“Where’s the sprite?” he said, looking around.
“She’s out in the backyard picking up leaves,” Nat told him, her face shining with happiness.
Watching her sister, Grace thought Natalie couldn’t help herself. She just couldn’t. She was in love with this guy. She sighed and glanced at her mother, who was watching Nat drag Chris out the back door to find Daisy.
Maggie met Grace’s eyes and said merely, “Oh, dear.”
“I know. She’s over the moon.”
“And headed for a fall, I’m afraid,” Maggie told her. “Emma said she’s pretty sure Chris has a girlfriend, though he hasn’t said much about her, but Em said she thinks he’s seeing someone on a pretty regular basis. Oh, when Natalie finds out, it’s going to break her heart.”
“Mom,” Grace said. “Natalie is the girlfriend he hasn’t told Emma about.”
“What?” Confused, Maggie tilted her head as if trying to make sense of what she’d heard.
“Natalie and Chris have been seeing each other for months.”
“Oh, the little sneak! And she told you, but she didn’t tell me?” Maggie looked offended.
“She didn’t come out so much and tell me. I figured it out and told her I knew.”
“Well, why in the world haven’t they said anything to Emma and me? You know we’d both be delighted if they were to—”
“Don’t say it, because that’s exactly why they haven’t told you two. They don’t want to be pressured; they don’t want you and Emma to be asking them when they’re getting married or whatever.”
“But we wouldn’t—” Maggie protested, and Grace laughed.
“Mom, you were just about to say it a moment ago.”
“Oh, well, it just slipped out.”
“It can’t slip out when you’re talking to Natalie. Maybe they’re going to tell you this weekend; maybe that’s why Chris flew in this morning, so they’d be here together. I don’t know. But don’t make a big deal of it if they say anything, okay?”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “No, it’s not okay. But I’ll try really hard not to yell yahoo. Is that what you’re afraid of? Or I’ll start humming the wedding march?”
“I think that’s what Nat’s afraid of. I think she wants Chris to make the decision when to do what.”
“That doesn’t sound like your sister.”
“It does if you take into consideration who Chris is.”
Maggie appeared to think it over for a moment. “You think Nat doesn’t want Chris to feel she’s pressuring him because she thinks he’ll feel cornered and break off with her and take off with some model or whoever it is he used to date that Emma hated?”
Grace laughed. “I believe that may be the longest sentence I’ve ever heard you speak. But yes, I think that’s it. There’s a bit of insecurity at play there for sure. Nat compares herself to all those beautiful women Chris knows and has dated in the past, and she doesn’t think she measures up. So I’m thinking we just respect her feelings and let them decide what and when.”
“But she’s foolish to compare herself to anyone else. She’s a beautiful girl in her own right, and I’m sure Chris knows that.” She paused. “You think Emma doesn’t know they’re dating?”
“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t.”
“Damn. She’s one of my two best friends. I hate knowing something I can’t tell either of them.” Maggie grumbled a bit under her breath, but Grace knew her mother wouldn’t discuss her sister’s secret with anyone until Nat wanted her to.
A few minutes later, Natalie and Chris came into the house, holding hands.
“Gracie, I heard you bought a ramshackle old house that needs about a bazillion dollars’ worth of repairs,” he said.
“It actually needs very little. I mean, it’s not in terrible shape. The layout just doesn’t suit me, and I want a real kitchen, and a killer bathroom, and . . . you’ll have to see it. But to do everything I want probably will run in the area of a bazillion dollars. I found out this morning I might be removing the vinyl siding. I have no idea what that will cost.”
“Let’s go take a look. I’m dying to see it.” Natalie looked around. “Where’s Daisy?”
“Upstairs with Mom,” Grace told her.
“I’ll be right back.” Natalie gave Chris a starry-eyed smile and headed for the front stairs. “Gracie, it’s getting a little chilly out. Do you want me to bring a sweater down for you?”
“Yes, please and thank you.” To Chris, Grace said, “I’m going to make coffee to take with me. Would you like some?”
“Sure. Thanks.”
Grace made coffee and searched the cabinets for a couple of insulated mugs, all the while feeling Chris’s eyes on her.
“So you decided to come visit your mama on a whim, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah. What a coincidence Nat’s here at the same time.” His lips twitched as he tried not to smile.
Grace laughed. “You say that almost as if you expect me to believe it.”
“A for effort?”
“More like a D-minus.”
“What did Nat tell you?”
“She just confirmed you were seeing each other. I figured it out.”
“You ever think about a career with the FBI?”
“I did, actually. At one point in my life, I thought I’d finish law school, practice with my dad for a few years, then apply to the bureau. That was plan A.” The coffee finished dripping, and she poured some into a mug, which she passed to Chris. “We all know how that worked out.” She rolled her eyes. “I should have stuck with that plan.”
“But you’re working for Liddy, and you started your own business. Nat says you’re happy here.”
“I am happy. It’s a nice change after practicing law for ten years. It’s sure a lot less stressful. Especially since my lying, cheating ex-husband is totally out of my life.”
“If you’d stuck with plan A, you wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t have your new house to look forward to,” he pointed out.
“Way to rationalize.”
“Thank you. I think.”
Natalie came down the back steps, holding two sweaters. She tossed one to Grace, who slipped it on over her shirt. She filled another mug with coffee and handed it to Natalie.
“Where’s the munchkin?” Grace asked.
“She’s going to stay here with Mom. They’re looking at old photos of us in an album Mom had in her room. She won’t even know we’re gone.”
Grace poured cream into her coffee, added a little sugar, then snapped on the lid.
“Drive or walk?” she asked.
“Walk,” Natalie and Chris said in unison.
“It’s a good day for a walk,” Grace agreed, and the three of them set out.
At the corner of Cottage and Front, Natalie stopped to look across the street at the bookshop.
“Wow, it looks great! Remember how grungy it looked for the last few years? It looks glorious now. Can we stop in, maybe on the way back?” Natalie asked.