“Will it be an issue?”
“I doubt it. I mean, my friend Danny is going to fanboy, fair warning, but everyone else should be cool.”
Nolan chuckled. “All right. I can manage that.”
Grayson smiled. “What about you? Do you have friends you’d like me to meet?”
“Most of my social circle is still in LA.”
“Are you going to tell anyone about the baby? Have a baby shower or anything like that?”
“I don’t know. I’m still kind of getting my social bearings back in New York. And I’m worried about jinxing it.” Nolan glanced toward the area between his bed and the kitchen that he planned to make the baby’s section of the loft. “That’s why I haven’t bought anything for the baby yet. I guess part of me is worried that if I do, Angela will change her mind and then I will have made all these changes for nothing.”
“Isn’t her due date soon? What if you get the call tomorrow and have to go to LA?”
“Yeah. I guess I’d better get moving. No party, though. I can’t really deal with a party. But I guess I could register. My mother keeps asking me what I need.”
“Yeah? Is she excited about being a grandma?”
“Overjoyed.” Nolan had to smile at that. He’d called her when he’d gotten home from LA and filled her in. Nolan was an only child, but somehow he hadn’t realized his mother’s dream of grandchildren had died with Ricky. Being able to tell her it was possible again had brought Nolan a lot of joy too.
Of course, there was also Grayson. Nolan hadn’t told his mother about him yet. Maybe it was time to have that conversation.
Grayson leaned over and kissed Nolan’s cheek. “It’ll be okay.”
“Do I look worried it won’t be?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” Nolan sighed and sagged against the sofa cushions. “Well, yeah, I guess I am. I’ve just had so much… happen. In the last year, I mean. I guess I’d lost faith that things will work out. I’m sure everything will be okay, but I’m not counting on it until it happens.”
“That’s fair.”
Nolan put his wineglass on the coffee table. “Can you do something for me?”
“Anything,” said Grayson.
“I don’t want to think about any of this until tomorrow. Make me forget?”
Grayson raised his eyebrow. “With pleasure.”
Chapter Eighteen
TWO DAYSlater, they drove out to the Cruz house to see how construction was going.
Mike had the full set of plans for the house, so his job was mostly to make Nolan and Grayson’s vision a reality. Nolan was happy to see that the house had walls again. Drywall was finished, and currently part of the crew was painting while the other was installing flooring and tile. Mike explained that the kitchen cabinets were expected to be delivered on Monday and the counters the day after, and from there they’d only need another day or two for final touches.
“What about landscaping?” Nolan asked.
Mike opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly someone called him from the other room. “Will you excuse me?”
“Sure. We’ll meet you out back.”
Nolan didn’t have extensive plans for the big backyard, but it was one of the main reasons the Cruzes had bought this house. Nolan wanted to at least lay down some grass seed on a couple of the bald patches and plant a tree or two.
The yard was a hive of activity, though. The production team had set a table with an awning overhead where they were dispensing food and beverages to the construction crew all day. And the crew was also using the back patio as an area to set up a big circular saw that they were currently using to cut tile and floorboards.
While Grayson and Nolan discussed putting a couple of shrubs around the back deck, Mike walked back over to them.
