*Rob* I ease my way through the crowded hall towards my next class with my best friend, Dan, in tow. I smile politely and nod to the few people who bother to look up from their phones as they rush by. Mostly these are girls, college co-eds attending the same community college and drawn to my boyish good looks, dimpled smile and perpetually tousled wild spikes of black hair. I know because I hear about it all the time from Dan. “How do you do that, Rob?” Here we go again. “Do what?” I turn my head slightly to focus an ear Dan’s direction, waiting for his response. “The girls, man. Every one of them that’s made eye contact with you has done a double take after they passed you. I mean you’re handsome enough—but certainly no model.” There it is, as expected. “Even at the bar, you pull some

*Grace* Every year fewer and fewer children come, I think, staring at the leftover Halloween treats I made—Juliet’s recipes for homemade caramel apples wrapped like Jack-o-lanterns and candy-eyed popcorn balls pressed around plastic vampire teeth to look like little toothy monsters. Barely half is gone, and I certainly don’t need it in the house. I pack everything in a bag and carry it to the foot of the stairs. “Rob?” I call and wait. When his normally quick ‘yes, ma’am’ doesn’t follow, I glance out the window to check for his car. Maybe I missed when he left for the evening. Seeing the black Mazda on the drive, my brows draw together. “Rob?” I call again, setting the bag of goodies on the first step and starting up the stairs. “Are you alright?” His bedroom door is open at the upstairs landing, and I glance in shyly. Finding the room empty, I c

*Grace* After I get my truck, I spend a few hours at the library.  Juliet taught me how to knit years ago, and I’m knitting a scarf, hat and gloves for Rob for Christmas. I was never particularly good at it, so it’s taken a few unravelings and restarts. I’ve improved with each try, and today I’ll finish the scarf.  I’m fairly pleased with it actually. It’s bamboo yarn, dyed a deep blue I thought might bring out the color of Rob’s eyes. If nothing else, it’s soft and strong, with good drape and an attractive luster, and will keep falling snow off the back of his neck and hands when he’s outside.  When the scarf is done, I tuck everything away in its bag, hiding it under the seat of my truck. I’ll start on the hat or gloves, either when Rob goes out or at the library tomorrow. It doesn’t take long to pick up the items I want from the grocer, even though it’s busy—well, as busy as a small-town grocery can be. It’s

*Grace* “Gracie!” Ella squeals, her arms open wide for a hug, a bottle of wine clutched in tight fists at each end. “It’s been months! You have to quit holing up like a hermit and get out more.” Smiling, I hug my stepsister on the veranda, then step back, gesturing her inside. “How was your vacation?” Ella rolls her eyes. “Thre

*Grace* The kitchen’s empty when I make my way downstairs the next morning, and a knot clenches around my heart. There’s no reason to think Rob hadn’t gone into town with his friends after he’d left here and ‘got lucky’. It wasn’t unreasonable—he’s good-looking and polite, I think. If I met him like that, I’d have given him my number at the very least.