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Grace mouthed the word ‘sorry’, and opened the door more to allow him to step inside. He wanted to say more, to tell Grace it was all right, but Gabby was right there, not taking her gaze off him. He’d have to wait until later. When they were alone. For the time being, he tried to let her know as best he could that it was fine. He was going to have to meet her family sooner or later.
***
Chapter 21
Grace waited for Alexander to remove his coat and hung it up for him. Her hand was still on the hanger when she felt his hand on her lower back. He bent to place his bag on the floor inside the closet. It was only then she realized he’d been carrying three bags. One looked to be an overnight bag. The other two were plastic—one of which looked like the kind they gave you at a novelty store. Given their conversation the night before, Grace had to assume somewhere in one of them was the lube he promised to pick up. She only hoped her sister hadn’t seen it.
She met his gaze.
He grinned and gave her back a gentle rub. “Relax.”
The sound of something falling on the floor caught their attention and they all turned in the direction the sound came from. Without missing a beat, Gabby headed toward the noise. “Taylor, what are you doing that you’re not supposed to?”
As soon as her sister was out of earshot, Grace faced Alexander. “I’m so sorry. I thought she’d be gone by the time you got here.”
He turned her to face him and pressed his lips against her forehead. “It’s fine. I was going to meet her eventually.”
This was true. Still, she hadn’t meant to spring it on him. Gabby could be a little... much.
They made their way into the kitchen, not wanting Gabby to come looking for them. When they walked in, her sister was on the floor cleaning up the yogurt Taylor had managed to drop. It had gone everywhere. Gabby looked up. “Yogurt, anyone?”
Alexander chuckled beside her. “No, thanks. I think I’ll pass.”
Gabby shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She threw the paper towels she’d been using to clean up the mess into the trash, and went to the refrigerator to grab another yogurt. Within seconds, she’d removed the foil lid and placed the new container in front of Taylor along with a spoon. “Eat your yogurt. You can play with your toy after.”
It was almost six o’clock, so Grace wasn’t surprised her niece was hungry. They’d had lunch hours ago.
“So tell me about yourself,” Gabby said to Alexander as she took a seat beside her daughter, not seeming to be in any hurry to leave.
Grace cringed at what she knew was coming, but there wasn’t much she could do other than kick her sister out, and she knew how well that would go.
Alexander seemed unfazed. He pulled out a chair, offered it to Grace, and sat down beside her. “What is it you’d like to know?”
Gabby wiped some yogurt from her daughter’s mouth. “How old are you? Where are you from? Are you planning to stay in St. Louis?”
“I’m thirty-five. A lot of places. And yes.”
Her sister leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. “Define a lot of places.”
Alexander placed his hand on Grace’s leg before responding. She hadn’t even realized she’d been bouncing it. “My father was an Army officer, so we moved around a lot.”
“I see,” Gabby said. “Did you have a favorite?”
“Probably Alaska. Although, I’m not sure I could take the winters anymore.” Grace had known he’d lived all over the place. He’d told her how hard it had been to make friends growing up.
Her sister shifted gears. “Grace told us you’re a doctor.”
It wasn’t exactly a question, but Alexander answered anyway. “Yes, that’s right.”
“What kind of doctor?”
“My specialty is in pediatric medicine,” he said.
That surprised Grace. She wasn’t sure why. Doctors with all sorts of specialties went into the military for various reasons. It also struck her that she’d never thought to ask him. What a great girlfriend she was turning out to be.
“So you like kids?” Her sister probed deeper. Grace thought about saying something, trying to change the subject, but didn’t figure it would do any good. Even if Gabby went with the flow and dropped her current line of questioning, she’d find a way to bring it up again—today, or heaven forbid at Thanksgiving.
Alexander didn’t seem to mind her question. “I love kids. One of these days I’d like to have several of my own.” This was also news to Grace. In all their conversations, they’d never discussed children. But why would they have? It wasn’t as if they were a couple.
