Evie scoffed. “Good? I don’t know about that. I ran into Lane and—”
She stopped talking abruptly and pressed her lips together, and Gwen arched an eyebrow. Did she not want to admit she’d been arguing with her ex? It wasn’t as if they didn’t all know a lot of turbulent water had flowed under that bridge.
“Whatever,” Evie said, waving her hand in dismissal. Gwen wanted to push for more than awhatever, but then her sister’s expression changed. “Uh-oh. Incoming, and I think it’s ten degrees colder already.”
Coming toward them was Daphne Fisk, Case’s aunt on his mom’s side. Unlike Laura—who was Case’s aunt on his dad’s side—Daphne was the kind of person who made the Wicked Witch of the West’s theme song run through your head as she approached, and since Gwen had no place to hide, she could only hope Daphne was making her way toward an unseen person behind Gwen.
No such luck.
“Well, well... Gwen Sutton. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, I almost didn’t recognize you.” Gwen recognized the not-so-subtle dig for what it was, but refrained from pointing out that Daphne had seen her at the funeral in January, when she offered Gwen the world’s most awkward condolence hug.
“It’s nice to see you again, Daphne,” Gwen said, and that was somewhat true. Once you got to know her and accepted that she could be a little abrasive at times, she was actually funny and could be kind when it was called for.
“When I saw on theGazette’s Facebook page that you were back in town, I was surprised, but I’m sure it’s wonderful for Ellen to have you all home again.”
She refrained from pointing out she wasn’t actuallyhomebecause she lived in Vermont, but she didn’t want to get into a battle of semantics with Daphne. Plus, since Stonefield was her hometown, she supposed the word would technically always apply, even if it made her itch.
“Will you stay in the house with Ellen, or are you looking for a place of your own?”
Taken aback by the question, it took Gwen a moment to remember that Daphne owned one of the two real estate offices in a neighboring town, and the question was probably a habit for somebody whose living depended on the buying and selling of homes. The positive aspects of her personality really shone when she was in selling mode.
“I’m not staying,” she said. “I’m just here until Sutton’s Place is up and going—here, take a flyer—and then I’m heading back to Vermont.”
Daphne actually looked shocked, so maybe her question hadn’t been purely professional, after all. “But look around you. All your friends and family are here, and Stonefield House of Pizza was voted Best Chicken Fingers in New Hampshire two years in a row. Why on earth would you want to live anywhere else?”
Okay, the chicken fingers at S-HoPwerethe best in the state, but Gwen wasn’t sure she was the kind of person who would put that at number two on the pro list when considering where to live one’s life. Plus she didn’t want the people of Stonefield thinking she was moving back permanently, so she needed to nip that rumor in the bud immediately.
And there was nobody better to spread that word than Daphne Fisk. She was an incredibly big cog in the rumor mill for somebody with iffy people skills.
The last thing Case expected to see as he wandered around the town square was Lane sitting on a bench, bent over so his elbows were propped on his knees and staring at his feet. Today should have been a big day for Lane—a happy one, at least—but his cousin looked as if he was sitting under a small black rain cloud that was intent on ruining his day, and onlyhisday.
“Hey,” he said as he reached the bench. Lane looked up and judging by the scowl on his face and the way his jaw was clenched, he definitely was not having a happy day. “I’d ask if your dog ran off and left you, but he’s my dog. And he actually did run off and leave me, since he decided Jack and Eli were a better bet for dropped food, and I still don’t look as down as you do.”
“I ran into Evie and...well, you know how it is with Evie.” Lane stood and took a deep breath, as if he was trying to force his body to relax.
Case wasn’t sure exactly which aspect ofyou know how it is with EvieLane was referring to. The two of them bickering was how it usually was, but there was also the way Lane was still in love with her—though he’d never admit that out loud. And the way Evie was always looking at Lane as though she had a lot she wanted to say to him, but wasn’t sure how.
There were alotof ways it could be with Evie when it came to Lane, but Case wasn’t sure this was either the time or the place to dig any deeper on that one. “I’m surprised you’re not at the booth. I’ve heard a lot of buzz about the brewery while I’ve been wandering, and it’s all good. We should head over there.”
Lane snorted. “Gwen called Evie to take her turn, so I think I’ll wait awhile. In fact, I’m going to go check on some things back at the carriage house, and maybe by the time I’m done, it’ll be Gwen’s turn again.”
So he was going to hide in his cellar again. Whatever it was that had happened, Case hoped they got over it quickly because full-on avoidance of each other wasn’t going to work well for the Sutton’s Place team. But he could see that the best thing for Lane right now was some alone time, so he nodded. “Let me know when you come back and I’ll stop over.”
Now abandoned by both his dogandhis best friend, Case continued roaming the square alone. He stopped by the booth the tree service had sponsored this year and watched for a while. A woman who lived several towns away made birdhouses from scavenged, fallen wood and when he’d seen her videos on Facebook, he’d reached out about having a booth at the celebration. The crowd seemed to love watching her work—she told stories the entire time her hands moved—so there were a lot of eyeballs on their sponsorship sign and she’d probably sell some finished pieces. Another D&T Tree Service success. Marketing that didn’t require any labor on his part was his favorite kind.
Moving on, he was aware he was getting closer to the Sutton’s Place booth. There was a tingle of anticipation he couldn’t ignore, even as he tried to remind himself Lane had said Evie would be taking a turn handing out the flyers.
Then, above all the noise, he heard Gwen’s laugh and he swiveled toward the sound as if his body was on a string and her voice was tugging on the other end.
She was talking to Daphne, and Gwen’s back was to him, so he couldn’t see her face. Daphne wasn’t really a people person and one of the kinder ways people tended to describe her was asa little abrasive, but she’d always liked the Sutton family. And Gwen had been laughing, which was a good sign.
He’d almost reached them when Gwen’s voice rang out, clear as a bell and using what he thought of as heremphatictone.
“I am absolutely not staying in this town a minute longer than I have to.”
Case’s step faltered and he stopped, giving himself a moment to absorb the definitiveness of her words. They shouldn’t have been a surprise—he knew how she felt about Stonefield. But he was disappointed that spending time with her family—and two very hot kisses with the guy across the street—didn’t appear to have softened her stance at all.
Not that he truly thought she would change her mind. He just wished she didn’t have to sound quite sosureabout it.
