“Of course it’s great. I made it. Now eat while I spill my guts.”
“Okay.” Happy enough to clear her plate, she worked on it while he spoke.
“Dad has always been a sore spot for me. Cade wrote him off long ago, but I tried to keep him close... and failed to make him like me. For a long time, I thought it was me. But then, after they divorced and we moved to Portland, I realized the problem was my dad. My mom talked to me a lot, as did a terrific counselor at my school. It really helped.” He clutched her hand. “It’s hard when you get screwed over by someone you love. It makes you question yourself, and that’s not right.”
“No, it’s not.” She gripped his hand. “I trusted Sam. I believed him when he said he loved me. But you know, being with him never felt like this. So fun. Easy.”
Grant gave her a warm smile. “Being with you is effortless.”
“It is. And that’s made me question what it was like with Sam and me. Because it was a lot of work. In the end, he never appreciated it. I was a placeholder for his ex girlfriend. A fucking placeholder.” She sniffed, refusing to spill one more tear over that bastard. “I deserved so much better than that.” She saw Grant’s approval and continued. “I know that now. Hell, I knew it then. But the doubts crept in. Then you showed up, and you tell me you love me.” She squeezed his hand before letting go. “That’s weird, Grant. You don’t know me.”
“But I do.”
“How? How can you know me after nearly twenty years? You haven’t been here. I have, and I’ve changed.”
“Sure, you grew up. But the real Piper, the one I fell in love with when I was nine, never changed. She’s still loyal and courageous and lovely. Still so beautiful, with hair like Wonder Woman’s lasso.” He smiled. “She’s still kind to a weird little kid, now a weird guy who catches and hits baseballs for a living. Piper, you’ve never tried to use me to get anywhere, never tried to step over anyone to get ahead. You’re fearless and strong, and I respect the hell out of you.”
“Oh my gosh, that was a real compliment.” She smiled, wishing she didn’t feel like crying. “That was the best present you could give me.”
“Honestly? I’m saving the big one for last. But again, if I’m being honest... ”
She sighed. “I know, I might not like to hear it, but I actually do like you being honest.”
“Fine. Then you should know I would be the happiest guy on the planet if I accidentally got you pregnant.”
She froze. “What?”
“I’ve thought about it. A lot lately. I want to get married. To you. And I want babies. With you. And at the rate we’ve been going at it, if your birth control skipped or something, I’d be thrilled to be the father.”
“Oh. Wow.” She had troubled breathing for a moment. “You want babies?”
“Yep. Plural. Two to four, didn’t we agree?”
“Y-yes.” She kept staring at him, wondering if she could trust the joy threatening to burst inside her. “But we’re not married.”
“Piper, I’d marry you right now if you’d say yes.”
“You never asked.”
“Will you say yes?”
They both sat in the silence before she answered, “I’m not sure.”
“Then I’ll wait until you are.”
They kept staring at each other, him with a solid presence and belief in them, her with shock and scared hope. Wanting to believe in this insane happily ever after he promised, worried it made even less sense than her engagement to Sam, a man she’d known—or thought she’d known—for a lot longer than the few weeks Grant had been back in town.
“Do you want seconds?” Grant asked, pretty as you please.
“Um, I think I do.”
“Good. Just think, Piper. If we married, I’d get to feed you. To cook for you. Wouldn’t that be cool? Your own personal chef.”
“Cool.”
“And don’t forget the most important part.”
She took a bite of her food, thinking he’d already said some pretty important things, proving his worth with this delectable dish. “What important part?”
