“Oh, I doubt that. Connor’s been a good friend to me, too.”
“Hmm.” He patted her arm. “Just don’t let him take you for granted, you hear? Connor’s a great guy, but he can be a little obsessive at times. A little self-absorbed. He got that from my father, I think. Dad was just like him. My blessed mother had to pretty much whop him over the head sometimes to get his attention. You can bet she didn’t let him get away with it for very long.”
“Connor’s working very hard to get through this semester. I think medical school is even more difficult than he expected. But he’ll be a wonderful doctor.”
“No doubt. Tried to tell him that when he decided to marry Gretchen rather than go to medical school when he got out of college. He regretted that decision soon enough. Wasn’t like she was ever going to encourage him to do anything that would take that much time and attention away from her. You’re nothing like Gretchen, I’m happy to say. You’re just the gal I’d have picked for him myself.”
Her face going a bit warm, Mia cleared her throat. “You, uh, know that Connor and I are just very good friends. Not anything more.”
“Hmm,” he said again. With a last pat to her arm, he stepped out the door. “I’ll be seeing you, Mia. Take good care of my little granddaughter, you hear?”
“I will. Goodbye, Duncan.”
Shutting the door behind him, she bit her lower lip. Duncan hadn’t sounded at all convinced that there was nothing going on between her and Connor. She wondered how many other people secretly suspected the same thing. Not that it mattered, of course. She had never worried overmuch about gossip.
She was much more concerned about her own confusing feelings when it came to her best friend and temporary roommate.
Connor slipped into the house at almost ten that evening, trying to be quiet because he knew Alexis would already be in bed. He’d seen the lights on in the living room when he’d driven into the driveway, so he figured Mia was in there, reading or maybe watching TV.
Seeing those lights had given him a funny feeling. He was so accustomed to coming home to a dark, empty house that it felt odd knowing someone was here to greet him. Odd in a good way, he decided, but a little unnerving, too. Much too easy to get spoiled to.
Mia was reading. She looked up from her book when he walked in. He wondered if she didn’t like the story she’d been reading. Was that the reason she looked so stern?
“Hi,” he said. “How was your day?”
“It was nice.”
Something was definitely off in her voice. There was just a touch of chill in her tone.
He searched his mind for a possible explanation. The last time they’d actually talked had been last night, when she’d given him the neck massage. That had ended rather awkwardly, but he couldn’t think why she’d be annoyed with him. Unless she’d somehow read his mind and figured out exactly how he’d reacted to having her hands on his shoulders. He’d spent an uncomfortable hour or so afterward, cursing his healthy but inconvenient male reactions, but surely she couldn’t know that.
Fortunately, they’d been interrupted before he’d done anything stupid enough to ruin their friendship. Or so he had hoped.
“Um—is something wrong?”
“No, of course not. I just thought you might make it home before Alexis was in bed tonight. I guess you had to put in a long day.”
The faintest hint of disapproval in her voice made his defenses go up. “Yeah. Long day. I got a lot of work done.”
“That’s good.”
He sank onto the edge of the couch. “How was your day? Is everything okay with Alexis?”
“Yes. We had a very nice day. We made cookies. Watched a video. Oh, and your father stopped by.”
That made his eyebrows rise. “Dad? When?”
“This afternoon. He said he wanted to meet his granddaughter. And he brought her a gift.” She motioned in the general direction of the television.
Following her gesture, he noticed only then the big box sitting on the floor by the TV stand. “A gaming system? He brought that for a six-year-old?”
He didn’t know why he was at all surprised because that sounded exactly like something his father would do. His dad had accepted the news that he had a granddaughter with typical equanimity—surprised, of course, but seemingly pleased as well. He’d always said he would make a terrific grandfather; now was his chance to prove it. Starting with an extravagant gift that would no doubt be the first of many unless Connor had a little chat with him.
“I didn’t know how to hook it up to the TV—or even if you wanted me to try—so I just set it there for now.”
He knew how to set up the game, but he would deal with that later. “What did Alexis think about my dad?”
“They hit it off very quickly, actually. She calls him Pop.”