“He wrote you back?!” Sadie asked on their daily phone call. “I mean, you know he is aheright?”
“Who’s a he?” Dakota asked somewhere in the background. “Who wrote back?”
Ginny took a bite of a tea loaf, lowering her voice in Good Start so she wouldn’t be overheard. Mrs. Woodhouse and her husband sat a few tables over and were always up for whatever gossip they could come by for entertainment purposes. “He is a he. And we’ve exchanged a couple of notes now. I don’t know what came over me. I just kind of lost my mind for a second…”
“I know what came over you. And his middle name isClueless Dummy Boy,” Sadie said, all sass and attitude. Goodness, Ginny missed her already.
Ginny cleared her throat. “Clueless Man,Sadie. Ryan is a man.” Unfortunately, a gorgeous, clueless man she could never seem to get out of her head. “And I’m pretty sure his middle name is Andrew.”
“He’s dense as all get out,” her friend huffed.
She and Sadie had spoken the day after the wedding, much to Dakota’s chagrin, when Ginny had recounted her short-livednon-romance with Liam Holder and then her frustration with Ryan. Now, two weeks later, Ginny and Sadie had dissected every one of her mystery penpal’s notes, and Sadie had jumped at the idea of Ginny finding interest, albeit innocent and completely friendly, in Melody Man.
Sadie—and oddly enough, Sadie’s mama—were the only people Ginny had ever confessed her long-held feelings for Ryan to, and they’d only ever encouraged Ginny.
“Know your worth,” Sadie would say, or“He’ll get a clue or he won’t, but you shouldn’t wait around for him.”
Sadie’s mama, on the other hand, always suggested smacking Ryan with a big wet one and seeing what happened.
Ginny wasn’t sure what advice she should take at this point. She hadn’t been on a date since Danger. Not because she hadn’t been asked, but because she knew what she wanted, and as much as she sometimes wished she could—like with a sweet and handsome Air Force pilot—Ginny wouldn’t settle for less.
“And now you have a mysteriousmalepenpal. It sounds pretty romantic, Gin,” Sadie gushed. “Maybe you can run off with Melody Man and forget all about Mr. Doofus.”
“Oh,” Ginny heard Dakota again, clearly listening to Sadie’s half of the conversation. “Y’all are talkin’ about Ryan again, huh? Don’t listen to my hot wife,” Dakota yelled, earning Sadie’s giggles against her end of the phone.
“My little sister is no quitter! Go get ‘em, Gin… Or not… Ya know, Ms. Independent, Girl Power, and all that.Ya Ya!” He cheered the battle cry he had never been invited to take part in, and Ginny heard the sound of his smacking kiss against Sadie’s cheek. “Tell Gin I love her and that Ryan will wake up eventually. He just needs a little push. Sometimes that’s all it takes.”
“You’re very wise, husband,” Sadie said.
“I know. It’s crazy, right? Now, I’m goin’ for a run.”
“I don’t love that my brother knows,” Ginny admitted, taking another bite of her loaf and looking around the shop. Georgia and Lake were due to meet her any time now.
“What does your brother know, Virginia?” Mrs. Woodhouse called from two tables over, where she’d steadily been leaning further and further away from her husband in an obvious effort to listen in on Ginny’s conversation.
“My personal business, Mrs. Woodhouse,” Ginny answered, raising her eyebrows at the elderly woman.
“I told you to leave that girl alone,” Mr. Woodhouse said, chuckling at his wife. “Ya can’t be a part ofallthe young people’s business. Ya gotta pace yourself.”
“I know what ya said,” she grumbled at her husband, “but I’ve been waitin’ for that Virginia to show up with somethin’ juicy for years. I’ve earned this. And she’s just mumblin’ over there… Young people don’t know how to talk anymore.”
He patted her hand and brought it up to kiss her knuckles. “I know, dear. Just be patient.”
“I’m not mumbling, Mrs. Woodhouse. I’m having a private conversation.”
“If ya wanted it to be private, Virginia, ya could’ve talked in your private home upstairs, not down here, torturin’ the rest of us. I need to have somethin’ to talk about at my bridge game this week. That Mary Kay Trainer always has the best gossip. I’m sick of it!” Mrs. Woodhouse scooted all the closer and leaned with her cup of tea in hand, completely at ease with her blatant intrusion. Her husband merely chuckled, his eyes wrinkling in the corners, and watched his wife with a look of pure adoration.
Ginny returned her attention back to her conversation. “Livin’ in this town is like havin’ a whole herd of well-meaning aunties who always know far too much about folks’ lives. I love them, but it’s somewhat humiliating to be their newest target.”
“You’re the chosen one,” Sadie said. “We’ve all had our turns.”
“And yet,” she whispered, “the mortification of Dakota’s knowledge of my little crush is somehow worse.”
“Hey! I didn’t tell him. Dakota figured it out for himself. He’s emotionally intelligent, that one. And you know he’ll never say anything. He loves you. We both do.” Sadie’s voice softened, “I know you’re not a quitter Ginny, but I don’t want you hung up on someone who refuses to see you for what an incredible woman you are. I know we talked about this before, but why not go on a date? See who else is out there?”
“Did you go on dates while you were pining for Dakota for three years?”
“Rude.”
