Boomer came in through the dog door at the same time Case entered the kitchen. The dog knew that Case getting dressed meant it was almost time to get in the truck, so if he had any pressing business to take care of in the yard, he’d best get to it.
Gwen was still sitting at the table, half of her coffee gone. She had a faraway look on her face, but at least she didn’t look panicked anymore. Last night had been amazing, and he wanted to part ways this morning on a more positive note.
Actually, what he really wanted to do was call in sick and crawl back into bed, taking Gwen with him. But he was the boss and he couldn’t afford to have the guys slacking off because he wasn’t there. Not with Lane already doing light hours.
But seeing her in his kitchen with his dog, who was enjoying having a lady in the house to scratch his ears, tempted him so much, he almost pulled his phone out of his pocket. One phone call and a little white lie to Laura and he could take her back to bed and make love to her again.
Right up until she realized Evie, at least, would wonder where she was and panicked again. Then, rather than spend the day alone being mad about it, he’d show up late to work in a foul mood. Leaving on a higher note now was still the better choice, he decided.
“I hate to leave, but I have to get to work. I’d play hooky, but with Lane gone so much, we’re already busting ass to stay caught up.” After downing the rest of his coffee, he grabbed his keys and his wallet. “Take your time drinking your coffee, though. You can make another one if you want, and feel free to rummage in the fridge. Just lock the door when you go.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry I was a mess when I woke up.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “I hope if you think about me while you’re at work today, you think about last night instead of this morning.”
“Oh, I’m definitely going to think about you.” He leaned down and gave her a very thorough kiss good morning.
“But not when you’re up in a tree,” she said. He smiled and gave her another thorough kiss—this one a kiss goodbye. “Or when you’re running the chipper.”
“I promise I’ll think about you safely. Let’s go to work, Boomer.” The dog was obviously reluctant to leave her, but after a mournful sigh, he went to the door. Before he opened it, he turned back to Gwen. “Just so you know before you try to be sneaky, your T-shirt’s on inside-out.”
Of course she hadn’t made it past Evie, because that’s just how Gwen’s luck went. Her youngest sister happened to be walking through the living room—and her eyes werenotglued to her phone—when Gwen crept onto the porch and squeezed through the front door without opening it wide enough to trigger the squeak in the hinges.
“Good morning,” Evie had said, in a questioning tone made even worse by the amusement and curiosity dancing in her eyes.
“I went for a walk,” Gwen said. “Walking helps get the ideas flowing when I’m stuck.”
“I hope you don’t need too many ideas, then, because it’s not that long of a walk from Case’s house to ours.” When Gwen tried to muster a fake look of indignation, Evie laughed. “You’re wearing the same clothes you were last night, and because I love you, I’m not going to mention your hair.”
“You can’t tell anybody,” she said, running her hand over her hair. Yeah, it was bad.
“That’s not fun at all. And how am I supposed to keep this a secret from Mallory?”
“It’s pretty simple. You just don’t tell her. You know they both assumed I was still in bed when they left, so there’s no reason for the subject to come up at all.”
“It’s not like everybody didn’t see it coming. It won’t be a shock.”
Gwen glared at Evie, who was enjoying this way too much for so early in the morning. “I don’t thinkeverybodysaw it coming. I mean, Mal, maybe. I told her we’d kissed a couple of times, but...sometimes people kiss, Evie.”
“Sure.” Evie nodded. “People just randomly kiss all the time.”
She was clearly not awake enough yet to win this battle with her sister, so she went upstairs—ignoring the sound of Evie’s laughter following her to the second floor—where she took a shower and put on clean clothes. After checking her email and finding nothing urgent, she went back downstairs for a second cup of coffee and another shot at swearing her sister to silence.
“Evie, I—” she started as she walked into the kitchen, but she broke off when her sister held up her hand.
“I’m not going to tell anybody,” Evie said. “I was just messing with you because it’s fun to wind you up. But I won’t lie if Mom or Mal asks me outright, though I can’t see any reason why they would.”
“Thank you,” she said as she fixed herself a cup of coffee. “It’s not that I feel a need to hide it. I just don’t want everybody talking about it.”
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll share a secret with you,” Evie said quietly, slowly swirling her half-empty juice glass.
Gwen pulled out a chair and sat. “Mutually assured destruction by gossip?”
Evie smiled. “Something like that.”
“Let’s hear it, then.”
“I almost kissed Lane.”
And Gwen almost dropped her coffee mug. As it was, she froze with it halfway to her mouth and then had to carefully set it back on the table. “What? When?”
