I grin at his royal grumpiness. “Still can’t take a joke?”
“You’re sleeping with my girlfriend’s sister. You’re officially on my potential shit list.”
I give him back a taste of his own medicine with a glare. “You know what?Same.”
He grins back at me.
Fine. He can win this round.
“Heard Phoebe talked Floyd into renting her the church for a candy store,” I say.
“Yep.” He nods to a clump of tourists gathered at the fence blocking the construction zone. That’s different too. Summer’s nearly over, Estelle Lightly’s still gone, yet the visitors are sticking around. “Told him she’d cut him in on the profits, too, if he manages the maintenance and cleaning for her.”
“He take the deal?”
“Still thinking about it. Like Tavi’s still thinking about if she’ll let Phoebe sell Zero Ducks Chocolates in the candy store.”
“She has a lot of offers.”
“Phoebe’s not gonna screw her over. And it’d be good for Tickled Pink.”
“So you’re adjusting to life with outsiders?”
“Easier with Estelle gone.”
“Think she’ll come back?”
“Yep.”
“Damn.”
“Yep.”
Carter Lightly strolls up next to us. He nods to Teague, who nods back. Then he looks at me. “Heard you need an apprentice.”
“Yep. You know someone?”
He stares at me. Has Tavi’s eyes. Phoebe’s build. Unruly brown hair. And an air about him that I recognize entirely too well, even if it’s been a few years. “Me.”
I do a double take.
Tavi hasn’t talked about him much. Mostly just, “We’re not tight, and he left New York as soon as he could, too, so maybe there’s hope for him and he just doesn’t let us in.”
“Is your grandmother still keeping you here?” I ask him.
“Nope.”
“And you want to learn to be a plumber.”
“Yep.”
I glance at Teague.
He looks just as mystified as I feel.
But who am I to judge anyone?
“How about you ride along this afternoon, and we—”
