Griff heaved off the stool and began the laborious process of cleaning his workshop. Only when the last scrap of dust was eradicated did he walk back outside and lock up. Returning to an empty house wasn’t an enticing prospect, although before Lyndsey, he used to relish the solitude as a welcome contrast to his old frenetic life. He put one foot mechanically in front of the other and trudged across the grass, stopping halfway to glance across the boundary separating him from Deke’s house. The magnolia trees and hydrangea bushes between their two properties might as well be the Great Wall of China. He exhaled a weary sigh and kept going. Inside the house, he avoided turning on the lights because it emphasized the emptiness of the space.
His suit would need to go to the dry cleaners, but he threw the rest of his clothes in the machine to wash in the morning. After a long hot shower, Griff flopped on top of the bed, because he couldn’t face getting under the covers. This morning he’d changed the sheets in hopeful anticipation of Lyndsey joining him; now, smelling their fresh air-dried scent would rub in her absence.
At six o’clock he was still staring sleeplessly at the ceiling when his phone buzzed with an incoming text. Griff glanced at the screen, shooting up in the bed when it showed the last name he’d expected to see. His finger hovered over the message. Reading it would doubtless open a can of worms he’d prefer the birds enjoyed. A swipe the other way would send it into oblivion.
Chapter Sixteen
Lyndsey glanced nervously over the table to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, and tugged one corner of her grandmother’s white lace tablecloth to straighten it. She’d discovered the delicate cloth when she helped Becca unpack one of many boxes she’d brought with her from London. Their mother gave it to her, along with Granny Amy’s serviceable brown teapot, a delicate rose-sprigged tea set, and the silver cutlery Lyndsey remembered her grandmother lovingly polishing every week. The arrangement of pink rosebuds and sprigs of dark greenery in the center of the gleaming mahogany table came from Harold’s garden. Her initial plan for a simple get-together to ease Ruth Mae Grey into being on speaking terms with all her neighbors had snowballed into this fancy Sunday afternoon tea.
‘It’s perfect, Li-Li.’ Becca breezed in, slim and elegant in a sleeveless pale-pink dress. ‘Stop fussing and get changed. I’ll set out all the food. We’ve got enough for an army here already, and that’s before William arrives with home-made scones. I’m sure Tiffany won’t come empty-handed either.’
Lyndsey suppressed a smile at hearing her sister mention her neighbors so casually. Now that Becca often joined her and Nora on their walks, she’d got to know everyone — except for Miss Grey. It’d seemed best not to push that yet, because Grey House was still a sore topic for the old lady. Lyndsey wasn’t convinced Ruth Mae wouldn’t change her mind about coming at the last minute.
‘Do you really think sending Theo to walk Miss Grey over is going to be a good idea?’ she asked Becca.
‘Yes, it won’t be a problem. She let him cut her grass this week, didn’t she?’
‘Well, yes but—’
‘And gave him a cold drink and thanked him. That’s progress.’
‘It’s a pityallthe neighbors won’t be here.’
‘If this afternoon goes well, we’ll do it again when Deke’s back.’ She pretended to misunderstand her sister.
‘Don’t be an ostrich.’ Becca wagged her finger in Lyndsey’s face. ‘We both know who I’m talking about. I really thought you’d have come to your senses before now. I can’t believe you’ve lasted a whole week. That’s about five days more than I expected even your steely determination to manage.’
Dignifying that with a response would only encourage her. Lyndsey didn’t need reminding of the precise length of time since she broke up with Griff.
You didn’t break up with him. He caught on to your intention and stormed out on you.
‘Have you seen Griff at all? Because I haven’t.’ Becca persisted. ‘Theo asked where he was yesterday and seemed disappointed when I didn’t have a proper answer. They were starting to get on well, and I don’t want things to . . .’
She understood what her sister meant. Deke was making an effort to check in with the boy every day. Lyndsey had tapped into her nephew’s interest in video gaming and coding and discovered a day camp where he could learn more about both. That would start on Monday in Nashville, and lasted for two weeks. Despite all of those things, the truce was built on shaky ground.
‘I’ve no idea if Griff’s around or not.’ She refused to admit that every time she stepped outside she listened for the loud rattle of his old truck and peered through the trees into his garden. ‘Leave it be, Becca,’ she begged.
Her sister mimicked zipping her mouth shut.
‘Could you chivvy Theo out of the house while I change? If he’s late it’ll annoy Miss Grey.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Becca mockingly saluted her.
Upstairs, Lyndsey left her sister tapping on Theo’s door while she retreated to her bedroom.
The black-and-white check skirt and white blouse she’d ironed earlier hung on the wardrobe door.
She let out a sigh, remembering her reluctant admission to Griff that as a young girl she’d had the sad idea that playing down her Caribbean side would make people like her better.
Perhaps she’d go shopping again this week. Wearing the coral dress she’d ripped off after her would-be date with Griff wasn’t an option, so she gotdressed unenthusiastically. Although her hair was still comparatively short, its natural curls and kinks had started to emerge, and Lyndsey was determined to embrace them. A spritz of special oil she’d bought in a local beauty shop and quick tease with a wide-toothed comb and she was done.
A bell jangled in the distance, so she hurried back downstairs, barely beating her nervous-looking sister to the door. Theo hovered at the old lady’s elbow, clearly unsure what he was supposed to do next.
Lyndsey said, ‘Miss Grey. It’s lovely to see you. Come in.’
For a second, Ruth Mae’s face froze. Lyndsey couldn’t imagine how hard this was for her, arriving as a guest at the house she’d grown up in and loved to the very foundations. Perhaps this wasn’t one of her better ideas.
Miss Grey fixed her beady gaze on Becca. ‘Well, girl, are you goin’ to stand there gawping like a fish out of water, or invite me in?’
