Free One in a Million by Jill Shalvis

seriously,” Callie said. “No matchmaking me, I don’t need or want it. You hear me?”
    Lucille was suddenly very busy cleaning up.
    “Grandma.”
    “Hmm?”
    “You heard me, right?”
    “Of course, dear. I’m old, not deaf. I can hear you just fine.”
    Which wasn’t the same thing as listening, Callie knew.
    “You get onto my social media accounts and do your research?” Lucille asked.
    Callie went still. “What research?”
    “You wanted to know more about Tanner. I left you a bunch of stuff to find. You learn everything you needed?”
    Yes. And more. “I’m not interested in him that way,” she said.
    Lucille grinned.
    “What?” Callie asked.
    “You’re pretty good at fibbing. But don’t forget who taught you how. Word is that you’re sitting with him in the mornings at the bakery pretending to drink coffee.”
    Oh, for God’s sake. “We sit together so that we’ll be left alone,” Callie said. “Big difference.”
    “Honey.” Lucille tsk ed, all disappointed. “The last thing Tanner needs is to be left alone.”
    “What does that mean?” she asked.
    Lucille sighed. “Tanner’s daddy left him when he turned five.”
    Yeah. This wasn’t news to Callie. She’d known that back in school.
    “And that boy has been wild ever since,” her grandma said. “He’s got his hands full now with the people in his life, but he’s not doing a damn thing for himself. So let me repeat—being alone is not what Tanner needs. What he needs is you.”
    Callie stared at her grandma. “Even if that was true, which it’s not, what about what I need?”
    “Oh, you need him too, honey.”
    “I don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m doing just fine.”
    “See now, that’s the beauty of it,” Lucille said. “Of course you don’t need him need him. You support yourself, blah blah. But you’ve been hurt by life too, and let down. Your parents did the best they could, but they could’ve done better by you. You deserved more.”
    “I had you,” Callie said, and had the pleasure of seeing her grandma soften and put a hand to her heart.
    “Aw, honey,” she said. “I love you so. But truth now. You’ve felt alone and vulnerable. With Tanner, you’d have something you’ve always been sorely missing.”
    “What’s that?” Callie asked.
    “An ‘us.’”
    For a single heartbeat, Callie’s chest tightened in yearning, but the feeling faded quickly. If she was being honest, she was a little afraid of the us. She busied herself with cleaning up for a long moment. “I do love you, Grandma,” she finally said. “So much. But you’re wrong. I’m good as I am. I don’t need the complication in my life right now.” Maybe ever. Bending, she kissed Lucille’s cheek. “I gotta get home. Please stop meddling in people’s lives, okay? For me? Promise?”
    “Hmm?”
    “Grandma.”
    “Oh, all right, sure. I’ll try.”
      
    The next day Callie had meetings straight through breakfast and she skipped the bakery. She told herself it was for the best but she had to admit she really missed the doughnuts.
    And maybe also Tanner.
    That afternoon she walked down to Lucky Harbor Charters to take measurements for decorations for Becca and Sam’s bachelor/bachelorette party.
    The docks were a perfect spot for a party. As she got there, the late-afternoon November sun was just touching down on the water, casting a halo glow on everything.
    Gorgeous.
    She stood there taking in the view thinking that, with outdoor space heaters, this could really work. The lighting was perfect for pictures, the kind of lighting that would make anyone and everyone look good. It’d be a wonderful spot for their wedding photos too, which made her laugh a little. Here she was thinking to eventually move on from this job when she had decent savings and yet her eye for all things romantic and wedding-perfect never seemed to stop.
    She was so messed up.
    She heard a boat and shaded her eyes to see that it was the Lucky