“Not unless it’s already there.”
“What does that mean?” She jammed the gear-shift into first and held it while she eased out the clutch. “I knew it. This is what I’ve been afraid of all along. You’re going to cause trouble because you don’t think my decent, wonderful grandfather is good enough for a billionaire’s grandmother.”
“Where did you get an idea like that? I only want what’s best for Nanna.”
Only want what’s best? Julie didn’t like the sound of that. “Then you mean my granddad isn’t?”
“That’s not what I said. I’m trying to keep an open mind.”
“Trying?” She popped the truck out of gear on the steep slope, gripping the steering wheel so tightly, her knuckles were white. “Tell me you haven’t come to try to stop the wedding.”
“Why would I do that? I won’t break my grandmother’s heart unless there’s a good reason. If your grandfather is the decent man you say he is, there will be no problem. You have my word on that.”
Something troubled her, but Julie couldn’t figure out what as she applied steady pressure to the brakes and turned into the spin as the truck slid. “Then you’re here only to help celebrate this engagement? You’re not against it? You don’t dislike my granddad?”
“I came all the way from New York just to make my grandmother happy by attending her party. That’s all for now. You can’t blame me for wanting to protect her. Aside from my sister, Nanna’s the only family I have.”
“Then you understand how I feel about Granddad.” Julie’s blood pressure crept back down to normal, and she didn’t hold the wheel quite so hard as she pulled onto the main road. “All my life he’s been there for me. Supportive. Understanding. Someone I could depend on. I don’t intend to let anyone hurt him.”
“Then we agree.” The deep lines etched in Noah’s forehead vanished and he relaxed against the seat. “No mother or father?”
“No. Mom ran off when I was in eighth grade, and three years later my dad was thrown from a horse and killed.” She swallowed hard, but the pain after all those years was still there. Would always be.
“I’m sorry for your losses. That had to be tough.”
“With the Lord’s help and my granddad, I managed to get through all right.” She didn’t tell him how lonely she’d been, living with relatives, always feeling as if she didn’t belong. “Granddad’s guidance made all the difference in the world to me when I was growing up.”
“I know just how you feel.” He nodded once, his gaze pinning hers.
She felt an odd connection between them. Suddenly the truck’s passenger cab seemed to shrink and he was way too close. She was alone with one of the richest men in the country—probably on the planet—and he wasn’t at all what she expected or what she would have predicted him to be.
“There’s Nanna’s car. It’s a classic, she tells me. I think she’s fooling herself because a refrigerator would be warmer than that heater she has.”
Julie shifted into neutral and coasted to a stop. “If you want, I can give you a ride to her house. You’re as wet and cold as I am.”
“I’m tough.” He flashed her a megawatt smile. “I guess I’ll see you in a few. At the party. Save me a dance, will you?”
“Sure. No problem. I’ll fit you in between the corporate raider millionaire I’m seeing and my supermodel ex-boyfriend.”
He laughed, deep and rich, and there was something about him. He was like a flawless diamond and she was a cubic zirconia.
“Later.” He’d meant it as goodbye, but it sounded more like a promise.
The door slicked shut. The fog and ice on the windshield had completely cleared away, giving her a perfect view of Noah’s confident, powerful gait. As if the cold couldn’t touch him, he moved easily, without hurry, and stopped to fish the keys from his trouser pocket.
She waited until the car had started before she put her truck in gear. As she passed by, Noah rolled down his window and waved to her.
Her pulse skipped an entire beat. And why was that? she asked herself as she negotiated the icy road. What she felt was not attraction. She simply refused to be attracted. Hadn’t she learned her lesson? Hadn’t her heart been broken enough?
True love wasn’t God’s will for her, and she accepted it. Plain and simple.
As for that little skip in her vital signs, she’d simply forget it ever happened. She had a party to host. A grandfather to see married. For the first time in a year, she was standing on level ground. She was happy. She wasn’t going to mess that up by wishing for a man who was out of her league.
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