Page 33 of Holding Grace

I was walking back to my apartment when my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket and couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on my face.

This was another part of my too-good-to-be-believed world – my daily conversation with Michael. Sometimes we talked, sometimes – especially when he was closing – we texted, but not a day had gone by without contact since I’d moved back.

We just talked about our days or casual topics, nothing serious or deep. I was still fighting hard not to read too much into it, but it had become my favorite part of the day.

I tapped to connect the call. “Hey, Michael.”

“Hey, Grace. Whatcha doing?”

I could almost swear I could hear his smile. Could he hear mine?

Did he look forward to this like I did?

“Walking back to my apartment after enjoying my dinner in the sunshine at the park. You?”

Michael laughed. “Slaving over a hot oven and grill feeding a hungry Friday happy hour crowd while you’re out living your life of leisure.”

“Poor baby.” Michael wasn’t exaggerating, I knew. Happy hours were popular at the pub on any day, but the Friday ones were always packed. “Sucks to be you,” I teased.

Michael laughed again. “Yeah, thanks for the sympathy. Hey, Mercy tells me you’ll be at Levi’s on Sunday.”

I looked at my phone in surprise. How did he know already?

“That’s the plan. If you think it’s okay.”

“I think it’s fantastic. I should have thought of it myself. I was thinking I could pick you up if you want to ride with me. Levi’s place it out a ways.”

Like I was going to turn that down?

I tried to temper my enthusiasm as I answered. “That would be great, thanks.”

“Perfect. I’ve gotta run but I’ll call you tomorrow and we can figure out times and everything, okay?”

“Perfect,” I echoed. “I hope things slow down a little for you.” They wouldn’t...not for hours. If anything, it was about to get worse as the Friday dinner rush started to kick in. I cringed, feeling a little guilty that I wasn’t there to help, which I knew was silly, but still.

“Don’t let Kendrick or Jamey hear you say that. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Michael.”

I walked the last block to my apartment and when I got there, flopped down on the couch, thinking.

I’d been surprised when Michael had asked if I’d mind helping Mercy rather than coming back to Brothers Pub, at least in the short term. I’d enjoyed my time there and had been a little disappointed that either Michael or Jamey or both maybe weren’t as anxious to have me back as I was to be there.

Now that I saw the magnitude of the help that Mercy needed, I was honored in a way that Michael thought I could handle it. She’d been absolutely drowning without an assistant. Even with me there she was busy enough for three people. As I’d thought earlier in the day, it was very satisfying to be able to help her and to see the direct impact of my efforts. If Michael asked me to go back to the pub now I would – I owed him far too much to ever say no – but I’d miss working with Mercy.

Leaving all that for another day, I headed up to my bedroom to change into comfy sweats and grab my latest book. It was time to get my wild Friday night of reading on my couch started.