Working It Out (19 page)

Seth only shrugged. “You’re the boss.” Then he headed
down the hall toward the changing room, saying nothing more. No teasing smile.
No sarcastic remark. Nothing.

With a frown, Grace watched him go, mentally kicking
herself yet again for not responding to his calls or texts. Of course he would
act like nothing had happened. Grace would react the same way if she’d tried to
reach out and had been met with a solid brick wall of no response. Technically,
the ball was now in her court, and it was all her fault. She didn’t like it there.
She wanted to volley it back and tell him to keep it. She didn’t want it.

But maybe he didn’t want it either.

Grace leaned against the counter and folded her arms,
ignoring the scattered pens and pencils. Her gaze flickered to the windows surrounding
the endless therapy pool where Seth had just entered, wearing only blue and
white plaid board shorts. Her breath caught. From his biceps and deltoids to
his obliques and abdominals, every muscle in his upper body was beautifully sculpted.
The sight of him instantly brought back the memory of those strong arms around
her, his solid chest pressed against her, and that kiss—oh that kiss.

Seth glanced her way and gave a little wave when he
caught her staring. Heat flew to her cheeks, and Grace forced her attention
back to the file on her desk, rereading a sentence she’d probably read a
hundred times. But it still didn’t stick. If Seth planned to keep acting as
though nothing had happened, how would she go about letting him know she’d had
a change of heart? Walk up to him and say, “Hey, about that kiss—mind giving it
another try?” After reiterating over and over that she didn’t date patients, she’d
sound like a total hypocrite.

She
was
a total hypocrite.

Her fingers drummed against the counter. Good grief, what
was wrong with her? This was ridiculous. Grace was a mature, independent, and confident
woman. As soon as Seth returned from his swim, she would face him with her head
held high and her mind intact. If he flirted, she would flirt. If he asked her
out, she’d calmly reply that she’d love to go. And if he ever kissed her again,
she’d definitely kiss him back.

She was Grace Warren, after all—a woman who faced life
head on.

“Psst.”

Grace jumped, nearly knocking over the pencil holder once
again. She looked up to find Seth rubbing his damp hair with a hand towel and
looking so good she wanted to kiss him right then and there.

She cleared her throat. “Done already?” Time had never
passed so quickly.

“Fifteen minutes, as ordered.”

Grace waited for him to do something Seth would do, like
plop down on her desk, grin in that teasing way of his, and say something
flirty, something meant to upset her equilibrium. But he didn’t. He merely
glanced over his shoulder toward the weight area and raised an eyebrow. “So,
what next? Bike? Rowing? Bosu ball? Lunges? Or possibly some light jogging? My
knee’s feeling great.”

Grace blinked for a moment before mentally shaking
herself. Did he really want to work out and not flirt? Jog, not joke around?
Was he finally going to keep things professional now that she didn’t want him
to? Talk about Murphy’s Law kind of timing.

“Earth to Grace.”

Snap out of it.
This wasn’t the time or place for flirting
anyway—or any sort of personal conversation, for that matter.
What had he
said again? Oh, right. Jog. He wanted to jog. Grace stood and shook her head.
“Sorry, but not yet. You need to give it another few weeks at least.”

“But—”

 “Trust me.”

He sighed and leaned against the wall, folding his arms.
“It’s been over nine weeks, Grace. I’ve done everything you’ve asked and then
some. I work with you and even harder at home. My leg’s strong, and jogging
will make it even stronger.”

She’d had this conversation before. Many times, with many
different patients. Sometimes it happened earlier, sometimes later, but eventually,
they would all get to this same point of frustration when progress didn’t
happen fast enough for them. Normally, Grace would give her practiced
response—one meant to encourage and inspire patience. But today, with Seth, her
heart broke a little at the look of frustration on his face. She knew he wanted
to get back on his mountain bike or go for a run, and she hated that she
couldn’t say yes. But Grace would hate it even more if she gave him the
go-ahead and he ended up re-injuring himself.

With a sigh, Grace said, “Follow me.” She moved past him
and walked to the Bosu ball, where she put one foot on it and executed a deep,
single-leg lunge to the side. Then she stepped aside and gestured for him to do
the same. “Give me ten of those, and we’ll talk about jogging.”

Seth smiled in that confident way of his and moved to do
as she asked. He placed his foot on the ball and slowly sank into a wobbly,
shallow side lunge. His knee shook and his face turned red as he pushed himself
back to standing position. His second attempt was even more pathetic.

Grace cocked her head to the side and offered a
sympathetic smile. “You’re not ready.”

“I went jogging yesterday and was fine,” he said. “My
knee felt great.”

Of course he’d jogged. In fact, Grace wouldn’t be
surprised if he’d done it more than once. Seth wasn’t the type of person to be
held back when he thought he could do something. But that didn’t mean he was
ready.

“Of course your knee felt fine,” Grace said. “Jogging is
a forward and backward motion. You do it every day when you walk or ride a
bike. But as you just proved, it’s the side-to-side motion that you need to
worry about. If you were to step on a crack, get thrown off balance, or tweak
your knee in any way, your muscles aren’t strong enough to self-correct yet, and
you’d probably land yourself right back where you started.”

Seth watched her, saying nothing.

“Trust me,” Grace said. “I’m speaking from experience
when I tell you that you’re not ready to jog yet. In another few weeks,
possibly. But not yet.”

“You’re really cramping my style, you know that, right?” He
let out a breath and stared at the Bosu ball as though it were to blame. “Fine,
you’ve made your point. No more jogging.”

Grace placed her hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze.
“You’ll get there. I promise.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

For the remainder of the session, Seth was the type of
patient she’d wanted him to be in the beginning—all work and no play. He didn’t
make her laugh, didn’t make her blush, and didn’t give her one opportunity to
flirt back. She found herself missing the old Seth—the confident,
chaos-inducing Seth that she had grown to care so much about.

Why had Grace run away from that kiss? Why hadn’t she
figured out sooner that she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from falling? Why
couldn’t she just blurt out her feelings now and not care that they had an
audience? Why did the ball have to land in her court, and why couldn’t she
knock it back with a solid thwack? Was it pride or fear holding her back? Or
maybe a little of both?

More than ever, she wished for a do-over.

G
race slowly
made
her way down the hallway of Magnificent Minds toward the voices coming
from the back room. When she walked in, she stopped short. The once cavernous
room was now half the size, made smaller by a wall painted black with
chalkboard paint. The remaining walls gleamed with a cool mural of kids
playing, reading, and talking. The windows were open, and the combined smells
of paint and fresh air made the room feel new and alive. Over a dozen kids sat
at scattered desks, working and talking quietly, and through a door on Grace’s
right came muffled sounds of laughter and the ping, ping of an air hockey table.

Grace blinked at the transformation and how different it
looked and felt. No longer stale and boring, the room now offered children a
place for both learning and fun—exactly what Seth had envisioned. When he
committed to something, he followed through and then some.

“Grace? Hey, how are you?” Lanna’s voice sounded loud in
the quiet of the room, and dozens of eyes glanced her way.

Feeling conspicuous, Grace offered a little wave as she
made her way toward Lanna, who worked with a couple of kids at a table. Another
woman Grace recognized as Milly from the auction sat with a small group near
the windows.

But no Seth.

Grace’s heart deflated a little. She hadn’t really expected
to find him here, since tutoring wasn’t his thing and coaching soccer kept him
on the field, not inside. But it didn’t keep her from hoping that renovations
were still underway and there was a chance he could be here. Now that Seth was
down to weekly therapy sessions, Grace missed him, especially since their time
together wasn’t the same as it was before the kiss. He continued to be the
ideal patient, and Grace—well, she no longer wanted the ideal. She wanted the
god of chaos.

As Grace approached Lanna, she smiled. “I got off work a
little early, so I thought I’d drop by to see if you needed any help. This
place looks incredible, by the way.”

With obvious pride, Lanna glanced around the room. “I
know, right? When Seth sets his mind to something, he goes all out.”

“I can see that.”

Lanna told the children at her table that she’d be right
back then stood to give Grace a hug. “It’s so great to see you again. Thanks
for coming.”

“No problem.” Normally, Grace didn’t feel comfortable
hugging just anyone, especially not someone she barely knew, but Lanna had a
way of making it feel like they’d known each other for ages. She probably made
everyone feel that way. “Feel free to put me to work.”

Lanna pulled back and scanned the room, pointing to a
table where a few young girls sat reading. “That group over there has fifteen
more minutes before they can play in the game room.” She lowered her voice.
“The girl in pink is new to our group. Her name is Mia, and she’s way below the
average reading level for her age group. Bella is helping her with the words
she doesn’t know, but I’m sure she’d love a break so she can get her own
reading done. Do you mind?”

“Of course not.” Grace walked to the group of girls and
pulled up a chair. For the next fifteen minutes, she worked with Mia, who
turned out to be a doll. With jet black, wildly curly hair, and dark skin and
eyes to match, one look was all it took for Grace’s heart to melt. She happily
took the little girl under her wing, and in what seemed like minutes, a bell
chimed. The girls at the table all squealed and jumped up, running toward the
game room. Grace trailed behind, wanting a glimpse of the other side.

As Grace peeked through the door, the sight made her smile.
Several IPads were affixed to one wall so the kids could stand in front of them
to play various games. A few kids danced to a tune from “Just Dance” in front
of a large flat-screen TV. An air hockey table and a ping-pong table took up
the space in the middle of the room. Large beanbag chairs were scattered around
the room, and a bookcase containing dozens of board games and puzzles stood
against the far wall. The final touch was the framed motivational posters resting
against freshly painted steel-blue walls.

The room felt homey and fun, yet challenging at the same
time. It felt like Seth.

A wonderful sensation nestled its way into Grace’s heart
as she looked around and saw touches of Seth everywhere. With kids running,
laughing, and chatting, the room was the epitome of chaos, but it was a good
chaos—like Seth. Why had she been fighting her feelings toward him so much? It
made absolutely no sense now that she saw firsthand the product of his kindness
and imagination.

“Okay, boys, your time’s up,” Lanna’s voice called out
behind her.

“Just one more game!” one kid said.

“Sure,” Lanna said. “Just as soon as you finish the rest
of your math homework.”

Groans sounded as the boys reluctantly left the game room
behind and returned to the work room. Lanna smiled indulgently as they passed
before turning to Grace. “As much as Seth’s ideas have made this a fun place
for the kids to be, sometimes I worry it’s too fun.”

Too fun? No. It was perfect. “From what I can see, you’re
keeping them out of trouble by giving them a place where they can work and play
hard. I think it’s wonderful.” A lump formed in Grace’s throat as she met
Lanna’s gaze. “Does Seth drop by much?” She tried to keep her tone nonchalant,
but there was still an underlying
Any chance he’ll be here today?
hopefulness she couldn’t do away with completely.

Lanna gave her a look of sympathy, as though she knew
exactly what Grace was asking. “Occasionally, but not very often. He’s pretty
busy with work and soccer practices right now.” She paused. “Would you like me
to tell him that you dropped by?”

Would Seth even care if she did? Grace finally shrugged.
“It really doesn’t matter.”