Fake Marriage Box Set

E

He likes it that way.

Chris

I'm glad he does.

E

You want to grab coffee before you head back?

Chris

I thought you were out of town til Monday.

E

No, just out of the office. I get back into town tomorrow afternoon.

Chris

Sure. We can get coffee.

E

Great. Just give me a heads up when we can meet. It really was good to see you.

Chris

Will do. It was good to see you too. Talk soon.

E

I clicked out of the text messages and remembered I still

hadn’t gone through the slew of emails that were waiting for my response. But I was so tired, I decided to put it off until the next day. Anyone who needed to hear from me would just have to understand my family situation. I laid there wondering about Luke’s family and realizing there was so much I wanted to know about him. I couldn’t help but think about the things Rachel had said, and I smiled as I laid the phone back down on the bed and closed my eyes thinking about Luke.

***

Saturday afternoon, I worked at the office for several hours, making sure everything was set up for Monday like Granddad had requested. It was quiet. It kind of felt like when I was alone in the woods. I wasn't a loner, but I was okay being alone. I was just that kind of person who could be alone with her thoughts and not stress about it. Maybe that was why I was so good at my grant work. I spent hours and hours alone every week. Truth was, until I had moved in next to Luke, I really didn't have a lot of human interaction other than Rachel. Luke grated my last nerve most days, but what did I expect? He was the first person I’d had to actually relate to on a daily basis in quite a while. But no matter how I reacted, his kindness always smoothed things back out. Maybe I did like him, even when I didn't.

I heard the bell chime for the elevator and looked up to see Chris walking out.

“Hey,” he said when he looked up and saw me.

“Hi.” I sat back in the oversized chair.

“I didn't know you were here. I was just stopping by to grab some plans that I forgot so I could go over them before my meeting on Monday. If you’re not too busy, you wanna grab that coffee now?”

“Sure.” Standing, I closed the folder I had opened and grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair.

“Just give me a sec to grab what I need, and we’ll go. The rain has let up for the moment, so we can just walk over to the Coffee Bean if that's okay?”

“Yeah, that's fine.” I smiled and waited until he returned, then we made our way out of the building and walked down the block. I looked up at the green awning and smiled to myself thinking about all the times my grandfather had taken me there for a hot chocolate and later coffee as I was growing up. He had always been more of a father to me than my own. With my dad’s work schedule, he had missed most of my childhood, something that hadn't really bothered me until I was older.

“You okay?” Chris asked as he held the door for me.

“I was just thinking about Granddad.”