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Shaking my head, I twist and place another drop of the sweet scent on my wrist, then gently brush back Trudy's shoulder-length hair and dab each side of her neck. "There, now we both smell like flowers tonight."
Trudy squeezes my hand. "What would I do without you, Brooke-bru?"
I slide into a pair of flats. "You never have to worry about that, so don't bother even thinking about it."
She purses her lips. "What if Drake sweeps you off your feet and asks you to marry him again?"
I can't control my burst of laughter. "I'm pretty sure he's going to tell me goodbye tonight. He wasn't planning on staying in Frost Forest anyway. And later this week, he's hosting a drafting event at Owen's new fire station. I think Drake's finding Owen firefighters for the new station outside of Golden Meadow and replacements for his security crew. So his time here is coming to an end."
I hate how my chest tightens over the thought that we'll drift out of one another's lives and fade to memories again. But it has been exciting, to say the very least. If I were being honest with myself, I haven't been able to stop thinking about Mack since the moment Owen introduced us at his lodge party. Like a girl with a summer crush, I always keep one eye on the horizon, wishing he'd appear.
"I call bullshit."
I blink several times as Trudy taps her rubber-bottomed, slippered foot. "Colby spilled the beans before she left and told me how the two of you looked at one another the morning after the fire. She said a tornado could have ripped through the field, and you two wouldn't have even noticed."
I roll my eyes and slip my arms through my favorite white-knit sweater. "That's a bit dramatic, don't you think?"
"Nope, because this has been you for the last few days." She starts speaking in a nasal tone. "'Mack saved the day.’ ‘Mack made the whole development safer.’ ‘Mack has the greenest eyes I've ever seen.’ ‘Mack this, Mack that.’"
"Oh please."
"'Aunt Trudy, I can't keep my eyes off the big bulge in Mack's jeans.’"
The doorbell rings, and we both yelp, startled. The door clicks open, and Mack's deep voice rolls down the hallway like thunder. "Everything okay, Brooke?"
Trudy slaps a hand over her mouth to bury her giggle.
"Yeah! Everything's fine! Be there in a moment."
As I follow Aunt Trudy down the hall, my heart stops when I see a freshly showered and shaved Mack holding a bouquet of wildflowers wrapped in ribbon.
Aunt Trudy's eyes snap up to mine. "Oh, my God, he brought wildflowers," she whispers.
A ghost of a smile appears in the corner of Mack's lips. He nods to us as we walk into the living room. "Ladies."
Happiness shines through my eyes like a faucet on full blast, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. Mack's transformation into a gentleman leaves me speechless.
He looks good enough to eat, too. The deep bass of his voice inside Aunt Trudy's tiny wooden box of a living room reverberates against my skin like a caress. "Mack, welcome. It's been a while, but allow me to reintroduce you to my Aunt Trudy. She lived across the country much of the time we dated."
His smile is every inch charming. Mack takes Trudy's hand and presses an innocent kiss to the paper-thin skin on the back. I can almost hear the groan of her oxygen tank, trying to keep up with her accelerated need for air.
"Trudy, so nice to see you again. I seem to recall you liking wildflowers." He extends the pretty bouquet in her direction. She gasps, and her eyes shine with approval.
"Mack! You know your way straight to a woman's heart, don't you?"
A chuckle rumbles through his chest, and his eyes lift to mine for a brief moment. Oh, he's good. He just won over Trudy; he's one held door away from sainthood in her eyes.
"Sorry for rushing in, but I thought I heard a scream."
Aunt Trudy flaps a dismissive hand in the air. "Brooke doesn't mind. She finds the natural protector in you very attractive. She's been talking about it ever since she came home from the party."
Merciful heavens. "Okay, Aunt Trudy. I'm sorry but we have to get going."
She giggles, her eyes bright with mischief. "See, Mack, Brooke has been looking so forward to this dinner date that she can't wait another minute for it to start. So you two have fun tonight."
Once in Mack's passenger seat, I turn to explain. "Aunt Trudy is—" My words falter.
Mack reaches over and puts his hand on mine. "She's adorable, Brooke. I can see how you two are related."
