Page 35 of Spring Showers

At the fire, Thandie made an announcement that the rain would be coming soon and suggested that they wrap things up and head in for the night before it was too late. She sat on the bench and charred her hotdog, not taking the time to cook it properly.

She must have noticed him noticing her and laughed. “What? I like the skin all crunchy.” She picked a slice off the hot dog and chewed it, and it did indeed crunch. “You like yours raw?”

Grant looked down and saw that his wasn’t even in the fire, not enough to be cooked, or even warmed in the short time they had remaining before Thandie’s rain might arrive. He stuck the dog directly in the fire and pulled it out a minute later, flame and all.

“That’s better,” she said and tapped her dog against his to put out the blaze. “Have you ever done this before?”

“What? Cooked a hotdog on a stick? Sure have,” Grant said proudly with an anecdote at the ready about his time in the scouts, but she cut off his thought before he had a chance to tell his tale.

“No, I mean. Have you ever just gotten to know a woman, with no expectations, with no pressures from friends or family to move things along at a certain pace or in a certain way?—”

“Or because it feels like if I don’t get to know you that I’ll be missing a piece of myself forever?” he said and immediately regretted being so frank. He hadn’t even admitted to himself what was true. It was as though the years of running from love had brought him all the way around to a place where he might be able to experience it again.Life is funny that way, he thought and met her gaze.

She nodded with a grin and a bite of her lower lip on one side before taking another crunchy strip of hotdog and shoving it in her pretty mouth.

CHAPTER17

Thandie laughed at how silly she was being with Grant. Their teasing had taken a sharp turn that evening onto a different road. Teasing had changed from friendly banter to a more suggestive, even sensual tit-for-tat that excited her and worried her at the same time. Since the wedding fiasco, she had been on a mission of self-discovery and healing, and not out hunting for another man who could ruin her life again.

She finished her thought as she finished chewing her bite of hotdog.

Although her blush was likely hidden in the light of the fire, she turned her face away from Grant. Had he really just said what he said? How could he feel such a strong emotion towards her? His words,Missing a piece of myself forever, rang in her mind.

His sentiment matched her own feelings. Which only begged the question: How was she feeling what she was feeling in the huge way she was feeling it? They were at ease with each other despite the tension that existed between them. There was nothing forced in the way they touched each other, looked at one another, or laughed together. The only thing that seemed forced was how they were both fighting it so much.

A current of excitement coursed through every nerve-ending in her body at the thought of seeing him or touching him in any way.

Now, having finished what remained of the hot dog, and with nothing standing in the way of her silence, she stood up from the log bench and stared into the fire. The flame’s white tips tickled the few stars still peeking through the fast-moving clouds, and a plume of embers scattered into the air as the burned logs crumbled under their own weight.

“What is it?” Grant asked and stood beside her.

She saw herself in the bonfire. She had been like the wood at the bottom, being crushed by the mass of burning anger that she felt towards Davis. The resentment that she had carried for longer than she should have had nearly destroyed her. “This is ridiculous!”

A simple but apt statement.

She knew from his hesitation to speak that he didn’t agree. If only he knew why she was so scared of getting hurt again. Never mind that her job, and the future of The Foundry was on the line if the week didn’t go well. Getting involved with a guest was off the table, no matter how much she wanted to.

His hand grazed against hers. She wanted to take his hand, to feel his warm, strong fingers intertwine with hers. She wanted to stay up all night and talk with him until the sun came up. She wanted to see what he looked like in the last moments of night and the first light of dawn. She wanted . . .

“Grant. I need to tell you something.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ve known from the first day after the disastrous hike.”

“You have? How?” she asked and rubbed her forehead.

“I overheard you talking to someone about it. And I want you to know that I understand completely.”

Had she said something by accident? Did he know about Davis and the wedding that never was? Or was he the investor and thought she knew he was the spy? Did he mistake the personalized attention for something else altogether?

“I suppose it’s better that you know now rather than later,” she said, but she was still unsure what exactly he thought he knew. Now it just felt awkward to keep talking about it. Either he would feel foolish, or she would, and she couldn’t bear another embarrassment.

“I’m glad we got that straight,” he said, though her mind was more warped than ever. “Now can we stop pretending that this isn’t happening between us and just have a nice time? Together?”

“I think that would be—” Thandie stopped and put her palms out in front of her. She caught the first few raindrops from the incoming shower. “Right on time.” She didn’t get to finish saying that she thought giving in to her attraction to him would be a terrible idea.

Above her, the sliver of moon disappeared behind the storm’s leading edge. The stars twinkled in the distance to the east until they were mixed in with the glimmer of the falling rain in the firelight and obscured.

“I need to clean all this up really quick. You should go.”

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