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Apparently, it didn’t matter if I was next door, at my brother’s, or in California. I’d still find my way to her.
Shit. We were near the front windows where anyone could see.
“Breakfast is getting cold.” I hoped that didn’t sound as false-cheerful to her as it did to me.
Her brows dipped. “Better not let it go to waste.”
Relief that if she saw through my apprehension she hadn’t pressed me on it coursed through me.
“Woman!” she called. “Time for breakfast.”
And then Sadie barked all over again at the B word.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Pepper
“Didyou know he lived next door?”
I flipped on my turn signal and slowed at the intersection.
Miss Adeline choked on her tea. “What? How would I have known?”
She’d been suspiciously quiet on the matter. And she’d left me to handle the news on my own with Teague. Normally, she’d insert herself.
“Just wondering.”
The dogs were quiet in the back of the van. I still felt guilty about having to do this. I didn’t want to shuffle them around or leave them in someone else’s care.
What other choice was there?
Miss Adeline patted my knee. “They’ll be fine.”
“I know.”
The closer we got to Daniel and Vivian’s, the slower I drove.
“When you’ve kept something from people, why’d you do it?”
I gripped the steering wheel. This woman and her insightful questions.
“It was none of their business.”
She snickered. “That’s a good reason for sure.”
“Or if I cared about them, I didn’t want them to get hurt.”
She sobered but might as well have shoutedding ding ding.
“Why would it hurt me to know where he lived?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I was connecting the right dots. Because that would mean Teague cared about me.
“I don’t know. But that boy’s instinct is to protect, so you’ll have to have a little faith in him.” She casually sipped her tea as if dropping truth bombs were no big deal.
“He’s been here. Even when he said he couldn’t be.”
Maybe I hadn’t been around enough people in my adult life. Miss Adeline might be crafty, but she always said what she meant.
I had more trouble expressing my opinions, to people I didn’t know that well, at least. So I understood not everyone was forthcoming.
