She set down the chunk of pretzel she’d been about to bite and shook her head. “No way. I was so pathetically lonely, I figured you thought I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Come on, you were hot. Still are.” He took a slow sip of his beer, a coffee stout, and Zane’s latest creation.
“Well, thank you.” A soft pink blush heated her cheeks, but her grin didn’t show a hint of bashful. Comfortable with her porcelain skin showing every emotion, Trace was the first to admit when she was embarrassed. “But seriously. You were this force of nature. Good ateverything. Captain of the football team as a junior, balancing that with the competitive hockey league you did year-round. The rodeos, golf, swimming, debate. Dated the entire cheerleading team. A freckled, unathletic freshman that was absolutelynotin the popular crowd? I thought you asked me to homecoming as a pity date.”
“So you went with Finn Halseth instead.”
Seconds later, Zoe Halseth appeared to refill their waters. “Hey Trace. Mom wanted me to pass along a thanks for the pastries you dropped by. I was so relieved she ate something.”
Grady mirrored the melty regret in Zoe’s eyes. “How is she doing?”
“Not good.” Zoe set down the water pitcher as her hand started to shake. “Evan and I are picking up the weight around here so Dad can go to her chemo infusions with her.”
Trace rested her hand on Zoe’s. “Please. Anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate.”
Zoe wiped away a bead of moisture from her eyelashes and nodded. “Absolutely.” She picked up the water and forced a smile. “Finn should be home to visit after the postseason is done. I’m sure he’ll look you up when he gets here.”
Blushing, Trace chugged her refilled water.
Zoe winced. “Grady. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you, too.”
Grady smiled as he took a slow sip of beer.Rub it in.
As Zoe backed away, she said, “Oh, I heard Ryder is in town. Say ‘Hi’ for me?”
His eyebrows quirked together. “Sure thing.” Interesting.
Trace set down her empty water glass and sighed, biting her smile as Zoe disappeared. “That adds a measure of awkward.”
“Well, you chose Finn over me once before.” He flashed her a wink and leaned back in his chair.
“It is good to see you, Grady. I wasn’t sure this was a setup until Patricia told me how busy you’ve been at work as the successful attorney who is going to be mayor in a few years.”
His turn to wince. He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “Mayor? Oh, she is a wonder.”
“She’s a proud mama.”
“Mama is far too maternal of a word for Patricia.”
“Fair point. But she thinks the world of you.” Trace nudged his foot as a foggy pall threatened to wash over him. “Grady, I’ve always thought the world of you, too.” She caught his attempt to argue and powered on, “but Finn was it for me back then.”
“He was a lonely puppy with no friends, and you were a softie. But as he turned out to be a good friend of mine, too, no hard feelings.”
“Why did you ask me out? Today, I mean. Aside from Patricia working on this since I got home.” She ripped off a bite of pretzel and dunked in cheese soup. “I’m glad you did, but...”
He picked up his beer and set it back down, knowing she was right without even hearing the end of her trailed-off thought. “I haven’t been out much since I finished law school and, shit, I needed an excuse to get out of the house. An evening with Trace? As a date or as friends, it sounded like a good distraction.”
“No way. You always have one in your sights. You’re telling me you didn’t have a single woman on your radar until your mother insisted you call me?”
“Not a single one.” The corner of his mouth quirked up, hoping she didn’t catch how he drew out the wordsingle.
She chewed another morsel of cheesy pretzel and considered, grinning as her eyes laid on his ticking jaw. “There’s more to this story. Spill.”
“Spill? I’m not Haley. Not out to be spilling any feelings, here.” His tone was harsh, but he couldn’t help but grin. Yeah, probably a good thing neither seemed to be making any moves toward hooking up tonight. Hot as she was, the idea of kissing her? Like a sister or something.
“Hmm. Patricia told me Ryder is in town with his adorable fiancée, the veterinarian that is a little quirky, but very down-to-earth, and she thinks we’ll get along great.”
“You two would get along great. Claire and Ryder are out to dinner at the Italian place. This is her meet-the-future-in-laws trip. Patricia is thrilled to get to announce their engagement at her annual gala.”
