AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“At eighty-five. He lived a long life and seemed well-respected. His obituary was truly gracious.”
Anders nodded, almost as if agreeing with her. But he couldn’t know. Mr. Reed was long dead before either of them had been born.
“That is what my grandmother said. Did you see anything about his will?”
His will? What an odd thing to ask. Although public record, wills seemed personal to her in a way a death certificate did not. And many people died without a will, anyway. Even if she looked, all she might find was dust and some wasted time.
“No. I didn’t think to look. I can, if you want.”
Why had she offered? Perhaps it was her curiosity, perhaps it was her insatiable need to help, perhaps it was her undeniable attraction to this man.
“I would appreciate it. I am wondering if there is any family I might still contact. Perhaps they would want to know they have a distant relative in town.”
“I went to school with a Reed but haven’t heard anything about him in a long time. I can talk to my aunt. She remembered Mr. Reed, and there isn’t a soul in this town she can’t find.”
Anders’s face lit up like a fireworks show. “Perhaps I could speak to her sometime.”
Oh, Auntie Nay would absolutely love that. A conversation with the newest hottie in town, one who had dated her great-niece, and someone she hadn’t known for several presidencies. Fresh meat.
“Would you like to come over now?”
Had those words just come out of her mouth? She took some covert deep breaths to fight the flush threatening to migrate from her chest to her cheeks.
“Uh, are you sure I won’t keep her up?”
“No. Nadine has always been a night owl.”
“That is very kind of you. I don’t know what I would do without you, Meretta.”
Those weren’t the first time she heard those words. They were the first words out of Tyson’s mouth whenever she came crawling back. And she never truly believed them. If he cared so much, he never would have hit her in the first place. But between the gleam in Anders’s eyes, the sincere set of his mouth, and his relaxed, non-threatening posture, she believed him, one thousand percent. Crap.
7
THE YELLOW STICKY NOTE
Mere drove home slowly, and the lights of Anders’s old truck flared in her rearview mirror.
Was she really bringing a man home? Even if it was to introduce him to Aunt Nadine, this was a big step for her. There was something about this man that made her trust him. It had nothing to do with him being as hot as any A-list actor, nor with him being the stereotypical handsome stranger who rescued a damsel in distress. Nothing at all.
She pulled into the driveway, and Anders parked on the street. Mere waited on the steps. Only once she got to Nadine’s door did she notice her aunt’s half of the duplex was dark and silent. Usually, she watched old movies until the wee hours of the morning, the flickering lights informing anyone wandering by that Nadine was in.
“Everything okay?” Anders asked, hands in his pockets and head tilted to the side.
Mere glanced at her own door. With her anxiety from sort of, kind of inviting a man over, she hadn’t seen the yellow paper sticking there. She snatched it off the door.
Ramona rescued me from another night of Humphrey Bogart and insisted I come with her to the casino. Home tomorrow after lunch. Hope the date went well.
Ramona had chosen this night to take Nadine to the casino. Right. It was entirely conceivable her aunt had made the call and conveniently blamed it on her BFF. The wily old woman had cleared the way for a little extra privacy.
“Yes, but Nadine’s not here. She and a friend took off to the casino.”
“These things happen. Another time?”
His eyes glittered brightly in the dim porch light, his mouth tugged up into the barest smile, and a softness settled into the planes of his face. Mere leaned in, ready to apologize for wasting his trip, but her voice caught in her throat. For the first time in five years, she wanted to kiss someone. Not just someone, this man with kindness in his eyes and quiet strength in his body.
Slick fire flared between them. Anders reached out, but hesitated, his hand frozen halfway to her. Mere closed the distance, and his hand finished its journey, cupping her cheek as though her movement had unlocked something within him.
“I would very much like to kiss you, Meretta.” His thumb made circles on her cheek and sent tendrils of pure lust to her core.
