Page 27 of Caught Up In You

“How long do you think that’ll take?” Carson asks, her eyes alight with hope.

Grace grimaces. “It’s probably going to be about a year of construction.”

Carson groans and drops her head onto the counter with a dull thud. “If I’m still living with my parents next year, please put me on a raft and push me out to sea. What about Decker’s apartment?”

When Decker was in Cardinal Springs last summer for reputation reasons, he rented the place across the hall from Grace, and even though he moved back to Chicago for his final NHL season, it’s still full of his furniture.

“I wish you had asked me earlier. I absolutely would have handed you the keys,” Grace says. “But Dan needs a place to stay, and he’s sick of Archer’s guest room, so Decker offered the place to him a few days ago.”

Carson’s cheeks pink up.

“Dan’s living here? Like, permanently? What about New York? And his job?”

“You’re welcome to ask him when he comes to get the keys, which should be any minute now,” Grace says, glancing at her watch. “If you’re able to get any real answers out of my brother, you have my congratulations.”

As far as I know, Grace’s brother Dan is some kind of finance bro in New York. A trader? Frankly, the entire stock market is none of my business, and while I know Grace’s other brothers pretty well, what with their penchant for drinking in my bar and pinning me against pickup trucks with their tongues (okay, just the one, butmy god, Owen’s tongue, it haunts me), I barely know Dan at all. Until recently, he never came back to Cardinal Springs. Then he showed up last summer, unannounced and with no explanation. He’s been drifting in and out, crashing at his dad’s or in Archer’s guest room and then disappearing for a while. It’s all very mysterious.

“Hey, do you have the new Janice Andrews?” Carson asks, and Grace hustles to the back to find the box with the new shipment. I pull Eden out of her stroller and settle her onto mylap, selecting a copy of the Mötley Crüe memoir from the nearest shelf and flipping it open.

“You know, I have a robust, beautifully curated children’s section right over there,” Grace says when she reappears with Carson’s book.

“Yeah, but I need to start teaching her the red flags early. Like, don’t snort ants and don’t date drummers,” I reply, giving my niece a raspberry on her chubby little cheek.

“You don’t dateat all,” Carson points out.

“If you expand your definition ofdate, I do that plenty,” I say, then sigh. “Didthat plenty, anyway. But then this little nugget showed up, and now all I want to do is figure out ways to make her giggle.”

“So you seriously haven’t seenanybodysince Eden was born?” Grace asks. “That seems like a record for you.”

I glance over at my best friend. I’ve been wanting to tell her for a while. I hate keeping a secret from her, and at this point I don’t think there’s a reason to. It’s not like kissing Owen changed anything. We’ve just become better friends. Yeah, we flirt a little (a lot), but what’s a little flirting between friends? It’s been two months since I had Owen McBride’s tongue in my mouth, and nothing else has happened. I think it’s safe to tell her now.

“It’s true. I’ve barely had time for any extracurriculars. I did go on one epically bad date the other night, but that’s been it, uh…” I bury my face in Eden’s roly-poly neck like a coward. “Other than that one time I made out with your brother.”

Carson gasps, and Grace drops the roll of pennies she’s holding.

“What?Which one?” Grace cries.

“Owen,” Carson says.

I whip my gaze to her. “How did you know?”

“Please. I have eyes,” Carson says, rolling them. “I saw the way you were staring holes into his chest at that speed dating thing.”

“Where was I during all this?” Grace asks.

“Hockey,” we reply in unison, because Grace spent that entire night muttering swear words at the officials while staring at her phone.

“Ugh. Sorry,” Grace says. “I’ve become that girl who disappeared because she got a boyfriend.”

“Don’t be sorry! You’re in love, and I love that for you,” I tell her. “And anyway, it’s not a big deal. It was the night before that big ice storm back in January. It was just a one-time thing. We agreed it was a mistake. We’re just friends.”

“January? It’s March! That was two months ago!” Grace cries, Eden startling in my lap at the sound. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

I wince. “I’m sorry. Are you mad?”

Grace shakes her head. “Of course not. Mostly I’m just annoyed that I could have spent the last two months trying to shove you guys together. I’ve noticed the chemistry between you. I just figured you were both oblivious.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” I tell her.

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