Animal Prints: Sweet Small Town Contemporary Romance (Michigan Moonlight Book 1) (35 page)

“I don’t remember you being indecisive.”

“I’ve never built a house before. It’s intimidating. What I decide now I’m going to live with the rest of my life, probably my children’s lives too. Most people buy or build a house with the thought that they’ll someday sell it. That’s not the case for me. This is it.”

“It’s a big commitment, but if you really hate something you can change it. It’s not like a person. You’re not getting married. You’re building a house.”

“But what if I get married and she hates the house?” His voice dropped down, making the space between them suddenly shrink.

“Any woman you’d marry would love the property and love what you chose.” She toyed with her beer bottle and didn’t meet his eyes. She was afraid to, afraid of what she’d see there.

“Hope you’re right.” A beat of silence passed. “Are you seeing anyone?”

Abruptly, her beer bottle slid from her hand and banged on the table.

“No.” Her voice squeaked a little. He had to know she’d dated no one since Brett’s birth. His sisters would have told him that much. She cleared her throat before asking, “You?”

“Nope. Gracie?” His questioning tone forced her to look up for the first time in several minutes. “I was wondering, now that I’m home to stay, if we could start seeing each other. You know, more than two dates in a year.”

If she’d thought he’d go there tonight, she’d never have agreed to this impromptu dinner party. She’d given him an opening, and now she had to close that door again. Gently. She cared about this man and didn’t want to hurt him like she had in the past. It hadn’t been her intention to, then, but she knew it had happened.

“I don’t know.” She glanced toward her sleeping son’s room. “I have a lot going on in my life right now. With working full time at the ER, playing a few gigs, and helping out Lexy when she needs me, I want to spend all my free time with Brett.” Maybe it was the coward’s way out to hide behind a seven-year-old boy.

“Are you saying you’re too busy or that you’re not interested?” He didn’t give her time to answer before going on. “I don’t want to take you away from your son. The three of us could do some things together while you decide. Do you work tomorrow at the ER? I could watch him.”

“No,” she said automatically, ever protective of her son, though Adrien wasn’t a danger to her child—just her heart. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got it covered.” She adjusted her tone, reminding herself that is was just a nice gesture on his part. “I work seven to seven, same as every other Saturday.”

“You’re not going to get much sleep tonight,” he observed. The clock on the coffeemaker was nearly at midnight.

“I’m used to it.” She shrugged. “Having a child, working a couple jobs, and putting myself through school didn’t leave much time for sleeping.”

“I guess not.” He took a sip of his beer, turning away slightly to do it but eyeing her nonetheless. “Are you free on Sunday?”

His persistence was admirable, but she couldn’t. “Not this week. I promised to help Gabe settle into his place.” She could temporarily hide behind obligations to avoid Adrien.

“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.

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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.