Chapter 5 – The Woman He Shouldn’t Be Noticing
Rebecca was leaving when Grant stopped her.
“Wait.”
She turned.
“Yes?”
The park around them felt too normal for what had just happened.
Grant hesitated.
He was not used to hesitation.
“I’d like to thank you properly,” he said.
“You already did.”
“No,” he replied. “I mean… properly.”
Rebecca studied him.
Then said something unexpected.
“Don’t turn this into a debt.”
That stopped him.
Most people wanted something from him.
She didn’t.
“That’s not what I meant,” Grant said.
“I know,” she replied.
A pause.
Then softer:
“You just look like someone who doesn’t know how to say ‘thank you’ without building a system around it.”
That hit uncomfortably close.
Noah walked up beside them.
“Are you returning next Saturday?” he asked Rebecca.
She blinked. “I don’t know yet.”
Nora added quickly, “We will be here.”
Grant looked at his daughter.
Then at his son.
May you like
And realized something terrifying:
They were already expecting her.
