“Will do.” Gracie sits back down. “What are you guys doing tonight?”
“Nothing,” I say, not sure if I’m looking forward to it or if it will give me too much time to obsess about Charlie.
Whom I absolutely must stop thinking about.
Only, this is not a problem I’ve had before, so I’m having a hard time figuring out how to go about it.
“You should come hang with us tonight at our house. Very low-key and casual,” Gracie says.
“I can’t. I need like twelve hours of silence.” Hailey is in that part of the book-writing process where she’s obsessed with getting back to her computer.
I smile and explain the quirks of living with a writer. “She’s in the honeymoon phase. I had to drag her out this morning for her own good.”
“Well, how about you?” Gracie points at me. “Since you’re on your own tonight.”
Will Charlie be there?
All my instincts are tingling, but maybe it’s better to play it safe since every time I see him, it ends in disaster. “It’s been a long week.”
“Sam said you should come.” Gracie’s wearing a sly grin.
My head snaps up from the surprise. I hadn’t gotten that vibe from him at all. I stutter. “What? Oh, um…yeah, maybe another time.”
Gracie giggles. “Oops, sorry. I did make it sound like it was a personal request for your presence, but no, it’s not for him. He didn’t say why. He just said when you came into the shop today, I should encourage you to come over tonight.”
Confused, I ask slowly, “How did he know I’d show up here?”
She shrugs one shoulder like it’s not a big deal. “That’s just how he is. So when he says something, we listen because he tends to be right.”
I glance at Harmony, trying to gauge her reaction.
She finishes a bite of cinnamon coffee cake. “What can I say? It’s true. Before you say no, it will just be a few of us. Super casual. Just dinner and drinks and relaxing.”
I glance around the room and lean in. “Can I be honest with you?”
Hailey’s brow furrows, but Harmony and Gracie lean forward in unison, expressions alight with the expectation of two women on the cusp of juicy gossip. “I’d love to go, but I need a break from my boss and my brother.”
The pressure of being on my best behavior is wearing on me.
Gracie claps her hands like she’s an excited six-year-old in a bakery full of cupcakes. “You’re in luck, because they won’t be there.”
“No?” My heart starts to speed up again.
She shakes her head. “Ryder is on duty tonight. Sophie has a dinner with potential investors, and Griffin and Darcy are going to a charity event. You will have no chaperones.”
Harmony grins. “And we promise, our lips will be sealed.”
I glance at Hailey, who adds, “If you leave me alone in an empty house, you will be my favorite sister.”
“All right, I’m in.”
If Charlie is there, I won’t have to play it safe.
I could just…be myself.
Charlie
* * *