Doing her best to refocus, she asked, “Pardon?”
Shane looked over at the guy who’d pulled her attention, then back at Grace. “I was just saying, this is a great place you’ve got here. I won’t be doing the wall today. I’ll bring a couple guys back with me for that but the bones look good.”
She grinned, oddly pleased that he said so. “I’m really happy with it.” She couldn’tbelieveshe’d thought of selling for even a minute. Unlike Noah, money didn’t make her world go round. Guilt nagged at her as soon as she finished the thought. There was more to him than that. She’d seen it. She’dfeltit.
Her cheeks heated and she broke eye contact with Shane.
Grace pointed. “What do you think that guy is doing?” Maybe he was checking the fence for any damage where Noah had the hedges removed.
Shane looked again. “Looks like he’s surveying the property lines.”
Something way too close to panic gripped her gut. Why would he do that? Morty sat up, looked over at the guy, who was consulting his clipboard.
“Hey there. What’s that you’re doing?” Morty yelled.
The guys all looked over. Grace wanted to hide.“Morty.”
He shrugged. “What? You wanted to know.”
The guy adjusted his baseball cap. “Just surveying the land,” he called back.
The tree cutters went back to work, and ball-cap guy went back to his clipboard.
“Can he do that?” Grace asked.
Shane looked down at her. “It’s his land. He can do what he wants.”
“What if part of my land is his?”
“Then you’d have to move the fence line. I’m sure that won’t happen.”
She shook off the nervous tingles in her stomach. Funny how one man could produce such a wide array of feelings within a twenty-four-hour span.
Smiling overly bright, she focused on the deck. Shane had repaired the rotted boards, fixed the railing. “This looks awesome. I’m so excited. I’m going to get a couple of Adirondack chairs for out here.”
“Those chairs swallow you whole,” Morty complained.
Grace’s nerves wouldn’t settle down. When Noah came out of his house, locked his gaze on her, it didn’t help. It was possible she was an almost-thirty-year-old with a teenager’s reactive reflexes. Damn. So much for her resolve. It was just a kiss, she’d told herself repeatedly.
When Morty and Shane started talking about chairs, Grace casually leaned against the edge of the porch so she could watch Noah walk toward his front yard.
A car pulled into his driveway. She recognized Josh when he got out of the car but not the woman he helped out. Interesting. Rosie and Josh had been inseparable for days.
Josh gestured to Noah, who shook hands with the woman, glanced Grace’s way once more, then led them toward the house.
“You okay?” Shane asked. He finished off his soda.
“Fine. Um, I’m going to go finish the planting.”
Shane leaned over the rail. “Looks awesome. You picked some beauties.”
With a tight smile, she nodded and headed off the porch, trying to hear what Noah and his guests were discussing.
Fine. She couldn’t help herself. She approached the guy at the fence line. “Hey.”
He looked up, smiled at her. “How’s it going?”
“Fine. I’m just wondering, is it standard for you to be surveying a yard after people have moved in?”
