"Who is she with?"
"She's with Dwight—no wait. Faith is dating Dwight Franklin." Grace pulled ingredients from her bag. “Charity is seeing Clive Warner."
Neither name was familiar to him.
"They're on a double date?" Damon shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Do you have a problem with that?" There was no censure in her voice, only concern. "Your mom and Faith are only in their early sixties. They have a lot of life ahead of them still. You don't want them to be alone for the next thirty years, do you?"
"No, of course not. It's just..." Damon didn't know how to finish his sentence. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his mom was dating and he wasn't.
And whose fault is that?
"How..." He shook his head. "How did this come about?"
"Your mom and Faith did a Twelve Days of Christmas dinners for several widows and widowers in December. When you visit someone so often, you find out you have some things in common." She looked at him then. "And realize you're not the only one who is lonely."
Lonely?
Was that why his mom and Aunt Faith were always looking for people to serve? Because they were lonely?
Leaning against the counter, he watched Grace move confidently around the kitchen gathering the things she needed. She looked at home. He recalled the cinnamon rolls she made to welcome him home and realized she probably was.
He cleared his throat. "Thank you for the cinnamon rolls you made when I came home. They were really good."
She spared him a glance and a dazzling smile as she started chopping onions. "I'm glad you enjoyed them. I was afraid they wouldn't taste as good as your mom's."
"I never thanked you for accompanying my mom every time she flew to Maryland either. It means a lot to me."
She quirked an eyebrow at him, no doubt remembering the way he’d glowered at her each time he spotted her at the rehab center.
“I’m sorry if my being there bothered you, but...I just couldn’t stay away.” She looked up from her chopping. "I'd do anything for you Damon. When are you going to see that?"
"Grace, I can't?—"
"Before you deployed," she cut him off. "You visited my mom almost every day while I was at work. Why?"
Because I was in love with you and wanted to get to know your family.
Damon clenched his jaw to keep from blurting out the words. Tension filled the air as the silence stretched between them.
Grace gave him a knowing look. "That's whyIspend so much time withyourmom." Then she turned her back to him, busying herself at the stove.
Damon struggled to breathe as he reminded himself that he had too much going on in his head to give Grace his whole heart. Deciding it was best to put some distance between them. He stepped away from the counter, intending to leave the kitchen.His left leg caught on something and refused to move, but his body was already in motion.
He staggered but failed to plant his prosthesis properly. It slid out from under him. Lily yelped as he went down, smacking his head against the cabinet so hard he saw stars.
The air grew thick and heavy around Damon as the threat of danger closed in on him. His heart took off like a jet taking flight.
No. Wait.
“Identify five things you can see.” Damon heard Emily’s voice in his head as she taught him the 5-4-3-2-1 Sensory Grounding Exercise that was supposed to help him redirect his anxiety. “Then four things you can touch.”
Taking a deep breath, he squeezed his eyes shut then opened them. Focusing on the exercise, he looked at the refrigerator, the light switch...
"Damon, are you okay?" Grace knelt over him, her eyes wide and concerned.
He studied her face. Her big, brown eyes, rosy lips, and beauty mark were much more interesting than light switches.
