Chapter 20. Practice Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Practice Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
The Waterfront was still busy this time of night, with soft jazzy music coming from a few of the restaurants, and chatter of their customers in the outside dining area.
It only took us ten minutes to walk from Java Spice to Ellie’s new bakery, and the sweet smell of pastry greeted us the minute we walked in.
Ellie usually worked at this shop on the weekends, because they stayed open until late, and sure enough, she was behind the counter serving a customer.
“Oh, look. Rob’s here. We should go over and say hello.”
My head swiveled in the direction my grandfather was pointing. Rob was sitting at a table talking with Alec, their faces serious, as if they were contemplating the bigger meaning of life.
“Maybe next time. They look like they’re discussing something important,” I said. It had only been several hours since I saw him last, and even after I’d spent the entire day overanalyzing what had happened at his house, I still wasn’t ready to see him again.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s just a quick hi.”
I made a lunge to grab my grandfather, but he was already calling out to Rob as he approached their table.
Both men looked up at Opa’s voice and stood up to greet him.
My grandmother would have applauded their impeccable manners, but right now I just wanted to grab my over-friendly grandfather by the shoulder and haul him the hell out of here.
I should have, but I didn’t.
Instead, I went over to the counter to order some drinks and a slice of blueberry cheesecake, Opa’s favorite, then joined them at the table. My grandfather was already chatting with the two men, taking the seat next to Alec, and leaving the empty spot for me next to Rob.
I gave my grandfather a side-eye, because he knew exactly what he was doing.
Rob gave me a smile as I sat down. “Long time no see, stranger.” He frowned a little at the look on my face, then leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Hey. You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
His gaze searched my face. “You don’t look fine. You look upset. What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing. My dad is in town, and we just had dinner with him.”
Rob gave me a long look, and one of his hands reached out to give me a quick squeeze. “I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really. Not now.”
He nodded. “If you needed someone to vent to, I’m all ears. I hope you had a nice time with Thomas, at least.”
My gaze drifted to my grandfather, who was laughing and talking with Alec, and I smiled a little. “I did.” And Rob was right. As long as my grandfather had a lovely time, and he did, that was the only thing that mattered. “Thanks for reminding me.”
“He looks happy.” Then Rob leaned over to me and murmured in a low voice, so only I could hear him, “I like that smile. It’s a good look on you.”
Before I had a chance to respond, he grinned at me, then joined the conversation between Alec and my grandfather, leaving me to stare at him while my cheeks warmed, and the insides of my stomach slowly melted into a puddle of gooeyness.
But I realized what he’d done: That little comment had helped me to relax. The tightening in my chest had loosened, and I knew everything would be fine, because I wouldn’t let the dinner, or my dad, or the fact that he might be here to stay, bother me.
Ellie brought a tray with my order, dragged a chair from the empty table next to ours and sat next to me. “Since when is your grandfather best friends with Rob?”
“Since Rob came over for dinner last month. Alec didn’t tell you? He heard about it when I helped them at the house they’re flipping.”
“He never mentioned it. Why haven’t Jenna and I heard about this?”
“I’m telling you now. It’s no big deal.”
“Not a big deal? Are you joking?” She gestured at Opa, who was laughing at something funny Rob must have said. “Look at them. They’re literally the definition of bromance.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what else to tell you. He’s the grandson he’s never had?”
“Kim.” Ellie stared at me, her eyebrows hiking up her forehead. “You’ve never invited anyone else to your grandfather’s house for dinner.”
“That’s not true. I’ve invited you and Jenna.”
“Let me rephrase. You’ve never invited any men to your grandfather’s house for dinner.”
“Also not true. I’ve invited Alec several times.”
Ellie folded her arms across her chest. “You know what I mean.”
I knew what she was getting at, and I had to put a stop to it before it snowballed further into inaccurate speculations. “It was just a way of saying thanks for everything he’s doing for me. That’s it.”
“I helped you with a flat tire once,” Alec said, and I looked up to see that the three of them had stopped talking and were shamelessly listening to our conversation. “Never even got as much as a cupcake as a thank-you.”
I glanced at my grandfather, who was biting back a smile, and Rob, who was watching me with an unreadable expression on his face. “Seriously, Mackenzie?”
“Dead serious. And for jump-starting your car, patching that hole in the wall at your store, and being the designated driver more than once whenever you ladies had a night out.”
I flipped Alec the middle finger as he collapsed with laughter.
“I’m kidding. Or maybe not.” He grinned at me. “Hey, Ellie said you managed to sign three major sponsors for the festival? That’s great work.”
“Thanks.” I returned his grin. “There’s been lots of interest from small businesses wanting to rent stalls, too, which is awesome.”
“You know what…” Opa looked thoughtful. “I follow this local woodworking influencer on social media, and I’ve seen him put things up for sale sometimes. I can reach out to him and see if he’s interested in renting a stall at your festival.”
“That’ll be wonderful.” I beamed at him.
“Is he going to be at the expo next month?” Rob asked.
“He will. He’s fantastic. We’ll have to stop by his booth.”
“Wait, you’re going to the woodworking expo together?” I looked at Rob and my grandfather. “I thought you were still talking about it.”
“We are,” Opa replied. “We’re going to the Friday session, because it’ll be less busy, and we’ll have more time to chat with the exhibitors.”
“But you have dialysis on Friday afternoons.”
“We’ll go in the morning, and I’ll drop him off at dialysis after,” Rob said. “I’ll take half the day off, because we think Friday morning will be easier for Thomas to navigate the expo. It’ll be less crowded, and easier for him to walk around.”
Both he and my grandfather looked at me, with big grins on their faces, as if waiting for my approval. For a moment, I was taken aback, because this was one of the rare times after Oma had passed that I’d seen Opa being truly enthusiastic and looking forward to doing something that he loved.
And it was all thanks to Rob.
I’d told him on his matchmaking questionnaire that I wanted someone who would make me feel safe.
Someone who would be there for me, and someone who would appreciate Opa as if he was their own family.
He’d done all that, and so much more. Not only had he befriended my grandfather, but he also looked after him, even though he didn’t have to.
“Sounds like a solid plan.” I slowly nodded.
“How’s it going with the weddings?” Alec asked Rob. “Found anyone nice for her yet?”
“Working on it. Kim’s going through the dossier of the potential suitors for the next one.”
“What do these dossiers look like?” This came from my grandfather. “Kim’s told me about it, but I’ve never actually seen one.”
At my nod, Rob pulled out his phone and showed Opa the last one he’d emailed me.
“It’s very thorough,” Opa said. “I can see how it helps make things easier for Kim. Do you know who you’re going to approach, sweetheart?”
With that, several pairs of curious eyes swiveled my way. Rob’s gaze was intent on mine, and it suddenly dawned on me that there was nothing I wanted less right now than to have to choose a total stranger and pretend to be interested enough in them to fake a relationship for a few months.
Someone cleared their throat, and I realized that everyone was still waiting for an answer.
“Uh.” My brain scrambled back to the list of men, and I blurted out the first name that came to mind. “Aiden Cho. The Brit.”
I stole a quick glance at Rob, trying to gauge his reaction, but his face was inscrutable.
“Aiden, Aiden…” Opa was still holding Rob’s phone, and he scrolled through the dossier to find the profile.
“Ah, here he is. Thirty-three years of age, works in private equity, the only child of a Chinese Singaporean father and an English mother. Grew up in London, went to college in the States. His interests include go-karting and ice-skating.” Opa looked up at me.
“Sounds promising. You’ll have to brush up on your skating skills, sweetheart. ”
“Rob used to play hockey, so he’s a great skater,” Alec said. “An excellent driver, too. The perfect person to take you to practice your skating and go-karting skills.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Opa said. “Practice makes perfect.”
“You’ll need more than one practice session,” Ellie said. “You want to make sure you hook him right in with your skating and your expert go-kart driving.”
“Please stop. You guys are not subtle at all.”
There were smiles and chuckles around the table.
“Don’t mind them.” Rob grinned at me. “But it wouldn’t hurt to schedule a couple of skating practices, so when you go on those dates with Aiden, you’ll have the best chance of impressing him.”
As the rest went back to chatting with each other, I realized that Rob had done so much more than looking out for my grandfather.
He had also made sure that he was always there for me.
True to his word, Rob took me to skating practice the week after, during which I mostly sat on my ass on the floor while Rob spent the entire time trying to pull me up.
We then decided that since skating wasn’t my strongest forte, we’d try go-karting, since Aiden’s family ran a go-kart racing track in the UK.
I’d never raced go-karts before, but I could drive, and they were practically the same thing, right?
Right now, two nights away from the third wedding, we were at a packed indoor go-karting place, and I was putting the helmet over my head as we waited to do our laps.
“That’s not tight enough.” Rob pointed at the helmet strap under my chin. “Can I help?”
When I nodded, he reached and fiddled with the strap, and I watched him from behind the visor as he gently pulled and tugged at it, trying to make it fit snugly against my neck, his brows furrowing with intense concentration.
“Aiden used to spend his weekends and holidays working at his family’s racing track when he was growing up,” Rob said, his eyes focusing on the helmet buckle under my chin. “I think this date idea is going to really appeal to him.”
But Aiden was the furthest thing from my mind, as I watched Rob step back to reassess what he did. Because deep down I knew that being with Rob right now, this so-called practice session, was really just an excuse for me to spend more time with him.
And I had a feeling I would prefer this, any day, over anything and anyone else.
“I hope you’re ready.” He fastened his own helmet over his head. “Because I’m going to smoke your ass.”
“In your dreams, Carmichael.”
He grinned as he jumped into his kart. “No, pretty sure I’m going to do it now.”
We did twelve laps, and I purposely let him be in the lead earlier, while still tailing him closely. That made him cocky, thinking that he was a surefire bet to win the race, even giving me a smug grin during a turn around a corner, yelling, “See you at the finish line!”
Just as we started the final lap, I pressed my accelerator and steadily overtook him. He sped up a little, and I picked up my speed to match his. We rounded a corner, neck and neck, and that was when it happened.
I was too focused on winning, and I didn’t realize there was another kart right on my tail.
When I sped up around the corner to overtake Rob, that third kart went faster as well, making a sharp turn in the narrow corner.
But something must have gone wrong, because the driver lost control of their kart and then they were heading straight for me.
In my panic, I turned my steering wheel a little too abruptly to avoid the collision, and the next thing I knew, my kart was spinning around, and within seconds, I crashed into the rubber barrier at the sides of the track, sending me to a complete stop.
My heart was beating rapidly, and I took a few deep breaths, trying to compose myself.
“Kim!” Rob leapt out of his kart and raced toward me. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, I’m fine.” I took off the helmet and shook my head. “I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?” He crouched in front of me and placed a shaky hand on my chin, examining me with the tiniest look of panic. “How’s your head?”
“Head’s fine.” I gave him a small smile. “Good thing you helped me with my helmet earlier, huh?”
One of the attendants came over to check on us and make sure we were okay, then escorted us off the track while someone else drove our karts away.
All the while Rob kept checking to make sure I was okay, and it wasn’t until we left the karting arena that he was finally convinced I hadn’t suffered a concussion or life-threatening injuries.
And it wasn’t lost on me that by doing that, he had also ticked another box from that matchmaking questionnaire.
Somehow, he never failed to make me feel safe.