Page 44 of Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell (Rock Canyon, Idaho 7)

Gracie had decided to keep their hookup story as honest as possible. Which reminded her to talk to Eric so he didn’t start making up shit.

“Well, after Viola picked up Pip, I was pretty torn up, you know?”

Gemma took her hand, sympathy heavy in her eyes. “Have you heard anything?”

Gracie shook her head. “I called Viola twice last week and this morning. She says that Pip is fine. She just needs time to adjust.”

“You don’t believe her?” Gemma asked.

“No, I mean, I’m sure she’s right. I just miss her.”

“I know, babe.”

Gracie wiped at her cheeks when she realized they were wet. “Damn it, I did not want to talk about this.”

Gemma let her hand go and went about spreading dressing all over her salad. “Okay, back to Eric.”

“He texted me to see if I was okay, and when I said I wasn’t, he showed up with brownies and alcohol. It was sweet.” It had been, which really had surprised her. Eric had his moments when he shocked the hell out of her. “Anyway, I didn’t want to be alone, so I asked him to stay, and one thing led to another…it just all sort of fell into place.”

Gemma actually looked dreamy. “I just love that. After so many years of wondering, you two finally connected at the right time. So romantic.”

Gracie rolled her eyes. “He’s still a Neanderthal, although he did apologize for it.”

“What did he do?”

“He was all irritated and jealous that Mike has a key to my place, and walked in while he was there. Oh, and that Mike had his arm around me at Buck’s on Saturday night.”

Gemma was quiet for a minute, which never boded well.

“What?” Gracie said.

“Nothing. I just remember when Travis came back to town and saw how close Mike and I were. Even though it was platonic, on my side at least, he wasn’t happy about it.”

“Yeah, but he’d been away a long time and he’s fine now. I warned Eric it wasn’t going to work if he didn’t trust me.”

Gemma set her salad on her dresser and without warning, hit Gracie with one of her pillows.

Gracie wrestled it away from her, ready to whack her back. “Hey, what was that for?”

“You! Sometimes, you can be so ‘my way or the highway’! It makes me crazy. I agree that Eric should trust you, but sometimes it isn’t about trust, but perception. Mike and you have a closeness that you and Eric haven’t achieved yet. It’s intimidating, and probably a little hurtful, although I doubt he’d ever admit that. My point is, think of how you would feel coming into a new relationship and he had this close friend. An attractive friend who had keys to his place.”

“Hey, I already told him I was sorry and I understood where he was coming from,” Gracie said defensively.

“But, did you mean it? ‘Cause that’s important too. You’ve never been with anyone where you actually let your guard down enough to know them. I don’t know if Eric will be any different, but you should at least try to give him a real chance. Lord knows you two have waited long enough.”

This conversation about her fake relationship was making her feel pretty crappy about all of her real ones.

“I know that I have issues with commitment, but no matter what happens with Eric and me, I promise that I will be more open from now on. Does this make you happy?”

Gemma pulled her salad back onto her lap and took a large, obnoxious bite.

“Yes. Yes, it does.”

Chapter Fifteen

“Ladies, if you want to hook a man, make sure his mom likes you…unless he hates his mom, in which case, avoid her at all costs.” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.

Later that night, Eric was standing in his kitchen, listening to his mother and father give Grant a ration of shit. They tried to do Monday-night dinners weekly, but it all depended on how slammed the bar was. Eric had the night off, but Grant was only taking a long break.