Too Good to Be True - Kristan Higgins [120]
“It’s amazing. What a great job you’ve done,” he said, smiling proudly at me.
“Thanks,” I said, heading downstairs. Andrew followed. “Would you like a glass of water? Coffee? Wine? Beer?” I rolled my eyes at myself. Why not just bake the man a cake, Grace? Maybe grill up a few shrimp and a filet mignon?
“I’ll take a glass of wine,” he said. “Thanks, Grace.”
He followed me into the kitchen, murmuring appreciatively as he noticed little details—the crown molding, the cuckoo clock in the hall, the cluster of heavy architectural stars I’d bolted to the wall behind the kitchen table.
“So why the visit, Andrew?” I asked, carrying two glasses of wine into the living room. He sat on the Victorian sofa that had cost so much to reupholster. I took the wing chair, handed Angus a misshapen hunk of rawhide to discourage him from eating Andrew’s shoes and looked at my sister’s fiancé.
He took a deep breath and smiled. “Well, this is a little awkward, Grace, but I felt I should… well, ask you something.”
My heart dropped into my stomach, sitting there like a peach pit. “Okay.”
He looked at the floor. “Well, I… this is uncomfortable for me.” He broke off, looked up and made one of his goofy faces.
I smiled uncertainly.
“I guess I’ll just blurt this out,” he said. “Gracie, what are you doing with that guy?”
The peach pit seemed to turn, scraping my insides unpleasantly, and my smile dropped from my face as if it was made from granite. Andrew waited, a kindly, concerned expression on his face. “What do you mean?” I asked, my voice quiet and shaky.
Andrew scratched his cheek. “Grace,” he said very softly, leaning forward, “forgive me for asking this, but does this have something to do with Natalie and me?”
“Excuse me?” I asked, my voice squeaking. I reached for my dog and lifted him to sit protectively on my lap. Angus dropped the rawhide and growled obediently at Andrew. Good dog.
Andrew took a quick breath. “Look, I’ll just come right out with this, Grace. That guy doesn’t seem, well, right for you. An ex-con, Gracie? Is that really what you want? I… well, I never met the other guy, Wyatt, was it? The doctor? But from what Natalie said, he sounded great.”
I closed my eyes. Natalie never met him, you dope. I never met him. But God knew Natalie had a lot dependent on me dating Wyatt Dunn, so perhaps her imagination had gotten the better of her. As mine had with me.
“Grace,” Andrew continued, “this guy… I have to ask myself if you’re doing this out of… well…”
“Desperation?” I suggested with a bite.
He winced slightly but didn’t correct me. “You’ve been… well, generous, Grace,” he said. “I’m sure the whole situation with Natalie and me has been… uncomfortable. It has been for me, anyway, so I can only imagine how it’s been for you.”
“How kind of you to consider my feelings,” I murmured. The peach pit scraped deeper.
“But—what’s his name again? The embezzler?”
“Callahan O’Shea.”
“Well, Grace, to me it just seems like he’s not for you.”
I smiled tightly. “Well, you know, Andrew, he does have this one really wonderful quality. He’s not in love with my sister. Which, you know, I find quite refreshing.”
Andrew flushed, acknowledging that with a half nod. “Point taken, Gracie. But even with—”
“And I feel compelled to mention,” I said, my voice taking on my silence in the classroom tone, causing Angus to whine sympathetically, “that my love life is no longer any of your business.”
“I still care about you, that’s all,” he protested softly, and in that moment, I wanted to kick him in the nuts.
“Don’t trouble yourself, Andrew,” I said, trying to keep my voice from breaking with rage. “I’m fine. Callahan is a good man.”
“Are you sure, Grace? Because there’s something I don’t trust about him.”
I set Angus down and looked steadily at Andrew. “How interesting that you should say that, Andrew. After all, look what happened with you and me. I thought you loved me. I thought we were pretty damn perfect together. And I was wrong. So it’s funny. You don’t trust Callahan, and I don’t quite trust you, Andrew, and I have no idea what