“Before I hit you.” Allison buried her face in her palms. “I’m such an idiot.”
Grace touched her arm. Her heart tugged for the distressed woman. “Look, I’m fine, really. In fact, there’s no need for you even to tell your husband about this little incident.”
Allison dropped her hands and frowned. “My husband?”
“Sloan.”
Allison’s lip curled up in disgust. “Gross. Sloan’s my brother, not my husband.”
Grace laughed a little. “Oh, sorry. I just assumed.”
Allison waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “He’s a little overprotective. He seems to have forgotten I’m an adult and I’m no longer a child.”
“It’s good to have someone looking out for you.” Grace swallowed the bitterness rising in the back of her throat. What did it feel like to have a support system? At times it seemed like the world was against her, continuing to stack obstacles, one after another, in her way. She’d thought she had gotten a break when she found the little town of Cloverton, right up until she got run over.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“No. I’m an only child.” Grace stepped onto the curb as a few shopkeepers stepped outside and glanced around. They’d probably heard the commotion. They stared at Allison’s car parked in the middle of the street, shrugged and headed back inside.
A driver pulled up behind Allison’s car and honked. She shot him a glare and the driver drove around, shaking his head. Ignoring her illegally parked car, Allison followed Grace onto the curb. “So where do you live?”
Grace’s chest tightened. She hesitated. “I bought the Hadley property.”
Allison’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s quite a distance from town. You must get very lonely out there.”
Grace slung her purse across her shoulder and held it against her side. “Not really. I like the country. It’s very peaceful.”
Allison snorted. “You sound like Sloan. He had a shit fit when I told him I was moving out of his house and into an apartment. He acted like I was moving to Siberia.”
“Your brother seems overbearing.”
“You have no idea.”
Grace bit down on her lip to keep from speaking out against her brother. This wasn’t her town and it wasn’t her business. Her gaze raked down Allison’s arms and she relaxed a little when she didn’t see any bruises. Maybe the brother was just a jerk and not a violent man. Allison seemed too bubbly to be a victim of abuse.
“I need to be going.” Graced stepped toward the small red and white awning of the grocery store.
“Wait!” Allison ran to her car. When she returned she had a pen and paper. She scribbled something and handed the pink scrap of paper to Grace.
“What’s this?”
“It’s my number and address. You know, in case you need anything. I’m afraid I’ve left a bad first impression. We are really quite a friendly town.” Allison smiled and headed back to her white convertible.
Grace shoved the paper in her purse. She watched as Allison pulled away before tugging on her cap, slipping her sunglasses on, and entering the grocery store.
***
“Why did you invite me over for dinner?” Sloan Jackson cocked his head and watched his sister scurry around the kitchen. He didn’t really care for the uncomfortable-looking furniture that Allison called contemporary, or the style of the loft apartment. Completely different from the oversized leather furniture, hardwood floors and deer mounts that decorated his house in the country. He didn’t have to live here so he figured his opinion didn’t matter much.
“You act like I never cook for you anymore.”
“You don’t. Not since you moved.”
She set a steaming plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans in front of him and scooted a plate of freshly made cornbread near his elbow. His stomach growled. He’d worked a double shift today and breakfast was long gone.
“I’ve been busy getting settled. It takes a lot of work to make a house a home. I wasn’t intentionally ignoring you.”
“I don’t mean to be a jerk.” He sighed as he took a bite. The flavor exploded on his tongue. He was beyond starving and his stomach thanked him. “I worry because you’re here. Alone.”
She laughed and took her seat. “I was alone out in the country. At least now I’m in town. Now, I’m not lonely.”
He shot her a sideways look. “Have you heard from Rob?”
Her shoulders stiffened as she slid her napkin in to her lap. “No. I haven’t, and I wish you’d quit asking.”
He waved his fork for emphasis. “Just make sure he doesn’t worm his way back into your life.”
“I’m not stupid, Sloan. Why would I take back someone who stole my money?”
His heart tugged, shewould always be that little girl in pigtails running around trying to catch fireflies because she thought they were fairies. He’d seen her change over the past year after that bastard had broken her heart. She’d learned that happily ever after didn’t really exist.