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“I didn’t expect to be here,” she added. “I was just going to drive until I couldn’t anymore. See where the road took me.”
“Seems to me it took ya right where ya belong,” Gretta said, and when Vivian looked over, she met her soft gaze and felt the warmth of acceptance wash over her.
Was it true? Did she really fit in there?
“I can’t help feeling like an outsider. Everyone knows everyone here, and I’m just some city girl rolling through in a fancy car… I stick out like a sore thumb.”
The room filled with echoing silence as everyone absorbed her words, and then Nash said, “The car isn’t really all that fancy. Now my truck, on the other hand…”
“Really?” Gretta said. “The girl is being serious and you wanna talk cars? Typical man.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Maybe I should introduce you to Bubba,” she directed at Vivian. “He’s a real nice boy with some common sense—”
“Hey!” Nash complained.
“If the shoe fits,” Gretta singsonged.
Nash just scowled while Vivian smirked. When he looked up from his cake and caught her eyes already on him, the corners of his mouth curved up in amusement, too.
Vivian’s stomach danced nervously as she stared into those rich baby blues, recalling that kiss, as simple as it was, and how it’d made her feel.
Yes, he might be a moody jerk sometimes, and he might be a touch difficult to read other times, but there was definitely something special about Nash MacArthur. Something Vivian wanted to get closer to. Something she wanted to touch more of.
Hopefully, he’d let her.
SIXTEEN
Andrew hadn’t left town. In fact, he seemed to have settled in and made himself at home among the locals.
In the days that passed, there was constant talk about the rich man from the city, and the rumor mill was abuzz with all kinds of theories.
All of them pointing directly at Vivian.
It didn’t take a genius to link them together. They were the newbies, the only two people in the borough to drive in with an expensive car and clothes. They did, in fact, stick out like a sore thumb. And now Vivian was once again tied to the man she wanted nothing more to do with, whether she liked it or not.
She was trying her best to avoid him, knowing Andrew was slithering around town like the snake he was, which meant she wasn’t leaving the house. She’d spent the last several days since he’d arrived so unexpectedly on Gretta’s doorstep cleaning the house from top to bottom and learning everything she could about the art of cooking.
But today, Gretta was putting an end to it.
“You need to get out of the house. You can’t hide forever,” she told her as she grabbed the cleaning rag from her hands and hid it behind her back. As if Vivian was going to fight an elderly woman? She shook her head as she looked up at her from the floor she’d been polishing.
“I’m not hiding,” Vivian attempted to lie, but Gretta gave her a withering look that told her she was full of it.
“Yes, you are, and I’m putting an end to it. Besides, I need cherries for dessert tonight. And bourbon because…well, just because. I don’t need to explain myself,” she said with an air of superiority and a dismissive wave then shoved a piece of paper at her that had ‘Shopping List’ printed at the top in her trembling scrawl. Likely the only thing besides her appearance that revealed Gretta’s advanced age.
“You do realize that I’m an adult and can make my own decisions?”
“Yes, I do, but while you’re under my roof, I’ll kick you out whenever I please. Consider this your eviction notice for the next hour. At least,” Gretta told her.
Vivian’s expression soured, not liking the command and even less the prospect of going outdoors where she might cross paths with her ex. She couldn’t think of anything that could ruin a good mood faster than seeing his smug mug. But she didn’t see where she had much choice in the matter. Gretta was right: it was her home, and Vivian had to leave when she said so. Fulfilling her shopping list was a courtesy and a small favor to ask in exchange for room and board.
She only wished that Nash was around to go along—
The front screen door squealed open and slapped closed. Vivian peeked her head around the corner and, speak of the devil… A bright smile spread across her face, and when Nash spotted her, he immediately knew something was up.
“What?” he asked, hesitating in the breezeway that cut between the main-floor rooms.
Vivian made a slow approach, holding the note in the air. “Gretta needs some things from town. Think you can give me a ride?”
A confused frown marred his features. “What’s wrong with your car?”
