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“You’re such a bully,” James muttered.
Lainie tried to hide her smile, but James caught it. She lifted her chin. “I agree with Cole.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
She sobered. “I’m glad Stephanie knows you’re home. If I had to keep that a secret from her...”
“I know.”
“It’s going to be bad enough that you were here and I didn’t tell her.”
“She understands why you couldn’t.”
“True, but you and I both know she’s not going to let me off without some ribbing.”
He chuckled. “You can take it.”
“Guess we’ll find out. Now go,” she said, pointing to the door. “I’ll be fine. I’m going to fix some lunch and head to the humane society.”
James blinked. “The what?”
“The place that takes in stray animals?”
A snicker from Cole earned him a glare from James, who flipped it into a questioning look for Lainie. “You getting a dog or something?”
“I wish, but no. I volunteer there once or twice a month. It’s very therapeutic. You should try it sometime.”
Cole cleared his throat. “After he heals?”
“Absolutely.”
“I love how y’all are planning out my life here,” James said. “I can take a hint.” He headed for the door.
“James?” Lainie’s soft voice turned him and Cole at the same time.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
His heart turned to mush at her sincere gratitude and he nodded. “You’re welcome. Call me if you need anything, promise?”
She hesitated, then tilted her head sideways. “Yes. I will. I promise.”
And now he felt like he could leave.
Seven
Once the guys were gone, Lainie paced, trying to wrap her mind around everything. Including the receipt. Someone was going to an awful lot of trouble—
Her phone rang and she activated her Bluetooth. “Hello?”
“Hey, girl, this is Annie at the body shop. Got some news for you.” Annabelle Franklin and Lainie had grown up together in the same church and hung out some as teens. Then Annie had gone to work at her grandfather’s body shop while Lainie went off to college.
“My car’s ready?”
“I wish. Seems like every car in Lake City landed in our shop last week. And yours is at the end of the list.”
“Well, I’m assuming this call is to let me know you’ve at least looked at it?”
