“The drawer in my kitchen is broken,” Ruby states, lifting her chin, all business. “From when I fell and hit my head. Come by tomorrow afternoon, fix the drawer. We can go over everythingelse I need done. If you don’t like what you see, I’ll pay you for the drawer and that’ll be it.”
Folding my arms across my chest, I ask, “Will Bryn be there?”
A slight nostril flare. Half a second of a squint. Another incline of her head. A lie is about to come out of this woman’s mouth.
“No,” she shakes her head. “She’s working at the massage clinic.”
I don’t doubt that Bryn is working, but this woman has something up her sleeve. I’d be careless not to be careful. And intrigued.
“Alright, Ruby,” I nod, holding a hand out. “Deal. I’ll fix the drawer, but anything further, we’ll see.”
She takes my hand in her good one, her handshake firm. “Deal. Oh, and Wyatt? Wear the cowboy hat, would you? I’d like to see it up close for once.”
This woman has trouble with a capital T written all over her. But she might be the plan I’ve been looking for.
Chapter 26
Bryn
Myheartispoundingharder than the waves crashing against the cliffs on the other side of the road as I ride my bike up the driveway. Wyatt’s truck is sitting there. Emptier than the black hole in my chest that’s settled in since I broke up with him.
There are two things wrong with this scenario. First, he’s here. At my house, unannounced, and not invited. Second, he’s nowhere to be found, which doesn’t bode well for me since I know Gran is home.
She texted me before I left work and asked if I’d pick up Moon Pies. It’s not out of the ordinary. Ever since Grandpa passed, she asks me to get them whenever she’s missing him. They were his favorite. I was expecting to come home and find her sitting in the backyard, looking at his beloved garden that definitely needs more TLC than either of us are giving it, but instead I hear laughter coming from the kitchen as I go through the gate.
Wyatt must have come here to see me, and Gran found him instead. Maybe he didn’t text or call first because he knew I wouldn’t answer. Or at least suspected it.
With my stomach nosediving to my feet, I leave my bike just past the door leading to the kitchen and put the kickstand down, taking my helmet off a second later. Shaking my hair out and running my fingers through it, I smooth my hands over the white tank top I changed into after work, willing my nerves to settle.
It’s just Wyatt.
Stopping at the door to listen, though, I realize it’s not only Wyatt that has me nervous. It’s the two of them together. Or maybe it’s Gran and all her comments and nudges to let Wyatt back into my life as more than friends.
The main door is wide open with only the storm door between me and the mudroom that leads to the kitchen. I can hear Gran’s delighted squeal of excitement.
What the hell is going on?
Pulling the door open, I jump a step backward with a gasp. The door drops sideways an inch, like it’s barely hanging on. Blinking furiously at it, I look up and realize there’s something wrong with the top hinge.
My eyes narrow. There was nothing wrong with it this morning.
It still seems to open, so I let myself inside just as Gran comes into view at the entrance of the mudroom. Her face lights up when she sees me.
“Bryn! Sweetheart. How was your day?”
I ignore her. “What happened to the door?”
The woman doesn’t skip a beat. “Oh, you know that thing, been wobbly for ages.” She gestures at me to come further inside. “Did you get the Moon Pies?”
“You asked her to get Moon Pies?” Wyatt’s voice comes from the kitchen, and there’s no faking the surprise. “Ruby, I didn’t know you were going to do that when we talked about it.”
Her text came over forty-five minutes ago, which means he’s been here for at least that long. Longer if they had a whole conversation about Moon Pies. And why does it sound like he’s the one that wanted them and not her?
“You did ask, dear boy,” she says, looking to her left into thekitchen. I still haven’t moved an inch from just inside the door, and her attention swings back to me as I hear a muttered ‘Jesus’ from inside. “Did you get them?”
“Of course I got them.”
Gran’s face brightens further. The innocence she portrays could win her an Oscar. “Oh good. Wyatt and I discovered we share a love for them. Did you know that? His dad used to sneak them to him and his brothers in the barn growing up before dinner.”
