Page 106 of You Found Me
She slammed the door, stalked back to the living room, and started a fire.
The next day, they didn’t hold hands on the walk from the truck to Sevens. The second they crossed the threshold Ward headed to the corner booth without a word. He opened his laptop and buried himself in whatever it was he stared at all day.
She felt like the girl left standing alone at a high school dance, conspicuous and confused. She’d never been to one, but she imagined it felt exactly like this.
She watched him for a few seconds, torn between demanding he stop treating her like she had some sort of plague and dumping a glass of ice water on his head.
Picturing him cold and dripping wet cheered her up a little.
“Hey, Lucy.” Ralph greeted her with a little wave. “Delivery’s here. Can you go through the boxes and let me know if anything’s missing? There’s a list by the door.”
“Sure, Ralph.” She gave him what had to be a feeble smile because his eyebrows drooped in concern.
“Everything okay?” He glanced at his son, then back at her. “You two have a fight?”
“No. Everything’s fine.” She let out a rueful little laugh and used a partial truth to lie to his face. She was getting really good at that. “I ruined lunch, that’s all. I tried to bake chicken and failed miserably. I’m not a good cook.”
“Oh. That’s no big deal. I can teach you some basics. When it’s not busy, you come into the kitchen and I’ll show you how to make the juiciest chicken breasts right on the stovetop. It’s easy peasy.” He snapped his fingers, then gave her a wink.
“That would be great. I’ll take you up on that.” She straightened her shoulders. “I’ll get to unpacking.”
“It’ll be busy today, I bet. Be sure to get a bite before the rush hits.”
“I will.” She resisted the urge to give him a hug for the kind consideration.
She had such a soft spot for older men. They all reminded her of her daddy. If she didn’t get control of herself, she would wind up spilling her entire life to the man, which would be bad. Very bad.
Once he knew the truth, would Ralph still want to teach her how to cook?
Would she see any of these people again?
She was so used to people flitting in and out of her life that she didn’t usually give it much thought. She had her sisters and that was enough.
But…she’d miss this place and these people. She’d miss them a lot.
Feeling dejected, she went to unpack boxes.
The storeroom was down the hall past the bathrooms, behind the kitchen. Since they weren’t open yet, the place was so quiet she could hear the radio in the kitchen. A Shania Twain song she loved came on, and she found herself humming along under her breath.
Shania Twain always lifted her mood.
She wiggled her hips to the beat and danced the cans into place.
At the chorus, she raised one hand high into the air and sang along without thinking. “‘The best part about being a woman…’”
She tossed a can of beans onto the shelf, then grabbed another.
“Wow. You’re a really good singer,” a voice said from the doorway.
Startled, she squealed and spun around.
Mason carried a box into the room and set it down on top of a stack.
“You scared me.” Her heart pounded all the way up into her throat.
She’d been singing.
She wasn’t supposed to be singing.