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“Where are you going?” Stan asks her before she can hang up and I smile as they start to bicker.
“Iris made pot roast,” she tells him.
“That sounds good,” he grumbles and I laugh.
“Tell him that I’ll send you home with some.”
“She says I can bring you home some.”
He grumbles some more and I grin. Stan reminds me a lot of my grandpa. He was a cranky guy, too, except when he was around my grandma and me. Then he was like a giant teddy bear.
Stan actually knew them and even though he can be a bit prickly, I’ve always had a soft spot for him. He came to both of their funerals and used to drive by the store once a week to check on me. He still does occasionally. Usually, it’s around their funeral dates. He always plays it off as just browsing the store but he never buys anything or even really looks around. Instead he spends twenty minutes asking me how things are going.
“Why don’t you bring him with you?” I ask Sutton before she can say goodbye.
“Are you sure?” She asks, sounding uncertain.
“Yeah. There’s more than enough. Bring Bandit too.”
“Alright, see you in a few minutes.”
I hang up and stand so that I can set the table. I wonder if I should call Lyla too. Her boyfriend is probably working at his restaurant tonight.
As if my thoughts have conjured her, my phone rings.
“I hear that we’re having pot roast,” she says once I answer and I grin.
“Yep, come on over.”
“Okay, should I bring anything? Wine?”
“Why does everyone keep offering to bring that?” I ask with a laugh.
“It’s like girls’ night.”
“Madelyn is with Flynn and Stan is coming,” I inform her but she doesn’t seem bothered.
“So, wine?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, see you soon!”
She hangs up and I grab another plate from the cabinet.
I guess that I was wrong. I’m not eating alone tonight after all.
Sutton and Stan arrive first and I’m not surprised. My place is closer to the Mystery Cabin where they both live and work than Lyla’s place.
Sutton opens the door and Bandit, her dog, jumps out and immediately starts sniffing every blade of grass. It looks like Sutton and Stan are arguing about something as they climb out and Sutton rolls her eyes when she sees me in the open doorway.
“Hey,” I greet them and I give each of them a hug.
Stan sighs when I wrap my arms around him but he wraps his arms around me anyway and I try to hide my smile when I pull away.
“It smells so good,” Sutton says as she tries to call Bandit.
I take the bottle of wine from her as we turn to see Lyla pulling into the driveway. Stan heads inside and I wave at her too before I follow after them.
