Working It Out (17 page)

Seth grabbed the pint of frost-bitten Rocky Road ice
cream and launched it at the fridge door, as if it could somehow fly through it
and smash into his cell phone. When the container landed on the floor with an
unsatisfying thud, he kicked it away and yanked open the door. Then he grabbed
his cell phone, ready to strangle the person whose name appeared last on his caller
ID.

Lanna
.

Seth glared at the phone, suddenly wishing he was still
on her bad side.

“E
arth to
Grace.”
Cameron’s hand waved in front of her face, rudely interrupting
her unsettled thoughts.

Annoyed, Grace swatted his hand away. This was her lunch
break—
her
time. Why couldn’t he see she wasn’t in the mood to talk?

Cameron lifted his hands in surrender, giving her a
don’t-shoot-the-messenger look. “Just wanted to let you know that your favorite
patient is here.”

Grace’s eyes widened as panicked butterflies filled her
stomach. Seth’s appointment wasn’t for a couple of days, which happened to be
the amount of time she needed to prepare herself to see him again. There was a
reason she hadn’t answered any of his calls or texts over the past two days. She
wasn’t ready to talk. Did he really think that showing up at her work,
unannounced, was a good idea? Because it wasn’t. It was a horrible idea.

Grace couldn’t face him yet, not when the memory of that
kiss still burned in her mind like the worst temptation ever. She now understood
how some people could become alcoholics after just one drink. One kiss was all
it took for her to become addicted to Seth. Maybe there was a support group she
could join, consisting of all the girls who had ever experienced one of Seth’s
kisses.

Grace grabbed Cameron’s arm. “Tell him I’m not here.”

Cameron stared at his wrist. “Okay, ow,” he finally said.

Grace let go of his wrist, but her gaze still bore into
him. “I’m not here,” she hissed. “Got it?”

“Looks like you’re here to me,” said a deep voice behind
Cameron.

Grace felt an odd mixture of relief and disappointment
when she heard Alec’s voice. She glanced around Cameron and spotted her brother
sitting in his wheelchair, giving her a strange look. “You did say to come
today, right?” he said. “Or did I get the day wrong?”

Grace glanced at her watch as though the digital numbers
would somehow make everything clear. She vaguely remembered telling Alec he
could come during her lunch break, but had she meant today? Grace couldn’t
remember. She shook her head, trying to clear it. “Sorry. I completely forgot.”

Alec raised an eyebrow. “Who did you think I was?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Cameron added.

Grace felt her face warm. She pushed her chair back and
stood. “No one. Cameron just caught me off guard, that’s all.”

“Yeah right.” Cameron gave his head a shake, forcing his
hair away from his eyes as he glanced at Alec. “I told her that her favorite
patient was here, and she totally freaked out. So . . . if
you’re
not
her favorite patient, who is?”

A slow smile spread across Alec’s face. “I think I have a
pretty good idea.”

“Really? Who?” Cameron said.

Grace glared at her brother. “I don’t have a favorite
patient,” she said firmly, turning her glare on Cameron. “Isn’t it your lunch
break too? What are you still doing here?”

Once again, Cameron’s hands went up in surrender, as
though worried she might attack. “Just being curious, that’s all. C’mon, I’ve
got to know. Who is he?”

Grace brushed past him, glaring once more at Alec. “You’re
going to be in some serious pain after I get through with you.”

“Can’t wait.” Alec grinned.

“Seriously?” Cameron said, trailing behind. “You’re just
going to leave me hanging like that?”

“Yes,” Grace said, stopping next to the bench press. “Now
go to lunch, will you? Isn’t Talia waiting for you?”

“Oh, right.” Cameron headed toward the door, giving her
one last glance over his shoulder. “This isn’t over, you know. I will find
out.”

Grace waited for the door to shut before breathing a sigh
of relief. That is, until she caught Alec watching her. She frowned. “Don’t
ask, because I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Good, because I don’t either,” he said. “The last thing
I want to do is get caught in the middle of you and Seth.”

Grace felt like she was on the verge of going insane. For
two days, she’d tossed and turned, fretted, and relived that kiss over and over
again. And each time, all it did was churn her insides into something that felt
like butterflies mixed with sour butter. If that wasn’t bad enough, her
distraction was at an all-time high. She’d put milk in her pantry, dirty
clothes in her dryer, and mixed up the name and workout of more than one
patient over the past couple of days. That kiss had given “god of chaos” a
whole new meaning.

Grace sank down on the bench and dropped her head to her hands.
“He kissed me,” she blurted, unable to keep it inside any longer. “Why did he
have to kiss me?”

Alec let out a groan. “I so did not want to hear that.”

“He’s my patient!” Grace said, sending a pleading look
his way. She needed someone to listen to her, to make her see straight once
again. “He’s always messing with me, always disorganizing my life, making me do
things I don’t want to do and getting into my head. He’s charming and nice one
minute and annoying and frustrating the next. I can’t live this way anymore!”

Alec’s eyes widened slightly before he let out a half
snicker, half laugh. “Wow,” was all he said.

“’Wow’? Really? That’s it?” Surely Alec had something
more intelligent to say.

Another snicker, and Alec shook his head. “Sorry, sis,
but I’ve never seen you this way before. I mean, you’re so . . .” His palms
turned up, indicating he’d come up empty.

Grace, on the other hand, had no problem describing what
she was. “I’m a mess!”

He nodded. “That’s one way of saying it.”

Grace grabbed a hand towel and chucked it at her brother.
“You’re no help at all.”

“What do you want me to do, go challenge Seth to a duel
or something?”

“No.” Grace rolled her eyes. “I want you to say something
to make this crazy anxiety go away. I want Seth to cancel his appointments and
find another physical therapist to pester.
I want peace
.”

Alec looked longingly at the bench press, as if he’d
rather lift weights than talk about his sister’s love life. “If you don’t like
him, just tell him.”

“That’s the problem. I
do
like him—too much!”

Alec’s gaze shot back to her. He blinked, then blinked
some more, as if trying to make sense of something that didn’t make any sense
at all. “Let me get this straight. You like Seth, he kissed you, which you
probably also liked, and now you want him to go away? That makes zero sense.”

“He’s my patient!”

“So?”

“He’s also the egotistical god of chaos!”

“You lost me on that one.”

Grace stood and began pacing the room, grateful that
everyone else was on their lunch break. It was bad enough that Alec was here,
witnessing her mental breakdown. “Seth isn’t the committing type. He’s into fun
and more fun and doesn’t understand what it means to be responsible. I mean,
look at his career. He’s a part-time consultant who flits in and out of
people’s lives like a mosquito.”

“Mosquito?”

“Yes! Like an annoying, pestering mosquito you just want
to swat away.”

“But you said you like him.”

“I do! That’s the problem!”

“Then he’s not like a mosquito, because nobody likes
mosquitoes.”

“What?” It was Grace’s turn to blink, which she did, over
and over again as she stared at her brother. She really had no idea what she’d
expected him to say, but definitely not that. Of course the mosquito comparison
didn’t fit, but the last thing Grace was looking for was a lesson on metaphors.
She needed advice. Good advice. Something she apparently wouldn’t get from her
brother.

Grace wandered over to the window and looked out, placing
her hands on her hips. The overcast sky contained a slew of bushy, dark clouds
that promised rain—a perfect match to her mood.

“Listen,” said Alec, wheeling up beside her. “I’m sorry I
haven’t been much help, but I honestly don’t know what to say. Have you
considered talking all this over with Seth? I mean, if you tell him your
concerns, maybe he’ll prove you wrong. From what I know of him, he seems like a
pretty decent guy. Maybe you’ve misjudged him.”

“His name’s Seth. I haven’t misjudged him.”

“Oh, for the love of Pete,” said Alec. “Please don’t tell
me you still judge the guys you date by a name they were given at birth—a name
they had no control over. You, of all people.”

Grace faced him, her hands still on her hips. “What’s
that supposed to mean?”

“It means your name’s Grace—you know,
merciful
and
forgiving
?”

Grace frowned and turned back to the window. This
conversation had totally backfired. Instead of Alec giving her a hug and telling
her that everything would be okay, that Seth
was
the committing type who
would never break her heart, she was being accused of judging him unfairly.
Which maybe she was, but that was beside the point. Where was sibling loyalty?
Compassion? Understanding?

“All I’m saying is that if you like Seth that much, you
should at least give him a chance. What do you have to lose?”

“A lot, which you should already know.” Grace stared down
at him. After Alec’s accident, his high-school girlfriend walked out of his
life, leaving him alone to nurse both a broken body and a broken heart. Grace
had always hated her for that.

Alec sighed. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. You do have a
lot to lose, but not nearly as much as you could lose if you push Seth out of
your life. Trust me on that one. After my accident, I was afraid that Allison
would decide I wasn’t worth the effort, so I broke up with her before she got
around to dumping me. I figured it would be easier than sitting around, waiting
for that ball to drop. It’s probably one of the things I regret the most
because I’ve always wondered ‘what if.’”

All this time Grace had thought Allison had been the one
to walk away, when really it was her brother. She suddenly felt like a very bad
judge of character. “But I thought—”

“I know.”

It was amazing how a few sentences—mere words—could
completely change Grace’s perspective and settle the anxious butterflies in her
stomach. Her brother was right. She really didn’t know how Seth would handle a
relationship or if he was capable of signing up for the long haul. All she knew
was that she missed him and wanted more.

Grace hugged her arms close as she studied her brother,
allowing a small, sympathetic smile to touch her lips. “Ever thought of looking
her up?”

“She’s married.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Her brother pushed his wheelchair toward the
bench press. “Mind if we work out now? I promised Seth I’d meet him in an hour
about that youth soccer league. He’s supposed to give us our assignments
today.”

“Oh.” For whatever reason, Grace felt as though she’d found
out about a party she hadn’t been invited to, which was ridiculous because Seth
had
invited her. She was the one who’d turned him down.

Well, no more. Alec was right. It was time to put her
fears aside and give Seth a chance. From here on out, there would be no more
turning Seth down or pushing him away.

“M
acy, wrong
way!
You’re goal is that way, remember?” Seth pointed to the opposite
side of the field, ready to pull his hair out. Enough girls had signed up to
form two teams, and since Owen, Garrett, and Brandon had insisted on coaching
one of the three boys teams, the lot had fallen on Seth and Alec to take the
girls—something he regretted now, especially since he wasn’t exactly happy with
the female gender at the moment.

“Beth, only the goalie can pick up the ball. You have to
use your feet.”

“But it hurts when I kick.”

“What?” Seth jogged over to inspect the little girl’s
shoes. Although they looked old and worn out, he couldn’t see any reason why
they’d hurt her. He let out a breath. “What makes them hurt?” he said with as
much patience as he could muster.

Beth’s large green eyes dropped to her feet, and she
clasped her hands behind her back. “They’re too tight.”

“Are you saying your shoes are too small?”

She nodded. “My mom doesn’t have money for new ones, so I
have to wait until my cousin gives me her old shoes. But they’re always too
small.”

Something hit Seth hard in the chest, melting away his
frustration. He wanted to pry off Beth’s shoes, drive her to the nearest shoe
store, and get her every shoe she liked in her size. How awful would it be to
wear shoes that were too tight? The only time Seth had ever felt that was when
he’d tried on the wrong size at the shoe store. He’d complained to his mom, and
she immediately took them off and found him the right size.

Seth dropped down on his knee so he could look Beth in
the eye. “What size are your feet?” he said gently.

“I don’t know.”

Seth pursed his lips in thought then stood and blew
loudly on his whistle, gesturing for all the girls to come in, including the
girls Alec was working with on the next field over. When they’d all surrounded
him, Seth gave their shoes a quick perusal. Although some looked newer than
others, each pair was worn and not in the best shape.