Chapter Sixteen
GRACE AWOKE TO the feel of Reed’s lips on her ribs. She ran her fingers through his thick hair as memories of their evening came back to her. They’d hung out with friends and family long after the movie had ended, and she’d seen several of the people she’d gone to school with. Her visits home had been so quick over the years, unless she saw her friends while she was out with her sisters, she rarely caught up with anyone. But last night Reed had seemed happy to let her stay and chat as long as she’d wanted. They’d gotten home at nearly two in the morning and had made love until they were both too spent to move.
Reed nipped at her belly, bringing her thoughts back to the man loving his way up her body. He slowed to tease her breasts, and heat streaked like darts to the juncture of her thighs with every flick of his tongue. He moved over her, his chest hair tickling her skin as he perched on his elbows.
She smiled up at him. “I like waking up with you.”
“I like doing everything with you.”
He kissed her again, a long, sweet kiss that made her insides soft and him hard against her stomach. He brushed his whiskers along her cheek, alternating between kissing and abrading. Grace thought back to when she’d first seen him riding a horse at the Jerichos’. She’d fought so hard not to feel the emotions he’d stirred, and now, as his warm breath whispered over her skin, she couldn’t imagine not feeling this way ever again. Worry tiptoed in as he laced their hands together and gazed lovingly into her eyes.
“What’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours, Gracie?”
Not wanting to dwell on the fact that her life was hundreds of miles away, she tried to lead him astray. “I was wondering if you were ever going to buy a bedframe.”
“Do you want a bedframe?”
“It’s not my house.”
His eyes darkened. “But you’re in my bed.” He kissed her chin. “Should I worry about why you’re thinking about bedframes when I’m lying on top of you, naked?”
“No,” she said lightly. “I was really wondering when you were going to finish your kitchen so you wouldn’t have to eat out every meal.”
His eyes went pitch-black, and he nipped at her lower lip. “I love eating out.”
A soft laugh escaped, and she whispered, “Me too. I wasn’t really thinking about appliances.”
“Ah, you’ve begun lying to me,” he teased.
“Just avoiding the truth. I was thinking about how much I like this.” She rose to kiss him, and he drew back with a tease in his eyes.
“This?” He rocked his hips, pressing his erection against her.
“Yes. But it’s bigger than that.”
“Hey, watch it.”
“Not bigger than that. Being with you, falling asleep in your arms, waking up to your kisses. It feels like it’s always been this way. Like life went on when we weren’t together, but that all seems like a blip in time.” Even though she wasn’t leaving for another two weeks, she felt the end of her stay looming, making every moment they had together feel special and every moment with her family feel important in a way she’d never appreciated.
“When I first got to my parents’ house, I wondered how I’d make it through three weeks with my sisters’ drama, and then I saw you and my world turned inside out. But my sisters haven’t driven me crazy. They’ve enabled me to do more of what I love, and they’ve shown me sides of themselves that I’ve never slowed down enough to appreciate. And you and I…well, the two weeks we have left doesn’t seem like enough.”
“Because it’s not. Nothing will ever be enough, but it’s not supposed to be. Love is supposed to grow stronger, not get easier.”
“But we won’t have this, Reed. Right now we have parts of every day. I mean, we’ll have Friday and Saturday nights and Saturday and Sunday mornings. But I’ll have to work some of that time, and if you’re fixing up the theater, you’ll need to be here.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised. “All we have to know right now is that we both want to make it work. Do you want that?”
“Yes, very much.”
“Good. Then let me ask you another important question. Do you”—he kissed the corner of her mouth—“think I should start here?” He kissed the other side of her mouth. “Or should I start at your pretty little toes and work my way up your gorgeous legs all the way to your lips?”
She giggled at his playfulness. “The second option sounds appealing, but I think I have an even better idea.” She pushed on his shoulders, and he shifted onto his side. Then she moved, bringing her legs by his head, and she pressed a kiss to his ankle. “How about if we both start like this and we meet in the middle?”
She ran her fingers along his strong calves, pressing kisses to his legs as he did the same to her. His lips were warm and soft, and his hands were rough and insistent, squeezing the backs of her ankles and calves with each tender kiss, creating a dichotomy of heavenly torment inside her. She tried to concentrate on bringing him just as much pleasure, kissing and petting as she inched up his powerful thighs, and all her worries faded away. Then his mouth was on her sex, as rough as his hands were on her ass, holding her to him as his tongue shattered her ability to do much of anything other than lie there and gasp. She forced a moment of lucidity and wrapped her hand around his cock, but just as quickly he guided her leg over his shoulder and brought his magnificent mouth to her sex, sending sparks skating beneath her skin. His tongue plunged into her as he pinned her in place with one hand on her ass, his other teasing her sex, drawing a long, surrendering moan from her lungs.
His hips thrust to the same rhythm as his tongue, bringing her mind back to his thick, delicious cock. She glided her tongue along the wide crown and over the sensitive glans the way she’d learned he liked and followed his shaft all the way down to the base.
“Fuck, baby. That mouth of yours kills me.”
She lowered her mouth over the crown, and he placed his hand over hers and squeezed tight around his cock, rocking through her fist. Every pulse of his hips sent his shaft deeper into her mouth, making him wetter, and soon she was lost in lust, stroking and sucking. His hand slipped away, and she continued devouring and loving, touching and taking, feeling like she’d never get enough of him. He sealed his mouth over her sex, sucking and tweaking as he clutched and licked. It took all of her focus to remember how to breathe as he shifted her onto her back. She tried to guide his cock into her mouth, but he did something with his teeth and tongue and heat shot through her like lightning. Her hips bucked as his fingers explored, and his hungry mouth sent her topsy-turvy world spinning away.
She fisted her hands in the sheets, her inner muscles pulsing so tight she moaned. “More. Don’t stop,” came rushing out.
His teeth grazed her sex as he feasted on her, taking her up, up, up and over the edge again. As her insides quivered and quaked, he came down over her and pinned her hands to the bed, kissing her hungrily. His mouth was wet with her arousal, but she didn’t care, because the taste of Reed overrode everything else as he buried only the head of his cock inside her.
He drew back from the kiss, his eyes as intense as they were loving as he entered her so slowly she felt her body stretching to accommodate his girth, felt her heart welcoming him and her soul treasuring him.
Once he was deep inside her, he said, “You were my first love, Gracie, and I know that regardless of where we’re living, you’ll be my last.”
LATER THAT MORNING, Reed made room in his dresser for Grace’s things and took far too much pleasure in watching her put them away. It was hell not asking her to move back, to move in, but he held his tongue.
As they got ready to head out to the Stardust Café for breakfast, Grace stood in the foyer holding a pair of cute sandals, looking gorgeous in skinny jeans and a lavender top, with her hair twisted into some sort of knot on the top of her head. Several dark tendrils had already sprung free, sexily framing her face.
Reed embraced her from behind. “Are we bed shopping after breakfast?”
She turned and wound her arms around his neck, her sandals dangling over his shoulder. “You know I don’t care if you have a bedframe or not, don’t you?”
“A big-city girl like you needs proper furniture.”
She swatted his arm, then bent to put on her sandals. “I do not.”
He chuckled.
“I have to get Sophie’s baby shower present. Can we stop by that new baby boutique in town?”
“Sure.” He opened the door for her and followed her out.
“And I should really go for a run later. Will you go with me?”
“What is with you and exercise? You’re gorgeous.”
“It keeps me sane. Relieves stress.”
“Why are you stressed?” He drew her into his arms again. Some people lived on deep breaths; he lived on moments with Grace.
“I’m not right now, actually. I just realized that. But I’m used to working out a few times a week, and not horizontally. Everyone has their crutches. You work with your hands all day—and night. My job is mentally taxing, and sometimes I feel like I need to give all that mental chaos a breather.”
“I get it, and I’ll go for a run with you anytime you’d like. But it might be more fun to head out for a hike or, I don’t know, play Frisbee or something.”
“I love both of those ideas!” Her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her back pocket. “Ugh. Speaking of mental chaos, this is work. Sorry. I’ll try to be quick.” She stepped off the porch as she answered the call and walked toward his truck. “No, Satchel. That’s not how this works.” She held up one finger, indicating she needed a minute, and walked away, speaking sternly into the phone.
Reed locked up and sat on the porch steps. Ten minutes later he was still waiting. He walked down to the creek so she wouldn’t feel pressured and sat in the long grass listening to the leaves rustle and the gentle trickle of the water. Most creeks had an earthy, pungent smell, but the creeks in Virginia had always smelled sweeter to him than those in Michigan. The same way the small towns seemed friendlier and the air felt crisper. None of that was true, of course. He was well aware of his bias toward his hometown. He’d missed the closeness of the community and the ease of the friendships while he’d been in Michigan. His life had been a race. First trying to outrun his heartache and later focusing on anything except the emptiness inside him. Losing Alina had been a relief, and though losing his business had been painful, looking back, that business had only been a mask, a safe distraction from what was missing from his life.
He felt Grace’s presence behind him before he heard the swishing of grass or smelled her sweet perfume. He pushed to his feet, trying to read her troubled expression, and gathered her in his arms. “Whose ass do I need to kick?”
“You can’t fix it that way. Besides, Satchel would take one look at you and run the other way.”
“Satchel? What kind of name is that?”
“His real name is Samuel, but Samuel isn’t exactly an artistic name. He’s the casting director, and he’s wonderful. But the lead actor in the play is apparently being a real numskull. He hooked up with one of the cast members, and he’s decided to be a jerk to any guy who looks at her. What is wrong with men, anyway? It’s like the minute they have sex with a woman they think they either own her or they’re over her. There’s no middle ground.”
“Are you really asking me that? You don’t think women are the same way?”
“Of course not.”
He arched a brow.
“What? I’m not mean to women who look at you, and trust me, most every woman who walks by checks you out. Even my sisters.”
“And how do you handle it? Do you say, ‘Yeah, he’s hot. Go for it.’”
She knocked him with her shoulder. “Seriously?”
“Don’t tell me the minute we slept together you thought you owned me,” he teased.
“We hadn’t even slept toge—”
“Glad you see my point.” He gave her a chaste kiss and draped an arm over her shoulder as they headed for his truck. “So, what did Satchel expect you to do about it from four hundred miles away?”
“He’s just keeping me in the loop. In theory, the staff should be able to deal with and manage the chaos. In reality, it can be like herding cubs, and sometimes they’ll only listen to Mama Bear.”
“Just let me know if you need backup.”
“I can handle it. But from now on I’m only hiring castrated males and women who will agree to wear chastity belts.”
Twenty minutes later they entered the Stardust Café. Every red vinyl stool at the counter in the casual, retro-style café was taken, and the booths were nearly as packed.
“Y’all come right in here and sit at the counter.” Winona Hanson, a fortysomething redhead powered by enough sass to fuel a steam engine, waved them over. Speaking to a brunette sitting at the counter, she said, “Ali, would you and Walter mind taking that corner booth, please? I have a bone to pick with these two lovebirds.”
“We can sit in the booth,” Grace offered.
Winona crossed her arms, locking her forest-green eyes on Grace. “Oh no you cannot.”
The brunette slid off the stool, revealing a very pregnant belly, and threw her arms around Grace. “Gracie! Ali Parker, remember me? Big Ali? Well, Ali Larson now. I haven’t seen you in ages! The town’s all abuzz about you two.”
“Ali!” Grace’s surprise was evident in the pitch of her voice. “Oh my goodness, you look incredible! And you’re having a baby!”
“Thank you. I dropped nearly eighty pounds two years ago, thanks to Wally.” Ali looked adoringly at the tall man standing beside her. “We met at a cupcake tasting. He’s a baker and all. Then we started taking walks, and well…” She shrugged. “He taught me about moderation and all that.” She leaned closer and said, “Then we got married, and I gained twenty back with our little cupcake.” She rubbed her belly. “Our baby girl is due in just six weeks.”
Grace’s expression warmed. “You’re having a girl? I’m so happy for you. Wally, it’s nice to meet you. And this is my boyfriend, Reed Cross. He grew up in Meadowside and just moved back a few months ago.”
Reed had wanted so badly to claim Grace as his girlfriend when they were younger that hearing her call him her boyfriend affected him way more than it should have at his age. But hell if it didn’t give him a thrill. He shook Walter’s hand. “Nice to meet you both.”
“You’re the guy buying the theater?” Walter asked.
“That’s right. I guess the rumor mill has already started churning.” Reed reached for Grace’s hand.
“Okay, Chatty Cathies,” Winona said. “Time to move along and sit on down. Y’all can catch up over lunch one day.”
“Good idea! Let’s do it soon,” Ali said, giving Grace another quick hug. “I want to hear all about the play y’all are putting on.”
“Play?” Grace asked.
“Oh, maybe I heard wrong. Pregnancy brain and all,” Ali said. “I thought I heard you were producing a play here in town.”
“Oh no. I’m teaching a screenplay writing class over at Amber’s bookstore.”
“Come on, baby.” Walter put a hand on Ali’s back. “We’d better sit down before Winona refuses to feed you any more pickles and cream cheese. It was nice to meet y’all. Enjoy your breakfast.”
“I get the oddest cravings,” Ali said over her shoulder as they headed for a booth.
Reed and Grace sat at the counter. Winona set two mugs in front of them, pouring coffee with a smirk on her freckled face.
“Go ahead, Winona,” Grace said as she poured cream into her coffee. “Ask away.”
“Oh, I will.” She set the coffeepot down behind her.
A burly tattooed guy in the kitchen put two plates on the pass-through and hollered, “Order up!”
Winona grabbed the plates and set them in front of a customer at the end of the counter. When she returned, she leaned across the counter and spoke quietly, “Just tell me this. Have you been playing around with each other for all these years? Or was that a high school fling and now you’re reunited?”
Grace blinked several times, as surprised as Reed was.
“You knew about us?” Grace whispered. “Does everyone?”
“Don’t be silly. The only reason I know is that my cousin Tami works at the Creekside Diner. She mentioned you two smoochin’ in there a decade ago when you were kids. Someone’s gotta watch out for y’all.”
“But you never said anything,” Grace said with awe.
Winona winked. “And I won’t now. I just wanted to know if it was true. But I can see it was. Everyone thinks I don’t know how to keep a secret.” She leaned closer again and lowered her voice. “Y’all did the right thing back then, with those crazy rivalries goin’ on.”
“Thanks, Winona.” Reed put his hand on Grace’s and squeezed. “To answer your question, no. Grace and I have just found each other again.”
Winona’s gaze moved between them. She pulled a pencil from above her ear and waved it at them. “And the rest of the rumors? I hear you had a community movie night and didn’t even think to invite my parents, who have known you, Grace Montgomery, since you were nothing more than a hope in your mama’s heart.”
Grace smiled and shook her head. “That was a date that Reed set up for us. People saw the movie playing and stopped to watch.”
“And Reed’s buying the theater?” she asked.
“I am. And before you tell me what I have to do with it, don’t worry; I got an earful last night. Seems everyone in town wants outdoor movies as badly as they want an indoor theater.”
Winona nodded. “Heck yes, we do. Nobody wants to drive for thirty minutes to go to a cinema complex that they need a map to navigate. Now, I just have one more thing that needs clearin’ up before I take your orders and leave you be.” She set a serious gaze on Reed and said, “Tami told me about you moping in the diner after you two ended that secret thing we’re not speaking of. Going weeks without eating.” She waved her pencil at Grace. “Teenage heartbreak is the worst.” She pointed to the graffiti wall in the back of the café. “You know nearly every kid who ever lived in Oak Falls has worked here for some period of time, and our Let It Out wall is full of Joanie loves Chachis and all sorts of matters of the heart. That’s one thing, but I don’t want any moping around here. If you two decide to part ways, there will be no sitting alone in a booth staring into a chocolate shake, ya hear?”
Reed chuckled. “Loud and clear, Winona.” He pressed a kiss to the back of Grace’s hand and said, “But we’re not kids on our way to college anymore.”
“No, you’re ten times more complicated,” Winona said. “Your hearts are so intertwined you couldn’t help but find each other again, but your lives are now worlds apart.”
“Haven’t you ever heard when there’s a will there’s a way?” Reed asked.
“Sure I have,” Winona said with a smirk. “That’s how I ended up raising Shayla on my own. My man had the will, and his good-for-nothing trollop found a way.” She pointed her pencil at Reed and said, “You do that to her, and I’ll hunt you down myself. Now,” she smiled brightly, “what can I get y’all for breakfast?”
THEY HEADED OUT to look for a bedframe after breakfast and meandered through the furniture store by the mall. “I don’t think I’ve ever shopped for furniture like this,” Grace said, looking around at the nearly empty store.
“You mean arm in arm with a guy who keeps grabbing your ass?” Reed tugged her against him.
“That and shopping in a physical store. When I went to college, the dorms were furnished, and when I got an apartment I bought furniture online. I’m surprised stores like this can stay open when people can shop from home. Everything is so…”
“Boring?”
“Yes, totally. You worked so hard to make your house stand out, and it’s too pretty for this. This furniture would bring it down. At least the boutique where we bought the couches and dining room set had unique pieces. But nothing here feels special.”
“You’re absolutely right. This isn’t us, Grace. Let’s get out of here.” He took her hand and headed for the exit. “There’s only one place to look for a bedroom set worthy of my girls. The Barn.”
She stopped cold. “Whoa. Girls? Plural?”
“Well, yeah. You and my Painted Lady. She’s my other girl.” He crushed her to him and said, “You’d better read up on Victorians, babe. Or you’re going to need that morning run just from misunderstandings.”
“I think we need to stop at the library.”
They drove out to Jeb Jericho’s place. He owned a few acres just far enough off the main drag to be private, but close enough to be found by consumers. Jeb ran the Barn, his appropriately named furniture shop, out of a big, blue, renovated barn, with his showroom on the first floor and his living quarters on the second. His workshop was in a separate stone building, which was once an old church.
“I can’t believe we didn’t think of coming here first,” Grace said as they headed up the wide walkway.
“It must have been all that mind-blowing sex, followed by a full belly.” He hauled her in for another delicious kiss. “You’ve made me dumb, sweetheart.”
“That’s weird. You’ve made me happy.”
She snuggled into him as they climbed the granite steps. There was a note on the barn door that read IN THE WORKSHOP and had an arrow pointing toward the old church building.
The shop was built of stone, floor to ceiling, with the exception of a few stained-glass windows on either side and near the peak of the back wall, where the altar must have once been. There were several large workstations with furniture in various stages of assembly littering the tops. Metal shelving units holding tools lined the walls, and some sort of fireplace or kiln was built into the rear wall, near a set of enormous double doors. They found Jeb in full protective garb, welding two large pieces of metal together. When he spotted them, he turned off his welding gun and took off his mask.
“Hey, guys. How’s it going?” he said as he pulled off his gloves and stripped out of his protective jumpsuit. “I hear you might need some stonework done on the old theater.”
He strode toward them in a pair of faded jeans and a blue T-shirt with COWS WON’T MILK THEMSELVES written on a round label with a picture of a cow at the top. Ever the farm boy, Jeb had always been proud of his roots. He snagged a baseball cap from a table and pulled it on. He had smallish, studious eyes that Grace had always felt saw far more than people wanted him to. Those watchful eyes took in the two of them. A hair over thirty, Jeb was a big man, known around town for his artistic talent and overprotective nature. Poor Trixie had a heck of a time trying to date with Jeb and her other brothers watching over her.
“Absolutely,” Reed said. “I just got the word yesterday that the offer was accepted. I’m still processing it.”
“It’s a hell of a building. I’d have bought it if I’d had the money, but it’s too rich for my blood. I’d love to be part of the project, though.”
“You’ve got it,” Reed said. “We’ll set up a time to go out there and look around. We thought you could help us with a bedframe.”
Jeb smiled, softening his sharp jawline. “Sure. I’m glad to see the rumors are true about you two. What’d you have in mind?”
The devilish look in Reed’s eyes when he said, “Something sturdy,” told Grace exactly where the conversation was headed. She yanked on his hand, and he pulled her closer and laughed.
“I’m kidding,” Reed said. “Well, not really, but you know…”
After too many sexual innuendos and an equal dose of laughter, they left with a contract in hand for a custom-designed wood and iron bedframe, spent some time meandering around the shop and picked out two unique nightstands before heading into town to shop for Sophie’s baby gift.
“I can’t believe Sophie’s married and having a baby,” Reed said as they looked through baby toys. “Do you like her husband?”
“Brett’s great, and he’s madly in love with Soph. He’s from New York City. The fact that he built her a house here and he’s staying here for her maternity leave, which is, like, three months, I think, says it all.”
“I’m glad she found a nice guy.” Reed picked up a box and read the side. “Check this out. It’s an activity gym, and it says it not only helps develop the baby’s fine and gross motor skills, but this musical mobile will help enhance the baby’s problem-solving skills and turn your baby into a little Einstein. What the…?” He showed her the box. “Who’s thinking about enhancing their infant’s problem-solving skills?”
Grace read the boxes of several other toys. “They all say things like that. Every toy is supposed to make your baby smarter. And here I was looking for something soft and cuddly.”
“Oh no, you can’t go soft and cuddly when there’s this.” He picked up a musical toy and read the box. “This one ‘invites your little maestro-in-the-making to tune in to classical music.’” He set the box down and picked up another. “This one teaches cause and effect.” He scanned another box. “And this one helps with identifying animals.”
“All baby toys help babies learn.” Grace picked up a stuffed puppy and brushed the silky ear over her cheek. “Feel this.” She rubbed it on his arm. “This one teaches them about the importance of snuggling.”
“We need sheets made of that.” He waggled his brows. “Seriously, though, Gracie. We had sticks and rocks, and we turned out just fine.”
“I remember making things out of paper cups and using my mom’s pots and wooden spoons to make music with my brother and sisters.”
“I need to call Ella. She obviously raised me wrong. I could have been as skilled as Mozart or as brilliant as Galileo if only I’d had these toys.”
“When they’re toddlers, it doesn’t matter what toys you give them,” she said. “They always like the box best.”
“All infants need is love. To be held and talked to, to know they’re wanted.”
Grace’s heart squeezed. Was he thinking about his father? Or was he thinking about having never been held by his mother? She wanted to ask, but just in case he wasn’t thinking about those things, she didn’t want to bring him down, so she kept those thoughts to herself.
“But when they’re older, they’ll get a spinning top,” he said with a smirk. “Those things hardly ever spin, and when they do, they stop before you can get anyone to look over and see it. That’s a lesson in frustration and self-control right there. I remember wanting to bean those things across the room.”
“I remember wanting to bean my siblings across the room,” she said jokingly.
“Yeah, but you love them. It’s written all over your face.”
“You think you can read my face?” She forced a serious expression. “What am I thinking right now?”
He grabbed her ass. “You dirty girl. We can’t do that here.”
“Such a man.”
“I’m your man, and the quicker we buy a gift, the faster we can get to all those dirty things going through your mind. What will Sophie’s kid need help with? She was pretty smart, right? Is Brett smart? Creative?”
“He’s wicked smart, and as far as his creativity goes, all I know is that Sophie is always satisfied and never bored.” She ran her finger down the center of his chest and said, “So maybe we need to get her baby something to keep it occupied for more than a few minutes at a time so she can enjoy Brett’s creativity.”
“I like how you think.” He waved at the display. “We’ll scour the shelves until we find a box that says the toy will occupy the baby for hours so Mommy and Daddy can enjoy their own playtime.”
They left the store with two bags full of gifts, still laughing about how creative and smart Sophie’s baby would be and how she and Reed missed out by not being given expensive toys that promised to make them brilliant.
“With these time-consuming, brain-sharpening gifts”—he lifted the bags—“Sophie will be on baby number two before you know it.”
While he put the bags behind the front seat of the truck, Grace took the gift she’d secretly purchased while he was busy talking to a salesperson out of her purse. “I got you a little something. I want all your dreams to come true, too.” She handed him the toy piano. “Now you can learn to be as musical as Mozart.”
He drew her into his arms with an awestruck expression. His lips brushed over hers like the wind, time and time again, until she was barely breathing in anticipation of the real thing.
“Thank you,” he said softly.
His hand was warm on her neck as he caressed her lips with his own, teasing and tantalizing masterfully. He knew just how to make her body crave him and her mind surrender to him. He backed her up against the side of the truck, taunting her with whispered promises against her lips. Her heart pounded erratically. She was this close to begging for a real kiss when his mouth finally covered hers, demanding and possessive. Desire seared through her as she shoved her hands into his back pockets, keeping his powerful body against hers as she gave herself over to their passion. Her knees went weak, and he eased his efforts.
“Love you, Gracie,” he said tenderly, and trailed kisses along her cheek. He glanced down at the piano still in his hand and said, “You’re going to make a great mom someday.”
Someday…
A flicker of worry breezed through her. Their lives really were hundreds of miles apart. This time together was a gift. Sure, she was growing tired of dealing with arrogant actors and the headaches of producing, and she wanted more time to write, but she wasn’t ready to put it all aside. She knew Reed well enough to realize he wanted kids one day. He had so much love to give. He always had. How would that work if they were commuting back and forth?
She was getting way ahead of herself, and when he brushed a loose strand of hair from where it had fallen over her eyes and flashed a boyish grin, she pushed those worries aside, vowing again not to let future worries steal a second of the time they had left.
“Do you want kids, Gracie? Or is your life too full for them?”
“Someday,” she answered honestly.
“Someday,” he whispered. Then louder, “Someday sounds good to me.”