“Who’s Ed?” Jenna Kingsley’s tone was laced with suspicion, but beyond that, Cody couldn’t read more.Just like last night.
“Local notorious moose.” He leaned over the railing, as if this vantage point might suddenly bring Ed into view. He felt unsettled again that he couldn’t get a good sense of Jenna. He’d traveled all over the world and met people from different cultures in every walk of life. He could read people who didn’t speak a common language.But not Jenna.
“Grandpa said this town was small. Didn’t realize that meant people named the wildlife too.” She lifted one corner of her mouth slightly, reminding him of the resilient smile she’d briefly flashed him the night before at his parents’ anniversary celebration. It was the striking kind of smile that left an impression, and he yearned to see it again.
“Just Ed. He’s . . . special.” Cody searched the acreage one last time, but there was no sign of the quirky moose. He almost mentioned how the town considered Ed a self-appointed matchmaker, but considering the letter, he didn’t want Jenna to read into a comment like that. Eddie was asking him a favor as a friend, nothing more.
“You read the letter.” Jenna adjusted her folded arms, her expression turning blank. If Cody could see her eyes, he might be able to get a half-decent read on her since her even tone revealed very little. He couldn’t decide if she was impatient to hear what it said or annoyed that it took him so long to read it. Probably both.
“Yes, just now.”
“Finally.” She let out a soft sigh. “We have to stop by to tell the lawyer, and I can get—”
“Lawyer?” Cody interrupted.
Jenna removed her sunglasses, allowing them to dangle in her fingers as she studied him intently. As if debating how well she could trust him. He hadn’t even had a chance to skim the list Eddie left, but he strongly suspected Jenna wouldn’t be interested in completing it with him anyway. He didn’t need special people-reading skills to discern that about her. “How did you know my grandpa, exactly?”
The second page of the letter itched in his palm. If he had two more minutes before Jenna arrived, he might have some idea what he was getting himself into. Now they’d have to find out together. “I crossed paths with him on a couple movie sets.”
“You don’t look like any actor I know.”
“Never said I was an actor.”
He hoped for a twinkle of curiosity to dance in her dark eyes, but she didn’t seem amused by his answer in the slightest. Eddie’s comment about his granddaughter’s tough exterior echoed. He understood why his friend thought Cody was the man for the job, but he already felt in over his head.
“You don’t look like a screenwriting student.” Jenna’s assessing gaze made him feel both intrigued and vulnerable. Even more so when she slipped her sunglasses back over her eyes. “No, you like an adrenaline rush, don’t you? You have to be a stuntman.”
Shocked, Cody tripped on any response he attempted. People often guessed he was a beach bum or a traveler who lived out of a van. No one ever got close to the truth, and Jenna’d done it in minutes. Practically seconds.Maybe Eddie told her about me.“How did—” A series of barks sounded, interrupting them. “Your dog?”
“Graham. He’s in the truck.” Lifting her sunglasses from her eyes to her forehead, she shuffled back a couple of steps until she had a clear view of a large caramel-colored shepherd dog poking his head out the truck’s half-cracked window. Eye contact seemed to calm Graham from the driveway, as he silenced instantly.
“Are you a dog whisperer?” Cody asked, only half joking.
“Look,” Jenna said, setting her sunglasses on top of her head and pinning him with a serious look. “I need you to follow me to the lawyer’s office so you can legally verify that I’ve delivered the letter to youandthat you’ve read it. It was a stipulation in my grandpa’s will. Please, will you do that?”
Cody suspected there was something she was leaving out, but with the unread list still gripped in his hand, he decided to circle back to that mystery later. “Don’t you want to know what’s in the letter?”
“I figured it was personal.”
“You’re not curious?”
“Sure I am.” Her head dropped slightly, pointed at the folded papers still clenched in his grip. She reached out a hand. “Let me read it.”
“No.”
“See? Personal.” Jenna let out an annoyed sigh as she stuffed both hands into the front pockets of her jeans. “Where’s your vehicle?”
Cody nodded toward the blue kayak pulled onto the shore.
“Why am I not surprised?” she muttered. “Go grab it. You can put it in the back of my truck.”
Folding the letter and its unskimmed to-do list, Cody stuffed it in his pocket. “It’s Sunday. Mr. Jenkins isn’t open today.”
“Actually, he is. I called ahead in case I ran into you.”
With a nod of understanding, Cody headed toward the kayak. If Ed hadn’t appeared when he did, Cody would be halfway back to Sunset Ridge by now. Only a few minutes late for family breakfast instead of an hour. But without cell service, he couldn’t let Mom know either way.
She wouldn’t be the only one cranky about the late start today. Marc had taken the day off from the vet clinic. No doubt his older brother would have some choice words for him later. Dad, on the other hand, would just passive aggressively eat most of the leftovers. But at least Haylee, his youngest sister, would save him a raspberry crêpe.
