But, more importantly, he couldn’t see a good reason why Gwen would be annoyed at the reminder he and Mallory had dated in high school, and what if it was becauseshewanted to date him herself?
“What?”
Jerked back to reality, he saw Gwen giving him a questioning look. “What?”
“You were looking smug about something—likereallypleased with yourself—so what were you thinking about?”
Telling her the truth wasn’t really an option he wanted to consider, so he shrugged. “I was just thinking about how I got more of that milk puzzle done than anybody else.”
Her eyes widened. “You did not! You might have spent more time complaining about it than the rest of us, but you definitely didn’t fit more pieces together.”
As expected, his distraction worked and they debated who was better at puzzles for a bit. It wasn’t him, since he usually got bored after a few minutes, but he didn’t have to admit that. He preferred her fired up, with her eyes snapping and her lips curved in the thrill of debate.
“I think we were all relieved when it was gone,” he admitted finally.
“That was funny,” Gwen said, smiling at the memory. “Remember how Mom came in with the big Shop-Vac and said she was done listening to us whine about that stupid puzzle and just sucked all the pieces right off the table?”
“Along with the purple Skittles I was saving for last because they’re the best flavor.”
She snorted. “You should have thanked her because red Skittles are the best flavor.”
As if he needed another reason to be attracted to Gwen. Sure, she was wrong about red being the best flavor, but that meant they could share a bag of Skittles without fighting over their favorites. Compatibility mattered.
“Gwen?”
Ellen’s voice echoed through the house, and Gwen sighed. “I guess quiet time’s over.”
He started to back up so she could get by him, but not fast enough. Her body brushed his, and maybe it was his imagination, but she seemed to pause for a second, as if registering the full body contact. Then she was gone and Case was left alone to imagine all the ways that could have gone differently if her mom hadn’t been waiting for her.
He could have wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up hard against him. Then he’d bury his face in her hair before kissing his way from her neck to her mouth. With that light, flowing shirt she was wearing, he could easily slide his hand up her back, feeling the heat of her skin under his hand.
This was definitely not the time or the place to continue that line of thinking. Maybe later, in the shower, would be good. For now, he needed to distract himself.
Case had put almost half the sky pieces together before he felt under control enough to join the others again.
Chapter Five
Just a friendly reminder that a line of cars pulling out of Cyrs Funeral Home with their headlights on is a funeral procession, not a sports victory parade. Please do not honk your horn and pump your fist out the window.
—Stonefield GazetteFacebook Page
Gwen knew she couldn’t put it off anymore. She was going to have to venture out into Stonefield and do some errands.
What sheshoulddo was write. She’d been in Stonefield for almost a week and hadn’t yet. The laptop was sitting on the table next to the glider rocker she’d spotted at the thrift store when she was sixteen and begged for until her father went in and bought it from his own wife for her. It had been well-worn then and had turned the corner to shabby years ago, but it was comfortable, and sometimes when she was at home in the fancy power recliner she’d overpaid for, she felt a wave of nostalgia for the chair she’d written so many stories in.
Yet, here she was, and no writing was happening.
And she was totally blaming the lack of half-and-half in the house. Coffee with milk was okay in a pinch, but if she was going to be living here temporarily—though not as temporarily as she would have liked—there were some basic things she needed. And it didn’t feel right to add them to the list on the fridge or ask her mom or Mal to pick them up. It was time to reacquaint herself with her hometown.
It was another half hour before she went downstairs, so her mother and Mallory and the boys were already gone. Evie was sitting at the kitchen table, though, and they muttered greetings as Gwen walked to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup. She put a little extra sugar in it to try to offset the plain milk and sat at the table.
Then she took a sip and grimaced. “I’m definitely going to the store today. Do you need anything?”
Evie snorted. “Going to buy some fancy espresso thing that foams milk and makes lattes or whatever?”
“Half-and-half. I just want some half-and-half, Evie. And don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
