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“Well, I can’t say I’m an expert,” she said, “but I did help a bit last year with it. Do either of you have pen and paper?”
“Yes.” The men led her over to a nearby table.
As they did, Meg noticed Chet talking to Rachel. Her heart began to pound harder in her chest. Were they friends? Were they dating? She tamped down the ripple of jealousy that ran through her. What was going on? She and Chet weren’t in a relationship. There was nothing to be jealous about. Her brain told her as much, but her heart didn’t get the message.
“Here you go. Hannah made sure we had a legal pad and pens.”
Meg turned her attention away from Chet and Rachel and focused on Tyler and Morgan. “Right. Thank you.”
The three of them got to work on a design, Meg grateful for the distraction, yet painfully aware of the feelings, the loss of control that swirled inside her. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit.
*
Chet had beenaware of Meg since she’d arrived at the park. He’d noticed her watching him move lumber. Now she leaned over a table with Tyler and Morgan writing out what he guessed was a design for a hay maze. They hadn’t made eye contact, but he sensed she was just as aware of him as he was of her.
Rachel had approached him to say something, but then had to answer a question from one of the volunteers.
“Sorry about that.” She turned to him again. “There are a lot of moving parts to getting something like this up and running.”
Chet smiled, his attention now back on Rachel. “It’s a good thing so many people in town get excited about it because it takes that many hands to make it happen.”
“I love it. The sense of community here is just wonderful.”
“So, what’s up?”
Rachel put her hands in her coat pockets and looked up at him. “I wanted to ask how the Miles for Mental Health Run was going for you?”
“Pretty great, actually. We’ve only done two days, but that’s fourteen miles already.”
“Are you serious? I don’t think I could run that many in a month let alone two days.” Rachel laughed.
Chet shrugged. “Both Meg and I already run regularly and being competitive…”
“You’ve egged each other into as many miles a day as possible.”
“Something like that.” Chet smiled. “Thanks for pulling strings so I could get the running buddy I have.”
Rachel looked at the ground then back up at him. “About that.”
Chet didn’t like the look on her face. “I’m sorry, Rach. Did I get you in trouble for asking you to do that for me?”
She shook her head. “No, no. It’s nothing like that.” She glanced Meg’s way then back to him. “It’s more that, well. I think you are one of the nicest guys on the planet.”
“Well, thanks.” He tried to read her face and couldn’t find a single clue as to where the conversation was going.
“Let’s just say, I know a bit more about Meg now, and while I would never betray a confidence, I will say this: Tread carefully.”
He wasn’t following. He would never do anything to hurt Meg.
“I know you wouldn’t hurt Meg.”
He smiled at her uncanny ability to read minds.
“But in this world, I believe there are broken hearts and then there are shattered hearts. The shattered ones are tougher to piece back together.”
As much as he wanted to ask the laundry list of questions that popped into his mind, he knew better than to try with Rachel. She was a vault. Whatever anyone shared with her, stayed with her.
“I understand.”
