“You still love that book?”
“Doesn’t every available woman in her thirties?”
“That I wouldn’t know,” he responded.
I headed for the door. We needed to be around people.
He didn’t follow. “I need to take off.”
I turned around. “So soon?” Why did I sound disappointed?
“I have an early flight tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
“I’m heading to Colorado. Some personal things have come up that I need to take care of.”
“How long will you be gone?” Not like I really cared.
“A week, maybe two. But don’t worry, I’ll be checking in every day.”
“Oh, thank you, you don’t know how worried I was there.”
He chuckled. “Good night, Kelli. I’ll call you.”
Wow that sounded familiar. It made me catch my breath. “Good night, Mr. Greyson.”
He walked off muttering, “Someday, Kelli, someday . . .”
I watched him walk off, and I felt a tiny tug in my chest. I chalked it up to heartburn.
I FELT LIKE I KEPT saying this lately, but that did not go how I had anticipated it. All I had wanted was a nice evening with family and friends to celebrate one of life’s milestones with one of the greatest men on earth, but instead I ended up being manhandled, to put it nicely. That led to kind of a moment on the porch with my boss, which caused all sorts of confusion, and to top it off, Mr. Greyson was now my brother-in-law’s new BFF. They were even going golfing when he returned from Colorado. Oh yeah, and now the office would know that I had a thing with Mr. Greyson, and if that wasn’t enough, Mr. Greyson now knew about my history with Luke. It was like my life was coming undone stitch by stitch. My sister said this was a good thing, because I needed a change of wardrobe.
Mr. Greyson was her favorite now, too, since he played hero. I admit I was truly grateful for that. Not like Luke could have really done anything, even if he had got me outside, but I appreciated Mr. Greyson and Zane remedying the situation quickly.
As I lay there in bed thinking about the weirdness that had become my life, my phone rang. I picked it up and was surprised by the name that appeared and by the lateness of the hour. I was intrigued by why he would call so late, so I answered it. “Mr. Greyson, let me guess, you already have a list of directives for me to follow while you’re gone.”
“Funny, Kelli, but no.”
“Darn it. And here I was hoping you would finally tell me how to properly dispose of the used coffee filters at the office.”
He laughed. “Well, I see I don’t need to ask if you’re okay.”
“Don’t tell me you were worried about me.”
He cleared his throat. “I was.”
“Oh. Well . . . thank you.”
“Luke didn’t come back, did he?” he asked.
“No, I think he knew better.”
“Kelli?” I could hear his hesitation. “What happened between you and him?”
I was taken aback by the inquiry and not exactly sure I wanted to talk about it with him. I didn’t respond for several seconds as I was mulling over what I should or shouldn’t say.
“Kelli?”
