Page 15 of Flare Up
Grant figured it wouldn’t be long before Gavin suggested they grab a beer and shoot some pool at Kincaid’s, which would lead to a concerned grilling about what the hell was going on.
He didn’t know.
When they were finished, Patty stood and started gathering plates. “Why don’t you all go relax for a few minutes and let dinner settle before we have dessert?”
“Dessert?” Gavin groaned and put his hand on his stomach. “Warn a guy, would ya?”
“You always find a way,” she said, her affection for her future son-in-law obvious in her voice. “Grant, why don’t you take Wren upstairs and show her the room?”
He froze for a second. Sure, he knew which room it was. He’d helped out when they did a massive decluttering of the house and repainted the upstairs. But it wasn’t his house.
But then he caught the look she gave him and realized Patty thought he was the one most likely to talk her into accepting the offer. “Okay. Sure.”
Wren followed him quietly up the stairs and down the hall to the small spare bedroom. He couldn’t read her as he opened the door and waved for her to go in.
“It’s small, but nice,” he said, since that was pretty much all there was to say about it.
For a while, after Cait moved out, it had become something of a storage room. And then Cait had moved back in to help out after her stepfather died, living around the clutter. Once she’d moved in with Gavin, they’d redone everything and now it was a pretty typical guest room. Twin bed with a blue quilt. Bedside table with a lamp, and a small dresser. And a shabby floral armchair that had definitely seen better days, but Grant knew firsthand how comfortable it was.
“It doesn’t have its own bathroom, but there are only two other people, so it wouldn’t be hard to figure out the schedule.”
“It’s pretty,” she said, still giving him nothing as far as her mood.
“I know it probably feels strange. But you like Patty and Carter. And it’s a safe, comfortable place to live while you make up your mind about what you want to do next. This way you don’t have to rush or keep sleeping on a couch.”
“I’ve been looking around online,” she said, running her hand over the quilt. “There’s not a lot out there. And there’s almost nothing decent in my price range.”
“Patty would love to have you here. That’s the truth.”
“I could maybe use a mom in my life right now. Even if she’s not mine.”
He fought back against an urge to put his arms around her because it didn’t feel like a friend offering comfort. It felt like a primal need to hold her, and that was too messy right now. He was supposed to be thinking with his brain, not his heart, he reminded himself.
“I’ll rent the room,” she said quietly. “I know she’ll balk at that, but it’s important to me. I’ll pay room and board.”
He knew Patty would definitely balk at that, but she’d give in once she realized Wren wouldn’t do it any other way. “Okay. You two can talk about it. But you’ll stay here?”
“I’ll stay.”
He smiled, and when she blushed, his body tightened in response. That was how it had started. A look. Her shy sideways glances. His smile. Her blush. Up until the moment he’d laid eyes on Wren, he would have walked away from a woman like her. He wanted company, not a challenge.
But she’d challenged him in a way he couldn’t resist. He’d wanted to know her, and he’d moved slower than he’d ever moved before. He’d been patient and let her back away when she needed to. Eventually she’d started letting him in and the reward had been sweeter than he could have imagined.
Now, as her cheeks glowed pink and her gaze skittered away, he realized they were back where they’d started.
And maybe that meant they could get back what they’d had.
Chapter Six
“That didn’t take long,” Cait said, her hands on her hips as she looked around the room that was now Wren’s.
“I guess there’s a plus side to everything you own fitting in one duffel bag,” Wren said.
Cait laughed and then covered her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. “Sorry. That’s not funny.”
“I said it to be funny. Laughing is better than crying, and feeling sorry for myself won’t get me anywhere.”
But Cait was right. It definitely hadn’t taken long. Once Patty had reluctantly agreed Wren would be a boarder and not a guest and they’d had dessert, they’d gone back to Cait’s for her belongings. Cait had insisted on returning to her mom’s to help her settle in, which was pretty funny considering it had taken about five minutes to put everything away.
