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“What’s with you and my brother-in-law? Y’all are looking pretty cozy.”
“Nothing. We work together.” I tried to sound casual. Any unexpected moves and she would have me.
“Uh-huh. You can’t fool me. I read the diary, remember?” Leah muttered under her breath as we moved closer toward our dinner.
“Shutup. There’s nothing going on.” I’m not sure why I bothered to lie to her. Probably because there wasn’t any way to have this conversation right now. And what was happening between Tanner and I was so new that I hadn’t even had any time to process it. Maybe it would turn out to be nothing. No matter what transpired, it was between us for now, and it was up to us to figure it out.
I served my plate with two crabs and a heaping serving of both potatoes and salad. I might want seconds as hungry as I was. Had we skipped lunch?
Tanner sat beside me to my right, and Lisa on my left. Momma insisted on her usual large prayer while we held hands. The Catholic eating grace. Then Nana added a quick prayer for Marie. “Dear Lord, we say a prayer of thanks for our friend, Marie, who’s been returned safely to us through your mercy and grace. Amen.”
And all the people said, “Amen.”
“Thank you all so much for your kind welcome. This looks amazing.” Lisa seemed a little overwhelmed. Of course, we were a bit overwhelming as a group.
“Don’t think anything of it. How was Marie when you left her?” Nana asked.
“She was frustrated that they wouldn’t let her out to come with me, but overall, I think she’s in pretty good spirits considering what she’s been through.”
Nana nodded. “I’m so happy to hear it. When can we expect her, or do you know yet?”
“They said in a day or two.”
“They’ve run some blood work and will know more tomorrow.” Jake spoke up then, having gotten some information from his staffer who was treating Marie.
“Nana, you’ve outdone yourself with the crabs. They’re fantastic!” Tanner hadn’t spoken since he’d served his plate and sat down beside me. He had to be as hungry as I was since neither of us had eaten today since this morning.”
“There’s plenty more, so grab seconds if you want them. I’ve already set some aside for Marie for when she gets here.”
“I know she’ll appreciate it,” Lisa said.
We were a much quieter bunch when our mouths were full, I had to say. We worked our way through dinner and dessert, which wasn’t only Jell-O salad, as Nana had made a huge pan of bread pudding with praline sauce, which was one of my favorites.
We all pitched in to clear the table and clean up the mess as soon as the eating was done. “Carly, where did you put that box of pictures we were looking at the other day? The ones with Justine in them?” Momma reminded me on Lisa’s behalf.
“Oh, yes. I’ll get them.”
“I put the box in the armoire on the middle shelf in the dining room.” Nana had several armoires in this house. Some were in the bedrooms and called chifforobes because those had drawers in them. They were all antiques in keeping with the historic period of the house.
I headed into the dining room to retrieve the box.
I didn’t hear Tanner follow, but when I turned around with the old box in my hands, I nearly ran him over. “Oh, hi.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Hi. Thought youmight need some help.” Tanner had followed me from the kitchen to the dining room. I hoped he’d been discreet about it. The last thing I needed was Leah’s eagle eye noticing.
“Um, no, but I appreciate the thought.” I felt a little flustered at having him so close. In a silly, kind of crushy way.
“Here, let me help anyway.” He gently took the box from me, his hand brushing mine as he set it on the dining room table. This allowed him to be a little closer.
The dining room was enclosed, aside from the door, which was slightly ajar. This was a semi-private situation that could end at any moment, which made my heart pound faster.
He took my hands in his. “All I’ve been able to think about since I’ve been here is getting close to you again. Alone.”
We were standing close and kind of staring at each other. “Really?”Did I just say that?Ugh. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should. You really should.”
