AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You lucked out this time. The good news is that it was just the alternator. I found you a used one, so with the tow, it should set you back by about five hundred.”
“Okay, that sounds good.” That meant I would have a few hundred left to put toward my rent.
“The bad news is that I can’t get the part today. Your car won’t be done until tomorrow afternoon.”
I shoved the wet sheets into the dryer, trying not to sound out of breath. “That’s fine. Myra said I can keep using her car for now.”
“Okay then. I’ll call you when it’s done.”
“Thanks.” I hung up and was about to set my phone on the table behind me when it started ringing again. This time it was Claire.
“So? Which one of us has a date with Collin tonight?” she asked.
“I’m going to see him after I finish helping Myra at the inn. She’s renting out the bedrooms in the main house.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.”
“But they haven’t been touched for years so I’m cleaning them out.”
“I’ll come help.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. I want to.”
“Thanks. Just let yourself in the back door and come on up.”
I’d finished with two of the rooms and had started in on the third when Claire showed up. “What’s left?” she asked.
“This bedroom, both bathrooms. The end bathroom is the one Myra uses, but I’m sure she’ll share it.” I paused and looked down the hall. “And my room.”
Claire put her hand on my arm. “I’ll take care of yours.”
My anxiety settled. “Thanks.”
She held up a handful of flowers. “I stopped by the florist and got some fresh flowers to set in the rooms. I figured it might make up for them having to share the bathrooms. If they’re women, anyway.”
“Good idea.” I was so lucky to have her as a friend. “But I’m still not taking your cousin as my date to your wedding. I’m wearing the pumpkin dress. Don’t push it.”
She smacked my arm as she backed up. “Why not? He’s always had a thing for you. He doesn’t wear braces anymore and he outgrew his acne.”
I snorted. “I should hope so. We’re twenty-three, so he has to be at least twenty-six by now.”
She walked down the hall, heading backward, toward my room. “Don’t ever accuse me of not trying to help you find a boyfriend.”
“As if.” I forced a laugh. “You’re trying to set me up with a guy every other week.”
Stopping in my bedroom doorway, she held onto the doorjamb and turned serious. “I just want you to have what Drew and I have.”
“I know.” I wanted that too, or to be more exact, I wanted what Daddy and Momma had shared—fireworks and magic. I’d gotten that with Collin…for a while. Would it be possible for me to love someone else when my soul was tied to his? I faced the very real possibility of spending the rest of my life alone, never experiencing great love.
But then again, I might not live long enough for it to matter much.
When I finished with the bedroom I was working on, I stood in the doorway to my room, watching Claire put on fresh sheets. “I found these in the linen closet.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
She tucked the fitted sheet around the top corner of the mattress. “When did you stop coming in here? You grew up in this room. What happened?”
