I watched as Grayson conversed with Evan and Summer, before getting in his car and driving away. Summer took Emma-Grace inside, and Evan stayed outside with me. I was too fired up to see Lara yet.
“What happened?” he asked.
“He’s trying to come between me and Lara. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to control myself.”
He sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Didn’t you try to do the same thing when he was with Lara?”
I knew that was going to be thrown back in my face. “It’s not the same. Lara didn’t want anything to do with me, but he’s her friend and co-worker. She’ll actually be spending time with him every day. What has me even more concerned is what he just said to me.”
“Which was?”
“I don’t think he wants Lara to get her memories back.”
Evan snorted. “Of course he doesn’t. If she remembers, she’ll know the truth. I’ve known this from the beginning.”
“Have you talked to Summer about it?”
He waved me off. “She thinks Grayson is a saint. There’s no way she’ll believe it. All I can say is, try to let it go. Lara chose you and it’s obvious she has no intention of leaving you for Grayson.”
I was confident in that, but something didn’t feel right. Grayson was too sure of himself. “I don’t trust him, Evan. He’s desperate, and we all know what that can do to a man.”
“I know,” he said, squeezing my shoulder. “But Grayson loves Lara. He’s not going to do anything to hurt her.” I wanted to believe that, but I couldn’t. We started toward the door and I could see Lara giggling with Emma-Grace inside. “Are you going to talk to her about this?” Evan asked.
I looked at her again and sighed. “No. She doesn’t need the stress; and if I do, it’ll just make me look like a jealous boyfriend. I don’t want to drive a wedge between us.” Evan stared at me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He chuckled. “Just shocked at who you’ve become. You’ve really changed this past year.”
I focused back on Lara. “I had no choice; she makes me want to be a better person.”
He patted me on the back and we walked inside.
“You ready to have some fun?” Lara laughed, bouncing Emma-Grace on her hip. The little princess had her fingers in her mouth, drooling with a smile on her face.
I had to make sure she didn’t throw food on me tonight. Winning the bet against Lara was my top priority. Lara didn’t realize I’d spent lots of time around her little niece. “Definitely,” I answered with a grin.
When Summer and Evan said their goodbyes, Lara announced. “You know what time it is?” With a mischievous grin, she turned to me and winked. “I think it’s dinner time. Want to feed her, while I get ours started?”
I rubbed my hands together. “Glad to.”
Lara placed Emma-Grace in the high chair, and dug around inside the diaper bag for her baby food. Evan had told me since Lara babysat all the time, they’d just invested in a high chair for her house so they wouldn’t have to transport one back and forth.
While Lara went to heat up Emma-Grace’s food, I pulled up a chair in front of the little rascal. She clapped her hands and giggled, looking so much like a miniature version of Lara. If we had a daughter, she would probably look exactly like her.
“Hey,” I whispered low. “Do you think you can maybe not throw your food on me tonight? I know how messy you can get since you get it from your dad, but I’m counting on you to be nice to me. Can you do that?”
She giggled again, and Lara walked back into the room with two jars of baby food and a bottle of milk. “Are you talking to yourself?”
“Nope.” I pointed at Emma-Grace. “Your niece and I were having a discussion. She’s going to be nice to me tonight.”
Lara set the food down and handed me a spoon. “Oh God, I’m gonna have so much fun watching this.” She pulled up a seat and sat beside me with the biggest grin on her face.
I spooned up a small portion of sweet potatoes and Emma-Grace opened her mouth wide. Once she ate the bite, she opened her mouth wide again. “Girl, you must be hungry.” I laughed.
Lara giggled. “Oh, she can eat.” I went back and forth between the sweet potatoes and green beans and