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"Whatever you do, don’t call it TLC," Amy said "That’ll scare an alpha into next week Just do him That’s all the TLC he’ll need"
Grace, who’d just taken an unfortunate bite of her cupcake, inhaled it up her nose By the ti eyes, both Mallory and Auys read far tooIt’sit too"
"So you’re saying that there’s nothing going on with you and the doc?" Amy asked
Well, hell She couldn’t exactly say that "I’ real I’ for jobs that I’m actually trained to do, and--"
"That your family wants you to do," Mallory reminded her "Because if you ask me, life here in Lucky Harbor suits you pretty nicely"
"My parents mean well," Grace said "They want me to succeed"
"Well of course," Mallory said "They love you But I’ Sometimes you have to sacrifice one for the other"
Grace had strived hard for success all her life, wanting to live up to being a Brooks It meant a lot to her, but it’d also cost her Until now she’d not ed to have any real relationships in her life, at least not long-lasting ones They’d not been iine her life without Mallory and Amy in it
"Happiness should alin," Mallory said quietly
Grace sighed They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes
"So on a scale of one to Taylor Lautner," Aht about hers and Josh’s two extremely memorable…moments "It’s not what you think" She paused "But Josh is ten-point-five Taylor Lautners No, make that eleven"
This caused a moment of silent appreciation
"He makes you happy," Mallory said softly
Grace looked into her friend’s warm eyes Mallory wanted the best for her She also wanted the best for Josh It was natural that her roether "I’ve always been a little short on the happy," Grace admitted "So it’s hard to say But it’s what I said I wanted Fun"
Mallory’s gaze never left Grace’s as she squeezed her hand, and Grace knehat she was thinking What they were all thinking Yes, Grace had said she wanted only fun But soun to yearn for more
Far more
That she’d already set the parameters with Josh was her own fault, so fun it would be And no more
"You could do this the easy way and just tell him," Mallory said
"Tell hi for hi She couldn’t be falling Because Josh had a very full life, and there wasn’t roo to squeeze herself in where there wasn’t room She’d done that with her parents all her life And every failed relationship
No h to take it
A down the same path I did, poor baby The path ofany path," Grace said, feeling gruruhed at her
"Is watching Toby as hard as you thought it would be?" Mallory asked when she’d controlled herself
Trick question Grace had honestly believed that taking care of Toby would be easier than watching after Tank It hadn’t been at all, but she couldn’t re a job more Not sure what that meant She lifted a shoulder "Little boys aren’t all that different frorinned "Now there’s a lesson that should be taught to every fearten to save years of frustration and heartache"
"You really don’t think you’re falling for him?" Mallory asked Grace
She shook her head Her life had always been about the botto to the top It’d never been about e in love…She knew better than that "Josh isn’t looking for that"
Mallory looked aood to knohere you’re at," Mallory said
Yeah Good to know Grace’s phone rang A nunize
"Grace Brooks?" came an unfamiliar voice in her ear
"Yes"
"This is Serena, the nurse at Lucky Harbor Ele"
"Okay…"
"But he fell in a ain…"
Since there was only a half hour left of school, Grace just took Toby home with her She buckled him into his booster seat and slid him a look in the rearview ," he said very solemnly "Me and Tommy needed to camel flaunt"
This baffled her for a beat; then she had to laugh "Cae?"
"Yes," he said
"For a battle"
"Yes!"
Grace had never really pictured herself with kids She didn’t knohy, exactly Maybe because she’d never been around theured she’d be married to her career as her parents were But in thatdeep inside her squeezed hard in yearning
They’d just walked in the front door and let Tank loose when Grace got a call from Anna
"Need a ride," was all Anna said
Grace could hear soirl’s voice Tears? Whatever it was, Grace’s stomach dropped She knew that Anna was supposed to be at physical therapy, but she also knew that Devon was a weasel, and once Anna was in his car, she was prettyto Anna about it twice since the other day, but Anna was good about avoiding talking
A definite Scott thing
Still, Grace couldn’t get past the gut feeling that Devon was pushing for things Anna didn’t want to give him "Where are you?" she asked
Anna rattled off an address that was just outside of Lucky Harbor It was an area that Grace knew frohborhood She looked at Toby, ooshing his Jedi lightsaber andfor a ride, Tobes"
"Tank and I are in the et back"