Page 33 of Bidding on a Second Chance
Bryce’s lips jammed together in displeasure. He must’ve guessed her idea. A good experience with Graham might help him feel differently in the future. A trip to the store together would give them the chance to bond when she wasn’t in the picture. Plus, it would keep Graham away from the store for an hour or two.
“I’d like to get you the set, but I can’t take you.”
Bryce returned to his work. “Forget it.”
Piper upped the ante. “Three sets.”
When her nephew’s gaze lifted in interest, Piper hurried back to her bedroom for her phone to get Graham involved before Bryce could change his mind.
* * *
“At least we didn’t have to drive in circles for twenty minutes to find a spot.” Graham rested a hand on Bryce’s shoulder as they hiked from their parking spot toward the store. One Wells getting sideswiped was one too many. He wasn’t going to let Bryce out of reach until they were safely inside.
The kid glowered up at him, but Graham kept his hand in place. It was either that or hold the boy’s hand, and he knew which would go over worse. They followed a trickle of others through the automatic doors and into the store. So far, he’d seen far fewer people than he’d expected.
The noise of overlapping conversations drew his attention left, toward the registers. There, a sea—no, an ocean—of people waited in line. Hopefully, Piper wouldn’t need help at Second Chances this morning, because he and Bryce wouldn’t get out of here before noon.
Why had he agreed to this?
Because when it came to Piper, the craziest things came out of his mouth. Things that encouraged her to date other men. Things like,Sure, I’ll take Bryce Black Friday shopping.
Of the two, the shopping trip wasn’t the worst.
His mental picture of her on the arm of some other guy blurred when it came to her companion, but he could imagine how she’d smile up at the man. His stomach soured.
“They’re this way.” Bryce took the lead and wove through the store like he’d done this often. He dodged a woman with an overfull cart and veered into the aisle of spaceships, cars, and building sets.
Graham gave the lady an apologetic nod as he waited for her to pass. In the aisle, Bryce’s head bobbed as he looked at one half-empty shelf and another, searching for his prize. When he reached the end, he stopped and turned back, his expression wavering between disappointment and determination.
Heavy suspicion seeped into Graham’s gut. He joined Bryce, reading labels on the shelves while the boy double-checked the boxes. Graham found the correct label beneath an empty space on the shelf. Not one of the sets they’d come for remained.
Bryce made it to the end of the aisle again and returned to stand at Graham’s elbow. “They aren’t here.”
“Looks like they’re sold out.”
“But I just saw the commercial.”
“I know, but it probably ran nationwide. They didn’t know our store would sell out of them.” He scanned the aisle for a way to redeem this. Other sets featured astronauts, even if the building blocks were larger, the design more simplistic. He lifted what he estimated to be the coolest of them. “What about one of these?”
“Those are for babies.”
Graham put it back. “We can try online. On the bright side, we don’t have to stand in the checkout line for an hour.”
“But I wanted to build it today.”
“I’m sorry.” Graham rubbed his face and scanned the shelves again. He moved a couple of boxes in case one of the coveted sets had gotten mixed in, but to no avail. “I’ll take you to your great-grandparents’ house. At least you have a set there to work on.”
Bryce scowled the whole way to his great-grandparents’ house. When he climbed out of the truck, Graham expected a mouthy remark, but the boy slammed the door and headed away.
He watched until he made it inside and then pulled back onto the road, his own mood on the upswing. Next, he’d get to see Piper, and not even a herd of Black Friday shoppers could trample that good news.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Graham found more people inside Second Chances than he’d ever seen browsing the store at once. The dozen or so shoppers may mean Piper would need him for something other than furniture. He could handle a line of shoppers as long as he didn’t have to stand in it.
Ally exited a dressing room, leaning backward to counterbalance a load of clothes. She looked about ready to tip over.
“You need help?”
