“Hey now,” Mitch protested. “I’d rather not incur the wrath of Makayla, so I won’t be losing any notes. Tempting as it may be to do so. She’d just make us move it all to the right places when she got back.”
After having a good chuckle at Mitch’s words, they discussed other aspects of the move which would happen the next weekend although Bennett figured that he and Mitch would begin to move things from Ethan’s up to Makayla’s throughout the week. That way, come the weekend, they could get Grace’s stuff moved into Ethan’s old apartment. Tami had already made the move down to the one bedroom apartment on the main floor across the hall from Mitch.
Bennett was glad that the moves were finally happening. While he would never say it to Grace, he really felt that she needed to be closer to them. To the people who were willing to make up her support system. He knew that she would say that she didn’t need help, and that was fine, but Bennett also knew that with his personality, he would always feel the need to take care of her. If Franklin had still been around to support her through her pregnancy, Bennett wouldn’t feel that need to protect her.
But Franklin wasn’t there to watch over Grace and the baby, so there was no way he wouldn’t try to do what he could to help her. And then just pray that his protectiveness didn’t lead to any other emotions for him. Grace had already made it clear that she wasn’t going to let him into her life in any way except as a friend. So he needed to make sure that he kept his heart from falling for her once again. Any more than it already had.
Once they’d consumed the pizzas, his mom brought out brownies and ice cream for dessert and one of the teens pulled out some games. Bennett enjoyed times like this with his family and friends. And it was good to see Grace having a good time as well. And Tami looked happy with Keenan by her side. He hoped Makayla and Ethan were having fun where they were.
Contentment was a beautiful feeling. One he hoped he would always have.
16
Exhaustion pulled at Grace, and she was so tempted to head into the bedroom and flop down on her new bed even though it had no sheets on it yet. She had returned to the city on Sunday and then on Monday had started to seriously pack up her stuff. While she was leaving the larger furniture and some of the paintings, and sculptures that Franklin had decorated the condo with, she was taking all the dishes and other kitchenware, so that had all needed to be packed. And of course, all their personal stuff. She’d tackled her stuff first since she could come back after the move to finish getting Franklin’s things put together and ready to go into storage until she could figure out what to do with them.
It was hard to think about giving away any of his things just yet, but at the same time, she didn’t want to take all of them with her to the new apartment. She had chosen a few mementos of the happier times they’d had in recent months. Also, she had a framed picture of her favorite photo from their wedding that she had kept by her bedside. Other than that, most the things in Franklin’s condo held significance for him but not for her.
“Why don’t you sit down, Grace?” Bennett asked from behind her.
Grace turned to see him watching her with a look of concern. Though there were times when he didn’t wear that expression around her, it seemed that he always thought she was pushing herself too hard.
“There’s still so much to do,” Grace said as she folded her arms. She gazed around the room at the stacks of boxes that awaited her attention. “If I sit down now, I probably won’t get back up again.”
“But maybe that’s a sign that you should, in fact, sit down.” Bennett gestured to an easy chair in the living room. “Put your feet up for a little while and boss us around. We’re here to help.”
“Listen to Bennett,” Emily said as she walked out of the kitchen. “You may feel like it’s your job to unpack everything, but your most important job right now is to grow that baby.”
Grace sighed. Some days she missed having control of her own life. “Just let me grab some water, and I’ll sit down for a few minutes.”
Emily flopped her hands in a shooing motion. “Just go sit yourself down, I’ll bring you something.”
Grace knew better than to argue with the woman. Instead, she made her way over to the recliner Ethan had left behind and sat down. She toyed with the idea of lifting the footrest, but just sitting in the chair felt lazy enough.
“Get those feet up, sweetie,” Emily said as she walked into the living room with a glass of water in one hand and a plate of cut up fruit in the other. “It’ll help keep your feet from swelling. You’ve been on them all day.”
Grace groaned but obeyed Emily’s directive. She pulled the lever that would lift the footrest then took the water and fruit from Emily. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” Emily kissed the top of her head. “You’re growing our first grandbaby! We want to take care of you both.”
Emily left the living room as if she had no clue of the impact of her words. And maybe she didn’t. But Grace sat there, hands full, unable to wipe away the tears that slid down her cheeks.
“Grace? What’s wrong?” Bennett quickly set the box he was carrying on top of a stack of others before coming to her side. Only his feet and legs visible from her head bent position.
“Nothing,” she mumbled as she stared down at the fruit, trying to get herself back under control.
Bennett’s legs moved out of view, and Grace glanced up to see him walking down the hallway to where the bedrooms were. She sniffled and lifted the glass of water to take a sip. The hormonal surges that brought her emotions so close to the surface were just another delightful aspect of her pregnancy. But still, her reaction to Emily’s words had caught her off guard…just like the words had.
A couple of white tissues waved in front of her face. “Here you go.”
She looked up to see that Bennett had returned. After setting the plate of fruit on her legs, she reached out to take the tissues from him. “Thanks.”
He dropped to his haunches beside her. “Want to talk about it?”
Grace was a bit embarrassed as she swiped at the wetness on her cheeks before picking up a slice of apple. “Not really. Just having an emotional moment. They’re happening more frequently these days.”
Bennett seemed to consider her words before getting to his feet again. “I’m sure that’s true. When Mom was pregnant with Dalton, she cried at the drop of a hat. I remember once when Tristan brought home some picture he’d drawn of our family, and Mom burst into tears. Poor Tris had no idea what was going on and starting crying too.”
“Sure, tell the story that makes me sound like a cry-baby,” Tristan groused as he added another box to the pile in the living room. “How about the time you made Mom cry just by telling her you loved her? Making women cry since he was twelve years old.”
Grace felt a surge of affection for the two guys as they teased each other. It felt like her ride on the emotional roller coaster was taking her up to the peak, but no doubt it was only a matter of time before she was over that peak and back down in a puddle of tears.
As she ate her fruit and drank her water, Grace directed the guys where to take the boxes. She was grateful that in the end, Ethan had decided to leave most his furniture for her. Apparently he hadn’t been as attached to his furniture as Makayla had been to hers. When it had come to merging households, about the only things—furniture-wise—that had gone from the second floor to the third floor had been Sierra’s bedroom suite pieces and Ethan’s favorite recliner—which wasn’t the one she was sitting in. So though she had a lot of boxes to deal with, at least she hadn’t had to worry about wearing the guys out with moving heavy furniture.
“Finish it all up, sweetie,” Emily called out as she walked past, heading for the hallway.
Grace didn’t even bother to argue that she was getting full. The strawberries, apples, and grapes had hit the spot. She had definitely been trying to eat better since finding out she was pregnant. Thankfully, her cravings so far had been fai
rly healthy. Well, as long as lots of ice cream was healthy. Calcium, baby, calcium. And the occasional day when all the baby wanted was sweets.
When the food was gone, and the glass was empty, Grace pushed the footrest down and got to her feet. She headed for the kitchen and put the glass and plate into the dishwasher. Her first dishes in it.
Emily had obviously known what she was talking about because the short break and the food had rejuvenated her. For how long, she had no idea, but she was going to enjoy this burst of energy while she could.
Grace headed down the hallway to where the bedrooms were. There was a bathroom on one side of the hallway and opposite that was the room that would be the nursery. Right now it was empty. At the end of the hallway was the entrance to the master bedroom with its own bathroom. Inside her bedroom, she found Emily and Danica making up the bed.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Grace said.
“I know, but we’re no good at carrying boxes, so we do what we can.” Emily smoothed her hand over the duvet. “Did you buy this new? It’s so beautiful.”
Grace went to stand next to Emily and touched the material. “Yes, I found it on sale and fell in love with the colors. I hope to find more things for the bedroom that will have these colors.”
“I’m going to go see how Sierra is settling in upstairs,” Danica said as she put the pillows at the top of the bed.
“Okay, sweetie. I’ll be leaving in about an hour so make sure you two are ready to go.”
Tristan and Bennett came into the room with a couple more boxes, making the room suddenly crowded.
“These have bedroom written on them,” Tristan said. “Do you just want them with the rest in here?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Grace said. “Is there much left? It seems you guys have brought in a lot of boxes already.”
“There are a few left,” Bennett said. “And then it’s just the unpacking.”
“I marked the boxes that hold the most important things, so if it takes me a bit to unpack the rest, I’m still good.”
After finishing in the bathroom, Emily helped her unpack a few of the kitchen boxes, making sure that she had plates to eat off of and pots and pans to be able to cook. Emily also tackled a couple of the boxes that held Grace’s towels and other bathroom things. The woman seemed to understand that Grace needed at least the basics around her to feel like she was in her own home.
“Don’t do too much,” Emily cautioned as she was getting ready to leave. “You’ve done a lot today. I think you need to just relax for the rest of the day.”
That sounded amazing, so Grace had no problem agreeing to it. “Thank you so much for all your help.”
Emily gave her a tight hug. “It was fun. I’m glad you’re back close to family.”
Grace hadn’t been sure about the move initially, but now that she was settling in, she was so grateful for the opportunity to move back into the building. The condo had been a place to live, but it hadn’t really been home. The house that she and Franklin had been talking about buying would have been home, Grace was sure of that. It would have been a place they’d chosen together. A place that would have reflected both of them instead of just Franklin.
After everyone had left, Grace opened a couple of boxes but didn’t end up unpacking much beyond that. She went to the fridge and stood there, staring at the nearly bare interior. She’d cleaned out the fridge at the condo, but there hadn’t been much there.
There was a knock on the door that pulled her attention from her food search. Walking over, she opened the door without even looking through the peephole. No one could get into the building without buzzing first, so this was either Bennett or Mitch. She wasn’t surprised at all to see that it was Bennett.
“Hey,” he said with a quick smile. “I was talking to Mom a minute ago, and when I told her that I was going to the store, she mentioned that you might need some stuff as well. Can I pick you up anything?”
Grace thought about the state of her fridge and how many things she needed. It wouldn’t be fair to make Bennett pick those things up for her, but maybe she could get a ride with him and pick up the stuff herself.
“Would it be okay if I just came with you?”
Bennett’s eyes widened briefly, but then he said, “Sure, that would be fine.”
Though she normally wouldn’t impose on him, the fact was that if she went with Bennett, he could push the cart and carry the groceries, making things a lot easier for her. It felt like she was using him, and in a sense, she was, but he had offered. Well, okay, he hadn’t offered to take her, but he was always offering to help her.
“Thank you. I appreciate that. Are you going now?” When he nodded, she said, “Hang on a second. Let me just grab my purse.”
When she came back from grabbing it off the kitchen counter, she found Bennett looking at his phone. “Okay. I’m ready.”
As they walked down the stairs—that wasn’t something she was looking forward to tackling with a baby in a car seat—Grace began to think of what exactly she needed to buy.
“Do you have a list?” she asked Bennett as he backed out of his spot a few minutes later.
“If I say yes, does that make me a nerd?”
“Haha. No. It means you’re organized.” Grace tapped her phone to bring up her notepad app, and she began to make a list. “I don’t have one like I usually do, but I do need a few things to tide me over until I can do a bigger shop.”
When they got to the store, Bennett took care of getting the cart, and then they headed inside. It was odd to be grocery shopping with someone else. Franklin had never been that into shopping unless it had been for clothes and such for himself. Otherwise, he would just tell her to order online if she wasn’t interested in going shopping. So she’d usually just gone by herself, dashing in to get what they needed for the week. It wasn’t something she had really enjoyed.
“So, are we going for pickles and ice cream?” Bennett asked as they headed for the fresh fruits and vegetables section.
“Ugh. No. Ice cream definitely but not pickles. That is not something I’m craving at the moment.”
Bennett pulled out his phone and stared down at it. “Good to know. I’m in the market for ice cream too, but first, the healthy stuff.”
“Well, that’s no fun,” Grace said, even as she searched for a decent hand of bananas. She found that they were something she usually grabbed in the morning to eat before heading to work.
Bennett put a bag with some apples into the cart. “You can put your stuff at the front of the cart if you want.”
Grace nodded and set her bananas where he indicated. She also got herself some apples and a couple of avocados.
“Avocados?” Bennett wrinkled his nose.
“You don’t like them?”
“Not even a little. The texture is just…” He shuddered. “Nope.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” Grace gave him a smile as she headed for the tomatoes.
As they worked their way around the store, Grace found herself enjoying it more than she usually did. And it was great to have someone who could reach the items on the top shelf. She ended up getting more than she had planned to, but Bennett seemed to be in no rush, so she went ahead and grabbed enough to last her through the next week.
“Do you have to drink a lot of milk now?” Bennett asked as he picked up some cream.
“I should probably drink more, but I’m not a huge fan of milk unless it’s in a shake.”
“Or frozen?” Bennett asked as they finished up their shopping in the ice cream aisle.
“Only if it’s ice cream. I’m not an ice milk fan.” Grace opened the freezer door and pulled out a container of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream then went looking for some rocky road.
“How many are you planning to buy?” Bennett asked as he stood there with a container of chocolate fudge brownie.
Grace turned to face him with a lift of her brow. “Are you judging me?”
&nbs
p; Bennett chuckled and put his ice cream into the cart. “Never. You’re eating for two after all, so it makes sense that you have to buy two—one for you and one for the baby.”
“That sounds good to me. The rocky road is for the baby.”
“Have you wandered through the baby stuff yet?” Bennett asked as he pushed the cart toward the checkout.
“No. I figure I’ll be doing enough of that in a few months.” For some reason, Grace was in no hurry to start buying stuff for the baby. She knew that part of it was that she was still grieving for what a pregnancy should have meant in her life. Moving into a new chapter with Franklin. Instead of that, she was grocery shopping with Bennett and trying to figure out how she was going to balance everything as a single parent.
Suddenly, the fun of the evening slipped away. She fell quiet as Bennett began to unload his groceries from the cart to the conveyor belt. “I’ll put my stuff through first, so I can get to bagging it and then I can do yours.”
Grace didn’t argue with him, and she started to unload her items once he was done with his. When he moved up to pay for his groceries, she pushed the cart forward to get the last of her things onto the conveyor. As she waited, Grace looked over at the display next to her and decided the baby wanted chocolate. She grabbed a KitKat bar and then added a second one because she could never have too much chocolate.
Bennett bagged up his groceries and then began to work on hers while she watched the cashier put the items through. By the time the cashier was done and waiting for Grace’s debit card to go through, Bennett had all the groceries bagged up. He was definitely more efficient at bagging than she was. Without fail, she was still bagging her groceries when the cashier started on the next person.
“Ready to go?” Bennett asked as he put the last bag into the cart. “Did you need to stop anywhere else?”
“No, I’m good to go.” In fact, she was more than ready to be home. Even though it was still filled with boxes that needed to be unpacked, the apartment was already feeling more like home than Franklin’s condo ever had. She hated herself for making that comparison so frequently because it had been something they were working on changing. It pained her that she didn’t have memories of a home with Franklin that was truly a reflection of them both.
For the Love of Grace: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 2) Page 15
