Page 16 of Bidding on a Second Chance
“I thought if you were going to be here anyway …” Lucy lowered the shirt, far enough into this plea that she must imagine herself unstoppable. “Perhaps you could step in for me, since you two are getting along again?”
A tenuous ceasefire called for the greater good could hardly be called getting along. Piper licked her lips and focused on her best friend. “Ally and I can manage without you, Lucy. I don’t need you to find a replacement.”
Graham cleared his throat. “I planned to spend most of Friday working here before my shift. By the time I need to leave, I suppose business will be slowing back down again.”
Was he saying he would help with the store in the morning? Piper closed her slackening jaw.
Triumphant, her friend slid the blouse back onto the rack. “Saturday will be busy too.”
Graham rubbed his shoulder.
“That’s too much to ask, Lucy.”
“Why? You askedme, and it sounds like he was planning to be here regardless.” Lucy fixed her gaze on Graham.
“As long as you don’t have plans to open at the crack of dawn, I can help.”
Lucy gave Graham a sweet smile loaded with hidden meaning. “I suppose she’ll have to teach you to run the register and everything. I’ll leave you to it.” She waved her fingers at Piper, then made a break for it.
“Register?” Graham flinched as if the question physically pained him.
“No. I can sit behind the counter. I might need a little help with moving things around, but hopefully you can still focus on the furniture.” She wouldn’t have to be close to him, resisting the temptation to fall for him, if he was in back.
ChapterTen
About ten yards from the bleachers, Bryce’s blue-and-white basketball shoes halted with a squeak. Graham’s lofty hopes of making a difference in the community—and specifically with Bryce—froze too. His heart sank when the boy pivoted back to collect his street shoes and jacket from the sidelines. His great-grandpa had already shaken hands with Kent and left, but if he hurried, Bryce might still catch up.
Each day when Graham showed up to work on furniture, Piper’s smile grew less guarded, and he trusted he was that much closer to the explanations he craved. Unless he failed with Bryce.
“Wait.” He jogged over to the boy as Bryce tugged on the gym bag containing his street shoes.
The strap had hooked on something under the bleacher.
“Where are you going, Bryce?”
“Home.”
“You’re quitting, just like that?”
Though his expression remained angry, Bryce’s mouth curved down.
The boy hadn’t liked it when Graham tried telling him Piper was counting on his help, so it probably wouldn’t help to say the team was counting on him. But from the looks of it, Bryce didn’t much like the idea of quitting.
“You must’ve gone out for the team for a reason. What was it?”
The frown deepened, and Bryce gave up on the gym bag. He swiped up his coat.
“Look. The way I see it, we can handle this like men.”
Bryce’s chin bunched, but he was slow about straightening the jacket to put it on. He was listening.
“I guarantee I’ll make your game better. Coach Kent has got a lot of players to work with. My involvement means more individualized time for everyone, whether they’re working with me or with him. If you did go out for the team for a reason, my being here will only help.”
“We’ll win?” Bryce forgot to look angry as he asked.
Win what? Games, or did Bryce have his sights set on a specific title? The stakes weren’t exactly high for rec league basketball. “I don’t know, but if you quit, you won’t be with us if we do, and that would be a pretty awful feeling.”
Disappointment weighed on Bryce’s expression again, maybe at the idea of missing a winning season, but more likely at the idea of joining practice and tolerating Graham.
