Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Rise to the challenge, Nash.”
“Will do.” He nods and peruses the store. “Audrey’s sure in a mood.”
“The news about you moving next door made my grandma go on a bender.”
“Heard she was at the bar doing shots with Rose late last night.” He smiles. “Don’t assume it was all about me moving in next door. Or not exactly in the way you’re thinking.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t reveal more,” he says, giving me side eye. “It’s not something she’d appreciate me talking about. And then there’s my healthy ongoing fear of the stick to consider.”
“I’m not convinced you’re as afraid of the stick as you make yourself out to be. And you can’t just allude to secrets and then not tell me what’s going on.”
“Are you going to threaten me again?” he asks. “Violent tendencies sure run in your family.”
“Please tell me.”
“No can do, my sunshine. You said something about a salad….” He makes straight for his new knitting friend Wade, who maybe knows how to make such a thing. Nash’s rear is still sadly perfection. The new blue jeans display it just right as he walks away. Getting to watch such things up close and personal is both an honor and a privilege for my humble hormones.
I can’t believe he’s keeping secrets from me about my own family. How rude. This is absolutely something I’m going to harass him about later. I wonder if the secret has to do with the man Grandma mentioned. The one she thought might turn into something serious. It’s worth some thought.
In the meantime, I head for the meat section to pick out some steak. Warm summer nights demand outdoor cooking. And it’s while I’m perusing the goods that I make a new friend. Sort of.
“You must be June,” says a pretty and petite young woman with white skin and a blonde ponytail. She looks to be in her early twenties and is wearing a cool tee with craft hard written on it. “My name’s Amy. I work at Yarn and Co. and I know your grandmother.”
“Hi.” I smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“Audrey was the model for a life studies art class I went to last year. Of course, everyone knows everyone around here. It’s so nice that you’re visiting.”
I pause. “Grandma posed nude?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. She never mentioned that. How cool.”
“I wish I had half her confidence,” says Amy.
“You and me both.”
Her smile seems twitchy. Like she’s nervous about something. “Nash happened to stop by the knitting circle today, and wow. He’s just so much fun.”
“Yes, he is.”
“And we loved having him there. He had some of the older participants blushing so bright. The man is very good-looking.”
“I’m sure he will attend again sometime soon. He said he thoroughly enjoyed it.” I mean, he said he thoroughly enjoyed the baked goods, which is close enough.
Then Amy takes a breath and says, “The thing is…he and I really hit it off.”
And I don’t know what to say.
“I heard about your good news,” she continues. “When are you due?”
“Oh, that’s a while off still.”
She nods and just sort of stares at me. Her mouth opens and closes with no words coming out. This is so fucking weird.
“Was there something else?” I ask with a polite smile.
“Meeting new people in a small town is hard.”
“I can imagine.”
“What with all of the rumors around town, I was wondering about something.” She pauses again. “Are you two together just for the purposes of parenting or…you know. I don’t want to step on any toes. But some people in the bar last night seemed to think you were done with him while others thought you were giving him another chance.”
My eyes feel as wide as dinner plates. “Huh.”
“You guys are the tea.”
“So, it seems,” I say. “Nash really made an impact on you, huh?”
And her smile is so strained. As it should be. Because what the fuck even is this?
“I think Nash is probably the best person to answer these questions,” I say.
The woman stops and blinks.
“It was nice to meet you,” I say, which is such a lie. Standing in any other section of the grocery store would be a good thing. I don’t wait to hear anything further from her. She’s attracted to my fake boyfriend, and fair enough. He’s hot and funny and all the things. The woman has great taste.
“You didn’t get any meat?” he asks from behind a shopping cart. Guess he decided a basket was insufficient.
“We’re going vegetarian for the good of the climate.”
“Okay,” he says, inspecting the contents of the shopping basket in his hand. “There’s lettuce, cucumber, and tomato for the salad. And some mushrooms and corn and potatoes to go on the grill. Do you think there’s any chance Audrey would let me—”
“Were you flirting with Amy from knitting circle?”
“Was I doing what where?”