Page 65
“You too. I’ve heard a lot about you,” I tell him, and he looks between Wyatt and me, smiling.
“What happened to the Q and A?” Aunt Margery asks, joining us.
“There wasn’t time. They didn’t realize that the high school band is going to be performing, so they had to cut our time,” Mom tells her, and on cue the band begins to play.
“That’s all right. I have a meeting I need to get to, so I have to take off,” Wyatt tells us, then turns his attention to me, and I can see that it’s bothering him that he can’t touch me and he wants to. “Call me later.”
“Okay.” I squeeze my hand into a fist as I watch him walk off with Mike, the two of them once more drawing the attention of everyone passing by.
“Well, I’d say that went well,” Mom says, then turns to me. “And I’d also say that I might be getting that grandbaby sooner rather than later.”
“Mom.” I groan.
“What? I’m manifesting.” She spins around and walks off, and I look over at my aunt.
“Don’t look at me, I’m just here to help pass out stickers.”
Dropping my head back to my shoulders, I look up at the sky, asking whoever is listening why I couldn’t have a normal mother.
Chapter 23:
Seriously?
Wyatt
Dropping my duffel next to the front door, I’m not surprised that Storm doesn’t come to greet me. Anytime Genevieve is in the house, I don’t exist—no one exists but her. It’s comical because she doesn’t give him a lot of physical affection, but when she even pats his head, it’s like she’s giving him a treat, and he soaks it up.
Smelling something coming from the kitchen, I walk that way and find Genevieve standing in the middle of the small room with her cell to her ear and a frown on her face. When Storm nudges his nose into her hand, she looks down at him and smiles, then reaches over, opens his treat jar, and pulls out a handful. After she gives them all to him in one go, he doesn’t hesitate to swallow the entire mouthful.
“You want more?” she asks, putting her phone down, and he barks. “Okay.” She laughs, giving him a few more.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warn when Storm swallows those and she reaches for the treat jar again.
“Oh my god,” she screams, spinning around while Storm barks and goes on alert until he sees it’s me. Then his tail starts to wag. “You scared me.”
“Babe, is this what you do when I’m not around?”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“I watched you give him two handfuls of treats, and then you were going to give him more.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looks down at Storm. “Do you know what he’s talking about?” Of course he barks like he’s saying no.
“He’s a working dog. I shouldn’t even be giving him treats unless he’s working.”
“He’s off duty right now.” Her eyes wander over me, and she tips her head to the side. “How was work?”
“Busy. The fall festival is always a hit with the locals, but closing down roads and making sure that all the traffic is rerouted is a hassle.” I close the distance between us and kiss her like I wanted to earlier this afternoon when I saw her. If I hadn’t been in uniform, I might have said fuck it and done it even with her mom and aunt there watching. “Everything okay? You looked annoyed with whoever you were on the phone with.”
“That was the sellers’ Realtor for Lavender Hill. She left me a message.”
“Did something happen?”
“Apparently there was some kind of leak, but she wanted me to know that they are going to have everything cleaned up and the damage repaired before your appraiser gets there Monday morning.”
“What kind of leak?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to call her back and find out. I didn’t have a chance to check my messages until a minute ago.”
