“Sounds like a good idea. We didn’t stop to eat lunch.”
None of it mattered. As I unlocked Anton’s front door and let us both in, I realized none of it mattered. How different or mysterious she was. Or what we had in common and what we did not. I was scheduled for a flight out tomorrow night, which meant this town would be left behind. I would be using my morning to drive around the county to inform the tenants of his properties that their land was theirs, free of charge, then I’d head back to O’Hare and get the fuck out of Illinois.
But I wondered what Michelle would do once I was gone.
I wondered where she would go and what life had in store for her next.
Chapter 16
Michelle
The hours of the day slipped by so quickly, and I tried to cling to every second. I knew Gray was set to leave tomorrow night, and once he left my life would be a lot less exciting. A lot more lonesome. Part of me wished he would stay. Not so I could have a roof over my head, but so I could have the company. I enjoyed his presence. His essence. His smiles and his laughter. I enjoyed our playful banter and the rising tension between us. I’d never known excitement like the kind he brought into my life. It was a domesticated type of excitement. The kind someone got by sitting next to an old friend.
It felt like I’d known Grayson a lot longer than I actually had.
He didn’t have to stay forever. Just a few more days. A few more moments with him and his smile. Him and his eyes. Him and his soft touches. Or maybe he could stay a few more weeks.
Or a few more months.
You know, just enough time to say goodbye properly.
But I didn’t want to say goodbye. I didn’t want to wave him off. I didn’t want to pack up my duffel bag and sleep in one of the stale extended-stay motels in the middle of town. I was fooled, though. Gray hated this place. I saw it in his eyes whenever he walked outside. I didn’t know why he had such a hatred towards this town, but if it was anything like the reason I had for hating my hometown, I understood. I understood why he didn’t want to stay. Why coming back held so many painful memories for him.
He’d had one foot out the door the entire time he’d been here. I had tomorrow with him, and that was it.
So I needed to make the best of it.
“Need help cooking dinner?” I asked.
“Nope. I’ve got this. You sit down and take a load off.”
“You’re the one who did all the delivering,” I said. “I just drove.”
“But you’re the one who wiped away all those tears today.”
“On the last round, sure. But not all of them. Come on, what do you need help with?”
“I’ve got this, Michelle. I promise. It’ll be quick. Just a basic chicken with vegetables. Go wash up or something.”
“You saying I stink?”
He grinned over at me and it filled my stomach with butterflies.
“Uh oh,” he said.
“What?” I asked “What’s wrong?”
“Does this look familiar to you?”
He held up a piece of paper and I squinted my eyes. I walked into the kitchen and took it from him, my eyes flickering over the list.
Shit.
We’d forgotten one of the lists.
“I’ll go get the town map,” I said.
“I’ll put this on hold and go get the highlighter,” Gray said.