Here With You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

chapter Eight



"Lottie Chase called me yesterday and told me Grif had been back to visit," her mom said. "Actually, she mentioned that he was on his way to San Francisco."

He'd told her he'd gone home to see his parents. He'd driven the old tank he'd lovingly restored in high school. She couldn't believe he still had that old Chevy. He'd told her a true love lasts a lifetime. It had to be true love if he manufactured excuses for road trips just to drive it. "Yes, he showed up the night of Valentine and Ethan's wedding."

"To visit you."

Switching on the light in the storeroom, Rachel shook her head at her mom's eager tone. "It's not like that, Mom."

"What is it like, sweetheart?"

"His creativity's flagging and he needs some encouragement. That's all." She opened a box, looking for tissue paper.

"And sometime in the past year you've become a creativity coach?"

"With all the different jobs I've had, it shouldn't be such a surprise," Rachel replied dryly.

"You'll find your way, Nicole." Her mom's voice was firm and confident.

If only she could feel that sure about it. Her parents always reassured her that everyone had a purpose, it just took some people longer to find theirs. At this rate, Nicole was going to be in her eighties before she figured out what she wanted out of life.

"Are you still drawing?" he mom asked.

This again. She sighed. She thought of the sketchpad she had out on the counter. Sometimes when it got slow, she worked on designs. "A little bit."

"You're a talented artist, sweetheart. Maybe you should go back to art school. I hear there are excellent schools in San Francisco."

"And be poor and without means all my life?" She gripped the phone between her ear and shoulder and lifted a box away to get to the one behind it. "No thanks."

"You're so talented. It's just a shame to waste it."

"You're my mom. You're supposed to think I'm talented." A-ha—found it. She withdrew a stack of burgundy tissue. "Remember how Lottie used to post Grif's drawings on the refrigerator?"

Mom laughed. "I felt so bad for the poor boy. His drawings were awful."

"He couldn't even draw hangman." Nicole grinned, remembering how much he'd hated art. But he was a genius with music and had always known what he wanted.

"I think it's fantastic that Grif is visiting you," her mom said. "You two were so close at one time, it'll be good for you to get to know each other again. I always thought you two were meant for each other."

Rachel sighed as she kicked a box out of her way. "It's not like that, Mom."

"What is it like, Nicole?"

She had no idea. That kiss, the handholding, the flutter of anticipation in her belly whenever he walked in the room... It defied reason.

The front door bell chimed, proverbially saving her. "Mom, I have a customer. I have to go."

"Love you, sweetheart. Your dad sends his love, too. Give Grif a kiss from me."

Her lips weren't going anywhere near Griffin Chase, but she just murmured in assent and disconnected the call. Taking the stack of tissue paper, she went back out to the front.

Bull, Ethan's friend, stood at the counter, looking like his namesake in a china shop. He was big, but his size was magnified when he was surrounded by such femininity. "This is a surprise," she said as she carried the tissue behind the counter.

"Hey, girl." Bull flipped a page of her sketchpad. "Did you draw these?"

Blushing, she quickly confiscated it, closing it and stowing it under the register. "They're nothing really."

"They don't look like nothing, but, hey, what do I know?" He shrugged and handed her a thermal to-go cup. "I brought you a smoothie."

"That's so"—she tried to find a word as she accepted the cup—"nice. Thank you."

He laughed, deep from his belly. "At the gym, I'm kind of known for my smoothies. Try it. You'll like it."

Uncapping it, she took a tentative sip. She blinked in surprise. "This is good."

"Told ya." Grinning, he leaned on the counter and looked around. "Love the digs. If I knew you worked here, I'd have come sooner."

"You didn't know me sooner. We only met at the wedding." She tipped her head and frowned at him. "How did you know I worked here?"

"Valentine told me." He shook his head. "She had some crazy idea that you and I would be good together."

Nicole shook her head. Thank goodness Valentine had decided to stop matchmaking. She really had no skill for it. "Valentine means well."

Bull pointed a finger at her. "I meant it when I said you're not my type. You're too young and too scrawny."

"Scrawny?" She couldn't help grinning.

"I like my women with a little meat on them. I like something to hold on to." He looked around. "I'm not dating anyone right now, but maybe when I am, I can come back and buy her things. That green bra over there rocks."

She looked at where he pointed, to the sassy emerald satin demi and garter. "That's really nice on."

"Which brings me to the reason I came by. Griffin Chase."

Nicole groaned. "Not you, too."

He held his hands up. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Did I look that disgruntled to see him?"

"No, you looked wary but hopeful, which is why I wanted to check on you." Bull leaned in, his finger right in her face. "He may be one of the greatest musicians since Springsteen, but that doesn't mean he's allowed to walk all over people."

"Grif isn't going to walk all over me." Touched, she took Bull's hand and squeezed it. "You're sweet for caring."

"Of course I care." He puffed his chest out. "You're the best girl of my best man's best girl."

"I think I actually understood that," she said with a grin.

He chucked her with his fist, surprisingly gently for someone who beat up other men for a living. "It's my smoothie. It adds brain power."

"I'll be sure to drink all of it then." Hopefully it also added fortitude, to give her the strength to resist the temptation of having Grif so close.