Falling for Grace (17 page)

“
Samon-ellie?”

“
Salmon...like the
fish.”

Izzie screwed up her face then. “Cook it
good, then, okay? I don’t wanna puke like a fish.”

Giggling, Gracie nodded and agreed. “Sure
will, Iz.”

As she glanced up, she noticed that her
front door was still ajar and that Carson was standing in the door
frame. Immediately, her heart clutched. How long he’d been there,
she had no clue.

“
May I come in?” he
asked.

She nodded. “Of course.”

Cautiously, he stepped across the threshold
and toward the kitchen. After sidling up next to Izzie and
depositing himself on another bar stool, he peered over to look at
the mixture on the stove.

“
You have to cook
it?”

Gracie couldn’t help but smile. “Yes,” she
told him, her attention still on the mixture. She turned the heat
up a little bit.

“
But we’re going to freeze
it, right?”

“
It’s ‘cause you’ll puke
like a fish if she doesn’t cook it,” Izzie offered.

Gracie looked at Carson who was looking at
his daughter in surprise.

“
You’ll what?”

“
You’ll puke.”

“
Why?”

“
Some fish
thing.”

Gracie chuckled and went back to her
stirring.

“
What fish thing?” Carson
queried.

“
The Simon fish
thing.”

“
You mean, salmon, like
salmon patties?”

“
Yeah, like
that.”

“
You’re confusing me,
Izzie. What does salmon have to do with ice cream?”

Izzie heaved out a sigh and tossed out her
hands as she looked her dad square in the eyes. “It has to do with
fish eggs. You have to kill them all. That’s what makes you
puke.”

“
Fish eggs,” he echoed.
Gracie felt his gaze on her, so she looked up.

“
Fish eggs,” she repeated
and smiled.

“
It’s named after some
girl named Simon Ellen,” Izzie said then.

Carson guffawed and looked from Gracie to
his daughter and back to Gracie again.

“
Salmonella,” she finally
offered. “This recipe has eggs in it so therefore you have to cook
it so you won’t get salmonella.”

“
That’s what makes you
puke,” Izzie explained.

Gracie laughed, still looking at Carson.
“Yes, that’s what makes you puke.”

“
Like a fish.”

Again, Carson belted out a laugh. Leaning
over, he bear-hugged Izzie and held her close. “You silly
Munchkin,” he told her. “I love your mind.”

“
I love your mind, too,
Dad,” Izzie chimed back.

Gracie suddenly realized she was smiling at
the whole scene and had stopped stirring when a big ker-plop!
bubbled up through the mixture.

“
Oh, gosh!” Embarrassed,
she turned down the heat and started furiously stirring. “Guess I
need to pay attention to what I’m doing, huh?”

“
Yep!” Izzie
laughed.

“
Please, do,” Carson
added. “Make sure you properly kill all those fish
eggs.”

“
Or we have to tell Simon
Ellen,” Izzie told her.

Gracie continued stirring, laughter boiling
up inside of her.

It was a nice feeling.

* * * *

Carson swiped at his brow and continued
cranking the arm of the old ice cream freezer. The swipe didn’t
help much, perspiration still dripped off his forehead onto the
deck with huge plops. The July afternoon had turned into a humid
evening. He wouldn’t doubt if there wasn’t a summer thunderstorm in
their near future.

“
How much longer?” Izzie
peered over his shoulder.

“
Not too much, I think.
It’s getting harder to crank.”

“
That’s good.”

“
Yes.”

It was very good. His arm was tired. A few
minutes passed and Izzie moved around to the front of him, intently
watching the process.

“
You’re sweating,
Dad.

“
That I am,
Iz.”

“
Is it hard?”

“
You could say that.” He
glanced up. Where in the heck was Gracie? His arm was tired. No
wonder she’d taken the first cranking shift. Surely this should be
ready by now.

“
Gracie’s slicing
strawberries.”

Carson looked up at his daughter. “Why did
you say that?”

“
I saw you looking for
her.”

“
No, I wasn’t.” He
returned to his cranking. Water sloshed out of the drain
hole.

“
Yes you were.”

“
Was not,” Carson
returned.

“
Was too.”

Frustrated, Carson stopped cranking and
stared at his daughter. Slowly, he sat back on his heels, reached
for his right bicep, and started rubbing the muscle. Who would have
thought making homemade ice cream would be so much work?

“
Was not,” he countered
and then threw her a narrowed gaze that meant, ‘no more.’ Besides
cranking the freezer, his temper was bordering on
cranky.

“
Done yet?”

This was from Gracie, who just that second
popped out the back door and stepped out onto the deck. She carried
bowls and spoons and a plastic container which he hoped held those
sliced strawberries. Perhaps all this cranking wouldn’t be for
naught.

“
Not sure. How do you
know?”

He watched as she sat the dishes on the
redwood table and approached the two of them. Smiling, she crouched
down beside him and reached for the handle. After giving it one
hard crank backward, she said, “Just a little longer.”

“
More?” he
croaked.

“
More,” she
replied.

“
You’re sure it’s not
done?”

“
Positive.”

He searched her eyes for a moment and
realized that at some point today, Gracie had added a touch of
makeup to them. Her cheeks looked rosier, too. And she was wearing
a hint of lipstick. She must be feeling better, he thought, and was
glad about that.

“
You’re
perspiring.”

Chuckling, he reached for the hand-crank.
“This is hard work!”

“
But worth it.”

He stopped mid-crank and looked at her
again. “Promise?”

Slowly, she nodded. “Promise. Now get
cranking.”

She walked away then and Izzie joined her.
Carson found himself lost in the way she kidded with Izzie and
gracefully moved about the deck and set the bowls and spoons and
strawberries out on the table.

He was enjoying himself so much, he didn’t
even notice that his arm hurt like hell.

Chapter Eleven

Twenty minutes later Carson lifted the last
spoon of creamy vanilla ice cream topped with a slice of just-ripe
strawberry to his lips, savored the flavor, rolling it over on his
tongue. The strawberry literally melted in his mouth along with the
ice cream. He swallowed, then closed his eyes and leaned back on
the padded redwood chaise lounge and sighed.

Heaven. Pure heaven.

“
Good, huh,
Dad?”

“
Absolutely.”

Carson opened one eye only to find the two
females on the deck staring at him.

“
Worth it?” Gracie
asked.

“
Yummy,” he
answered.

She grinned. “Told you so. More?”

Opening the other eye and sitting up, he
told her no. “I’ve eaten more than my share already.”

“
But you did all the hard
work,” Gracie said. “You deserve more than the rest of
us.”

“
Oh, I think you did the
most important work,” he replied. “I mean, killing those fish eggs
was extremely important. Simon Ellen says so.”

Gracie and Izzie looked at each other and
burst out laughing. Carson found that he immensely liked the sound
of their voices blended together in laughter like that. But all too
quickly Gracie stopped laughing and rose to gather their bowls. She
reached for his and he handed it to her, holding onto the bowl just
a tad longer than he’d intended. Her fingertips grazed his and
their gazes briefly touched. A puzzled look crossed Gracie’s face
and he let go of the bowl. He couldn’t deny though, that he liked
the electric sizzle her touch had sent up his hand.

Quickly, she retrieved Izzie’s bowl and set
about cleaning up other things. Carson rubbed his hand on his leg
to try and stop the sizzle. It wasn’t working.

His daughter slowly made her way to where he
was sitting on the chaise and curled up in his lap.

“
Sleepy
Munchkin?”

She yawned and nodded. “A little.”

Glancing at his watch, Carson realized it
was an hour past her bedtime. Making the ice cream had taken a lot
longer than he’d expected. “Well, let’s help Gracie clean up then
we should get you to bed.”

He rose, taking the child with him. Izzie
clung to him, snuggling closer into her daddy’s chest. Gracie
turned, her hands full of bowls and such.

“
I can do this. Why don’t
you put her to bed.” She smiled and Carson felt warm. More warm
than the humidity and Izzie’s hot body was making him. This was
something else entirely.

“
I tell you what,” he
answered. “You do the dishes and as soon as I get her down, I’ll
come back and take care of the freezer, empty the ice, and hose the
salt off the deck. All right?”

Gracie must have liked the sound of that
because she actually smiled at him. “All right.”

He liked the sound of that, too. It would
give him one more chance today to be with her today. He wasn’t sure
why, but he felt compelled to spend a little more time with her. It
was like he needed to do that, just to see if what was happening
between them, was happening.

And to determine if he wanted what he
thought was happening, to really happen.

Something strange was happening between them
he was sure. Or maybe, it was just with him. There was not a doubt
in his mind: Gracie Hart was getting to him. And how.

He just wasn’t sure that was a good
thing.

* * * *

Some time later Carson slipped through
Gracie’s back door and joined her on the deck. The night was
cooling somewhat and the stars were sparkling overhead, an
occasional drifting storm cloud hid them from view. The day was
long and Gracie was tired, ready to relax. It had been a good day,
a nice weekend, actually. For the first time in forever she’d given
herself two full days off.

Night sounds skittered about, birds called,
people talked somewhere down the street, a cat meowed. She rested
her head on the back of the chaise and closed her eyes as she
listened. Carson’s footsteps drew nearer. Then they paused and she
heard the creak of the redwood and knew he’d sat in the chaise next
to hers.

“
She asleep?” Gracie
asked, her eyes still closed.

“
Finally,” he answered
after a minute.

“
That’s good.”

“
Yes.”

Gracie thought about Izzie for a moment.
“Don’t know how you do it sometimes.”

When Carson didn’t immediately answer, she
opened her eyes and turned toward him.

He was watching her with intent.

“
I love her.”

Smiling, Gracie said, “I know. It’s
obvious.” Then she added, “She’s a great kid, Carson. I like her a
lot.”

“
Even though she broke
your crystal cookie plate?”

“
Even though.” She
grinned.

“
I know sometimes she’s a
nuisance.”

Gracie sat up and faced Carson. “No,” she
returned softly. “She’s never a nuisance. I love having her around.
I hope you’ll let her come over whenever she likes. I really enjoy
her company.”

Glancing away, she looked toward the sky to
her right. More clouds were tumbling in. An awkward silence
enveloped them.

“
You’re good with her,”
Carson finally said.

“
She’s good for me,” she
replied, looking back.

Carson placed his elbows on his knees and
made a tent with his fingers. Both of them were facing the other,
sitting on the sides of the lounges. He appeared to study her for a
moment, as though he were contemplating asking her a question.
Gracie simply studied him back, trying to anticipate his
thoughts.

“
I’m surprised you don’t
have children,” he said. “You’re good with Izzie.”

At that, Gracie dropped her gaze. “Just one
of those things,” she said softly.

“
Do you want children
someday?”

Lifting her gaze back to connect with his,
she firmly replied, “Yes. More than anything. Someday.” It startled
her that she admitted that out loud. She hadn’t talked with anyone
lately about her obsession with having a child. Not even Constance
or Amie.

“
Difficult to plan those
things sometimes, huh?”

Keeping the connection fully between them,
Gracie smiled and replied softly, “Perhaps more than you
realize.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Then
Gracie thought of something. “Carson, there’s something you should
know. I’ve kind of put off telling you.”

He arched a brow. It was almost the eye
thing and Gracie had to stifle a giggle. But she did, wanting to
discuss something with him.

“
What?”

She took a breath. “Izzie tossed a couple of
water balloons out your apartment window onto Bets Baker the other
night.”