Free Falling for Grace by Maddie James Page A

right about that. Before he
knew it, he was sitting between Gracie and Amie.
    There were a few awkward seconds between
sips of coffee and tea before Gracie finally spoke.
    “ So how are things coming
along next door?”
    Carson took another sip of coffee and
finished chewing a bit of pastry. “Fine. Right on schedule.” He
nodded in acknowledgement of his own words and finished chewing at
the same time.
    “ That’s great,” she
added.
    He dropped his head in another nod.
“Actually, we’re a little ahead of schedule. Besides the plumbing,
there actually wasn’t that much which required a lot of time. We’ll
definitely open before the end of the month.”
    Gracie nodded. “So,
Carson. Can you tell us exactly what your little café is going to be
like? I mean, you’ve not really mentioned what your plans
are.”
    For the first time that morning, Carson
allowed his gaze to linger over Gracie’s face. She appeared tense
and nervous, almost like she didn’t want to be there. Or that she
didn’t want him to be there. Her gaze kept skittering away from his
whenever he tried to make eye contact, while her fingers fiddled
with the handle of her teacup.
    Did he make her nervous?
    Turning to his right, he took in the
opposite expression on Amie’s face. Her eyes appeared to twinkle,
like she was holding in a deep belly laugh and the tickle of it was
about to make her explode.
    Amie leaned forward. “We’d love to hear what
you have in mind for the most recent addition to Main Street
Franklinville, Carson.”
    Oh hell, this one is going to call for fast
thinking on your feet, old boy, Carson told himself. Reverting back
to tactics he often used in the court room, Carson turned to
Gracie. He felt certain he could dupe her easily than he could dupe
Amie. That one was a mite too precocious for her own good. Not that
Gracie wasn’t an intelligent woman, he was sure she was. There was
just something that told him that Amie might be on to him more than
Gracie.
    “ I have a plan in mind,”
he started, “but it’s sort of evolving as I go along. Things are
coming to me as I work and quite honestly, I think I’d like to keep
most of them under my hat until the grand opening.”
    “ Oooohhh, a man who likes
a mystery,” Amie chided. “He’s going to keep us in suspense,
Gracie.”
    Gracie studied him for a moment with a look
he was quite certain he’d never seen on her face before. Suddenly,
he wasn’t sure if he Amie was the one he needed to be concerned
about.
    “ I’m sure Carson will let
us in on his little secret in due time,” she said, a matter-of-fact
tone in her voice.
    Then Amie spoke, glancing back and forth
from Gracie to him, smiling all the while. “You know, there is a
Chamber of Commerce luncheon next week, right Gracie? Perhaps
Carson should come and introduce himself to the other business
persons in the community and give us some small dribble of news
about his new business venture. Would that be possible by then, Mr.
Mystery Man?”
    Carson stared at her for a
moment. Just what was Amie getting at? She did know something, didn’t she? No,
impossible. He was just being paranoid. The only person who knew
about his real plans for the café were Izzie and his brother. Her suggestion wasn’t
a bad idea, though. Besides being breeding grounds for gossips and
busybodies, small towns were generally political towns, and
networking with local business and professional organizations was
exactly what he needed to be doing right now. He needed as many
people on his side as he could get, especially when Gracie found
out that he had actually duped her.
    A small dribbling of information about his
new business venture might actually be a good thing.
    Funny, each time he thought about that, the
guilt ate at him a little more.
    “ Sounds like a good idea
to me,” he replied. Then he turned to Gracie and looked her square
in the eyes. “What do you think?”
    She swallowed and stared back at him with
wide eyes.