Hoping for Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

his mother exchanged concerned glances as she dished up eggs and toast for all of them.
    “I’m going to take mine outside to join Dad,” she said to Evan. “Let me know if I can get you two anything else.”
    “Thanks, Mom.”
    “Yes, thank you, Linda—for everything. I really appreciate it.”
    “We’re happy to have you. I hope you’ll come back to see us again sometime.”
    “I’d like that.”
    Linda took two plates and headed for the deck.
    Evan jumped up to help her with the door and then slid it closed behind her. As he rejoined Grace at the table, he let out a deep sigh. “Sorry about that. He’s usually a lot more hospitable, especially with our friends.”
    “He was fine. It’s early, and he didn’t expect to find a stranger at his table.”
    “It’s certainly not the first time he’s been greeted with unexpected guests at the breakfast table.”
    “So you make a habit of bringing home strays?”
    His lips formed a hint of a smile, and Grace was oddly relieved to see his expression lose some of the concern he’d directed at his father. “Not usually. My mother gets a little too
hopeful
when she sees me with a friend of the female persuasion.”
    That made Grace laugh. “Something tells me you don’t give her many opportunities to get her hopes up.”
    “You got it.”
    “Well, I appreciate you taking one for the team by bringing me home.”
    “It was a huge risk, that’s for sure,” he said gravely, which set her off into a fit of laughter. “In light of this
huge
risk I took on your behalf, I find your laughter
highly
inappropriate.”
    His haughty tone only made her laugh harder. “I’m sure you do,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
    “A guy takes a big risk for a gal, and this is the thanks he gets. I see how it is.”
    Grace rolled her eyes at him and laughed some more. He was just too cute, and it was fun to laugh with him—and at him. “After what happened last night, I didn’t expect to laugh again for a while, so thanks for that.”
    “Happy to be of service.” He gestured to her half-eaten breakfast. “Are the eggs okay?”
    “They’re great. I’m just full.” Because she couldn’t very well tell him about the stomach she’d had surgically reduced, she pushed the plate his way. “Why don’t you finish it for me so your mother’s feelings aren’t hurt?”
    “Don’t mind if I do.”
    While he wolfed down the rest of her eggs and toast, she contemplated the dilemma of how she’d get home to Mystic and what she would tell her parents about why her purse and luggage were missing. It was definitely time to get her own place. She’d put that off long enough. Why the heck she was still explaining herself to her parents at twenty-eight years old was something she needed to rectify—and soon.
    “What’s on your mind over there?” Evan asked as he finished his coffee.
    “Just thinking about getting home and how I’ll get my stuff back from Trey.”
    “I’d suggest a text message with a suggestion that he return your stuff—immediately—or you’ll call the police. That’ll get his attention.”
    Grace smiled at his furious expression. “Yes, it will. And I won’t have to talk to him ever again.”
    “Exactly. Do you have a mutual friend he could deliver it to?”
    “As a matter of fact, there is someone I could ask. That’s a great idea.”
    “I hate guys like him who give the rest of us a bad name.”
    “I’m glad there are still guys like you willing to help a perfect stranger.”
    Shrugging off her praise, he stood and cleared their plates. “It was no big deal.”
    “It was to me, and I won’t forget it, Evan.”
    She watched him load the dishwasher and clean up the stove, impressed that he bothered to take the time.
    When he turned back to her and caught her watching him, he seemed embarrassed. “Linda taught us well.”
    Smiling, she said, “I can see that.” She pointed to the closed door to the deck. “Do you mind if I