“I beat you to it,” she said, and the warmth in her voice made his lips curve a little as he slipped outside. “I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing and if you have everything you need in the cottage.”
He had everything he needed, plus some. “I’m good. But your granddaughter showed up late last night. She slept on the couch because I’ve already torn into the second bedroom.”
“Lucy’s with you?” He heard the rush of a relieved breath. “I’ve been so worried. I heard about some nonsense online, and I’ve sent her several Facebook messages, but she hasn’t responded. That’s when I realized I don’t have her cell number.”
Nonsense online?“She said something about deleting all the apps off her phone and she hasn’t found her passwords yet.”
“Honestly, I called you because I’m putting off working up the energy to call Iris and see if she has Lucy’s number. One would assume she’d know how to reach her daughter, but…it’s Iris.”
“Lucy asked me for your number, but I wanted to talk to you first. I can send her down the road if you’re not comfortable with her being here.”
“I’m not sending my granddaughter down the road, Nick Slater. Not without a reason, anyway. Give her my number and tell her to call me. She can video call if she wants because we’re having a stay-home day. But you have to be okay with it, too. I already told you the cottage was yours for the summer.”
Nick stifled the weary sigh and settled for closing his eyes for a few seconds. “It’s your cottage, and she’s your granddaughter. I can make it work if that’s what you want.”
“For now, if you’re sure. The poor girl needs a safe place to land right now. You’ll keep an eye on her, right? Make sure she’s okay?”
Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. “I won’t let you down, Helen.”
The promise landed like a boulder on top of the weight his shoulders already carried, but he wouldn’t let her down. He didn’t letanybodydown.
Not anymore.
“And Nick? Don’t say anything about those old Iris rumors, okay? I don’t think the poor child needs anything else on her plate right now.”
“I understand.” He wasn’t sure he agreed, but he’d follow Helen’s lead.
Once they hung up, he went back inside, just in time to watch Pete set their plates on the table. He nodded his thanks and, after Pete was done, slid into his seat and looked at his plate. Two blueberry pancakes, two scrambled eggs, bacon and home fries. Just the way he liked them.
Lucy already had a chunk of pancake on her fork. “You make good breakfast choices. Though I should have asked for a half order of whatever you got because this is a lot of food for somebody who’s not—”
When she waved her hand toward him, he frowned. “Somebody who’s not what?”
“You know,almostsix feet tall.”
He snorted and grabbed the ketchup to squeeze some on his scrambled eggs. Lucy wrinkled her nose, but thankfully kept her opinions to herself this time.
They ate in complete silence, and when Pete brought the check, he waved off her attempt to pay for his breakfast. He wasn’t sure what her financial situation was and, until he knew more about her, he wasn’t going to let her spend money on him.
“You can owe me one,” was all he said, and then—nodding to Pete and ignoring all the curious looks sent their way—they left and walked back to the truck.
“We can stop at the market,” he said. “Just grab what you need for now. At some point, if necessary, there’s a bigger—and cheaper—grocery store a few towns over.”
The hood and sunglasses were firmly in place when they walked into the small local market, and they stayed in place, which amused him because the lighting wasn’t great in some of the aisles.
He made sure to buy more bologna and several tomatoes, just because it made her laugh again. They got some staples, like bread and a new jug of milk. She was big into fruits and vegetables, and she grabbed several packages of chicken to divide up and freeze.
By the time they reached the register, she’d tucked the sunglasses into the pocket of her—actuallyhis—sweatshirt and dropped the hood. The curls captured in the bun were still damp, but the wisps around her face were frizzy from having the hood up all morning, and he wondered if they were as soft as they looked.
They split the cost of groceries in half, with Lucy giving him cash to cover her portion, and when they got back to his truck, she took each bag out of the cart so he could put it in the back seat.
They’d just finished when a girl whose parents he knew pretty well spotted them and stopped in her tracks, staring at Lucy.
“Ohmigosh,” the teen said breathlessly. “You’re her!”
Lucy shrank back as the girl pulled her phone out of her back pocket, and Nick stepped forward. “Felicity, don’t do that.”
“But, I just—”
