by Marie Force
“You could’ve told her where you were going.”
“I didn’t know if you’d want me to.”
“One thing you’ll quickly learn about this family—and this town—is there’re very few secrets.”
Emma smiled and dashed off a quick note to Molly, leaving it on the counter where his aunt was sure to see it.
Over her shoulder, he saw that she’d written, Went to get dinner with Grayson. See you in the morning. Emma.
“You’re planning on an all-nighter?” he asked.
“What?” He hated that she looked and sounded stricken by his comment. “No, of course not. I was just assuming they’ll be asleep when we get home.”
“I was teasing, Emma. Sorry.”
She laughed. “Wow, call me out of practice. I missed that completely.”
He chuckled at her adorable befuddlement, also loving that she was out of practice when it came to men and dating. What a breath of fresh air she was. In the mudroom, he held her coat and waited for her to zip up and put on gloves. “Ready?” he asked, extending his hand to her.
She took hold of his hand. “Ready.”
He led her out into the night, excited to spend time with her, to simply be with her.
Chapter 2
Let us always meet each other with smile,
for the smile is the beginning of love.
—Mother Teresa
As they pulled out of Lincoln and Molly’s driveway, it began to snow, going from a light dusting to a steady snowfall in the few minutes it took to warm up the car.
“I’d hoped that the snow predicted for tonight wouldn’t materialize,” Grayson said.
“It’s so pretty here,” Emma said. “In the city, it’s a mess. But here, there’s something magical about it.”
“It may be magical, but it’s also a menace. If it’s going to come down hard, I don’t think we ought to go too far. How do you feel about pizza?”
“I love pizza.”
“I’d planned to do better than that tonight, but I assume you prefer safety to five-star cuisine.”
“You assume correctly.” Emma looked out the window, bending her head so she could see Butler Mountain in the distance. “Do you think Simone will be okay on the mountain in a snowstorm?”
“She’ll be totally fine. Colton has been living up there for years. Snow is nothing new to him.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“I bet she’s having a blast.”
“She probably is. She loves it here. Way more than she loves the city.”
“What’s not to love about Butler? We have everything you could ever need, including brick-oven pizza.” Ten minutes after they left Molly and Linc’s, Grayson pulled into the parking lot at Kingdom Pizza and killed the engine. “Wait for me. It’s slippery. I don’t want you to fall.” He got out and went around to open the door and offered a hand to help her out.
“Thank you,” she said with the shy smile that made his heart flutter.
Gorgeous and sweet and so incredibly strong… He’d thought all day about the things she’d told him last night. Her courage humbled him and made him want to be the best thing to ever happen to her and her daughter. But that might be putting the sleigh before the horse on a first date. Dial it down a notch, he told himself as he held the door to the pizza place to let her go in ahead of him.
Much to his dismay, he immediately spotted his cousins Hannah and Will sitting at a table with their spouses, Nolan and Cameron. They waved them over.
“Hey,” Will said. “Want to join us?”
No, he didn’t want to, but he also didn’t want to be rude to his cousins. Grayson glanced at Emma, who shrugged. “Sure,” he said.
“Wait,” Hannah said. “Are you guys on a date?”
“Something like that,” Grayson said, wondering if he’d missed the time-travel train back to high school.
“We take back our offer to sit with us, then,” Hannah said. “Go over there and get your own table. Leave us alone.”
Emma laughed at Hannah’s trademark bossiness.
With an exasperated smile for his cousins, Grayson took hold of Emma’s arm. “Nice to see you, too.” He guided her to a table on the other side of the dining room, held the chair for her and then recalled how Heather had hated when he did things like that for her. “I can get my own damned chair,” she would say.
Seated across from Emma, he wondered how she felt about a man holding her chair. “Sorry about my cousin.”
“I think she’s funny.”
“Pregnancy has made her extra bossy, and she was already pretty bossy to begin with.”
“When is she due?”
“February or March, I think.”
A waitress stopped by the table with menus and offered to take their drink order. Grayson asked for a beer, and Emma ordered a glass of white wine.
“Lucy told me about Hannah and how she lost her first husband in Iraq.”
“One of the roughest things our family ever went through. We all grew up together. Caleb Guthrie was one of us.”
“I’m sorry you lost him the way you did.”
“Thanks. I was so glad to hear she’d started seeing Nolan. They’re good together.” He leaned in closer to her and lowered his voice. “Tell me the truth. Is she looking over here?”
Emma shifted her gaze to the right and then back to him. “They all are.”
“For God’s sake. This town… I’d forgotten how ridiculous it can be here. That was never an issue in Boston. I could blend into the masses.”
“Welcome home,” she said with a smile, raising her wineglass in a toast to him.
He returned her smile and touched his bottle to her glass. “It’s not all bad.”
“No?”
“Definitely not.” He loved the way her cheeks flushed to a light pink and how she lowered her eyes when embarrassed. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you today.”
She looked up at him. “Me, too. Last night was very special to me.”
“I haven’t talked like that to anyone in years.”
“Same here. I told you things…” Her eyes dropped again.
He reached across the table for her hand, not caring in the least who might be watching. “I will never tell anyone what you told me. I swear. No matter what.”
“Thank you,” she said, releasing a deep breath. “I wasn’t really worried that you would, but…”
“Someone else knows now, and that makes you feel vulnerable.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“I keep secrets for a living, sweetheart. You don’t need to be worried about that, and I’d never do anything to cause harm to your adorable daughter.”
“That means a lot to me. Thank you.”
The waitress approached the table, ready to take their order.
Grayson reluctantly released Emma’s hand and asked for a few minutes so she could look at a menu he knew by heart after growing up in Butler.
“Be right back,” the waitress said.
“What do you suggest?”
“Their thin-crust pizza is the best I’ve had anywhere.”
“That sounds good to me. You want to split one and maybe a salad, too?”
“Perfect.”
They settled on pepperoni and green peppers for toppings and placed the order when the waitress returned.
“What did you do today?” he asked.
“I had a very lazy day. Simone was content to play with her new doll, and I was able to relax and read until Lucy and Colton came to pick her up.”
“She got the doll she wanted?”
“She got a doll she’s happy with, even if it wasn’t the ridiculously expensive one she wanted. How about you? What did you do?”
“I lucked into a place to live thanks to my cousin Ella, who’s moving in with her fiancé, Gavin. I’m glad to get that taken care of. I can’t live with my mother indefinitely.”
“I’m sure she enjoys having you around.”
&
nbsp; “She enjoys it a little too much. I have a honey-do list that could choke a horse.”
Emma laughed at the face he made. “Awww, that’s sweet.”
“What would be sweet is if my brother Noah, the contractor, who lives down the street from her, would install the new bookcase in her office and stock up her firewood. But, no, he’s too busy. Good old Grayson will take care of it because he always does.” He paused and then looked at her, immediately regretting the rant. “Sorry. I don’t mean to sound bitter. Of course, I’m happy to help my mom with anything she needs.”
“You just wish the others would pitch in.”
“Something like that.”
Emma’s phone rang, and she excused herself to check her phone. “That’s odd. I thought I couldn’t get calls here.”
“We’re right on the line on this side of town to pick up cell towers in St. Johnsbury.”
“It’s from a New York number, but I don’t know who it is. Hello?”
Grayson watched as her face lit up with joy that only added to her stunning beauty.
“Hi, honey. Wait, say that again?” Emma laughed, and the warm, rich sound washed over him. “Auntie Lu is very sneaky.” This was said with a smile that lit up her pretty blue eyes. “Yes, you can keep it, but there will be rules. She told you I’d say that, didn’t she?” Emma laughed again. “Are you guys having fun?”
Grayson could hear Simone’s excited chatter but couldn’t make out what she was saying.
“I’m fine,” Emma said. “Yes, I miss you terribly. I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep tight, and be good for Lucy and Colton. Love you, too.”
“Big news from the mountain?” Grayson asked when she ended the call.
“Huge news. Lucy and Colton got her a cell phone so she and Lucy can FaceTime every night.”
“That’s awesome.”
“Simone is so excited. She’s been bugging me for a phone for ages. Auntie Lu to the rescue.”
The waitress delivered their salad and pizza, along with another round of drinks.
Grayson served them both slices of pizza and took a bite of his. So good. No pizza he’d tried anywhere could compete with this. “Did you know about the phone?”
Emma nodded. “Lucy talked to me about it beforehand, and even though I still feel she’s too young, most of her friends already have them. Like I said to Simone, there’ll be rules.”
“Block the Internet for a couple more years. That’s key.”
“Oh, don’t worry. Lucy already did that.”
“Another thing I heard my colleagues in Boston talk about is making her think she has a limit on texts, like two-fifty a month or something reasonable like that.”
“Even though she has unlimited texting?”
“Yeah, because then she learns to control herself and work within her limits.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“I had a work friend whose teenage daughter sent a hundred thousand texts in a month—before he realized they should’ve gotten unlimited texting. That cost something like two thousand bucks. Talk about a shocker.”
“Yikes. Can you imagine sending a hundred thousand texts in one month?”
“The dad said she had to be texting every second of her day, even when she was in the shower, to get to that total.”
“That’s funny—but not funny, too. This pizza is amazing, by the way.”
“I’m glad you like it. It’s my favorite.”
“I can see why.”
Grayson glanced out the window to a total whiteout. “Damn, look at the snow.”
“Wow, it’s really coming down.”
“Should we take the rest to go?”
“Probably,” she said with visible reluctance.
Grayson was glad to know she was in no rush to end their date either.
Hannah, Nolan, Cameron and Will stopped by to say good-bye as they headed out.
“Drive carefully, you guys,” Grayson said.
“Do you still remember how to drive in this crap, city boy?” Will asked, grinning at his cousin.
Grayson flipped him off.
The four of them went out the door laughing.
“Don’t listen to him,” Grayson said. “I’ll get you home safely.”
“I never doubted you for a minute.”
Pleased by her faith in him, he paid their check and held her coat, watching as she scooped up her blonde hair and let it fall in silky waves down her back. He had to resist the urge to run his fingers through it—at least for now. Then she pulled a knit cap from her pocket and plopped it on her head. When she turned to smile at him, he felt like he’d been sucker-punched. She was gorgeous, sweet, funny, sexy as all hell—and she lived six hours from him.
That last one had him sagging under the weight of the impossibility of this situation.
She pulled on mittens that matched the hat. “Are you okay?”
Grayson zipped his coat and picked up the pizza box. “I’m good. Ready?”
“Let’s do it.”
What should’ve been a ten-minute ride from town to Molly and Linc’s took close to thirty. Emma held on tight to her seat the entire way as they crept through a white wall of snow. “How do you even know where you’re going?”
“I know these roads as well as I know anything.”
The SUV fishtailed, and Emma gasped.
He reached for her hand.
She tried to shake him off. “You need that to drive.”
“I don’t want you to be afraid.”
“I’m okay.”
“We’ve got four-wheel drive, so we’re totally fine. I promise.”
Emma clung to his hand and assurances until she saw the mailbox that was a miniature replica of the red barn the Abbotts called home. She released a deep sigh of relief.
Grayson pulled up next to his uncle’s Range Rover and cut the engine. “That was all kinds of fun.”
“You were great. Calm and cool under pressure.”
“Let me walk you in.”
“Maybe you should just stay here tonight rather than driving anymore.”
“Are you inviting me?” he asked in a teasing tone.
Heat flooded her entire body at the thought of spending the night with him. Thankfully, he couldn’t see that in the dark. “Your aunt would surely agree that you’d be safer here than on the roads in this.”
“If I stay, would that mean I’d get more time with you?”
“Only if you want more time with me.”
“I want it.”
“That’s good, because so do I. So you’ll stay?”
“I’ll stay.”
Chapter 3
You can't blame gravity for people falling in love.
—Albert Einstein
Realizing their date wasn’t over yet had Emma’s heart doing gymnastics. She felt breathless and overheated even though the icy air leached into the car now that the engine was off.
“Wait for me,” he said as he got out and came around for her.
He carried the pizza box and kept an arm around her as they walked toward the light over the back door that had been left on for Emma.
They stepped into the mudroom, shook the snow off their coats and hung them on hooks that bore the names of Grayson’s cousins. She followed him into the kitchen, where he stashed the pizza in the fridge and helped himself to one of his uncle’s beers. “Want one?”
“Sure, why not? I can sleep in tomorrow for the first time in ten years.”
He laughed and twisted the caps off, handing one bottle to her. “I need to call my mom like the good boy I am and tell her not to expect me.” Grayson used the landline in the kitchen to make the call. “Yes, Mother,” he said, rolling his eyes at Emma. “I thought you might agree it’s better if I stay put. You’ve got enough firewood to get you through tonight and tomorrow. Call Noah if you need anything. All right. I will.” He put down the phone. “There. My duty is done.”
Seeing no sign of Molly and Linc, Emma said, “
Let’s go in the den.” Back to the place where they had connected so completely the night before, she thought, looking forward to more time alone with him.
He followed her, lit the fire that had been laid in the hearth and then turned off the lamp so the only light was from the fire and the twinkling white lights on the Christmas tree. Outside, the wind howled and the snow pinged against the window. “Is it okay to say I’m sort of glad it snowed tonight?” he asked.
“Why’s that?”
“Because if it hadn’t, I’d still be wishing I could do this.” He raised his arm, inviting her to move closer.
Emma smiled at him and leaned into him so he could put his arm around her. “This is nice,” she said, resting her head on his chest.
He ran his fingers through her hair. “It certainly is.”
Emma closed her eyes and tried to lose herself in the romantic moment while not thinking about the many reasons it was a supremely bad idea to get involved with a man who lived so far from her. Cameron and Lucy did it, she thought, and made it work. But they hadn’t had a child to think about. Simone made everything more complicated for her, not that she minded. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her child, and that included stopping herself from getting too involved with a man she couldn’t have.
That didn’t mean, however, that she couldn’t enjoy the time they had together this week.
“What’re you thinking about?” he asked.
“Too many things.”
“Care to share?”
She lifted her head from his chest so she could see his face. “I’m thinking about how much I enjoy being with you and how sorry I am that you live so far from me.”
He raised his hand to caress her cheek. “Your thoughts are amazingly similar to mine.”
“Maybe it would be better if… if we didn’t.”
“Is that what you want?”
She shook her head.
He gazed into her eyes for a long moment, seeming to commit her features to memory. Then he shifted his gaze to her lips in the seconds before he kissed her.