then walked away.
“I’m surprised she didn’t bring a preacher over to the table, get the whole thing done while we have a built-in audience,” Grady said.
Beth laughed again. “I’m so sorry. I never intended this to become such a thing. I really only meant to invite you for a simple dinner.”
Had it ever been simple? Kissing her and pretending to be her boyfriend—fiancé—had added a level of complication Grady usually avoided. How was it that he had multiplied the number of things in his life, and instead of activating the panic that had been his constant companion for months, he instead felt weirdly peaceful sitting here, at the center of a town-wide rumor mill?
“So tell me more about your dad, your childhood, things like that,” Grady said. “You know, so it looks like we’ve been dating if someone asks me a question.” Not because he was curious about her. He took a bite of the omelet and had to admit it was even better than he’d expected.
“I don’t know much more than anyone could learn from the media,” she said. “He was never home when I was young. It wasn’t until he had the heart attack and needed someone to care for him that I truly got to know him.”
“It must be hard on him, not being able to do the things he used to do. From what I remember, he was a hell of a fighter.”
“He was.” She smiled. “He is. Our relationship is just...complicated.”
“Aren’t all parent-child relationships like that?” He took a sip of coffee, then debated his next bite—cheesy egg or grilled sausage or both? There was such an overload of food on his plate, much too much for him to eat alone. “Why don’t you have some?” Grady nudged the plate across the table. “I’ll never finish this myself.”