Page 112 of Eleanor & Grey

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I said thank you. Thank you for being there for my girls.”

I cocked an eyebrow, baffled. “You aren’t…you aren’t mad?”

“No. I called you in here to just say thank you for standing up for them. I know I’m not always able to be around, and I know I’ve been distant over the past few months. I’m not…” He took a breath and looked down at his hands. “I’m not myself. I’m trying to be myself to get back to normal, but I’m not there yet. So, thank you for being there. They needed you today. I needed you today.”

It was the complete opposite of what I’d thought he was going to say to me. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure how to react.

I sat back in my chair, so thrown off. “Oh, well…okay. You’re welcome.”

“Just keep me in the loop a little next time. If you’re going to take Karla out of school or cuss out a woman in front of the whole elementary school, just give me a heads-up.”

“Yes, of course. It won’t be a normal thing, and I am really sorry for it all, especially for snapping at Lorelai’s school.”

“Don’t be. Mrs. Robertson is a bitch.”

I smiled. He smiled back.

Greyson smiled at me.

It was the kind of smile I remembered, the kind of smile that had made me look at him time and time again in wonderment when we were younger, the kind I hadn’t known I’d missed until I saw it on his lips.

My lips parted, and I spoke softly. “More of that, Grey.”

More of that.

42

Greyson

After Eleanor left that evening, I continued working in my office for a while, and when Landon’s call came through, I actually answered. “Hey, Landon. What’s up?”

“For the love of all good things, is that what you sound like nowadays? I swear your voice got deeper,” he joked.

“I just saw you at Lorelai’s party.”

“Still, it feels weird having you pick up my calls. For some reason, I didn’t expect you to answer.”

“Yeah, sorry about the missed calls—you know, all five hundred of them.”

“Meh, I figured you’d answer when you were ready.”

“Yeah. How’s being back in California treating you?”

He updated me about how filming for his next movie was going, how crazy the paparazzi was, how he’d slept with half of Hollywood. You know, the basics.

It was crazy how different we’d become, but still, in many ways, we were the same—like how Landon couldn’t keep himself from sleeping with any woman who looked his way.

“But can we talk about Eleanor for a minute? That was kind of amazing what she did for Lorelai’s birthday.” Landon mentioned.

“Yeah, she’s been pretty amazing. Better than I deserve, actually. She’s really helped the girls more than I could say.”

“Yeah. So, have you seen Shay since Eleanor—” Landon started, but before he could finish, there was a knock on my door. Then it opened, and Karla was standing there.

I was somewhat stunned.

Karla never came to my office.

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