Needing a distraction —and fast —I glanced at my watch and saw that it was still pretty early, but that Gram would be up and making breakfast. She wasn’t used to me not coming home on Friday nights, not like she had been before Annabelle had needed me to be home. She would worry and I didn’t want that.

I leaned up on my elbow and brushed a kiss over Annabelle’s temple. “Hey, are you hungry?”

She yawned and blinked her eyes open. “I could eat,” she murmured sleepily and snuggled against my chest a little deeper.

I stroked my fingers down her cheek, soaking up the feel of her in my arms like that a little longer, storing the memory away for a rainy day. Fuck, it felt good. It felt right. Like she was meant to be right there in my arms forever. Muttering a curse, I lowered my head and brushed my lips over her closed eyes. “Come on, baby. We’ll eat and I’ll bring you back in time for the garage to open.”

She didn’t move for a long moment, keeping her face buried in my chest as she sucked in a few deep breaths. Was she crying? I grasped her chin carefully between my fingers and tilted her head so I could see her face. Her eyes were damp, but no tears had fallen yet.

“Anna—”

She shook her head and gave me a trembling smile. “I’m good, just really happy right now. Does that make sense?”

My gut clenched. “Yeah, babe. It makes perfect sense.” Because even though I was stressing over the future and knowing I’d be without her, in that moment I was happy. Having her in my arms, knowing her feelings ran as deep as my own, I was the happiest I’d ever been in my life.

By the time we pulled into my grandparents’ driveway, I could smell her breakfast in the air. I climbed out of my truck and turned to help Annabelle out before shutting the door. As we walked to the back door, her gaze went to her mother’s house next door.

Things had been quiet over there the last few days, but I’d seen Mrs. Cassidy-Malcolm getting her mail the day before. She’d been holding her usual cup of punch and vodka, stumbling as she walked back to her house. As for Jacob, I hadn’t seen him at all, although I knew he was there since his car was there in the evenings when I got home each night.

I stopped before opening the back door. “I’m glad you’re out of there, Annabelle.”

Her jaw clenched and she nodded, giving me a small smile. “Yeah, me too.”

I pulled her close, stealing a hug before I finally opened the back door and stepped into the kitchen. Gram was standing at the stove, stirring the gravy. She was humming to herself as she cooked and I pulled Annabelle with me as I went to hug the old woman.

Gram grinned up at me when I tapped her on the shoulder. “Zander, I was starting to wonder if you were coming home.”

“I slept at Noah’s last night,” I informed her and nodded toward Annabelle. “I brought company.”

Gram’s eyes fell on the girl beside me and her entire body seemed to light up. She practically pushed me out of the way to get to Annabelle. “Oh, honey. I’m so glad to see you.” She pulled Annabelle into a squeezing hug that proved just how strong she still was, but Annabelle was hugging her back. When she stepped back, her eyes had darkened with concern. “How are you?”

“I’m good, Mrs. Brockman. I hope it’s okay that I came over.”

Gram narrowed her eyes. “Girl, you know you will always be welcome at my table. Always. You’re one of the family, honey.”

Annabelle started blinking rapidly and I knew she was fighting tears. Not wanting her to feel embarrassed, I distracted Gram. “I’d really like some scrambled eggs, if you don’t mind making them, Gram.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” She turned back to the stove. “You two kids sit down. Annabelle, how do you want your eggs?”

She cleared her throat before speaking. “Scrambled is fine, Mrs. Brockman.”

Gram turned to glare at her as I pulled out a chair for her at the kitchen table. “I wish you’d call me Gram, honey.”

Annabelle opened her mouth, but no words came out. It wasn’t the first time Gram had asked her to call her that but, when she was little, her hag of a mother hadn’t wanted her to. Now there wasn’t any reason for her not to start calling my grandmother Gram, and I’d have been lying if I said I didn’t like the idea.

Once she was seated, Annabelle smiled. “Okay. Thank you, Gram.”

Gram was just putting the bowl of gravy on the table when Gramps took his usual place. He greeted Annabelle with one of his rare smiles. “Good to see you, girl.”

“You too, sir.”

My grandparents caught up with Annabelle over breakfast and she was laughing by the time she helped Gram clear away the table. I glanced at my watch and realized that the garage would be opening in fifteen minutes. Grimacing, I stood and grabbed my keys. “I’d better get you back to the garage, Anna.”

She glanced at the clock above the stove and gasped. “Noah is going to be worried if I don’t get back in time.” She quickly hugged Gram and then brushed a kiss over Gramps’ cheek as she followed me to the back door. “Thanks for having me, Gram.”

“You come back anytime, Annabelle.” Gram stood at the back door as I helped Annabelle into the truck and waved as I backed out of the driveway.

Annabelle was quiet for several minutes as I drove her back to the garage. When she finally spoke, her voice sounded sad. “Thanks for that, Z. I didn’t realize how much I missed your grandparents until this morning. You’re so lucky to have them.”

I knew exactly how lucky I was. My grandparents had supported my mother when she’d come home from college pregnant. They hadn’t judged her as most of the people in West Bridge had when she’d had me. Then when she’d died of breast cancer, they’d made sure I stayed with them instead of letting my father’s family adopt me. My father’s family had had little to do with me until my mother’s death, but as soon as she’d died they’d suddenly wanted custody of me. My grandfather had fought them tooth and nail until my other grandparents had given up. It was then that I knew exactly how lucky I was to have them love me so much.

Pulling into the garage, I saw Devlin’s dad’s truck already in its normal spot along with Noah’s. Noah’s truck hadn’t been there when we’d left that morning, so I figured he’d just slept at Chelsea’s the night before. Getting out, I helped Annabelle down, but didn’t move toward the garage’s office. I didn’t want to see Noah or Wade and I didn’t want them to see me saying goodbye to Annabelle.

Holding onto her hand, I pulled her close and brushed my lips over her cheek. I felt her shiver and it took everything in me not to pull her against me and kiss her the way I really wanted to. Lifting my head, I met her bright blue eyes. “Tonight I’ll bring pizza and a movie from Blockbusters. Okay?”

“Sounds good,” she breathed.

Unable to resist, I brushed another kiss over her cheek and reluctantly let go of her hand. “Seven?” She nodded and I climbed back into my truck. “Call my house if you need me.”

C HAPTER N INE

Annabelle

Noah and Wade were already working on someone’s car when I entered the office. Sitting down behind the desk, I was glad to be alone for the moment, needing to soak up the incredible morning I’d had with Zander.

It felt like bubbles were in my blood. I was walking on clouds as I went back and forth from the office to the back room. I wanted to hold on to the feeling and never let it slip away.

Waking up with Z’s arms around me had been something I’d missed all week and, for the first time, I’d gotten a full night’s sleep. My heart had felt like lead when I realized he’d have to leave me soon, but then he’d asked me to have breakfast at his grandparents’ house and I couldn’t help the tears that had nearly spilled free. How could something as small as going for breakfast have brought me to tears so easily? For the first time in forever I’d felt truly happy, and it was all because of Zander Brockman.