Edna cackled. “Where’s the fun in that?”
I sighed. “Okay, here’s the deal—I promised Will we wouldn’t end up at the police station again, so I’m gonna need us to do something that won’t get us arrested.”
With a glance in my direction, Edna shook her head in disappointment. “You’re the oldest twenty-seven-year-old I’ve ever met, I swear.”
“You’re the youngest seventy-year-old I’ve ever met, so I guess we’re a good pair. And don’t think I don’t notice you drivin’ straight for Earl’s. Turn it around, Edna. Find us something else.”
She sniffed. “I suppose I could be persuaded to pause my revenge. For the right currency, of course.”
“What do you want this time, old woman?”
“You could tell me about lockin’ lips with our very own hometown hero yesterday.”
I gasped and snapped my gaze to Edna. “How’d you hear about that?”
A slow smile swept over Edna’s mouth. “You just told me. Guess this old woman got one past you, didn’t she?” She laughed, slapping her hand on the steering wheel.
“I hate you.”
Edna reached over and patted my knee. “We both know that’s not true. You love me. Now, how about you tell me about Hudson and his kissin’ skills? And don’t skimp on the details. I’d be happy to give the boy some pointers if he needs ’em.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t you think you’re a little old for him?”
“Not even a little bit, honey. Not even a little bit.”
The irony in my choosing to go with Edna toavoidthinking about Hudson was not lost on me. I wasn’t sure which was worse—being forced into it by my obnoxiously-in-love sister who only wanted the same for everyone around her, or by my always-in-heat senior BFF.
I didn’t need anything fanning the flames of lust I had for Hudson. And I certainly didn’t need to fall in love with him again, especially knowing the kind of love we had was once in alifetime. Heap ten years of want onto an already smoldering pile of desire, and yeah… I’d pass on that risk, thanks.
“Did you know he runs a circuit around Havenbrook every mornin’? If I time my route just right, I cross paths with him three times.” Edna shimmied her shoulders. “And if I’m real lucky, he’s shirtless for at least two of ’em.”
I slowly turned my head and stared at Edna, who just shrugged in response, completely unrepentant in her lust for a man forty years her junior. Though I certainly couldn’t blame her. Hudson was a damn fine specimen—there was no arguing that.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook the thoughts from my head. I absolutely did not need to have sex fantasies about Hudson and all the things he could do to me while I was trapped in a car with Edna.
“I did not know that,” I said, my voice tight. “Speakin’ of your route, spill the tea.”
If there was one thing Edna loved more than attractive men, it was gossip.
“It’s been a fruitful day already, can’t lie to you there. Let’s see… I heard Hudson’s single. No serious—or not-so-serious—girlfriends waitin’ in the wings. I also heard he’s been helpin’ out at The Sweet Spot with the demolition.” She shot me a grin. “Also shirtless.”
I blew out a frustrated breath and rolled my eyes. “All right, you perv. Did you hear anything that doesn’t have to do with Hudson or him bein’ half naked?”
“Well, sure, but those things aren’t as fun.” She grinned and shot me a wink. “’Course you know about Earl and Betty Jo.” Edna cut off, mumbling something about getting that squirrel into his house one way or another. “Timothy DeBoer was awful far from home this mornin’—and awful close to his ex-girlfriend’s place. Also saw your daddy leavin’ the clinic. Helooked fit as a fiddle, but have you talked to your momma lately? Things goin’ okay over there?”
I furrowed my brow. I’d just spoken to my momma yesterday, but she hadn’t mentioned anything about it. “Probably just a man cold. He turns into such a baby, I swear.”
Edna snorted. “Been like that his whole life, from what your gran tells me.”
The morning had, indeed, been fruitful, because Edna spent the next two hours filling me in on the comings and goings of the dear residents of Havenbrook while we delivered today’s mail.
“We about done?” I asked, glancing at the bin that held the mail yet to be delivered.
“Almost,” Edna said, snapping a mailbox closed. “Just have to head up to Havenbrook Lake.”
My stomach somersaulted at the mention of the lake where I’d spent so much of my childhood. Hudson’s family had a cabin on it, and we’d whiled away huge swaths of our summers there.
A barrage of memories overcame me—races down the dock to see who could jump the farthest into the lake. Paddleboarding. Lazing in the hammock. Early morning fishing trips. Hundreds of games of hide-and-seek and too many bets to count.
