Animal Prints: Sweet Small Town Contemporary Romance (Michigan Moonlight Book 1)
Page 23
“Your brother? He’s back?” His voice pitched up a little, strangled.
“He took a detective position on the Emmet County Sherriff’s Department,” she explained. She was glad to have her brother home so they could attempt a sense of family, something missing in their lives for too long.
“That’s going to be a big change from where he’s been. Miami, right?”
“Yeah, Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office. It’ll probably take a year here to see what he saw in a week there. I think he’s looking forward to the change. I just hope he doesn’t get bored. Bored Gabe isn’t a good thing.”
“I remember.” Adrien cleared his throat nervously.
“He wasn’t very nice to you in high school,” she said, remembering the time Gabe stuffed Adrien in a trashcan in the cafeteria. She couldn’t stop herself from giving him a sympathetic smile.
“Can’t blame him. I was a gangly geek.”
“No, you weren’t. You were my best friend, sometimes my only friend,” she admitted. They’d been close since sixth grade, but when her life had gotten really tough during high school and she felt like no one, amongst the thousand students in the building, understood her, Adrien’s friendship had never faltered.
“What am I now?” He leaned toward her over the table, his eyes gleaming.
“A lot’s changed in almost ten years. I don’t know what you are now.” Except out of my league. Gracie broke the connection between them by glancing down to read the fortune from the cookie she’d just opened. The message made her blink in surprise.
“What’s it say?” He tipped his head around to try to read it.
“Nothing. It’s silly.” She rolled it up between her fingers and stood abruptly to clear the table.
“Let’s see what mine says.” He snapped a cookie in two and smoothed the fortune with his fingers. “‘You have a strong desire for a home.’ I’ve gotten that same fortune three times in the past few months.”
“I guess that means you eat too much Chinese food or the fortune writers need fresh material.” She tried to sound teasing, but her tone was too sharp. She winced, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Could be, but I’m taking it as a sign.” He gathered up the paper containers and stuffed them back in the takeout bag. “I’ll clear out of here so you can get some sleep. Do you work on Wednesday evening?”
“No, why?” Too late, she realized, she hadn’t made an excuse.
“It’s the last concert in the park this summer. Maybe the three of us could go eat hot dogs for dinner and play on the swings and slides while the dignified people bring their lawn chairs and picnic baskets.” He raised his eyebrows, smiling encouragingly.
“I don’t know,” she said, searching for an excuse, “it’s a school night for Brett….”
“We’ll be home by nine.” He waited for her answer by the door, his gaze intent on her face. After a bit, he drummed his fingers on the doorframe playfully.
She twisted a curl around her finger. “I’ll think about it.”
“Meet you at the top of the stairs at six.”
“I said I’d think about it,” she repeated.
But he was already out the door. “Think about it all you want, but I’ll see you on Wednesday evening,” his voice called. “Good night, Curls!” The door clicked behind him, taking his voice away with it.
Gracie rested the still-cool beer on her forehead for a moment, then decided internal use would be better and chugged the last third before tossing the bottle in the recycling bin. He’d just trapped her into an evening out with him. Oh, why had she invited him in tonight?
She reached for the rolled up fortune tucked under the edge of her placemat. The love of your life is sitting across from you. The message would be amusing if it weren’t so damn true. She sighed, shut off the lights, and headed to her bedroom where she put the little scrap of paper in her jewelry box. It was so high school, but her feelings for Adrien had been the same since they were teenagers. So maybe it fit.
But right now was not the time to get involved, especially with Adrien. She had her child to raise and no man could forgive and forget what she’d done to him all those years ago. It was easy to be his date a couple times in the past year because she knew he’d go back to the university and his lab in Ann Arbor and she’d be free to live her life. Now, with him just down the hall, things were much messier.
Buy Snow Prints Now
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
May Williams is convinced she read every book in the public library of her hometown as a kid. They were wonderful inspiration for life as a novelist. If she’s not reading or writing, May can be found pursuing her other two passions – sewing and running. May lives happily in a little town on the shores of Lake Erie with her husband, two children, three cats, and one oversized dog.