Part 7 (1/2)
Grace swallowed hard. She'd left the beach house happy, thinking she'd found Mr. Right and believing all things good would happen for them. But Danny had left the beach house worried about the potential bad. It was no wonder neither of them had seen the other's perspective. They were at two ends of a very broad spectrum.
”I'm sorry, too. I was so happy I didn't think things through. Had I known-”
Sarah pounded on her tray with a squeal. Grace grimaced. ”I forgot to feed her.”
Danny calmly rose. ”I can get that.”
Grace's first instinct was to tell him to sit back down. Their discussion wasn't really over. But wasn't it? What else was there to say? He was sorry. She was sorry. But they couldn't change the past. She didn't want a relations.h.i.+p. He'd hurt her and she rightfully didn't trust him. And he didn't want a relations.h.i.+p. Otherwise he wouldn't have promised not to kiss her again. There was nothing more to say. The discussion really was over.
”Do you remember how to make cereal?” Grace asked.
”The stuff in the box with a little milk, right?”
She nodded.
”I can handle it.”
He strode into the kitchen and Grace took several long, steadying breaths.
His child had died.
She had always believed that nothing he could say would excuse the way he treated her when she told him she was pregnant.
But this did.
It didn't mean she would trust her heart to him, but it did mean she could forgive him.
That night Grace had dinner nearly prepared when Danny arrived. She directed him upstairs to change while she fed Sarah some baby food and by the time Sarah had eaten, Danny returned wearing jeans and a T-s.h.i.+rt. He looked as relaxed as he had their night at the beach house. Confession, apparently, had done him a world of good.
Incredibly nervous, Grace fussed over the salads. Now that she knew about Danny's son everything was different. She almost didn't know how to treat him. His admissions had opened the door to their being friends, and being friendly would work the best for Sarah's sake. But could two people with their chemistry really be friends?
While Grace brought their salads to the table, Danny took his seat.
”You know, we never have gotten around to discussing a lot of things about Sarah.”
Glad for the neutral topic, Grace said, ”Like what?”
”For one, child support.”
”Since we'll each have Sarah two weeks a month, I don't think either one of us should be ent.i.tled to child support. So don't even think of filing for any.”
He laughed. ”Very funny.”
A tingle of accomplishment raced through her at his laughter, but she didn't show any outward sign of her pleasure. Instead she shrugged casually. ”Hey, I make a decent salary. How do I know it wasn't your intention to file?”
”You never did tell me where you got a job.”
”I work for a small accounting firm. Johnson and O'Hara.”
”So you do okay financially?”
”Yeah.” Grace smiled. ”Actually they pay me double what your firm did.”
He chuckled. ”You got lucky.”
”Yes, I did.”
He glanced into the kitchen, then behind himself at the living room. ”And you seem to know how to use your money wisely.”
”I bought this house the day I got my first job.”
”The night I was grilling, I remembered you told me about remodeling your house while we ate that Sunday night at the beach house.” He smiled across the table at her, and Grace's stomach flip-flopped. Lord, he was handsome. And nice. And considerate. And smart. And now she knew he wasn't mean-spirited or selfish, but wounded. Life had hurt him and he needed somebody like her to make him laugh.
Oh G.o.d, she was in trouble!
”You did a good job on the remodel.”
”My cousin did most of it.” s.h.i.+fting lettuce on her dish, Grace avoided looking at him. ”I was the grunt. He would put something in place, tack it with a nail or two then give me the nail gun to finish.”
”It looks great.” He took another bite of salad.
But Grace was too nervous to eat. She couldn't hate him anymore. But she couldn't really like him, either.
Or could she?
By telling her about his son, he'd both explained his behavior and proved he trusted her.
But he'd also said she didn't need to worry about him kissing her anymore.
Of course, he might have said that because she'd pushed him away the night before, reminding him that kissing only got them in trouble.
They finished their salads and Grace brought the roast beef, mashed potatoes and peas to the table. Unhappy with being ignored, Sarah pounded her teething ring on her high chair tray and screeched noisily.
”What's the matter, Sarah Bear,” Grace crooned, as she poured gravy onto her mashed potatoes. Sarah screeched again and Grace laughed. ”Oh, you want to sit on somebody's lap? Well, you can't.”
She glanced at Danny. ”Unless your daddy wants to hold you?”
Danny said, ”Sure, I'll-”
But Grace stopped him. ”No. You can't hold a baby in front of a plate with gravy on it. You would be wearing the gravy in about twenty seconds.”
”If you want to eat your dinner in peace, I could take her into the living room, then eat when you're done.”
He was so darned eager to please that Grace stared at him, drawing conclusions that made her heart tremble with hope. There was only one reason a man wanted to please a woman. He liked her. Which meant maybe Danny had only promised not to kiss her again because she'd stopped him, not because he didn't want to kiss her anymore.
Or she could be drawing conclusions that had absolutely no basis in fact.
”I'm fine. I like having Sarah at the table. When I said you might want to hold her I was just teasing her.”