“Does any of that food sound good to you right now? Besides quesadillas?”
She shook her head. “Point taken.”
I pulled into a parking stall at Food Lion. “How about this? You pay your utilities and I’ll buy all the food while I’m here.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “I think I’m getting the better end of the deal.”
“You’re not charging me rent or anything. I’m definitely getting the better end.” She rolled her eyes. I offered her a handshake. “So we have a deal?”
“Fine. Deal.” She slid her hand up against mine and squeezed. I tried to ignore how someone touching my hand could put butterflies in my stomach. She was the only woman who had that effect on me.
“Stay.” I pointed at her, my expression stern. “I’ll be right back.” I returned thirty seconds later with a shopping cart that had a seat for two small children. I pulled her door open. “Your chariot awaits, m’lady.”
She laughed. “You cannot be serious.”
I tipped the invisible hat on my head. “Never been more serious in my life.”
thirteen
CLEMENTINE
Two weeks later, while Anna was watching a show and Silas was on his nightly FaceTime marathon with Christy, I drove to Momma’s on the side-by-side to return Buford for the evening. I sunk into her couch and closed my eyes. Daddy said that couch was a trap. You sit on it for two minutes and you’ll wake up two hours later.
“How are things at your house?” Momma asked, sipping her sleepy time tea.
I peeked an eye open. “Fine.”
She set the mug down on the saucer. She was old-fashioned like that. Still used her wedding china for every meal. “Fine? All I’ve got to entertain me is a basset hound and a cranky cat. You’ve got an attractive cowboy living in your house and a brand new daughter. Spill some tea.”
I sat up and crisscrossed my legs. “It’s fine. Wish Silas wasn’t in his room on the phone all the time, but when he is available, he’s…”
“He’s what?”
The last thing I needed was Momma reading more intothis than there actually was. I shrugged. “Silas is…nothing like Billy. That’s for sure.”
“Meaning?”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “He’s different than he used to be.”
She smiled. “Happens to the best of us.”
I shook my head. “Not like that. He’s confident now. Comfortable in his own skin. Not like when we were younger.” All the words Peyton had used to describe him rolled through my mind.Adonis. Delicious. Hottie. Strong, silent type. Husky. A ten.Ever since Peyton opened her big mouth, I hadn’t been able to look at him the same way. Not only that, I was struggling to reconcile this new Silas with the boy I’d grown up with. And I found myself watching him constantly when he wasn’t paying attention. When he unloaded the dishwasher. When he came out of his room, freshly showered. When he sat at the kitchen table helping Anna with Algebra. That one especially. Just like the old Van Halen song, I was hot for teacher. I giggled at the euphemism. But yeah, things that would’ve been ordinary a few weeks before suddenly seemed significant, exciting, or dead sexy.
“Ahhh.” She laughed. “I see.”
My face flamed. “No, it’s not like that.”
She peered at me over her glasses. “I’m pretty sure it’s exactly like that.”
“It doesn’t matter, anyway. I’m not divorced yet, and he’s got a girlfriend.”
“True. True. But a summer can change a lot of things.”
“Even so, I’m not ready for a relationship. I’m still getting over Billy.”
She took her glasses off and laid them in her lap. “Sweetie, you got over Billy a long time ago. You just didn’t know it.”
I cocked my head. “What do you mean?”
