The Presence of Grace (Love and Loss #2)(12)

“What?” Shelby asked, concerned.

“I got invited to go to Disney World tomorrow. If there’s one place worse than the beaches during a school break, it’s Disney.”

“Who invited you to Disney? That’s kind of a weird place to invite a grown-ass woman.”

“A man with children.”

“A man? With children?” Her interest in my spring break activities was suddenly heightened. “Are you going on a date?”

“No, it’s not a date,” I insisted. “We’re meeting there. I’m buying my own ticket.”

“I’m confused. You’re going to Disney World with a man and his children, but it’s not a date?”

“Hold on a sec,” I said in a hushed voice. I was just steps from my car, and even though I was sure there was no one around, I still wanted to be careful. Opening the door, I gently tossed my purse on the passenger seat and then folded myself in the car. “The student I stayed late with, he invited me to go along with him and his dad and sister.”

“So?”

“So? What do you mean ‘so’?”

“I mean, a student invites you to Disney World and you politely decline. You pacify him by saying something nice like, ‘Oh, maybe next time,’ and then he forgets about it. You don’t agree to go. So, there has to be something else going on here. Is his dad hot?”

Yes.

“That’s a ridiculous question,” I said sharply, shoving the key in the ignition and cranking the engine.

“So, that’s a yes then.” I could hear her smiling.

“Okay,” I said, pressing the speakerphone button and tossing my phone in the console. “His dad isn’t bad looking. And he’s a nice guy. But it isn’t a date. It’s more of a friend thing. Some of his friends are going and I think he wanted to even the numbers a little.”

“Another couple? So you’re going on a double date to Disney World with a student’s parent? You’ve officially crossed the line from prudish grade school teacher to sexy schoolmarm.”

I wanted to explain to Shelby. Wanted to tell her all about how I’d found Devon broken three years ago, how we’d crossed paths in the strangest of coincidences. How, even though I knew he was trying to move on from something completely heartbreaking, there was a not-so-small part of me that felt I could help him through it. It wasn’t necessarily attraction I felt toward him, but it wasn’t just strictly friendly either. He was the only other person in the world I’d encountered who I felt might feel just as lost as I did. There was some strange sense of solidarity there. I’d felt broken for so long, and I’d begun to think I was alone in my state of fracture. So even though I knew he should have been off-limits, that I should cut ties and just do my job, I couldn’t bring myself to snip those tethers I felt holding us together. If nothing else, he could be a friend.

“There’s nothing sexy about it, Shelby. He’s just a guy with some really great kids and I’m just meeting them at Disney World.”

“We’ll see,” she sang into the phone.




The next morning, I stood in the sunshine outside the gates to Disney World. I was nervous. There was no denying it. Spending the day with people I didn’t know very well, if at all, was making me anxious. A little bit of apprehension melted away when I heard Jax’s voice.

“Miss Richards,” he yelled as he ran toward me and threw his arms around my waist. “You came,” he said, looking up at me with his eyes so blue and lashes any grown woman would maim for.

“I’m here. Couldn’t resist a day at Disney.”

“Glad you could make it,” came Devon’s voice, just as deep as it’d been the day before. “Ruby,” he said, turning to his daughter, standing just behind him. “You know Miss Richards.”

“Hey,” Ruby mumbled, obviously not too excited to see me.

“Hey, Ruby, it’s nice to see you.”

She didn’t respond, just turned back to her father. “When is Aunt Evie supposed to be here?”

“Any minute,” Devon responded. He then mouthed “Sorry,” and shrugged. All I could do was smile in return.

“Aunt Evie,” Jax yelled with the same enthusiasm he’d used to greet me. The same hug, in fact, as he ran to a blonde woman walking toward us.

“Jaxy,” she said as she dropped to her knees to hug him back. I watched as her eyes closed and arms wound around him. She hugged him for a long time, saying things into his ear that I couldn’t hear, but could see were said with love and affection. When he finally pulled away she rose, but only to wrap Ruby in a similar embrace. There was no denying that those kids loved her and she loved them right back.

“Nate,” Jax said as the dark-haired man next to Evie picked him up and gave him a much rougher, more masculine hug.

“How’s it going, kid? I’ve practiced my Minecraft skills since last time and I’m ready to kick your butt.”

“Never,” Jax replied with a smile.

I watched as Evie approached Devon with a shy smile and gave him a much shorter embrace, Nate shaking his hand, smiling broadly. I also noticed how Ruby seemed glued to Evie’s side.

“Evie, Nate, this is Grace,” Devon said, motioning toward me. He smiled, a brilliant smile that almost made me stumble, then pressed his hand lightly at the small of my back. It was the gentlest of touches, but the heat from his hand radiated throughout me. “I invited her to come along.”