Accidentally Family (Pecan Valley 1)
He was staring at her now, his smile almost inviting.
No. Graham was being Graham. She was seeing exactly what she wanted to see. Wait. Is that what she wanted to see? She hadn’t had enough wine to answer that honestly.
“Have you noticed that we always seem to end up talking about our kids?” she asked, placing her empty glass on the dresser, shooing the cats out of the crib so she could put freshly laundered sheets on the mattress. Surreal. That’s what this is. All of it. Honor had just graduated from high school and now she was setting up a nursery?
His chuckle earned her full attention. “You’re right.”
“Let’s try something new. So, Graham, what are you up to? Anything particularly interesting? Read any good books? Watched any noteworthy movies?”
He paused, considering, then nodded. “I was watching a documentary on the expected life span of the planet.” He did his best not to smile—and failed.
The sheet popped off the mattress when she spun to stare at him. “Really?”
It was her turn to laugh. Hard. “Because you thought it would cheer you up?”
He was laughing again, full-bodied, rich and warm. She loved everything about the sound of it—and the way he looked right now. At ease. Happy. And oh so appealing.
“I’m not good at downtime,” he confessed, collecting his glass from the floor and putting it on the dresser next to hers.
“Cheers to that.” She clinked her empty glass against his, smiling.
His gaze slipped to her mouth.
The flicker of heat turned into a burning throb.
He cleared his throat, the muscles of his neck working. His gaze fell from her mouth and he took a long sip of wine.
Silence followed, a crushing, inescapable silence that grew until Felicity had a choice to make. The first choice—close the distance between them and carry out any one of the incredible scenarios her brain was sifting through.
The other option? Divert and distract.
There were times she wished she had a little more of Charity’s brash and daring. Sadly, she didn’t, so divert and distract it was. “What happened with Di? It was Diana, the night we were supposed to go out? Not work?”
His smile disappeared and he took another drink of his wine. Almost draining his glass.
“That bad?” Clearly it was. Way to stick your foot in it, Felicity.
His smile was hard.
“We don’t have to talk about it.” She shrugged, eager to change the subject. “We can talk about…the expected life span of the planet? Honor’s boyfriend? The latest proposals before the school board—riveting stuff, let me tell you.”
He paced the nursery, stepping over the cats, to adjust one of the toy bins on the shelf. “She found the Serenity Heights brochure and ran off.”
Her insides knotted. “Oh God.” She followed him.
“I spent last night driving around looking for her. Came back, alone, so frustrated I put my fist through the drywall.” He shook his head. “A great example, right?”
“Graham,” she whispered, taking his hands. The knuckles on the right hand were discolored and swollen. “It looks painful.”
“I’m fine.” He flexed—and winced. “She walked in when I was on the phone with the police. Didn’t say a thing. Not a single word. No explanation. No apology.” His voice hitched. “We went to her therapist and I…lost it.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Because he loved his daughter more than anything. For Nick to disappear? God, she couldn’t imagine it. The panic and fear and anger and loss… Seeing Diana today, she never would have thought Graham’s funny, too-skinny, quirky daughter was capable of that sort of behavior. If anything, Diana had seemed happy today. Really happy. “Is she going to Serenity Heights?” She suspected she already knew the answer.
“No. I can’t do that to her.” He shook his head. “We are going on vacation, though. To the beach house, hopefully.” His gaze bounced from her to his glass and back again. “If I can get her to believe me—about the vacation. She thinks I’m lying, that I’m going to dump her at Serenity Heights.”
Felicity blew out a long, slow breath. “Ouch.”
“She’s very good at striking out. I’m not saying I don’t deserve it, but it’s exhausting.” He finished his glass and set it on the shelf.