Lanna cocked her head to the side, studying Grace with a quizzical expression. “I’m surprised Seth told you about that. He’s not normally that open with people.”
For whatever reason, Grace liked thinking that Seth had opened up to her—something he wouldn’t do with just anyone. It made her feel better about everything that had happened with Alec.
“I think I may bring out the worst in him,” Grace said, not knowing how else to respond.
Lanna’s snicker had Seth glancing their way, as well as some of the kids. As soon as Lanna noticed, she dropped her voice. “Forgive my curiosity, but are you two . . . you know, dating?”
Grace couldn’t pretend to be surprised by the question because of course Lanna would think that. After all, what kind of normal therapist/patient relationship extended to stuff like this? None that Grace knew of. Still, Lanna needed to be set straight. “No, we’re not dating—not even thinking about dating. To be honest, I’m not even sure what I’m doing here. He just—” Grace shrugged, not quite sure how to explain.
Lanna nodded in understanding. “He can be very persuasive when he sets his mind to something.” She raised an eyebrow suggestively. “I’m just wondering if he has his mind set on you.”
An unwanted thrill shot through Grace, followed by alarm at the possibility. That wouldn’t be good. She didn’t want to be attracted to Seth, charmed by him, or even indebted to him. She simply wanted to make it through the rest of his recovery with her heart intact—something that would never happen if he continued to drag her into his personal life and insert himself into hers.
Lanna nudged her shoulder. “Relax. He’s actually a really great guy.”
“I know, I just—” She just what? Didn’t want her name appearing on his undoubtedly extensive conquest list? Didn’t want to be that therapist who couldn’t keep the professional barriers intact?
Grace frowned. What was she doing here? Was this really about trying to help Seth and Lanna mend fences? Or did Grace agree because deep down she wanted to spend more time with Seth?
An uncomfortable pit settled in her stomach.
She quickly pushed it away and squared her shoulders. Grace was strong. And a professional. She’d gone with her brother to the basketball game to get him on the right track, and she’d come here to help Seth. That was it. After today there would be no reason to cross over the professional line into personal.
More than ready to change the subject, Grace said, “Seth wasn’t the only one who came here to work. What can I do?”
Lanna gave her a knowing smile before pointing to two young girls nearby—both of whom were giggling and talking. “See those two girls over there? My friend Milly usually keeps them on track. But something came up and she couldn’t be here today. Would you mind? They’re both sweethearts who also happen to be best friends and would rather gab than get their homework done.”
“I’m on it.” Grace grabbed a chair and pulled it near the girls. She introduced herself and asked if she could see what they were working on. In no time at all, she had them a little more focused on their homework.
As she worked with the girls, every now and then her gaze would drift across the room toward Seth. Sometimes she’d catch him looking at her and would quickly look away; sometimes she’d watch as he tried to explain something to the boy, and sometimes she found him leaning back in his chair, twirling a pencil and eyeing the window with longing.
Seth hadn’t been joking when he’d said there was a reason he didn’t go into elementary education. But at least he’d come. At least he was trying. And at least Lanna had finally spoken to him. That counted for something.
But what would happen after today? Would Seth ever return? Would he find a way to get a little more involved as Grace suggested, or would he take a step back until Lanna’s funds ran dry then try to pull out his wallet yet again? Would Lanna start accepting his help—at least where this program was concerned?
Why did Grace even care?
By the time all the kids had finished up and left, Grace was ready for a brisk walk through the park—anything to get her body moving. How did Lanna come every day to this musty-smelling room and sit here for hours, trying to be both a parent and teacher to these kids? What motivated her? What kept her going? She seemed to have an endless supply of patience and kindness.
Seth yawned and stretched as he walked over to Grace. “That was the longest two hours of my life.”
Grace and Lanna both laughed.
“Yeah.” Lanna nodded. “I figured this would be a ‘been there, done that’ sort of thing for you. But thank you for coming just the same. And for the money, though it kills me to admit it. Because of you, we’ll be able to stop worrying about how to keep paying the rent on this place for a long while.” She paused and looked away, but not before Grace saw her get a little teary-eyed. “I just hope that one day you can come to see the value of this place.”
Seth stepped forward and drew Lanna into a brotherly hug. Wanting to give them a little privacy, Grace wandered the room, pushing in chairs and picking up pencils.
“Just because this isn’t my type of scene doesn’t mean I don’t value what you do,” said Seth. “Believe it or not, I admire the heck out of you and think that what you’re doing for these kids is incredible. Yes, I hate to see you exhaust yourself with all the fundraising you’ve had to do—which was the main reason I wanted to help. But please understand I didn’t do it just for you.” He paused. “I did it for the tax break as well.”
Grace had to muffle her laughter as Lanna groaned and pushed him away, playfully punching his arm. “You’re so impossible sometimes. I honestly have no idea how Mike put up with you for so many years.” She cast a glance at Grace. “Quick, get away while you still can.”
Grace’s thoughts exactly.
Seth chuckled. “Whatever. You know Mike was way worse than me.”
“Maybe.” Lanna’s expression turned melancholy as she looked around the room. “I wish he were here right now.”
“He is. In spirit. I guarantee it.”
The corners of Lanna’s mouth lifted. “It’s really annoying how I can never stay mad at you for very long.”
“You call over a month not long?”
“Yeah, well, I actually got over it awhile ago. I just didn’t want you to know what a weakling I am when it comes to you. Your ego’s big enough already.”
“Not nearly as big as your pride.”
“Oh shut up.”
Seth laughed, and Grace clasped her fingers behind her back, looking around for something more to do than eavesdrop. But there were no more tables to realign and no more garbage to throw away. She should probably make an excuse and wait for Seth in the front room, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. She was enjoying the exchange too much.
“You know,” Seth said, “you really should use some of that money and get a few game tables in here or something. This all-work-and-no-play thing really drags. I’m willing to bet the kids would be a lot more inclined to come if you made it fun for them.”
Lanna looked around the room as if considering it. “We do struggle getting kids to come, but the tutoring program is top priority. They’re already behind in school, and if they don’t catch up now, it’s only going to get harder for them.”
“I get that, but all kids need breaks. I mean, take Chad, for example. After spending all day sitting in a chair at school, I’m sure the last thing he wants to do is to come here and do the same. The only reason he even comes is because his mom works, so she makes him ride his bike here after school instead of staying home alone.” Seth sat on a table and folded his arms. “All I’m saying is that if you made this place a little more fun, it would be even more successful than it already is. You could use games as incentives. You know—finish this page or report or whatever and earn a game of air hockey or fifteen minutes on Xbox Kinect or whatever.”
Grace had to admit that Seth made a good point. A really good point, ac
tually.
“But those kind of things would be distracting to the other kids,” said Lanna.
“This room is huge.” Seth gestured to the center of the room. “Build a wall right there and add a door. One side can be the fun side, the other the boring side.” His eyes flickered to Grace. “Even Grace agrees with me on this one, don’t you?”
Grace shrugged, remaining diplomatically silent. But the air felt suddenly charged with excitement, and she found herself getting caught up in Seth’s vision for this place. How fun would it be to take a paintbrush to that wall over there and organize board games and puzzles? To see the kids’ faces light up once they saw the transformation?
As quickly as her spirits rose, Grace doused them. What was she thinking? She couldn’t get involved even if she wanted to. It would put her around Seth way too much.
Lanna pursed her lips in thought. “I suppose we could splurge a little for something like that. That is, if you wouldn’t mind doing a little manual labor,” she hinted at Seth.
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can help you build your wall—as long as the owner of the building okays it.”
Lanna smiled. “He’s pretty easy going. I’m sure he won’t mind.”
“And what about sports programs?” Seth added. “There’s an elementary school around the corner, isn’t there? If you had enough interested kids, you could form your own team and ask the school to borrow its gym or fields to practice.”
“Whoa, slow down.” Lanna rested her hands on her hips. “I mean, that all sounds well and good, but who’s going to coach a team like that? You?”
Seth shrugged. “Sure, why not? Spring soccer is coming up, isn’t it? I’d have to check the schedule, but I think I know enough about the game to coach a city-league team—assuming I have a great assistant, of course.” He shot Grace a meaningful look. “A trainer or sports medicine sort of person would come in really handy.”
Grace immediately tensed. When would Seth get it through his thick head that she was his therapist and only his therapist? End of discussion. She waved the question away. “Oh, you don’t want my help. I’d make a terrible assistant. But Alec used to play soccer for our high school team. You should ask him.”
Seth raised an eyebrow. “Do you think he’d do it?”
“If anyone can convince him, you can.” Which was true. Ever since that first basketball game, Alec had been hanging out with Seth and his friends more and more. In her brother’s eyes, Seth could do no wrong.
“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll ask him,” Seth said to Grace. “But only if you promise to come to some of the games and cheer us on. Or better yet, you could head up a girls’ team.”
Sometimes Seth reminded Grace of a door-to-door sales person who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. How did Lanna get away with avoiding him for over a month? He was relentless. Grace swallowed, feeling the sudden urge to get out of there. “I’ll think about it,” she said noncommittally.
“I hate to burst your bubble, Seth,” Lanna interjected. “But the kids involved in this program aren’t all the same age. We have kids as young as third graders on up to junior-high school kids. We even have a couple of high-schoolers who come occasionally. It wouldn’t just be one team you’d have to worry about coaching—more like four or five.”
“Oh.” Surprise and worry reflected in Seth’s eyes, making Grace want to laugh. Would he rescind his offer? Backpedal? Or would he find a way to make it work? “I suppose I could recruit a few other guys to help out,” he said finally.
“And then there’s the money to consider,” Lanna added. “The kids’ parents could never afford it, not even something as inexpensive as city league.”
Seth caught Lanna’s eye. “That doesn’t have to be a problem—so long as you’ll let me cover it.” He let the suggestion hang out there.
Grace felt like dropping her head to her hands and groaning. What was Seth thinking to suggest that? Would he never learn? Did he really want to undo all the progress he’d made with Lanna today? Honestly, he could be so—
“I’d be okay with that,” Lanna said, surprising both Grace and Seth—based on the way his eyes widened.
He blinked in confusion. “Are you seriously telling me that after ignoring me for over a month, you’re now suddenly willing to accept my money?”
Lanna waved his question away as if she couldn’t believe she had to explain. “You’re doing this for the kids, not me. That changes everything.”
Seth had never looked more confused. He lifted his hands in a gesture of defeat. “I’ll never understand you, Lanna, but whatever. Let me make some calls, and I’ll get back to you.”
Lanna grinned and threw her arms around Seth, hugging him tight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She pulled back and looked up at him. “Where was this Seth when we first opened this place?”
“Being smart and staying out of it.”
Grace smiled at the exchange even as her heart constricted. In that moment, she felt like she was getting another glimpse of the real Seth—the one who was kind and good and loyal. Yes, the chaos wreaking guy was still a part of him, but underneath all of that was a heart of pure gold.
The discovery made Grace squirm, mostly because she felt her defenses weaken. She didn’t want the god of chaos to have a heart. It made things too confusing.
Lanna pulled back to pat Seth on the chest before smiling at Grace. “I hope you come back, Grace. Something tells me that you had a lot to do with this.”
Grace blinked in surprise. “What? Me? No. I had nothing to do with this, trust me.” She didn’t want any credit for this turn of events, nor did she want to feel any pressure to come back and get in deeper than she already was.
Grace looked to Seth for help, but instead of setting Lanna straight, he watched her with an expression she couldn’t read. The usual teasing glint in his eyes was gone, replaced by something more serious and intense. Her heart pounded.
A small smile appeared before Seth looked away and tweaked Lanna’s nose. “We’re going to head. But assuming you’ll now answer my calls, I’ll be in touch.”
“Looking forward to it.” Lanna said. “And thanks again, Seth, this really means a lot to me.”
“No problem.” Seth met Grace’s gaze once again and held out his hand for her to take. “Ready to go?”
She felt her resolve slipping, but couldn’t let it go completely. She stared at his hand, wanting to touch it, hold it, to interlace her small fingers with his strong ones. But she was his therapist, not his girlfriend.
Therapist.
His fingers wiggled. “My keys, please? I saw you pick them up when you were cleaning earlier.”
Huh? Grace glanced down. Sure enough, his keys were clutched in her hand. There was even an imprint on her palm from squeezing them too hard. Her face flamed, and she quickly handed them over.
“It was great to meet you, Lanna,” Grace said. Without another word, she turned and headed for the front of the building, wanting to crawl into the trunk of Seth’s car and hide. When she reached the outside air, she drew in a deep, steadying breath then grabbed the passenger door handle, ready to yank it open and dive inside. But it wouldn’t budge. The car was locked.
Duh.
Forced to stand there, clasping and unclasping her hands, Grace waited for Seth to catch up and unlock it. But instead of clicking the button on his keyless remote, he walked toward her, stopping directly in front of her.
Grace stood frozen as he reached around and manually unlocked the car. His chest bumped against her shoulder, sending tingles up and down her arms. In and out she breathed, telling her racing heart to slow down and her body to stop responding. It was only a touch. A simple touch. Nothing to get all worked up about.
But then Seth looked at her in that intense way again, his face only inches from hers. Grace trembled, feeling like all of her defenses and inhibitions were falling in a garbled up heap around her. Nothing made sense anymore. Not Seth. Not her feelings.
Nothing. Grace didn’t know what she wanted or didn’t want anymore.
“If you’ll step aside, I’ll open your door for you,” Seth said.
Once again, Grace’s face flamed, and she quickly stepped aside. That was twice in only a matter of minutes. How could she be so dense? What was wrong with her? A normal person would have stepped aside the moment he’d reached for the lock. A normal person would have realized he’d asked for his keys earlier, not her hand. She might as well post a sign across her forehead that read, “Yes, I’m attracted to you and apparently don’t have a brain when you’re around.” Not that she needed a sign. Her reaction was obvious enough.
A knowing smile appeared on Seth’s face as he held the door open for her. Grace slid into the car, wishing, more than ever, that she’d never climbed inside in the first place.
Once Seth was seated next to her, Grace stared out the passenger window, away from his smile and away from him.
“What about grabbing some dinner on the way home?” Seth suggested as he reversed his car. “I’m beyond starving, and you probably are, too.”
Grace’s stomach growled in response. She placed her hand over it, willing it to shut up. It was like her body was on a mission to betray and embarrass her, and she was sick of feeling so out of control.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Grace said.
“Really? Eating’s not a good idea? Are you sure? Because you, of all people, should know that food’s a necessary fuel for the body.”
Grace kept her gaze trained on the passing scenery, feeling drained. “You know what I meant.”
“How about a rain-check then?”
Grace let out a breath and turned to face him. She couldn’t play this game anymore. As nice and charming as Seth could be, he wasn’t the committing type. He was the fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants and get-the-girl-who-presents-a-challenge-to-go-out-with-him type. Once Grace finally gave in, the game would be over, and she would be left—well, not okay.
Working It Out (A Romantic Comedy) Page 9