“What? I’ll do anything.”
“We should respect his wishes, earn back his trust. Maybe then he’ll give me a chance.”
“No.That’ll take forever. You didn’t hear him. He won’t back down. And I have to see you. I can’t stand the thought of not seeing you.”
“I want to see you too. But if this is going to work, I have to earn his respect, Shelby. Man to man. That’s what it’ll take.”
A beat of silence passed between them. A knot tightened in his gut at the thought of losing her forever. Maybe she wouldn’t believe it was worth all this. Maybe he should be willing to give her up rather than come between her and her family.
But he couldn’t. He closed his eyes.Please, God. She’s everything to me.
“Let’s just try it and see, okay? Give it a little time.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know. But I want this as much as you do.I love you, Shelby.” The words burst like water from a dam. “I wanted to tell you last night. I shouldn’t have said it over the phone, but I couldn’t wait any longer.”
“Oh, Gray, I love you too. So much.”
She loved him. Shelby Thatcher loved him.
The heavy load lifted from his shoulders until he felt so light he feared he might go airborne. “All right then. We’re in this together. We’ll do whatever we have to do to be together.”
“All right.” He heard the smile in her voice. “There is one bit of good news in all this—Gram already knew about us.”
“How?”
“She saw us kissing outside way back in July. And you know she likes you. She’s rooting for us.”
His lips curved into a smile. “See there? Maybe she’ll have a positive influence on your dad.”
“That’s what I’m hoping. She thinks he just overreacted and that he might come around.”
The good bit of news quenched his soul. There was hope. Maybe hecouldearn Mr. Thatcher’s trust. “It’s all the more important now that we abide by his rules no matter how hard it might be.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I don’t either, babe. But maybe it won’t take as long as we fear.”
“I’m going to beg Gram to change his mind about you.”
His grin widened. Shelby could be so determined when she set her heart on something. He almost felt sorry for Miss Violaandher dad.
Joe Lang came around the corner and stopped short at the sight of Gray. His eyebrows crashed together. “Hey.Get off the phone. You’re not on break and you’ve got customers waiting up front.”
Chapter 24
Present day
Shelby already had the lights on and the store open by the time Gray arrived with his dog. She didn’t even wait for them to reach the top of the stairs.
“Morning!” The mutt ran straight for her and she gave him some love. “I had an idea last night I wanted to run by you. Remember Phoebe Bell, our local famous author? Well, she has a book releasing in— Hey, are you all right?” Gray’s blue eyes looked tired, as if he’d just rolled from bed. Or maybe like he hadn’t slept at all. “Are you sick or something?”
“Just a late night. What’s this idea, and please tell me there’s coffee.”
“Down in the office. You and Patrick stay out late?”
“Something like that.”
