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Tears pricked the backs of my eyes.I needed the win.Sweeping the garage could be done by anyone, but I wanted to fix the damn sink.Iwanted to fix it.I didn’t have the money to hire a plumber.I didn’t want Derek’s parents to rush over.I didn’t want Mom to make Benji drive from Fargo for a seemingly simple task.Liam would help and it wouldn’t matter if he was out of town, but Carlton was right.Sometimes we need the win.
I gathered myself before it was time to check out.Going to the hardware store was such a monumental hurdle, and I had a little bag of supplies to show for it.
When I got home, I parked next to the garage, then ducked in through the side door.Last weekend, I’d swept the floor and organized the trash that might be someone else’s treasure into piles.The broken-down lawn mower had gone out to the curb on spring cleanup week.Someone had claimed it during their curbside shopping before the dump truck came by the next morning.Same with the old-school grass cutter that ran on manpower and was full of rust.
I had a pile of metal somethings in the back corner.They were large and heavy and strange.The garage light didn’t work.I’d hauled out a ladder and changed the bulb, but no luck.Enough ambient light was coming through the two dingy windows that I could get pictures with a flash.
I aimed and shot a few pictures, then sent them to Liam.Can you work your magic with whatever these are?
I thought he was still working, but my phone rang.I answered.
“Those are old tractor seats, Kenny.”
I tilted my head to view the parts from a different angle.“Seriously?”
His deep laugh had become one of my favorite sounds.“Yeah, I’ll take them.Some people collect them.Maybe I can make ’em pretty, like a lawn ornament.”
“Like one of those for the garden where it looks like a lady bending over?”
“They’d probably sell faster than the lamp.”
The lamp was gorgeous.I’d rather have that than an ass to put next to my sweet peas, but people’s tastes differed.“They’re yours.I can bring them next time I go to your place.”
“Just let me know.I’ll make sure the shop door’s open.How’d Eli’s screening go?”
I passed along the information.“I’m calling Grandma Gin tomorrow.I don’t think she’s feeling well.”
“She’d never admit it if she wasn’t.”
“No, that’s why I’m going to be a pest.You don’t mind, do you?”Days like today, I felt like I’d come out of a grief fog and barged into Liam’s life.“I can offer to sleep over if she’s really under the weather.”Liam’s place had four small bedrooms.The kids’ room was upstairs, and Grandma Gin preferred to sleep across from them in the other upstairs bedroom.Liam’s bedroom was on the main floor along with the guest bedroom he kept ready in case his grandma wanted to quit doing stairs.
“My house is your house, Kenny.”
“The future Mrs.Liam might have something to say about that.”My smile died, replaced by a scowl.I was protective of him.That was all.
“I’d have to date to get married.But—” He cut himself off so quickly, I frowned.He might not be dating, but he could be having sex.
My pulse kicked up.Liam and sex in the same thought sent my body into a whirlwind and left my thoughts tumbling.
“Is there someone?”Anxiety like I’d had before going into the hardware store squeezed around my stomach.I pressed a hand to my belly.I must be hungry or something.
“No.It’s just… Laney Granger asked to meet up.”
I sucked in a breath.“Oh.”Laney.Sexy, smart, and capable.Cowgirl turned city girl who came home to save the family ranch.She’d probably put in a new faucet in her sleep and give methat look.The one she’d given me in high school that said she was trying to determine what the big deal about me was and couldn’t for the life of her figure it out.
Back then, I hadn’t cared.Like my mother when she got a new husband and life was good again, I’d had Derek.
What if I lost my friend to Laney?I could envision Laney’s smug karmic smile.The vise around my insides cinched tighter.
“It’s not like I can get a babysitter anyway,” Liam said.
“I can watch the boys.”I toed a loose pebble that I’d missed sweeping.It skittered across the concrete as I stared.Offering was the right thing to do.Liam had done so much for me.
“You’d watch them so I can hang out with Laney Granger?”Quiet shock resonated in his question.
“Why wouldn’t I?High school was a long time ago.”But when I thought about Laney and Liam dating, high school seemed like yesterday.“You should be able to date.You’re too nice of a guy for me to keep to myself.”I chewed on my lip.I wasn’t keeping him to myself.He kept to himself and I hung around with him.That was different.
“I mean, sure.I don’t know if it’s really a date, but yeah, if you don’t mind?”
