His Christmas Gift: A Secret Baby Romance by Crystal Monroe

Author:Crystal Monroe [Monroe, Crystal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Daniel

I wasn’t sure if Gwen was doing me any favors by pairing me up with Kat. Not with the way Kat had been acting lately.

The friction between us went deep. It went far beyond my investment in the gallery, our past, and how the future would play out now that I knew Eamon was my son.

On the other hand, we needed the space to talk. Our meeting earlier that day had ended rather abruptly, and that was my fault for being a dick.

When I put myself in Kat’s shoes, it was hard to say that I wouldn’t have done the exact same thing.

At first, she didn’t speak as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. We were silent as our breaths blew out white puffs in the chilly air. It made me want to cozy up to her, slip my arm around her shoulder and keep us both warm.

Instead, the chill in the air was no match for the icy chip on her shoulder. I knew I had to say something, but I wasn’t ready to broach any of the prickly subjects we needed to discuss. So, I went with something neutral.

“So, which way is the library?”

She took a long moment to decide whether or not to continue our argument from earlier. To my relief, she chose to play along with me.

“It’s on West Main Street. Pretty cool building, actually. You’ll like it.”

“Can we hoof it, or do we need to catch a cab?”

“Oh, we can walk. It’s not far.” She laughed. “Nothing is all that far in this town. A lot of locals don’t even own a vehicle.”

“I can relate. New York traffic sucks. Sometimes it’s literally faster to get out of the cab and walk.”

She glanced at me as we strolled down the brick sidewalk. “So, I guess you’re really missing the big city right about now.”

I started to answer “Yeah, you bet” on reflex, but then I did something that the slower climes of Greenfield encouraged. I took my time and considered my answer carefully.

Did I miss the city?

“Well, the air is so much cleaner here. And I don’t miss all the jostling and the crowds. I guess maybe I’m okay with staying here a little bit longer.”

I could tell by her expression that Kat wasn’t sure what to make of my answer, and I realized she was fishing for how long I intended to stay in Greenfield.

But we could talk about that once we had some privacy.

We stopped at a food truck, and she bought a hot chocolate to go. I spotted a building up ahead that stood out from the rest of the cozy environs. It had to be the library.

A series of concrete pillars stood out front, almost like the Parthenon, supporting a great triangular slab of roof that thrust out over the entrance to provide shelter from the rain. Out front sat a stone statue of an owl with a graduation hat perched on its feathered head.

“Nice owl,” I said as we passed it on our way to the entrance.

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