Falling for Grace

by Maddie James

  Gracie swallowed hard and searched Carson’s face a little longer. Then for some reason, she glanced back at the women behind her. Smiling, Constance then slowly nodded and gave her a thumb’s up sign. The other four women all nodded in unison beside of her.

  It was a conspiracy. Plain and simple.

  “All right,” she said. “Let’s talk.”

  A commotion erupted behind her then and Gracie turned once more to see all five women standing, gathering their coffee cups and newspapers and purses and the like. They were chatting about this and that, nodding and speaking their brief farewells as they passed.

  Constance, in particular, had a huge grin plastered all over her face.

  Not much later, after the doorbell chiming their departure silenced, Gracie found herself alone in her shop with Carson.

  Finally, she motioned toward the corner the women had just left. “Would you like to sit down?”

  He faltered a second, then agreed. “Sure.”

  Gracie followed him. He chose a Queen Anne wingback; she chose the overstuffed armchair opposite him. “Coffee? Tea?” She motioned toward the table between them.

  He shook his head. “No, thank you.”

  “Pastry?”

  “No.”

  “Cook—”

  “Ms. Hart, why is it you don’t want to rent to me?”

  “Why Mr. Price, I’ve never said—”

  “It’s Izzie, isn’t it?”

  That thought had never entered her mind. Even though she was sure the child was a handful, Gracie thought her rather precious. No, the reason she didn’t want to rent to him had nothing to do with his daughter; it had everything to do with Carson Price, himself. “No,” she told him.

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “Ah ha! Well then, if not Izzie, what is it?”

  Clearing her throat, Gracie glanced about the shop. Reason. Suddenly her brain was all jumbled. What was the real reason she didn’t want to rent to him? Let’s see, there was one, wasn’t there? Otherwise she wouldn’t have jumped up the rent.

  “Well?”

  She looked into his eyes again. Oh damn, yes. That was it. Those eyes, and the man attached to them.

  “Mr. Price, there is no reason not to rent to you. I’ve given you my terms. It’s up to you to accept them or not.” Gracie rose.

  So did he.

  “The terms are ridiculous and unacceptable.”

  “But they are my terms.”

  “All the more reason for me to believe that you have some ulterior motive for not wanting to rent to me. Did you get another offer? Is someone else actually going to rent from you for this exorbitant price? Because if there is…”

  “No, Mr. Price. That’s not it.”

  He threw his hands into the air. “Then what is it?”

  Heaving in a thick sigh, Gracie turned away from him and walked toward her cash register. On the pretense of organizing her cash drawer, she gave herself a few seconds to settle her brain and organize her thoughts. She had to give him a reason; she had a feeling he wouldn’t leave here without one. But what in the world could she say? I don’t want to rent to you because you’re too good looking and you make my heart flutter?

  Somehow, she didn’t think that would cut it.

  “Well?”

  She looked at him. He looked back, waiting for her to reply, appearing to study her face. “I’ve decided not to rent out that side of the building after all. The apartment, either.” Where that statement came from, she had no clue. It was a weak reason. She knew it and so did he. Thing was, she couldn’t back that up for long. She needed to rent out the whole shebang and soon. There were bills that needed to be paid.

  Suddenly, he looked defeated. The hand which still held the lease dropped to his side and he glanced away. For a few seconds, she watched his profile as the expression there appeared to fall away, too. He heaved in a sigh, his chest rising and then falling, and he exhaled long and slow. Finally, he turned back to fully face her.

  “All right then. I suppose I have to accept that. Maybe I can find something else. It was just that this seemed so...perfect.” His words were spoken with a hush that caught her totally off guard. There was something in his voice, some sort of inflection that echoed something more than just mere disappointment. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. All of a sudden, she felt sort of queasy and upset with herself.

  “Thanks for your time,” he said then and turned to leave. “Sorry to interrupt your Saturday morning.”

  He set the papers on her counter and started for the door. Gracie watched his back as he moved away from her, his shoulders appearing to slump further with every step he took. In the next minute, he slowly opened the door and stepped out to the street.

  An awful, empty feeling suddenly landed with a thud in the hollow place of Gracie’s belly. She didn’t like it.

  * * * *

  “So, we’re not moving to Franklinville?” Izzie looked up with confused eyes. Carson laid the storybook he’d been reading to her on his lap and gathered the child under his arm. Tucking the covers up around the two of them, he hugged her tight. Darn it. He should have just kept quiet about his plans until everything was set. The child had gone through enough transitions in her life, she didn’t need to endure more than necessary.

  Lesson learned, Price. Next time keep it all under your hat until everything is squared away.

  “Dad?” Her eyes were huge with question.

  He took in a stabilizing breath. “No, Iz. I’m sorry to say, but that didn’t work out.”

  “But I thought that’s why you went back to see Ms. Hart today? To work out the deal?”

  “I did.”

  “But you didn’t?”

  He shook his head. “No, we didn’t agree on a couple of things.”

  “But I liked...my room. I liked her.”

  The words stunned him. Studying his daughter’s face, he took in the honest expression in her eyes. Izzie was a lot of things—mischievous, sneaky, and more often than not carried around more than her share of assertiveness—but she was never dishonest with him. She always owned up to things and to his knowledge, she never said things she didn’t mean. For some reason, she had suddenly accepted this move. And for another, it seemed she honestly liked Grace Hart.

  “Well, yeah, I know. I sort of liked her, too. And I really liked the shop and the apartment and the town. But the fact remains that the place was just too expensive for us and she wasn’t willing to lower the rent.”

  “But did you try to talk to her?”

  “I did.”

  “Did you talk to her real nice and sweet?”

  He smiled. He hadn’t, had he? Suddenly, he wondered if that would have worked.

  No. It wouldn’t. Grace Hart was all business, he wouldn’t have swayed her with sweet-talk. In fact, she probably would have booted him right out on his ear had he tried.

  “You didn’t, did you Dad?” She furrowed her brow at him, pretending to be mad, but he saw right through her.

  Smiling, he shook his head and ruffled her hair. “Nope, you little Munchkin, I guess I didn’t. Think that would have helped?”

  Izzie tilted her chin and tossed him a saucy little grin. “I bet you didn’t do the eye thing, either, did you?”

  This time she had him. “The eye thing?” he questioned.

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “You know, like when you talk to a pretty lady and you do that thing with your eyes.”

  Carson guffawed. “What! What thing do I do with my eyes?” Obviously, his daughter was a lot more observant than he realized.

  “Oh, you know. You do like this.” Izzie narrowed her eyes a bit, a sort of half-open, half-closed bedroomy eye thing, and arched one brow a bit. There was a little come-hither twinkle in the eye under that arched brow that took him totally by surprise.

  Carson laughed out loud. “Izzie! I don’t do that!”

  “Oh yes, you do, Dad.”

  “Do not!�
��

  “Do so!”

  “Says who?”

  “Says me!”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “The phone!” Izzie jumped up and scrambled out of the bed the instant the shrill ring sounded. She was gone in a flash and the eye thing was forgotten.

  “Izzie! Let it go. Let the machine...”

  But it was too late. He heard his daughter answer with an excited hello. God, how he hated this. Every time the phone rang late at night she rushed for it, thinking that it might be Marci. It rarely was. The California calls were few and far between for the past couple of years.

  Izzie returned to the bedroom with portable phone in hand and a disappointed face.

  “For you, Dad.”

  He smiled at her and she shrugged, then handed over the phone. Slowly, she climbed back into bed and cuddled closer into him.

  He put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

  “Mr. Price?”

  “Yes?”

  “Grace Hart here.”He sat up, suddenly more interested in the call. “Yes?” he repeated. Izzie sat up too, watching him and listening to his every word.

  “I’ve been looking over your suggestions for the lease. I was wondering...perhaps we could talk about them.”

  For some reason, his heart started pounding. “Absolutely.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “One o’clock?”

  “That’s fine.”

  “Please bring Isabella.”

  He nodded and then felt silly, knowing she couldn’t see the nod. Suddenly, he was glad she couldn’t see him, because he was smiling, very broadly. “Yes. She’ll come, too.”

  “Wonderful.”

  “See you at one.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  The phone clicked. Carson pushed the button to disconnect from his end. For a few seconds, he sat in disbelief of the brief conversation.

  “Dad?” Izzie punched him and he smiled.

  “Yes?”

  “We going back to Franklinville?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are we happy about it?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are we moving?”

  “I think so.”

  “Good.”

  Izzie grinned and for some crazy, silly reason, Carson joined her.

  “Dad?” she queried again.

  “Umhmm?”

  “You’re doing that eye thing.”

  * * * *

  Gracie slowly placed the phone back on the hook and tried to quiet the small quivering in her heart. She still wasn’t quite sure why she’d made that call. Something, she wasn’t sure what, had nagged her the remainder of the day after Carson had left.

  In fact, it had nagged her until she’d picked up the lease he’d altered and read it.

  He’d offered her a fair deal. The rent was more than she would have asked for in the first place, more than what she’d gotten from the last tenant. He’d offered to clean up both places, do a little repair work, paint and make all alterations to the building and apartment under her guidance. Nothing would he do without consulting her first. He offered a fair deposit up front, a year’s lease, and would pay all utilities and deposits.

  What more could she ask for? It was all too perfect. The dream tenant come true.

  She’d thought long and hard about it and finally, had concluded that this was a deal she could not pass up. Fluttering or no fluttering. The town could use another café, and she, in particular, was happy one would be located next to her shop. It would do wonders for her business. Actually, the two businesses would wonderfully compliment the other.

  The downtown business association would be pleased.

  But besides all that, she was ecstatic that she was finally going to have income from the rental again.

  That had been too long in coming.

  There was nothing to do but take his offer. That’s why she’d made the call.

  That was the only reason she had made the call.

  It was a business reason, pure and simple.

  She was just going to have to keep that in mind. And she was just going to have to stand her ground about that fluttering-of-the-heart thing.

  Chapter Five

  “Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  “Deal!”

  Izzie was the one to seal the deal with that final exclamation. Carson grinned at his daughter then put his hand out to shake Gracie’s. He watched her eyes as she hesitantly thrust her hand forward, gripped and shook his hand very quickly, then dropped her arm to her side.

  Her hesitance bothered him a bit. Unsure as to whether she was still reluctant to rent to him, or whether something else concerned her, he wasn’t sure. But there was something there, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

  Her hand was warm, soft, and much smaller than his. Her fingers were long and graceful, just like the rest of her, and it seemed, for the brief second they’d touched his, they had wrapped around his hand in one fluid movement. He almost didn’t want to let her go. In fact, he wouldn’t have minded at all if she’d let her hand linger a bit longer so he could lightly caress her softness.

  But she let go much too quickly and he dismissed the direction of his thoughts.

  “Mr. Price, it looks as if you’ve got yourself a café.”

  Stunned at the sound of that, Carson’s thoughts immediately shot back to his purpose for renting the shop and apartment in the first place. The sudden insight that his goal was about to become reality was almost startling. “Well, yes, I suppose I do,” he said sheepishly, then glanced to Izzie. “That’s right, hey Munchkin?” He winked at her, hoping she would take the hint and not spill the beans.

  Izzie winked back. Carson sighed.

  “So tell me, Mr. Price,” Gracie continued, “will this be just a soup and sandwich kind of place, or more than that?”

  This Mr. Price stuff was getting to him. “Carson. It’s Carson. I’m leaving Mr. Price back in Louisville,” he told her. “If you don’t mind.”

  Gracie dipped her head in a slow nod, her eyes playing over his face. “Oh! Well, of course. Carson.”

  “Good.”

  He could tell she was thinking about that. “If you don’t mind me asking, Carson, may I inquire as to what is the “Mr. Price” profession you are leaving back there in Louisville?”

  “Attorney,” he answered quickly. Then he decided to go on with his usual disclaimer, “I’m tired of the rat race, the long days, and the hours spent away from Izzie. It’s time for a life change. This appears to be it.”

  “And the café?” she queried again.

  “Yes, the café.”

  “More than soup and sandwich?” she asked again.

  “Umm...yeah. More than a soup and sandwich place,” he told her.

  “Dinner?”

  He nodded. “Oh, yes. Dinner, too.”

  “How lovely! We need a nice dinner café around here. All the café s on Main Street are open only for lunch right now. Having someplace for dinner will be quite nice. In fact...”

  Carson watched her gaze drift off to the side. He could literally see the wheels inside that pretty head of hers turning. Damn.

  “...you know, I might even consider staying open late an evening or two, in case some of your dinner customers would wander by.”

  Hell. He felt like a heel and he didn’t want to talk about his “café” plans any longer, should he let something slip. Or heaven forbid, Izzie let something slip. He shouldn’t have clued her in on all the plans yet for Geekmeisters CyberCafé. But he’d thought it such a neat idea, he just had to share it with Izzie last night.

  He supposed bar food could constitute dinner. And he supposed video computer games and a big screen TV for sporting events could count as more than a soup and sandwich place. So, he really wasn’t lying, was he?

  He didn’t want to stick around any longer than necessary to contemplate that thought.

  It was tim
e to give Gracie the check for the deposit, let her bank it, and get this show on the road. He’d feel a whole lot better about the situation when all that was done and a few days had past.

  He cleared his throat and reached into his back pocket for his checkbook. She glanced back to him.

  “Well, I’ll have to think about that,” she said.

  She was talking about her late hours. “Yes, you do that.” God, he hated deceiving her, if one could actually call this deceit. Really, though, his crime was nothing more than just letting her assume his plans. He’d never really indicated otherwise.

  “Please let me know your plans about moving and such,” she said, bringing him back to the moment at hand, “and I’ll make sure the apartment is cleaned.”

  “Oh, but we’ll do that. You don’t have to.”

  She shook her head. “No, I insist. It will be easier to clean now that after you’ve moved things in. I’ll have a service come in tomorrow morning if you like.”

  He nodded. “Well, all right. Actually, I was thinking of taking next week off to do whatever is necessary about getting the place livable. You know, get the utilities turned back on, paint Izzie’s room...”

  “The utilities are already turned on,” she told him. “All you have to do is have the accounts transferred into your name.”

  Carson liked the sound of that. “So, we could actually move in tonight?” He was already thinking sleeping bags and camping out in the living room floor. His brain was reeling. He could get Izzie registered in school and actually get started on their new life.

  “I suppose, but…

  “Then that’s what we’ll do.” Glancing at his watch, he mentally calculated how much time was left in the day to get to Louisville, gather what they’d need for a day or two, and get back here tonight. No time like the present to get started on his new life. He was deep in thought when he realized Gracie was talking to him again.

  “...but I wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing that you were moving in with the place still dirty. And where would Izzie sleep? Of course, I suppose she could stay in my spare room if you wanted, and you—”

  Her eyes grew wide and she snapped her mouth shut.