"Damon and I are just friends," Grace insisted. "I mean, he leaves in a little over a week. There's no point in anything more."
Both ladies’ faces fell as they nodded, then Paige pointed a finger in the air. "Except, Damon told me months ago, that if he met a woman who changed his mind, he'd consider not re-upping next spring."
"Really?" Riley's eyes widened. "He loves serving in the Army, I didn't think he'd ever consider leaving it."
Grace thought back on her conversations with Damon. When she asked him if he'd ever come home, like his cousins, he'd said,"Maybe."Then at the diner yesterday, he wondered if he came home, where his place was in Providence.
A flip-flopping sensation hit her stomach. Did that mean he was considering leaving the Army and moving home? Did it have something to do with her? When he said he wanted to get to know her better, did he mean that in the long-term relationship—possibly even forever—sense?
No. He's just missing his family, that's all.
Paige and Riley launched into a new topic, but Grace couldn't get Paige's words out of her head. If Damon came home for good, would she be willing to take a chance on them?
CHAPTER 9
"And that was when I knew we were in big trouble." Daniel gave a dramatic shudder.
Grace burst out laughing, and Gabe joined her.
"Your dad was mad." Damon recalled the censor in Zane's scowl as he pointed at Daniel. "And Uncle Blake was angry, but that was nothing compared to how livid your mom was."
Paige looked at Gabe. "Lottie is a sweetheart and an amazing cook, but you do not want to get on her bad side. Messing with her garden or orchard will put you there real fast. Pretending the apples were snowballs and having a snowball fight?" She grimaced as she shook her head. "You'd have thought we'd set fire to the whole orchard."
"Ugh." Riley joined the conversation. "She made Paige and me scrub every inch of the floor of the main house."
"On our hands and knees." Paige's voice rose an octave.
"You girls got off easy," Damon said, shaking his head. "Daniel and I had to do Robert and Jake's chores for a week, including cleaning out the chicken coop and the horse stalls, and we weren't allowed to use the hose to water the horses. We had to carry the water with buckets. We were only eight!” He turnedto Grace. “Do you have any idea how much water fifty horses can drink?"
"We probably only had twenty-five horses at the most." Riley rolled her eyes. "And it serves you right. You guys were the ones who climbed the trees and picked the apples and convinced us..." She made air quotes with her fingers. "...asnowball fightwas a good idea."
"The real punishment came that fall when we weren't allowed to have any cider, apple crisp, or pie." Remorse was written all over Daniel's face.
"Oh, and your mom's apple fritters." Paige closed her eyes as she hummed.
The rest of them joined in with moans of pleasure.
They'd all finished eating a while ago, but they still lingered at the table talking about everything from the wedding and Riley's pregnancy to reminiscing about the good old days.
Damon had to admit he'd had an amazing childhood. When had he gone from that to feeling the need to get out of this sleepy little town?
He wanted his kids to have the kind of childhood he had.
My kids.
He hadn't thought much about having a family of his own until he heard Daniel and Riley were expecting, but now, he thought about it a lot. He didn't think men had biological clocks, like women always talked about, but he was beginning to feel like he'd be left behind if he didn't settle down soon.
He leaned back and stretched, then jerked his hand back to his lap and balled his fist.
He'd almost put his arm on the back of Grace's chair, the way Daniel had his arm around Riley, who leaned into him as though she couldn't get enough contact. On Damon's left, Paige rested her hand on Gabe's thigh.
Damon and Grace sat next to each other at the circular table. Not as close as the other couples, but close enough she could put her hand on his leg, if she wanted to.
But she'd never do it.
He mentally kicked himself yet again for telling her on Saturday that all he wanted was friendship.
She'd taken him at his word. So much so she hadn't let him walk her to the door after riding horses or after their four-wheeling and shooting outing. Which meant there had been zero chance of kissing her again, like he'd been wanting to do since their amazing kiss in the elevator.
