Read Online Falling for Grace by Maddie James - Free Book Online Page A

Constance.
    The older woman had made some comment but
Gracie pretended not to hear. Something about specific parts of her
anatomy shriveling up from lack of use....
    “ You know he’s the talk of
the town.” Amie interrupted her thoughts. “I mean, all the women
have been sneaking by to peek in the window at him. I haven’t had
the chance. So, spill.”
    Fiddling with her teacup,
Gracie stared off into Amie’s coffee shop, trying not to think
about atrophying body parts. It was early Friday morning, two hours
before her shop and most of the others on Main Street opened for
the day. The coffee shop was on the same side of the street
as Romantically Yours , but on the other side of the traffic light. She was North
Main, Amie was South Main. About a dozen people were occupying
space with them, drinking tea or coffee and eating bagels and
pastries.
    Amie’s
Place , which also served a light lunch,
closed at two in the afternoon. That’s the way Amie liked it. She
had the remainder of the day to play.
    Gracie already knew Carson
was the talk of the town. Her own business had been boosted for the
past few days since he’d moved in and started some minor
renovations. The talk from the women was non-stop. Gracie would
smile and nod and try extremely hard not to get drawn into the
middle of those oh-God-he’s-so-gorgeous conversations.
    She’d talked to him only
once, and briefly at that, during the week. Seems his plans were to
open his café at
the end of the month, barely three weeks away. Izzie, she’d
learned, was staying in Louisville for the next two weeks with her
babysitter until school was out for the summer. Then she would be
joining her father. For some reason, Gracie had felt a sense of
urgency from Carson that he get the café up and running as soon as
possible. She’d sensed that urgency in him before and wondered what
that was all about.
    She supposed he was just ready to get on
with his new life. Of all people, she could understand that. Once
upon a time, she’d done the same thing.
    But she tried not to think about that much
anymore. Ten years was a long time, but she was extremely proud of
the way she had recovered.
    “ Of course, you wouldn’t sneak a
peek, would you, Gracie?”
    Had Amie said something? Her thoughts were
temporarily back in New York. Gracie looked at her and said, “I’m
sorry. You were saying?”
    Amie huffed. “I said, you wouldn’t sneak a
peek, would you?”
    “ Moi? Of course not.” New
York was all but forgotten.
    “ Yeah, right.”
    “ Well, I, for one,” Gracie
returned, “have more things to do with my time than ogle my next
door neighbor while he hammers two-by-fours and moves equipment
about, wearing nothing more than a pair of tight jeans and work
boots, perspiration glistening off his back like some model in a
diet soft drink commercial.”
    “ So you’ve never even
peeked, huh?”
    Gracie shook her head. “Nope, not
interested.”
    Amie snorted and then laughed out loud.
About six customers turned to look at her. “Like I said, yeah,
right.”
    Gracie stuck out her tongue at her friend
and picked up her cinnamon bagel. “You’re impossible.”
    “ And you’re lying. I know
you Gracie Hart. There is something up with this man.”
    “ You’re wrong.” Grace bit
off a bite of bagel, looked Amie square in the eye. “There
is...nothing up...with that man,” she returned between
chews.
    Sitting back in her seat and pushing her
coffee cup away at the same time, Amie crossed her arms over her
chest. Gracie didn’t like the way she was studying her. “Well, I’ll
tell you what. I’ll reserve comment on that subject until a later
date. Until I have some time to see you around this man. I mean,
Constance told me the other day that—”
    “ Constance?” Gracie sat up
a little straighter. “What does Constance have to do with this
conversation?” Knowing that Constance and Amie had been talking
made Gracie a teensy-bit uncomfortable. Even though the