Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Paige was folding laundry and thinking about what she was going to post on TikTok next. Maybe another Thought For The Day. That had done well and gotten a lot of comments. She still hadn’t truly introduced Graham to her followers, mostly because she remained unsure about sharing him.
Giving them a glimpse of him was one thing. Telling them she and Graham were seeing each other exclusively was very different.
She had no problem sharing the men who meant nothing. But Graham was unlike those men. Graham was important and after their last conversation, her relationship with him felt like something she needed to protect.
Was there a way to bring him in that would also protect them as a couple? She knew her audience would love him. How could they not?
Her phone vibrated on the bed next to the stack of workout clothes. Graham’s name flashed across the screen.
Her heart did an entirely inconvenient little flutter. She tried to sound casual when she answered but wasn’t sure she’d accomplished it. He just had that effect on her. “Hi, there.”
“Hello, Paige.” His voice, smooth and warm as a cup of tea, wrapped around her name like he was smiling. “I was wondering if you’d like to come over for dinner this evening. Nothing fancy. It’s just something I cook far too infrequently because it’s no fun eating alone.”
Paige sat on the bed, pressing her palm over the sudden thump in her chest. “Dinner sounds wonderful.”
“And perhaps a film afterward?” he added. “We could make a night of it. I promise to respect your popcorn preferences so long as it’s buttered.”
She laughed. “As long as you don’t mind me hogging the remote.”
“Only if you agree not to fast-forward through the action sequences,” he teased.
“Deal,” she said without hesitation.
There was a warm beat of silence, the kind that made Paige’s toes curl in the best way. Like they were both enjoying the moment.
“Six o’clock all right?” he asked.
“I’ll be there. Should I bring anything?”
“Just yourself.”
When the call ended, Paige stared at her reflection in the dark screen. The woman looking back at her wasn’t the curated version perfected by flattering lighting and filters. The woman looking back at her was flushed, fluttery, and a little nervous.
This was a version of her she hadn’t seen in a long time. Maybe not ever.
She set her phone aside, and went back to folding, unable to keep from smiling.
It was just dinner. With a very handsome former intelligence officer. Who made her laugh. And looked at her like she was absolutely worth his time and attention.
Who wouldn’t be flushed and fluttery?
Paige glanced toward her closet, mentally considering a dozen outfits at once. That hum of anticipation in her chest was a sure sign that she wanted this. That she was ready.
No matter how much it still frightened her.
She arrived a few minutes before six. Graham’s home was exactly what she’d expected. Tidy but lived-in, warm lighting, framed photos from foreign places she didn’t recognize, and books stacked in deceptively neat piles that made the slight chaos seem controlled. It felt like him.
The meal he’d cooked was unsurprisingly delicious. As per his usual, he seemed to downplay his skills. The roasted lemon chicken and vegetables tasted like something she’d once paid good money for in a restaurant.
“You’re a man of many talents,” she said. “But you definitely undersold this. It’s really good.”
“I like to keep expectations low,” he replied, pouring her another splash of wine. “Undersell, overdeliver, I believe is the phrase.”
He was doing that all right.
They moved to the living room after she helped him clean up. They settled onto his plush sofa, side by side, with a bowl of buttered popcorn between them. Graham handed her the remote with a wry look.
“Your choice. I trust your cinematic judgment.”
Paige scrolled until she found a favorite cute rom-com, one he professed he’d never seen. Couldn’t go wrong with Matthew McConaughey, though, could you? Graham didn’t give her grief for her selection, either, which earned him major points.
The movie was halfway through when his phone shuddered on the coffee table. He glanced down, and the change in his expression was immediate. His eyes widened in happy recognition.
She paused the movie.
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s my son. I should take this, we weren’t able to have our usual call this morning.”
“Of course.” Paige didn’t mind. She ate another handful of popcorn as he stepped into the kitchen.
She didn’t mean to listen, but snippets carried into the living room.
“Are you sure?” Then, “No, no. That’s…that’s good news.” After a brief pause, “Tomorrow? Yes. I can do that. I’ll get a flight up. No, no problem at all.”
His tone was calm, but Paige recognized the undercurrent of surprise. And something weightier.
When he returned, he ran a hand over the back of his neck as if soothing himself.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
He sat down beside her again, a bit slower this time, his mind clearly working through whatever he’d just been told. “Andrew is good. He had news. He’s…well, he and his girlfriend are apparently expecting a baby. Early next year.”
Paige’s breath caught, then bloomed into a smile. “Graham, that’s wonderful news!”
“It is,” he agreed, but his smile was a little thin. “Her parents are coming in for the gender reveal. That’s a thing now, you know.”
“So I’ve heard. Are you okay? You don’t seem completely happy about this. Do you not like her?” Paige could just tell by looking at him that there was something else going on.
“Nicole is a marvelous girl,” he said, and Paige caught the softness of pride beneath his steady voice. “But you’re right that I’m not completely happy.”
He leaned back slightly, a soft sigh escaping him. “They’ve been a bit distant lately. They know I don’t fully approve of them living together before marriage.”
Paige nodded, not judging, just understanding.
“I realize it’s old-fashioned,” he continued, his gaze dropping briefly to the popcorn bowl between them.
“It’s just, I suppose I am old-fashioned.
It’s the way I was raised, you did things in a certain order.
Marriage, then children. And now they’re doing it all at once, and I—” He exhaled slowly.
“I don’t want to push them away, but I worry I already have. ”
His words gave Paige’s heart a tug. She tilted her head, catching his eyes again.
“Wanting the best for your child isn’t old-fashioned.
And accepting that their path might look different from the one you imagined?
That’s all right, too. You don’t have to approve to still love them and be there for them. ”
His shoulders relaxed at that, a visible release of something heavy. “Do you really think so?”
“I do. Parents have to work around expectations all the time. Just because our visions of our children’s futures turn out differently than reality doesn’t mean we’re bad parents or we have to give up on them. We just adapt and—what’s that saying? Keep calm and carry on?”
He laughed. “Very good, yes.” He tossed a single piece of popcorn into his mouth and chewed.
“They want me to be a real part of this,” he said.
“They invited me up tomorrow to celebrate. Meet her properly. Meet her parents. Talk about the future.” He gave an odd chuckle.
“It’s strange to be told you’re going to be a grandfather by the same child you still picture as a boy with a scraped knee. ”
“Kind of short notice, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “It wasn’t planned. Apparently, her folks were already going to be in town and Andrew and Nicole just decided to see if I could come up. Andrew admitted it was all very last-minute.”
“Well, if the universe believes you’re ready for grandpa status, I say go with it.”
He looked at her then, and the gratitude in his eyes felt like a secret shared only with her. “Thank you.”
“For what?” she asked softly.
“For giving me perspective. And for being here when real life interrupts the movie.”
Paige moved the popcorn bowl so she could lean against his shoulder just slightly. “That’s what real life does. It interrupts. But sometimes the story it brings with it is even better.”
He took a breath. “Would you go with me? We’d leave tomorrow and get home Tuesday, so nothing too major.”
She straightened. “To New York? To the gender reveal?”
“Yes.” His voice was calm, but she could see tension in his shoulders. “Is that too much too soon?”
Paige was trying to sort the dozen or so thoughts whirling through her head when he added, a little quickly, a little shyly, “I’ve already told Andrew about you.”
Her heart gave an unexpected leap. “You have?”
Graham nodded, looking almost boyish in that moment. “He’s been telling me for a while that I should get back out there, so I mentioned I’ve been seeing someone. Someone who makes me smile. Someone I would very much like him to meet.”
Warmth rushed through her. She was stunned and dizzied by his words. She tried to bite back her smile and failed. “You said all that?”
“It may have been phrased with slightly more awkward British restraint,” he said, eyes crinkling. “But yes. They know you’re important to me.”
Paige took a soft breath, acknowledging what it really meant. Graham saw a future with her.
“Well,” she said, her fingers tightening around his. “If you want me there and they’re okay with it, then I’d love to go.”
Graham’s shoulders eased, relief turning his smile into something more solid. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For saying yes. For being you.” His thumb brushed gently over her hand. “And bringing joy back into my life. Now I suppose we ought to do something about flights.”
Paige leaned closer, their faces inches apart, and whispered, “There’s something about me you need to know.”
His brows lifted with obvious interest. “What’s that now?”
She smiled. “I only fly First Class.”