Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Her heavy breath rocked them both.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
It wasn’t over yet.
“Your sister—”
“She’s still not contacted me, but I figured that might be the case,” he interjected, clearly not seeing where Gracen meant to go with the conversation. “At least until she’s out of that house and church, anyway.”
“Maybe,” she agreed softly.
She felt him glance down.
So, she looked up.
There, his blue eyes stayed stuck on her like glue.
“Did I miss something?” he asked.
“Your sister is getting married to my ex,” Gracen said.
The one thing she’d not been able to just come right out with.
Malachi pulled in a breath that lifted his chest, and her on top of it. “Sonny.”
“Oh, good,” she deadpanned, “you even know his name.”
And all of the sudden, she wished she hadn’t told Malachi the truth at all. Not because of the way he reacted, but mostly from the way it left her feeling empty and irritated all at the same damn time. She didn’t like the idea of letting someone live rent-free inside her head, but that seemed to be the case more often than not, lately, where her ex was concerned.
Malachi still hadn’t spoken.
Gracen’s nerves grew to the point she decided it was time to get up and move. Sitting straight, and letting the blanket fall away, she muttered, “I guess I should get my bag packed before someone wants break—”
Malachi grabbed tight to her wrist. “Not yet.”
She peered his way expecting to see some frustration staring back. Instead, she found his playful smile. It took a special kind of man to sit through a woman whining about her ex, especially when he was interested in said woman.
Gracen appreciated Malachi’s patience.
“Sonny’s a privileged, and stupid, prick, but those are just my personal experiences with the guy,” Malachi informed, unsmiling but unbothered all the same. “You can probably guess that I didn’t need another reason from you to hate him. I already do.”
Gracen couldn’t help but laugh. “I already feel like I’m mean enough to him inside my head without verbalizing all of it. Plus, I try not to be a horrible person and all ...” She trailed off, but screwed one finger beside her temple. “I can’t help what goes on up in here, though.”
“Either way, thank you for telling me about him—all of it.” Malachi shrugged, still comfortable in a prone position on the loveseat. “Sometimes getting it out is what makes you feel better, actually. Even if it’s mean. It’s just knowing who is safe to let it out on, Gracen. I can be that; just be honest with me about it.”
Yeah, that seemed simple enough.
“I’m trying,” she told him.
Malachi pulled her back down into his embrace, and his lips ghosted along the line of her forehead when she watched him. “That’s all I’m asking for.”
Chapter 23
The very second Gracen arrived home, she couldn’t imagine getting up and going to work the next day. The weekend was not enough to settle Gracen back into her everyday routine, and she had decided to try a new thing.
Taking care of herself first.
Wasn’t that why she worked so hard? Why she saved instead of spent year after year? She couldn’t explain the renewed desire to get out and really live, but it was there. Right in the middle of her chest, palpable with every breath.
Gracen was done ignoring it.
And what she needed.
It took little to no convincing to get Delaney on-board for an extra week of extended vacation—this time, including her. After all, Delaney found herself working ten or more hours a day, six days a week on her feet at the salon just like Gracen. Perhaps their reasons for doing so were different, but they were allowed to have a life, live it, and enjoy it, too.
Margot opted to keep her bookings for the week, which helped because the place wasn’t left totally unattended throughout the day, and they didn’t have to put the CLOSED sign on during the typical business hours. Even if it was just across the river from the rental house.
They actually didn’t stay in town.
Well, toward the end of the week, anyway.
Monday had been spent getting things together for Margot and the Haus, so the rest of the week would run smoothly bar the place burning down, of course. Delaney handled social media posts announcing the surprise week-long break, and made the phone calls to any clients who had booked the two during the period they would be out of the salon. She was far better at that sort of stuff than Gracen. It’d been a shamefully long time since she even logged into her social media, never mind handling the many profiles and pages for the salon. She could take the pretty pictures for Delaney to post, but not much more.
It all felt fake, anyway.
Gracen called in to cancel her usual Tuesday at the manor with a promise to make it up, but both she and Delaney went up in the morning to take Mimi out for breakfast at Debbie’s Diner, and an afternoon walk down the valley’s river boardwalk.