That stupid slow drawl of his jangled her last nerve. She glared at the boy and his ridiculously large tube as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.Any day now, kid.
“So you’ve got a stubborn streak too. Good to know.”
Once the boy made it across, she accelerated only to slow down again for a speed bump. This ride would never end. This was what she got for doing a good deed. For thinking that maybe Grayson Briggs was just a poor, misunderstood youth. That everyone deserved a chance.
“Well, since we’ve got the time and you’re not up for conversation, guess I’ll fill the gap. I’d like to circle back around to that word you used before—disdain.’Cause, see, it’s notdisdainI feel at all, Shelby.”
What the heck was he implying? Heat climbed her neck and flooded her cheeks. So maybe she’d stared at him a time or two. He was interesting to look at, that was all. And she was maybe a little intrigued by him. He had an air of mystery about him. But that was it. That was absolutely it.
His gaze burned into the side of her face.
Do not respond.She gritted her teeth together.
“See, what I’m feeling is altogether different from disdain, and for the record, I suspect I’m not alone here.” He paused as if waiting for her reply. When it didn’t come, he continued. “This is where you tell me you have a wonderful boyfriend and the two of y’all are just so in love. But I happen to know a little about your boyfriend. He’s actually a total jerk. You just don’t know it yet.”
Shelby pressed the accelerator harder, took a speed bump too fast, and the car rattled. She couldn’t care less. Maybe it’d shake some sense into Gray. All she cared about was getting him out of her car as quickly as possible.
Andthank You, Jesus, she could see Miss Dorothy’s cottage straight ahead.
“Not going to defend him?” He paused. “All right. I’ll take that as a sign that you’re more perceptive than I gave you credit for.”
Now in front of the house she pressed the brake, bringing the car to a bracing halt.
Gray took his time releasing his seat belt, then eased out of the car. He turned and flashed a grin. “Good talk, Sunshine. Thanks for the ride. See you tomorrow.” He closed the door before she could respond.
Not that she was going to. He swaggered toward his grandma’s house, and she growled as she put the car in Drive, then muttered a few things she was sure Gram wouldn’t approve of. Her tires spit gravel in her rush to escape. Tension throbbed at the base of her neck, and her palms were slick with sweat. She wiped them one at a time down the length of her shorts. Thank God that was over.
Chapter 9
Present day
Shelby went soft at the sight of her father on his porch swing with Ollie. The baby wore a knit cap and fleece sleeper to stay warm in the cool October evening. Her dad was staring off into space, his salt-and-pepper hair ruffling in the wind. The lines on his forehead seemed more prominent than they had only a week ago. Her heart ached for him. Losing Gram had been hard on the whole family.
Shelby stroked her gram’s wedding set, which dangled from a gold chain at her neck. She hoped her face bore no remnants of her recent crying jag. She’d just left her apartment where the mere sight of Gram’s tea service had brought a wave of grief. It didn’t seem to take much. One minute she was fine; the next she was falling apart in the middle of her kitchen.
Dad caught sight of her coming up the sidewalk and his expression warmed. “Hey, puddin’. What brings you by?”
“Can’t I just want to check on my dear old dad?”
“I suspect this little package might be the real draw.”
Ollie blinked wide brown eyes at her as she placed a kiss on Dad’s cheek. “It doesn’t hurt.” She scooped the baby from Dad, who gave him over willingly. He scooched over to make room for her on the swing. “Hi there, buddy. Oh, you are so sweet. I could just eat you up.” There wassomething purely therapeutic about new life. When she held Oliver all her troubles seemed to wash away. “Where’s Caleb and Liddy—and if I ran off with this little guy, do you think they could catch me?”
Dad’s lips twitched. “The town hall meeting ended early, so they took advantage of my free time by grabbing supper out. They’re probably expecting their son to be here when they get home.”
“Just as well. I’ve got my hands pretty full at the shop.” She’d placed ads trying to find someone to fill Gram’s job, but she hadn’t had a single qualified applicant, and Gray would be leaving in one week.
She shook away the stressful thought and regarded her dad. “Nice of you to give them a break. They probably don’t get out very often on their own.” Shelby couldn’t imagine trying to find a trustworthy babysitter in a big city like New York.
“They could get all the breaks they wanted if your brother would just move back home.”
This again. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “You know it’s not that simple, Dad.”
“It could be. He could do his artwork from anywhere, and now that Liddy’s home with the baby, she doesn’t have a job to leave.”
“He might be able to paint anywhere, but the big galleries are in New York.” She was beginning to suspect Dad’s disappointment in Caleb had less to do with his choice of occupation and more to do with his geographic location.
“He could travel for the showings and ship his artwork if he wanted.”
