How to Love Your Neighbour(86)

Going back into the house, she reminded herself that she was in control only of herself and her own emotions. It would do her no good to try to figure out what was going on with Noah, playing guessing games. When they saw each other, she’d ask what happened. No big deal. She didn’t need to see him every night. Didn’t need him to check in or check up. She hadn’t been waiting by her phone like she’d seen her mother do more times than she could count. Nope. She’d had a great night, a good meal with her family, and she was going to bed happy.

Picking up her phone from the mantel, she saw there were no new messages. She drew in a shuddery breath. Yup. She was going to bed happy. And alone.





39


What he knew about being a good man, he learned from his brothers and grandfather. All of them were men he admired, men he wanted to learn from. Though he was learning plenty about what kind of man he didn’t want to be from his father. His father would never own up to his mistakes or make things right.

Pride didn’t make a man; choices did. He picked up the stack of paint chips, held together on a ring, put them in his back pocket, grabbed the coffee he’d run out for, and walked over to Grace’s house. Hopefully, she wasn’t still sleeping. Though, the way she was running herself ragged lately, he doubted she would be. She was multitasking like an Olympic medalist without a complaint.

He took a few deep breaths after knocking, hoping like hell she’d forgive him for blowing her off yesterday.

When she opened the door, his pulse accelerated. How could she always look so good? She was dressed in yoga pants and a T-shirt that read NOT NOW.

“Hey,” he said. Nice opening.

“Hi.” She eyed his coffee.

He handed it over. “This is for you.”

Her hesitation nicked his heart. He’d hurt her, and that freaking sucked. Reaching out, she took it from him.

“Thank you.”

“I fucked up.”

Her gazed widened but she shrugged. “You texted to let me know. No big deal.”

“Don’t do that,” he said. “Don’t let me off the hook. I bailed because I was in a bad mood. That was wrong. Last time, you told me the best way to apologize was to just say it. I’m sorry, Grace. And in case the words aren’t enough . . .”

He pulled the paint chips from his back pocket, a rainbow of color samples, fanned them out so the words he’d written on them would appear. Her smile brightened his soul. Jesus. This woman was going to be the end of him. He couldn’t focus on anything but her when she smiled like that.

The paint chips read: I’m sorry Gracie.

She pursed her lips, nodding slightly. A soft sheen filled her gaze. Noah stepped forward, cupped his hand around the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered, looking up at him. “For the record, this beats the small garden you bought me.”

He laughed, leaning down to kiss her. “It’d be better if I didn’t keep doing things I needed to apologize for.”

Again, she shrugged. “Obviously, something came up. It happens. Do you want to come in?” She pointed at the paint chips. “I get to keep those?”

“They’re all yours.” He pushed them back into a stack and handed them over but didn’t come in any farther. “I actually wondered if you’d be up for taking a drive with me. If you have time.”

“We have things scheduled for delivery this afternoon,” she said.

“We’ll be back by then.”

Grace stared at him like she was trying to read him. If any woman could. He hadn’t wanted to rub his bad mood off on her and her company last night. He never considered that it could work the other way. She was like sunshine drying the rain his father had cast onto his life. It was a terrifying realization. And an incredible one.

“Let me grab my purse.”

He loved that she reached for his hand when they got in his truck and headed for the highway.

“How was dinner?”

She looked over at him. “Delicious. You missed out on my lasagna. I’m no gourmet but I’ve got that one down.”

“I’m an idiot.”

“Worse than you think. You missed out on Tilly’s apple-peach crisp.”

“Any chance you saved me some?” He gave her a quick glance and squeezed her hand.

“Maybe.”

“What did they think of your place? They haven’t been there since the Trading Spaces thing. They like the couch?”

She chuckled. “Morty thought it was weird. Tilly liked it. They were really impressed with everything. What happened yesterday?”

He liked that she didn’t let him off the hook. As he drove, he told her about the two deals he’d lost out on, then filled her in on his golf game, which yielded nothing but a headache. Those men only wanted to put their money into things that would benefit them. They didn’t think another community center was worth their time. They reminded him of his father.

“I’m sorry. That’s a lot of lousy things in one day,” she said.

“Yeah. I wasn’t lying about my mood. I wasn’t in a good one even after the gym. I thought I could sweat it out but all that did was give me time to think about how hard I’ve worked to separate myself from my father without getting anywhere.”