Sweet Harmony (Harmony Falls #1) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,29

Harper. She’s even gone to New York a couple of times to visit her. Harper hasn’t been back since she left, but she’s coming home for Addison’s wedding.”

“When do they get married?”

“September,” Kira said. “Grace and Harper and I are all bridesmaids. Anyway, we’re supposed to be talking about you, not me. Do you have a best friend?”

“Yes. His name is Lucas. We grew up together. He lives in New Cassel now and works for a company that develops video games.”

“So, he plays video games all day then?”

He laughed. “Yeah, but when you see him at the wedding, don’t say that to him. He’s sensitive about it.”

“Oh, he’ll be at the wedding?”

“Yeah. His family knows Mandy’s family.”

“Sounds like Willington is a lot like Harmony Falls. Everyone knows everyone.”

“Pretty much,” he said.

They were headed toward a curve in the trail and she smiled up at him. “When I was a kid, I used to dream about moving to New Cassel. I thought I would love to live somewhere that I could be anonymous but now…”

“Now what?” he asked as they rounded the curve.

“I realized that I’m happiest when I’m surrounded by the people I love,” she said. “There’s something soothing in routine and – Grace? Gideon? What are you doing – Tank, no! Sit!”

Moving on instinct, Connor tugged Kira behind him, protecting her from the Great Dane’s now familiar enthusiastic greeting as he ran toward them.

“Tank, sit,” he said in a loud voice.

The big dog plopped to his ass, tail sweeping across the dirt trail and his tongue hanging halfway out of his mouth.

“Good boy.” Connor petted the dog’s head as he stared at Grace and Gideon. The big sheriff was standing close to her, his hand wrapped around her wrist. Grace, her face flushed and her body noticeably trembling, was staring up at him.

“You okay, Grace?” Connor said.

She visibly jumped as the sheriff dropped her wrist and backed away until there were a few feet of space between him and Grace.

“She’s fine. She’s with Gideon.” Kira stepped out from behind him and grinned at her best friend and her brother. “Hey, guys. Did you decide to go on a hike together?”

Considering that Kira was so damn good at reading his body language, he found it remarkable that she was completely oblivious to the tension radiating between Grace and Gideon.

Gideon shook his head as Grace said, “No, um, we just ran into each other on the trail.”

Kira frowned. “Are you hiking alone, Gracie?”

She nodded, and for some reason, Kira gave her a look of disapproval. “Grace Larken, you were not! Addie and I strictly forbade you to go hiking alone.”

She glanced up at Connor. “Grace doesn’t have a very good sense of direction. She’s not allowed to go into the park to hike alone. We’re afraid she’ll get lost and be eaten by bears.”

“I’m fine,” Grace said. “I’m not lost, Kira.” She wiped her palms on her thighs and when she winced, Kira dropped his hand and hurried forward.

“What’s wrong? Is that blood on your shirt? Why is there blood on your shirt?”

“Tank knocked me over and I scraped my hand. It’s fine.”

Kira glanced behind her at Tank who was still sitting next to Connor. “Tank! Bad boy! Very bad boy!”

The dog made a low whine and pressed his head against Connor’s hip. Connor rubbed behind Tank’s ears as Kira turned back to Grace and reached for the first aid kit tucked under Grace’s arm. “Here, let me clean it.”

“Gideon already cleaned it,” Grace said. “It’s fine, Kira. It’s just a scrape.”

Kira smiled at Gideon. “Sheriff Gideon to the rescue. Thanks, buddy.”

He grunted before whistling for Tank. The big dog loped over to him as Gideon said to Kira, “Can you walk her out of the park?”

“I can walk myself out of the damn park,” Grace said. Her voice was icy cold and the way she looked at Gideon, suggested she was about three seconds from trying to murder him.

“Can you, Kira?” Gideon ignored Grace completely.

“Yes,” Kira said.

“Thanks.” He stuck his earbuds in his ears and jogged away with Tank at his heels.

Kira smiled at Grace. “So, you were lost, weren’t you?”

“I wasn’t lost!” Grace snapped.

Kira took a step back. “Gracie? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Grace said. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to snap at you and yeah, I was lost.”

Kira put her arm around her and kissed her shoulder. “It’s okay, honey. C’mon and walk with Conner and me.”

Connor joined them. “Hey, Grace.”

“Hey, Connor.” Grace’s eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline when