She met his gaze and held it.Just like when she first joined him on the couch, his stomach tightened.She searched his eyes.He didn’t know what for but would gladly give it to her if he could figure it out.
“You shouldn’t promise things like that, Cal.”
“Too damn bad.”
Her fingers knitted together as she shook her head.“You’re wrong.”
“You’ll have a home surrounded by your friends and family and whoever else you want.Kids?Husband?”A husband?“Two dogs and a cat?The whole shebang.Whatever you want.When we’re done with this, I promise you can have that.”
She stared as if he were speaking another language, as if he were offering hope.The longer she stared, the more determined he was to make it happen for her.Grace Willoughby had her whole life in front of her.Screw the ex-husband.Callum would take care of Dominic and hand over her life back.“I promise, Grace.”
The tick-tock of the grandfather clock suddenly seemed too loud.
Her chin dropped.“I’m so tired.”
Did she mean tonight?Or tired of her life?
She gave Sherlock one last pet, tugged her robe tight over the flannel pajamas, and offered a quick goodnight as she fled upstairs.
Grace was a runner.A hider.She probably couldn’t imagine how things would get better.Fixing her life wasn’t Callum’s job, but damned if the urge to smooth the edges didn’t make itself known every time he took a breath.
Chapter Ten
Thesunrisealarmclockeased Grace from a restless night.She blinked, confused that she’d actually fallen asleep, and every part of her wished she’d turned off her alarm last night when she’d known sleep would be so elusive.How was she expected to dream when Callum made promises like that when she’d been awake?
The heavenly scent of coffee pulled her eyelids open, beckoning her from bed like the coffeemaker was the Pied Piper.How was the coffee already brewed?
She tumbled out of bed and snagged the scrunchie from the nightstand, finger-combing her hair into a bun, then hazarded a glance in the mirror.Not bad.Not great.She shouldn’t care.Callum was here to help.Not to drool over.She could deal with him.She’d done it for most of her life.But first, coffee.
She slid into her robe and shuffled downstairs.His pillow and blanket were folded at the end of the couch, sitting as if he’d never used them.His coffee mug waited on a hand-tatted coaster.Proof that she hadn’t imagined the day before.
She wandered into the kitchen.Callum was nowhere to be found, but he’d left her an almost full pot of coffee.“Callum?”
Not even Sherlock slinked about.
Grace doctored her mug with a hefty pour of milk and a spoonful of sugar, stirring and scanning out the kitchen window.He wasn’t in the backyard either.
The front door opened.Grace sucked down a fortifying gulp before she entered the living room again as he walked in, shoving his truck keys into his pocket.“You’re up early.Sorry.Did I wake you?”
“No.I’m usually an early bird, though it was hard to wake up this morning.I couldn’t sleep.”She eyed the couch.It couldn’t have been comfortable, but he didn’t look sleep-deprived.“What were you doing?”
“I loaded my bag into my truck.”
Her stomach dropped.Her coffee accidentally sloshed over the lip of the mug.“You’re leaving?”
Grace wiped her hand against her hip and tried to wrangle her emotions.It’d been less than twenty-four hours since he’d tumbled back into her life.Her defenses had been high for almost every question and conversation—almost, because they had not been during their chat about promises and the future.At the possibility of his leaving, her panic surged.He had made promises.He said he could solve the Dominic problem.She didn’t realize she’d believed him.
And…she would miss him.That didn’t make sense.They’d barely spent time together.She barely knew him.Except this was Callum.Part of her life until she left.A dull ache of sadness surprised her, but who was she to talk?He’d grieved her death.At least, she supposed he had.
“No,” he said.“I’m not leaving.”
“But…” Her heartbeat thudded.He’d packed.He’d loaded his truck.
The corners of his eyes tightened, as if trying to read what she hadn’t said.“I didn’t want to junk up the living room.”He lifted a hand toward the living room.“Everything is so…pretty.”
She breathed easier.
He inched closer.“Everything okay?”
