Once she was inside, Marissa stripped off her clothes and took a long shower, then slipped into sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt and made herself a cup of tea. By the time she’d finished puttering in the kitchen, it was past seven-thirty and she was about to settle in front of the television for an hour or so when her cell rang.
Grady.
She snatched up the phone and answered on the fourth ring.
“Hi,” she whispered, a little more breathless than she liked. “Is everything all right?”
“Fine,” he said, then stayed silent for a few seconds. She could hear Breanna and Milly chattering in the background and it made her smile. “Uh...the reason I’m calling is that the girls were wondering...well, they wanted to know if you’d like to...if you’d like to come over.”
“Now?” Marissa asked quickly.
“No! No...tomorrow. Tomorrow night. For dinner.”
Dinner with Grady and his daughters? He sounded as if he was swallowing poison along with the invitation. She took a steadying breath. “The girls want me to come over for dinner?”
“Yes...exactly.”
“And is that what you want?”
Silence stretched down the phone line. “Uh...sure.”
She’d bet the new boots she needed to buy that he didn’t. “What time?”
“Six.”
“I’ll be there,” she said, then disconnected the call.
Dinner with the girls—great. Dinner with Grady—she didn’t want to think that it made her uneasy. Because that meant digging deep...and the less she did that, the better.
For his sake. And hers.
There wasn’t anything he could say to himself that would convince Grady that having Marissa over for dinner was in any shape or form a sensible idea. But the girls had begged him to invite her and he couldn’t refuse them. They rarely asked for anything, particularly Breanna, who he knew missed her mother deeply. So if it meant being around Marissa for a few hours every now and then, he was happy to do it.
Sunday afternoon came around way too quickly, and by the time the girls were bathed and dressed and waiting patiently for her to arrive, it was past five o’clock. They could barely contain their excitement at seeing Marissa again.
She pulled up in the driveway at precisely three minutes to six, and as soon as she walked through the door his daughters bounced around, twirling and laughing, showing off their now-chipped nail polish. Once again he marveled at how easily and completely she captured their attention. Since their mom died, no one else could reach them the way Marissa did. She had a certain kind of magic when it came to his daughters. Even Liz had known it. But he was pretty sure Marissa had no idea how much she meant to his family.
“Hi,” she said when he greeted her in the hall.
“Hi yourself,” he replied and stepped aside to give her room to pass. “We’re eating out on the back veranda tonight,” he explained. “The girls have already set the table,” he said and winked slightly. “To celebrate your homecoming.”
“Don’t tell her that, Daddy,” Breanna said and tugged at his shirt. “It’s a surprise.”
She laughed. “A surprise? I look forward to seeing it.”
Grady grinned. “Don’t say you weren’t warned.”
Tina grabbed his leg and begged to be held, and before he could pick her up Marissa held out her arms. “I’ve got her,” she said and lifted her up. “I don’t want to interrupt the cook,” she said and pointed to the bright pink apron he had around his waist.
“Are you laughing at me?” he asked good-humoredly.
“If you want to walk around in that getup, you need to deal with the consequences.”
“True enough,” he said and plucked at the pink and silver sequins on the small apron tucked into his jeans. “But in case you were wondering, it actually belongs to Breanna and she insisted I borrow it while I cook on the grill.”
Marissa raised a skeptical brow. “And it’s not emasculating in anyway whatsoever.”
“Gee...thanks.”
She laughed again and the sound hit him directly in the solar plexus. She looked lovely in a knee-length soft denim dress and silver sandals. Her hair was down, flowing over her shoulders and down her back, and he remembered how he’d touched some strands the day before. He had no idea why he’d done it. He never overstepped the bounds of their often fraught relationship. She was Liz’s friend. Not his. And he didn’t think about Marissa like that. He’d dismissed all those thoughts long ago, when he’d started dating Liz and fallen in love with her. But for some reason, one he couldn’t fathom, right in that moment, with her beautiful hair flowing and her cheeks bright with color while she held his child as if she was a precious gift, Grady was thinking about it. And attraction, white-hot and completely unexpected, coursed through his blood with the speed of a freight train.
No! It can’t be!
But he couldn’t deny it. Couldn’t do anything but let it wash over him and settle behind his ribs. He wasn’t sure what to do with it. What to make of it. Or if he should or could do anything.
It will pass...
Of course it would. It was a fleeting fancy. Simply a matter of geography. Marissa was beautiful and familiar and suddenly near. Of course he would notice her. It didn’t mean a solitary thing. And it didn’t mean he’d be prepared to do something about it. If she knew what he was thinking, she’d probably get all outraged and call him a bunch of well-deserved names.
If and when he started dating again, it certainly wouldn’t be with Marissa Ellis. They had too much history between them. They had Liz...and he wouldn’t dishonor the memory of his beloved wife like that. Even if Liz gave the whole idea her blessing, which knowing Liz, she probably would have. The last thing she’d told him before she passed away was to be happy, to make another life, to not be alone. But he wasn’t ready. Not just yet. And when he was, he’d find someone who didn’t have a window into his past. Marissa was not for him. She might wield magic with his daughters, but he wasn’t about to turn that into anything else. Anything more.
“Are you okay?”
Marissa’s soft voice jerked him into the moment. “Sure...” he said and waved a vague hand. “Let’s go out to the patio.”
She followed him outside, Tina still locked in her arms. Grady watched her expression change to one of pure delight when she saw what Breanna and Milly had done to the long table. Dolls and colorful toys decorated some of the chairs. Bunting made from colored paper was stretched between the porch beams, and the table was decorated with glitter and colored glass ornaments.
“Oh...wow,” Marissa said as she walked out onto the patio. “This is amazing.” She looked at Breanna and Milly. “Did you do this for me?”
“Yes,” Milly said excitedly and twirled a little. “We did it today. Daddy helped, too.”
Marissa sighed and adjusted Tina on her hip. “Well, I have to say, this is just about the best decorated table I’ve ever seen. You’ve made me