Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Malachi whistled low. “Nice.”
Gracen grinned at his appreciation. “Yeah, I bet somebody good with their hands could put that to use.”
Somebody like you, she wanted to say.
But she didn’t.
Fear was a real thing.
The fear of rejection, mostly. Gracen hadn’t needed to consider she was scared of walking down that road again until Malachi. It sucked something awful that it made her just a little less bold.
“Anyway,” Gracen said, grateful that she had at least been able to take this first step to close the distance she’d created between them with a phone call and invitation, “I know you’re probably busy with work or whatever, so I won’t keep you on the phone.”
“I am working,” he confirmed.
Not happily.
“Sorry,” Gracen said.
An automatic Canadian sentiment for any unfortunate news or inconvenience.
Malachi chuckled dryly. “Yeah, well—we all do what we’ve got to do, I guess.”
That wasn’t like him at all.
Gracen couldn’t bring forth to memory a single time when Malachi had spoken about his work with such a negative tone.
“I called at a bad time?” she asked.
“It’s a bad day. It’s not you.”
“Oh.”
Why didn’t it feel that way?
“I can let you go,” Gracen said. “Maybe give me a call back later, if you’re—”
“I’ve got a few minutes,” he interjected fast.
She couldn’t suppress the smile that formed.
“Okay.”
“Okay,” Malachi echoed before clearing his throat. “So, a housewarming party, huh?”
“Delaney said I had to throw one if I was buying a house.”
“She’s not wrong.” Then, Malachi asked, “Is that the same weekend as my sister’s wedding?”
“I heard they were getting married in the tabernacle that Sunday.”
Her party was on Saturday and the guest list wouldn’t cross over between the two events. Much.
“You think you’re gonna like being that far out of town?”
Gracen laughed. “The Flats aren’t that far out of town. Twenty minutes, at most.”
“Fifteen if you speed,” he noted.
“Yeah, don’t do that. Especially not on that damn bike. I’d like for you to actually be there—I want to see you.”
Her proclamation quieted Malachi on the other line for more than a handful of seconds. Everyone was slightly more painful than the last. This would be so much easier face to face than over the phone.
“We really should have a conversation,” he said quietly.
Gracen sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
He exhaled a hard breath. “I hate to tell you now’s not the best time considering it’s the only chance we’ve had to talk in—”
“That’s okay,” she rushed to say. “And I would have called sooner, but things have kept me busy.”
“Don’t apologize for needing time, Gracen. Even if that was time away from me. If a choice I made hurt you, even if my intentions were good, you’re allowed to tell me. I know where your line is and not to cross it—or if I do, now I know what happens. Simple.”
God.
He couldn’t possibly know how much that meant to her.
“I’ll see you in two weeks, then?” he asked after a moment.
“You’d make that long drive just for a housewarming party?” she asked.
Because she hadn’t promised a single thing else, and Malachi wasn't exactly the type of guy to assume. It was one of the things she liked best about him, honestly.
“Gracen, I’d drive a hundred hours to see you if I needed to—distance was never the issue. I can’t be the reason someone else doesn’t get the chance to live their life. Sometimes, there are bigger things than me. Right now, that’s my sister. A lot of things happen behind closed doors that people don’t know; I couldn’t forgive myself if I was the reason she stayed locked in the house.”
“Right,” she whispered. “I guess we all have to make hard choices, eh? Even if somebody gets hurt.”
“I’m sorry that person was you. I should have handled it better.”
Really, that was all Gracen wanted to hear. Other factors had come into play to cause problems. No one ever promised things would happen exactly as she wanted them to—life didn’t come with fairness.
“Anyway,” Malachi said, his tone a bit cheerier. “I don’t know what the hell to get someone for a housewarming—never been to one of those. Is Delaney moving to the new house, too, or ...?”
“We’ve got another three months on this lease, so she’s gonna see it out. I think me putting in an offer kind of lit a fire under her ass because every time I catch her on her laptop lately, she’s looking at listings.”
“Near your new place?”
“Or the general area,” Gracen confirmed. “It’s going to be different ... Not living with her, I mean.”
“Time changes a lot of things,” Malachi murmured.
Fair enough.
“Sometimes for the better?” she asked.
“Sometimes,” he confirmed.
Gracen hoped this was one of those times for her. A step forward toward something greater. The next stage in her life. Whatever that might be, she was ready for it.
“So, that's a definite yes on the party?”