Page 13 of Fake It Till We Fall
Chapter Four
Grayson
By the next morning, I’d gone over the entire ten-minute interaction with Harper at least a thousand times. Each time I replayed it in my mind, I found at least one new thing I should have done or said differently, until I might as well have rewritten the whole exchange.
Well, almost.
I wouldn’t have changed the way I held her in my arms. The feel of her after so many years was the best kind of memory coming back to life. The way her eyes met mine, unguarded and full of surprise, just for a moment before softening into recognition.
I wouldn’t have changed any of that.
It was what I didn’tsaythat I wish I could’ve changed.
Like, “It’s good to see you.” Or “You look amazing.” Or “I’ve missed you.” Or…well, a million other things.
I’d replayed all the things I should have said to her. All the things I’d thought about a hundred times over the years. But when the moment arrived, not one of them made it past my lips.
I wanted a do-over.
That wasn’t going to happen. Maybe instead of a do-over, I’d have to settle for inviting Harper for a drink.
No.
Definitely not a drink. That was too much. I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.
Or any idea.
Coffee.
Coffee was safe.
Simple. Innocent. Just two old friends catching up. There wasn’t any reason we couldn’t be friends after all this time. Besides, if I didn’t do something, the alternative was to keep avoiding her like a coward.
I was restocking drill bits when Ben, my assistant manager, leaned around the end of the aisle with a clipboard. “We’ve got a problem. Carly just called. She’s out sick today, and if we don’t find someone to cover, we’re going to be short-handed.”
I took the clipboard from him and scanned the schedule. “Call Tyler. He wanted some extra hours. If he can’t do it, I’ll watch the front counter for a few hours.”
“Don’t you have inventory paperwork?” Ben shook his head.
“I’ll do it after close if need be.” It wouldn’t be the first time.
Before he could argue, my phone buzzed.
I pulled it from my pocket and handed the clipboard back to Ben. “It’s the boss. I’ve got to take this.” I moved away from the box of drill bits. “Morning, Ollie.”
“Grayson.” The older man’s voice boomed through the line the same way it had since I’d started working for him in high school. “I got those reports you sent over last night. The numbers look good.”
“Glad to hear it. Business has been good and?—”
“You’ve done a good job over there, son.”
I beamed and straightened my shoulders. It’s not that I needed the praise; IknewI’d done a good job with the store since taking over as manager. I’d brought in new products, offered more services, and streamlined ordering and staffing so that Ollie had been able to take bigger and bigger steps into his retirement.
At times, it was hard for me to remember that I didn’t own the store outright already.
Hopefully, that would change soon. It wasn’t something I’d been ready to talk to my brothers about. Not yet. I wanted to be sure I could do it. But after running the reports for Ollie, I’d run some numbers of my own. And to my surprise, they actually looked good. It was doable.
At least I hoped it was.
