Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Are you okay?” he asked, stepping up behind me.
I leaned into his heat and smiled. “I’m great. The place looks great.”
He slid his fingers through mine and gave a gentle tug. “It does.”
Finally dragging my eyes off the shelves, I followed him out of the apartment. Once he’d locked up, Rafe threaded his fingers through mine again and we strolled hand in hand toward the elevator. Just as we got on, a voice called for us to hold it. Then our neighbor Mrs. Granville stepped in.
Her eyes lit up as I smiled at her greeting. “Oh, Star, it’s you. How are you, sweetheart?”
Rafe’s hand tightened in mine as the elevator descended. When I chanced a glance at him, his eyebrow was raised in question. Grinning, I looked back at Mrs. Granville. “I’m fantastic. How are you?”
“Well, I have to say, I tried that herbal tea you mentioned and I cannot believe it . . . but it works.”
Pleased, I nodded. “I told you.”
“Something so simple. And I took your advice about not eating before bedtime and taking a long walk each day, and it is working wonders.”
I could sense Rafe’s curiosity. “I’m so glad.”
The older woman gave me a wry smile. “I’ve not been brave enough to try meditation yet, but I did see there’s a yoga class here in the building, so I might try it.”
“You should. I’ll go with you,” I offered impulsively.
“You’d do that?”
“Sure. We’ll see if there’s a class that works for both our schedules and go together.”
“Well, that would be lovely.” Mrs. Granville’s gaze moved to Rafe. “You’ve found yourself a very thoughtful young lady.”
Rafe nodded. “I have.”
“I hear you’re a vet.”
“I am.”
“My daughter is thinking of buying a puppy. I could recommend your veterinary services.”
“I would welcome that. Thank you.”
“Very good.”
After getting off the elevator, we parted ways at the building’s entrance and as soon as Mrs. Granville was out of sight, Rafe shook his head, chuckling to himself.
“What?” I asked, leaning into him as we walked toward the garage where he kept his car.
“I’ve lived in this building for two years and barely said a word to any of my neighbors. You’ve lived here a month and you’re taking yoga with one of them. And what was the herbal tea thing about?”
“Oh, well, I got talking to Mrs. Granville in the lobby one day and she asked me in for coffee and she told me that she lost her husband nine months ago.”
Rafe’s smile fell. “I didn’t know.”
I rubbed his arm. “It’s okay. She’s had a tough time sleeping, so I just asked about her routine and it turns out she was doing all the wrong things. I suggested some herbal tea, to stop taking her meals so late in the evening, and to include some physical activity into her daily routine. It doesn’t work for everyone, but I thought it might help.”
“How did you know all that?”
“Because Roger went through a phase of not sleeping when his mom died. They were never close and it brought up a lot of stuff for him. So he tried everything and those things were the things that worked best.”
Rafe squeezed my hand, his expression filled with affection that made me warm from the inside out. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
I grinned. “Yes, but it never gets old, so you can keep saying it.”
* * *
• • •
The Whitmans’ house was filled with conversation, laughter, and the smell of good food cooking in the kitchen.
Like I said, it had been a month since my and Rafe’s infamous fight and declaration of love at the yacht wedding. Apparently, we were the talk of the town for a while, but I could not care less. Neither could Rafe. We’d both agreed that, considering we were in love for real now, there was no point causing an upset with his family and telling them the truth about our original arrangement. It would just hurt his parents, and Pippa would never understand.
Rafe and I were settling back into the couple we were before I let myself get caught up in trying to make myself a part of his family. In the end, the only person who was truly disgruntled I’d decided to be myself again was Pippa. And Pamela, because I quit. I’d just finished working out my notice, and I’d returned to character costume acting and line sitting until I figured out what it was that I really wanted to do.
For now, I was happy, and that was enough.
I grinned at Roger as he finished telling Rafe’s family one of his many funny stories from working as a music producer. “I would tell you my funniest, but that will have to wait until we have adult ears only in the room.” He smiled at Charmaine, who looked so serious about this pronouncement.