Page 37

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Grace: Noah is poisoning me. I need you to come over here and kill him.

Matt: Can it wait until after supper?

Grace: Sorry. Meant to send that message to your mom.

Matt: So I’m off the hook for murder?

Grace: Unless I can’t get ahold of her.

Matt: Have you considered calling the boys at the firehouse?

Grace: You’re the worst.

Matt: Love you too.

Matt grinned as he slid his phone into his back pocket, reached for the drink carrier with one hand, the food with the other, then elbowed his truck door shut.

Things were clearly going well with Gracie and Noah’s little memoir project. Now to get things moving along with his own personal little Matt-and-Rachel-should-be-more-than-friends project.

Ever since his breakfast with Noah and Abe yesterday morning, confessing his feelings to Rachel was all he could think about. Tell her you love her, ask her to marry you, then promise to do whatever it takes to keep her safe and cherished for the rest of her life.

Obviously he wasn’t going to ask Rachel to marry him. Not yet. That’d be crazy.

Unless she was as head over heels in love with him as he was with her. Then maybe asking her to marry him by the end of the week would be the soundest decision he ever made.

The scent of juicy hamburgers and salted fries made his stomach growl as he juggled the drinks and sack to open the front door to his house.

“Hope you’re hungry,” Matt said, nudging the door shut with his foot.

He hadn’t checked with Rachel before swinging through the diner on his way home from visiting Buck, but he didn’t figure she’d be sad to see a sack full of greasy sustenance. Who would? Plus greasy sustenance felt like a great segue into discussing their relationship.

Sure, Rach, I’ll take your extra pickle. Will you take my entire heart?

Okay, maybe not the best segue.

“Grabbed us a few burgers,” he called out on the way to the kitchen. “Hope you wanted a lemonade. Wasn’t sure if you’d want that or iced tea or—” He halted at the site of Rachel stepping out of the guest bedroom with her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. “Hey, what’s going on? I just brought home dinner. You’re not leaving, are you?”

Rachel’s gaze bounced off the drinks and food. “Sorry. Should’ve texted you. I’m not all that hungry. I ended up eating a big lunch with Aimee today.”

Aimee? “Oh. Okay. Sure you don’t want some fries at least?”

Her stomach growled, obviously on board with the idea of fries. But Rachel shook her head. “No, that’s okay. I just came back to grab my things. She dropped me off at my house earlier, so I could get my car and run a few errands.”

Aimee?

“Yeah, Aimee.”

He must’ve spoken that last bit out loud. “So you’re just going back to your house now?” For good?

Rachel adjusted the strap of her bag along her shoulder, eyeing the bag of fries like a long-lost lover. “I’m sure you’re ready to have your space back. Besides, my neck’s way better. After this morning’s chiropractor appointment, I can change clothes like there’s no tomorrow. I mean, this is my third pair of pants today just because I can.”

“And nobody’s prouder of you than I am, but hey—” He tossed the sack of food on the counter and chased after her when it became apparent the fries weren’t enough of a temptation to keep her at his house long enough for him to figure out how to tell her he loved her way more than a friend. “What about Ace?”

She paused at the front door. “What about Ace?”

“What if he shows up at your house?”

She wrinkled her nose and reached for the handle. “He’s not going to show up at my house. Trust me.”

“But what if he does?” He covered her hand to keep her from twisting the door handle.

“Then I’ll call the police.”

“After he hurts you?”

“He’s not going to hurt me. Think about it, if he wanted to hurt me, he would’ve followed me home by now and slit my throat, then dumped my body where nobody could find it until it had decomposed so far beyond recognition that only my dental records would be able to identify me.”

“Was that supposed to reassure me or...?”

“Bottom line, I can’t stay here. Not if we’re going to keep being friends.” She shook off his hand and tugged open the door.

Matt followed her onto the front porch. “Well, of course, we’re going to keep being friends. Why would we ever stop being friends?”

“If we turn out like you and Aimee, maybe.” She hitched her bag higher onto her shoulder with a wince, then rubbed her neck as she proceeded down the sidewalk to her car parked in front of the neighbor’s house.

Matt caught up to her side so that he could snag her bag from her shoulder and place it over his. “What, like broken up?”

“No, boring as all get out, and then broken up,” she said, continuing to march to her car. “Oh my goodness, Matt. She droned on and on about your relationship, and I swear watching a two-hour documentary about how crabgrass grows in cement cracks would’ve been more interesting than what she described. Please tell me your relationship wasn’t that awful.”

She popped her trunk, then turned for her bag.

He twisted his shoulder back so she couldn’t reach the strap. “Our relationship wasn’t awful. Just... okay, yeah. Boring.”

“Which is exactly why I have to get out of here. Before this gets any worse.” She stepped closer to grab her bag.

He angled away to keep it out of reach. The closer she stepped, the more he turned. “What are you talking about?”

“Do I have to spell it out?”

“Apparently you do. And the sooner the better. I’m starting to get dizzy.” Not only because they were literally spinning in circles next to her trunk. The girl was talking in circles. “What’s the big deal about staying long enough to eat a hamburger and fries with me? I know you’re hungry.”

“The big deal is I’ve fallen in love with you.”

Matt stopped turning. Her bag slipped from his shoulder and thumped to the pavement. “Are you serious?” Please be serious.

She nodded, not only looking serious, but tormented. The man walking his dog across the street probably thought she was admitting to some sort of heinous crime.

“Is falling in love with me not a good thing?” Matt asked, needing some clarification about the tormented look. “Because I happen to think falling in love with you has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.”

“Falling in love with—” She sucked in a breath, and if possible, her face grew even more anguished. “Matt, no. This is terrible. Don’t you get it? You’re my best friend. My favorite friend.”

“You’re mine too.”

“I hated not having you in my life for five years.”

“Same here.”

“I never want to go through that again.”

“Me neither.”

“So don’t you see?”

See what? He was waiting for her to get to the terrible part. So far it sounded great. Like they were both ready to move on to the kissing part. “What am I supposed to see?”

“Why we can’t ever be more than just friends. We’ll turn into crabgrass!”

And with those words, she jumped into the car and sped away, the open trunk door flopping up and down until it slammed shut just as her car disappeared around the corner.

Matt met the gaze of the man walking his dog across the street. The man offered a little shrug. Matt returned it right back. Then he picked up Rachel’s bag from the pavement and tried to recall the last time he’d ever felt this happy—Rachel had fallen in love with him!—and confused.

Crabgrass?