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“I’ll help,” Graydon said. “Is there an art supply store on the island?”
“Yes. There’s a very good one on Amelia Drive.”
“What if I go there tomorrow, pick up some supplies, and when you get home we work on the designs together? And maybe you could show me what to do with your garden and I could help there too.”
She knew that he was asking to stay in the house. Not finding a new place, but remaining with her. She shouldn’t. Someone could find him a place to stay. But not tonight. It was getting late and they hadn’t even looked for lodging. So maybe he’d stay tonight, and tomorrow at work she could ask around.
“That would be nice,” she said as she got up, a big towel wrapped securely around her. When Toby got back to the truck she had some difficulty pulling her clothes on over her wet underwear but she did it. “Bath,” she mumbled as she struggled with the damp elastic that didn’t want to move.
She looked in her bag for her phone and saw that she had an email from Lexie.
I’M IN NEW YORK NOW. PLYMOUTH WENT TO CA SO I’M STAYING AT HIS APARTMENT. IT’S NICE, COZY EVEN. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT OF HIM? I FLY OUT TOMORROW MORNING.
HOW DID YOU LIKE THE PRINCE’S COOKING? AND DID YOU LIKE WHAT HE DID TO THE SUNROOM? HE COULD STAY IN PLYMOUTH’S BIG HOUSE, AS IT’S EMPTY. BUT THEN, ARE YOU STILL PLANNING TO SEND YOUR PRINCE AWAY? TELL ME ALL! LEXIE.
He cooked the breakfast? Toby thought. He cleaned up the sunroom? She was beginning to see why Lexie had said she didn’t think Graydon was helpless.
When Toby looked up, she saw him walking toward the truck. His clothes were so clean and unwrinkled, his hair perfectly groomed, that he could have been going to a dinner party.
They got into the truck, with Graydon driving, and started toward home. “Want to get sandwiches for dinner?” she asked.
“That sounds fine.”
“Or would you like to cook something? Or clean a room?”
Graydon laughed. “How was I found out?”
“Lexie ratted on you. If you’re such a busy person, what are you going to do while I’m at work all day?”
“Read? Find a beach and lie on it for hours?”
“You couldn’t stay still for even an hour this morning, but you think you’re going to do nothing for days at a time?”
“You need any help at your florist shop? I work cheap.”
Toby shook her head. “How are you going to last for a whole week?” She didn’t wait for his answer. “Maybe you should stay somewhere that has some entertainment. With a boat maybe.” She was looking straight out the truck window.
“Speaking of staying someplace, I don’t mean to complain but the mattress on the couch upstairs is like trying to sleep on steel coils. They cut into a person.”
“Maybe that’s the reason that couch was tossed into a corner of the Kingsley attic.” She smiled. “This is a bit like the Prince and the Pea.”
Graydon started to laugh, but then they looked at each other.
“I don’t think so,” Toby said, reading his mind. “Lots of mattresses around? Strings of peas? Not very wedding-like. Will your wedding have a theme?”
“I have no idea. I won’t be asked. It’s a national event, so I’ll just be told when to show up and what to wear.”
“A uniform? With lots of medals?”
“Scads of
them. All on the left side. Four weeks beforehand I’ll have to lift weights with just my right hand to be able to balance myself.”
“You always make things sound funny,” Toby said.
“Not to most people. My brother thinks that I’m incapable of what he calls fun.”
“Mmmm,” Toby said. “Let me guess. His idea of fun is fast cars, steep mountainsides, jumping out of planes, all with barely clad women hanging on to him.”
