The Magnolia Sisters (Magnolia Sisters #1) - Michelle Major Page 0,53

easy to ask questions about life in Magnolia, and Gray seemed happy to share the history of the area. It was so different here than where Avery had grown up, and not just the dichotomy between a small town and the big city.

In San Francisco, she’d been anonymous. Yes, she’d had friends at work and remained as close as she could manage with her mother. But no one had really known her business—at least until her life had imploded.

Magnolia was all about roots and ties to the community, how long a person had lived in town and what brought them to the area in the first place. It was somewhat gratifying to know that although she might garner an extreme amount of interest because of her father, no one could escape the small-town microscope, at least according to Gray.

“I worked a lot,” she told him. “I was in risk management for a big finance company, Pierce and Chambers.”

Gray whistled under his breath. “Big-time.”

She nodded and wondered that she didn’t feel any pang of longing for her former life. “Sometimes I traveled but it was mainly long hours in the office.”

“But you loved it?” he prompted, as if he couldn’t imagine why someone would devote themselves to a career that didn’t mean something to them.

“I liked the paycheck,” she admitted. “I was good at the job. But it wasn’t a vocation. Not like what you do.” She could see the question in his gaze and figured she’d offer an answer before he could ask too much. “I was ready for a change, and then the letter came about Niall. It felt like a sign.”

She held her breath, gauging his reaction to her explanation. It was a version of what she’d told Carrie and Meredith and not exactly a lie. But somehow it felt as though she was deceiving him. This man had been cheated on by his ex-wife and it had hurt him badly. His daughter was the most important thing in his life.

How would he feel about her if he knew the full truth of the destruction she’d caused her ex’s family? She might have been an unwitting accomplice to the betrayal, but she should have known better. She hurt innocent people, and she never wanted to be in that position again.

Not if she could help it.

But she also didn’t want to destroy whatever this was blossoming between them. Not yet. She’d called him a friend, and she meant it. Avery felt comfortable with Gray in a way that she didn’t with most people.

Maybe it was because she knew nothing could ever really happen between them. Nothing serious anyway. There was a lot at stake and too much either of them could lose.

Although, after today, the thought of leaving Magnolia held little appeal. How was that possible? Heatstroke? Desperation? Probably some pathetic mix of the two.

“Fresh starts are good,” he said, placing the two empty wineglasses in the sink.

“Just because I’m a lightweight doesn’t mean you can’t have another glass.”

“I don’t need anything else,” he said with a smile, then held up a finger. “Except dessert.”

“You made dessert, too?” She grinned. “I hope you have that in your dating profile.”

“Not exactly homemade,” he admitted. “But I have pudding cups, packaged cookies or an ice-cream sandwich to offer you.”

“Ice cream,” she said without hesitation. “It still counts in your favor that you have something in the fridge besides beer and stale Chinese.”

“I’m a dad,” he said with a shrug. “There’s some kind of parenting rule about a well-stocked kitchen.”

“I didn’t know that.” She took the package he handed her from the freezer, shocked when it didn’t completely melt from the heat of their fingers brushing. “My mom wasn’t much of a cook, but she hired a meal service to stock the pantry with healthy food every week.”

“No dessert from a box?”

She shook her head. “I thought if I had anything with processed sugar, my teeth would immediately rot and fall out.”

“Gullible,” he teased.

“No doubt.” She laughed. “It didn’t help that once I snuck down to the