Chapter 10 – Dean
I really needed to stop flirting with Grace. Or, at Grace. I could be professional under just about any circumstance, except the one where I had the opportunity to get an eye roll and a laugh from Miss Cranky-Pants. And yet she still looked at me like she had no idea why I would do such a thing.
Maybe karma was just piling it on today, because my mother called as I was headed back to my office. She launched right in. No hello, how-are-you, or even a you-never-call-me. Well, that last one she couldn’t claim. I called her regularly. I just made it brief.
“Dean, you haven’t gotten back to me about the charity gala at the Arizona Biltmore. It will be embarrassing for me if you don’t call your date and ask her to attend with you at least a week before the event. Seating arrangements need to be made, so you must decide soon. Are you asking out Blaire or not?”
I pulled up the calendar I shared with Connie to see if she’d added a conflict to my schedule like I’d asked. Ah, a haircut with Luis. Good to know Connie hadn’t lost her sense of humor. Also, she was dead to me .
“I have a can’t-miss appointment that evening, Mom.”
“You do not. What is it?”
“A haircut. You haven’t seen me. I’m practically Tarzan. I’m going to start wearing a loincloth to work.”
“That look is in fashion, I hear. Call Blaire. She’s such a dear friend, and it would mean the world to me if the son I’m always talking about did not snub her.”
“So, she’s expecting my call?”
“Well, she’s not not expecting it.”
“What if I told you I was seeing someone?”
“Are you?”
“No.” I pulled my cell away so I could sigh properly like the pathetic sop I was. I put the phone back to my ear. “Okay, I’ll call her. Will we be sitting by you? I mean, she is your dear friend.”
“Yes, of course you’ll be sitting by me. I really am grateful. I hope you know that.”
“I do, Mom.”
I appreciated the genuine gratitude in her voice. Beyond all her ‘dear friends,’ my mom didn’t have a lot of people in her life. Instead of parents, she had a large inheritance. My grandparents had died in a boating accident when she was twenty-five. All she had left was a brother in Alaska who embraced the hermit lifestyle, and well, me. Mom hadn’t remarried, and while she and my dad were on good terms most of the time, they had completely separate lives.
My dad was the life of any party. He was the warmest, most giving, kindest person I knew. He collected people because they naturally gravitated to him. That included Grace and Isaac, who treated him like a second dad, even though he’d only dated their mom for less than a year more than a decade ago.
I’d often wondered if that difference in personality had led to my parents’ divorce. Dad’s aura was a lot to compete with, and bless her, my mother still tried to keep up. She liked to be seen as philanthropic, and if that was what made her happy, I couldn’t help tagging along when she asked. I wasn’t team anybody. I just wanted to be a good son.
“No pressure, but I think you’ll like Blaire. You’re both at the perfect age to start a life together, and she’s just as busy as you. She works for a tech firm.”
“Great. Schedule our wedding.”
Mom clucked her tongue. “I’ll forgive the sarcasm. It’s just, you’re always saying you’re too busy to date. That’s why the last few relationships didn’t work out, right? I was thinking, why don’t you date someone as busy as you?”
It was sound logic, except for the fact that I wasn’t too busy to date. I was too hung up on Grace. What other kind of signs could I wave in her direction before she would either believe that I wanted her or block me from her life?
Based on her reaction to my wedding date idea, I was thinking blocking me from her life was more likely.
“I’ll call Blaire. Mom, I’m getting a work call. I’m sorry, I have to go.” It wasn’t a lie. A commercial realtor I often used was buzzing in.
“Okay, love you, child. See you soon.”
“Love you, too.”
I switched to the other call before it went to voicemail. “Steve-o. How’s it going?”
“Good. You remember asking me if there was a lower rent place that would be good for a dry cleaners? I think I have a location for you.”
“Perfect. How many square feet?” I hit the record button so that when I reached the office, I could go back and get all the details I couldn’t write down while driving.
Work, I could do. It was a situation where the right strategy yielded a result I could count on. I was rarely blindsided when it came to making money. I was rarely not blindsided when it came to dealing with Grace.
Case in point: Isaac standing in the middle of my parking spot when I pulled in. He backed up slowly with his arms folded so I could park my car, even remembering to step up onto the curb without breaking eye contact with me. Bold power move.
I grabbed my laptop back from the passenger seat and got out. “Let me guess? You’re mad at me.”
“Furious.”
Lucky for me, Isaac’s version of furious was to look slightly perturbed. He was a dandelion among a pack of pride animals. No, that wasn’t fair. More like he was the kid picking dandelions while his team chased the soccer ball. He saw the beauty in the world, and he knew his priorities. He and Carmen were disgustingly happy together. I liked her for him a lot.
“Grace wouldn’t let me tell you.”
“Shocking. Disappoint her every once in a while.”
Why did people keep saying that to me? First Connie referring to the favors for my mother, and now this? Nobody had ever accused me of being a people-pleaser before. I told people to shut down their failing businesses. And I enjoyed it.
I shrugged. “I think she’s feeling a little ashamed about it, to be honest.”
“Ashamed that a big company wants to buy her out?”
“No, ashamed for wanting it.”
“Oh.” Isaac took that in with the look of someone who hadn’t considered that possibility before. Which meant Grace had made it sound like she didn’t have much of a choice in selling.
I got it. After Grace’s divorce, we’d all thrown ourselves into helping make her dream business come to life. She fought me on investing in it, terrified I’d never get my money back. I knew I would, if for no other reason than because Grace couldn’t stand the idea of owing me anything.
What she didn’t know was I’d invest in her a million times, with no thought of a return. And I couldn’t tell her why, because if there was anything I avoided more than my mother’s matchmaking, it was rejection.
I loved Isaac like a brother. And I loved Piper. Her unfettered joy in seeing me was one of the best things in life. I’d been around since she was born, giving her a lot of time to get to know me. So, if I actually revealed the depths of my feelings for Grace and got a no? My stomach hurt just thinking about it. I could joke about blowing up bridges with her, but I always kept an emergency bomb-squad on hand. Could Grace just be the one to try something for once? Maybe flirt back?
I thought about the look she’d given me over her shoulder when I’d clasped that necklace on her today. I had totally lied. If she’d let me, I’d be that vampire boyfriend we’d passed by in the jewelry shop. I would worship her gorgeous neck. I’d drop kisses on it every chance I got.
“You look like you’re a million miles away.”
“I—what?” I marched past Isaac and headed into the building. “It’s just a real estate thing. Lots to think about. See you tonight?”
“Well, we do have that meeting at four, right?”
“Oh, right. See you then.” I rubbed at the scruff on my face. I’d have to work in time for a shave before tonight.