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It was as though his thoughts of Jo had conjured up her presence. He made his way around the many boxes. It was a bit of a maze to get to the door. When he opened the door, Jo stood there holding a pizza box.
The aroma of tomato sauce and pepperoni made its way to him. As he breathed it in, his stomach rumbled. He realized he hadn’t eaten since that morning.
She held the box out to him. “Sorry I’m late. I hope you didn’t eat yet.”
He took the food. “I’ve been so busy that I forgot.”
“I didn’t know what you like so I got half vegetarian and half pepperoni and sausage.”
“They both sound good to me.” He made his way to the dining room and had to hand the pizza back to her while he cleared off a spot for them to eat.
She glanced around. “You’ve been really busy.”
“I’ve been trying. It seems like every time I turn around, there’s more stuff to sort through.” He moved to the kitchen to grab a couple of plates and paper towels to use as napkins.
“Sandra was a bit of a packrat. She did the same thing with the inn. At one point, we were running out of storage space, and I had to force her to part with old linens and decorations.”
“I’m slowly making my way through it all. I have the spare room cleaned out as well as her bedroom.”
“Don’t forget the attic.”
He rolled his eyes. “There’s an attic?”
Jo nodded as she placed a slice of pizza on his plate. “Look in the ceiling of the spare bedroom closet.”
“Do I even want to know how you know about the attic?”
“Because I’ve helped her put things up there. As she got older, it got to be too much for her to climb the ladder. And I didn’t mind helping her.”
“It was nice of you, but now I’m worried about what I’ll find up there.”
“I won’t lie. It’s a lot.”
Oh well, he wasn’t going to worry about it now. He’d deal with it later. Right now, he was going to enjoy the company.
He reached for another slice of the thin crust pizza with its tangy sauce. “The pizza is good. Where’d you get it?”
“The Pizza Pie Shoppe on the other side of town. They’re the best on the island.”
“I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”
She smiled at him, making his heart beat faster. As he took in her happiness, it felt as though the sun had come out, warming him from the inside out.
“Stick with me,” she said. “I’ll have you eating at all of the restaurants on the island, and there are quite a few of them.”
“Sounds like a challenge I can’t resist.” Much like the woman who’d said it—she was becoming irresistible.
After they finished eating, Lane placed the leftovers in the fridge. When he turned around, he found Jo looking at the mess of items he’d pulled out to pack up and ship off.
“Do you see anything you want?” he asked.
“I see a lot of family heirlooms. Are you sure you want to get rid of them? Maybe someday you’ll have a family and want to hand them down to your children.”
He shook his head. “It’s not going to happen.”
“Which part? Getting married? Or having kids?”
“Both. I’m good with life just the way it is.”
