Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 141951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
And that gate would do nothing for Mister Kitty—Gracen’s beloved pet cat, a gift from Malachi. The tuxedo cat could climb the walls when he felt like it, and sometimes did. No gate would keep him out.
“What was that for—that hmm?” Gracen asked.
“Did I see chalk marks on the wall going up the stairs?”
Gracen rolled her eyes. “Malachi had to measure it for the chair lift.”
It seemed her friend had other news to share.
Gracen offered the missing piece of the puzzle without Delaney prompting. “It took a while for me to get to the point where I thought I could actually do it, but I can. And more importantly, we want to. We’re capable and have the financial means to hire a daily nurse to come in to help with things. We’re in the process of installing extra security to make sure she’s safe. These are the last years of Mimi’s life, and I want her to enjoy them as much as she can. I want my grandmother to be home with me.”
“It kind of sounds like you’re about to have a really big year,” Delaney pointed out.
A baby. The wedding in the spring. Now, her grandmother would also be moving from the assisted living facility to the farmhouse on The Flats.
“Big changes,” she added quietly.
Gracen didn’t look bothered.
Ready, if anything.
Her friend nodded. “I know. It’ll all work out.”
“You always were better at seeing the bright side of things than me,” Delaney admitted.
Gracen scoffed at that. “Never heard a worse lie.”
Maybe.
Or perhaps time just changed things.
Delaney included.
“Are you showing me this nursery, or what?” she asked.
Gracen squinted one eye closed as she reached for the doorknob, muttering, “Well …”
“What?”
Delaney learned exactly what when Gracen flung open the door to an empty bedroom with bare white walls, and gleaming hardwood floors. Well, mostly empty.
A few boxes—the largest being a crib in the corner and a glider with a matching ottoman—sat in the corner, unopened and ready to be assembled.
“You told me you had things fin—”
“Get in the room,” Gracen said without warning, practically shoving Delaney inside. The second they were both in what would eventually be the baby’s nursery, her friend shut the door behind them and then turned on Delaney with narrowed eyes. “Seriously, what were you thinking? Since when do you take off with random guys you don’t know, Delaney?”
Jesus.
They were back to that again?
“Lucas is—”
“He seems nice,” Gracen interjected.
“Stop talking over me,” Delaney said. A bad habit the two of them shared. It wasn’t just Gracen. She did it to her friend, too. “He is nice. The sweetest guy I’ve ever met, to be honest.”
The statement had Gracen arching one eyebrow higher than the other. “Oh?”
“Yeah, and you didn’t need to drag me all the way upstairs out of his earshot and sight just to get that information out of me, Gracen.”
If there was a facial expression for no regrets, Gracen plastered it on.
“I did call,” Gracen pointed out. “Several times.”
“We flew out to Birch Ridge.”
“Ah,” her friend said, knowing the spot immediately. “No service.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Wait—flew?”
Ah, yeah.
That.
Delaney shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, don’t make it one, okay?”
“What isn’t?”
“You know the second largest brewery in the province?”
“Not off hand, no,” Gracen replied.
Delaney blew out a frustrated breath. Fine. She could spell it out for Gracen, then. “The Daltons, you know? They’re kind of like the Irvings of New Brunswick when it comes to beer. Except you know, beer and not gas.”
A prominent family.
A well-known name.
Gracen blinked a few times. “The Daltons?”
“Well, he’s Lucas—”
“Dalton.”
“You’re doing it again, talking over me,” Delaney pointed out.
Gracen only laughed. “Wow, okay. Now I get why you didn’t want me to make a big deal out of it. And the flying thing …?”
“A company helicopter.”
A low whistle cut from Gracen’s lips. “Damn. I can see why you’d say yes—”
Now it was her turn to interrupt.
“No, and who Lucas’ family is has nothing to do with why I came here with him. Okay?”
Gracen nodded. “Okay, fair enough.”
“I know it’s not like me to just up and go like that without a word, or planning,” Delaney stressed, the most important point of all.
“Yeah, how did you manage that, anyway?”
That side of things was simple.
“He needed somebody,” Delaney answered, shrugging.
“And you want that somebody to be you?”
“I never said it like that.”
Gracen didn’t miss a beat, stating back, “You don’t have to say it to still want it, Delaney.”
Those were dangerous suggestions. Mostly because Delaney found it surprisingly easy to get lost in the tumble and rumble of her thoughts. The ones that whispered how perfect and amazing Lucas seemed. How great he had been to and for her so far. At every chance he was given, the man took it and made the most out of it when it came to Delaney. What woman—a sane one—wouldn’t look at that man and think forever material?