A pang of nostalgia hits me square in the chest. Grandpa used to do that with me in the backyard. Gran would get so mad when she was looking for a snack only to discover the stash had been raided.
Wyatt steps into view beside Gran and smiles guiltily at me, lifting his cowboy hat from his head, his tan t-shirt stretching across his muscular chest, biceps flexing and filling out the sleeves. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize she was going to ask you to pick some up. We were just having a conversation.”
God, he looks good.
My heart races just from him standing there. In my grandmother’s house.
“Bryn?” Gran questions when I’m silent.
Silently staring. Damn it. My cheeks flush, and I shake my head, forcing a smile onto my face.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind. Gran and I love them too.”
Pulling my backpack off, I move forward, darting around the two of them and into the kitchen where I freeze as I take in the island. A toolbox sits on top, a few different things laid out. There’s a box with what appears to be a new chandelier sitting on the counter too.
“What is happening?” I ask.
“Wyatt fixed the drawer in the island,” Gran explains, wavinga hand towards the tools on the granite. “He was just about to look at the new light I got for my bedroom.”
Whipping my head towards her, I stare incredulously. “New light? Gran, the light in there isn’t—”
“I don’t like it, it doesn’t cast the right light when I’m getting ready,” she cuts me off before I can finish. The light in there isn’t that old. She replaced it after Grandpa passed. Funny how this is the first time she’s mentioning it. “Mildred and I picked this one out.”
My eyes flick to Wyatt, still standing near the entrance to the mudroom. He’s biting back a smirk, but I can see it there. The mirth in those stupid, pretty eyes of his.
“Why were you here in the first place?” I ask him, eyes narrowed.
“Well, I—”
“I hired him,” Gran interrupts before Wyatt can form a full sentence. “He’s my new handyman.”
A sputtering laugh leaves my lips. “Excuse me?”
“Fine, he can beournew handyman. I guess I’ll share him.”
The audacity of this woman. This is not happening.
Wyatt interjects before I throttle her. “Ruby, I didn’t agree to anything except fixing the drawer.”
“You stay out of this,” Gran shoots at him.
“Gran!” I drop my backpack to the ground.
“Bryn.”
Jaw grinding, lips in a tight line, I glare at her. The worst part about this is she looks cool as a cucumber. Like she knows she’s going to get her way, no matter what I say. Or what Wyatt decides. And it’s because she thinks she knows what’s best.
“Wyatt is not the new handyman,” I tell her through clenched teeth.
Wyatt takes a step forward. “Yeah, Ruby, if Bryn isn’t comfortable with this, then I’m not either.”
Gran doesn’t even glance in his direction. Her eyes are locked on mine. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why don’t you want him helping around here?” The fire in her eyes, the one where all her sass comes from, sparks brightly. Taunting me. It’s not often we get into a challenge like this. “Why is it such a big deal?”
My nostrils flare and I clamp my mouth tightly. There’s no way I can answer that out loud.
