I paced aroundthe front room, keeping an eye on Piper and Grace through the window. They were sitting in Grace’s SUV. Just sitting there and talking.
At one point they hugged, which seemed like a positive indication. Grace had run out of here, but she hadn’t driven off. Wasn’t yelling, far as I could tell.
Of course she wouldn’t. Grace wasn’t angry like that. Like me and Ashford.
I still worried I had hurt her, though. I never wanted to hurt my sister. Some of the biggest decisions I’d made in the past had been designed to avoid hurting Grace.
And yet I’d ended up hurting her anyway by being out of her life for so many years. Sometimes a guy couldn’t win.
After about ten minutes, Piper and Grace both got out of the vehicle and approached the house. I thought about pretending I hadn’t been watching them. But what was the point of that? So I opened the door for them and stood aside.
“Hey, Gracie,” I said as she walked into the house again.
“Hi. Sorry about earlier. I should’ve called ahead or something.”
“Don’t be sorry. You’re always welcome here.”
“That’s pretty much what I told her,” Piper said.
I shut the door and touched Piper’s back, running my hand down her spine over her sweater. I wanted to kiss her and ask how she was feeling, but my sister’s presence stopped me. For the moment, anyway.
“We good?” I murmured to Piper instead.
She didn’t answer. Grace turned and faced us, arms crossed over her coat. She was glancing from Piper to me.
“Can we talk?” I asked Grace.
“I was going to suggest that.”
Piper took a step away from me, and my hand fell back to my side. “I’m going to call Ollie and Callum,” Piper said. “Should be kick-off pretty soon. I want to say hi.”
Grace nodded at her, and the two of them shared a serious look.
Well, shit. My stomach churned, nervous about what exactly the two best friends had been discussing in that SUV. Piper was already so skittish about us having a future.
“We can sit in the kitchen,” I offered after Piper stepped outside. “Not much seating in here just yet.”
“It’s looking great, though. Wow. I can’t believe this is Piper and Teller’s old house.” Grace glanced around the room, stopping beside the desk to study my drawings.
“Sketches for a mural. It’ll go on that big wall. This area will be reception. Don’t have a studio name yet, but I’ll work that into the mural.”
Hell, I was rambling. Time to get to the point. I was the older brother here, and I owed it to my sister to make this easier for her.
“Grace, it wasn’t my intention to keep this a secret.”This, obviously being my dating Piper.
She shrugged. “I get it. Piper said it’s pretty new. Whatever’s happening between you two. You went on a date yesterday?”
“We did.” I was glad Piper had told her. “She means a lot to me. I didn’t expect any of this when I came to Silver Ridge, but I care about her.”
She took a slow breath. “Good. If you didn’t, I’d have to punch you in the nose or something, and I already know how much that would hurt my hand.”
A laugh burst out of my chest.
“I’m ready to sit down now,” she said, leading the way to the kitchen. When she reached the table, Grace took a seat and folded her hands on the table like this was a business meeting.
My stomach dropped. I felt like a guy called into the boss’s office to get fired.
I slowly dragged out the chair across from her and took a seat. “Are you supposed to give me the bad news?”
