AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For some reason, the words gave Colleen a twinge. “Where is it?” she asked, sneaking a look at Lucas. He was kneeling on the roof, doing something at the base of the chimney.
“It’s on Ivy Lane. The Lowensteins’ place.”
“Oh, that house is very charming!” Mrs. Johnson exclaimed. “The roses, the hydrangeas, the little sunroom in the back!”
Colleen knew the house, a little fairy cottage made of stone. It did indeed have a beautiful garden, and a shady front yard. And a brook in the back. “Thanks, Carol. I’ll take a look.”
“That should do it, Jeanette,” Lucas said. “I’m done here.”
A chorus of boos and protests went up from Team Menopause. “You didn’t even take off your shirt,” Carol complained.
Lucas sighed. “It’s tough, being objectified like this,” he said.
“Boo-hoo-hoo,” Colleen called. “Just do it, Spaniard.”
He grinned, sighed, obeyed. Got a hearty round of applause. “Ten,” Mom called.
“Ten,” Carol and Mrs. J. echoed.
“Nine and a half,” Colleen said. Didn’t want him to get cocky.
“Jeanette, do you have a license for this?” Levi Cooper approached, shaking his head. “Ladies, I’m disappointed in all of you.”
“Take off your shirt, Levi,” Carol said. “Let’s see what you got.”
“Inappropriate, Carol,” he said, his eyes resting on Faith. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Love,” Jeanette sighed. “Mrs. Johnson, you’re so lucky to have a grandchild on the way.” She gave Colleen a pointed look, then turned her eyes to Lucas. “I wouldn’t object if you knocked up my daughter, Lucas.”
“Okay, everyone’s cut off,” Colleen said. “Levi, do a quick sobriety check, will you, buddy?”
Bryce approached her, pulling on his shirt. “Coll, got a minute?” he asked.
“Sure, bud.” They went a few yards away from the ladies (though not before Laura Boothby had tucked a ten into his pocket). “So, uh, the whole Paulie thing. I feel really bad about that.”
Colleen sighed. “Yeah. She likes you a lot.”
“I guess that’s why she adopted all those animals,” he said, frowning.
“Yep.”
He gave her a sad smile. “Not lot of people really like me.”
“What are you talking about? Everyone likes you.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. Just...you know. Not when they get to know me and find out I’m just...good-looking and stupid. No one ever gives me a second thought.”
“Bryce! You’re not stupid.”
“Oh, come on. Did you ever give me a second thought?”
He had a point.
“I got fired from the wedding dress place,” he said. “And the bride went back to her husband. Fiancé. Whatever. She wasn’t really that fun, turns out.”
“For what it’s worth, Bryce, Paulie really does like you. Not just because you’re beautiful. And she doesn’t think you’re stupid.”
“Well, she does now, I bet,” he said. “Anyway, I just wondered how she’s doing. I called her the other day and said I hoped we were still friends.”
