“You were going to do that by yourself?” Zach asked.
“Yeah. Then I need to go to the shelter and meetwith them before I run by the library and make sure everything is set up for the author signing they have going on tomorrow. This will be the new librarian’s first event, and she’s nervous.”
“And you volunteered to help because you’re the nicest person on the planet. Seriously? You can’t pass up a chance to help someone, can you?”
She settled into her seat and folded her hands in her lap. “If I don’t, who will?”
Zach glanced over at her. There she was, carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders again. Should he remind her that she wasn’t a superhero or congratulate her for being a saint?
They parked in front of the thrift store and got out.
“You don’t have to come in,” Lauren said as they headed for the door.
“I think I do. You’re planning on buying out the store, so I guess I’ll be the one carrying it.”
She flashed her gorgeous smile at him as he held the door open for her. “You’re so sweet.”
“Not sweet,” he corrected. She was getting the wrong impression, and he needed to pump the brakes on the cute talk.
She pinched his cheek and scrunched her nose. “Adorable.”
“Ugh. Stop it already. I’m the opposite of sweet. I’m bitter.”
“Two things can be true,” she said, practically skipping into Blackwater Restoration.
Within seconds, he was in charge of the cart whileshe tossed clothes and shoes into it. When she’d gathered a mound of things for the family, she sent him to the register.
A dark-haired woman appeared through a door behind the counter as he approached. Her eyes widened when she spotted the rounded-up cart. “Wow. You’ve been doing some major shopping today.”
Zach started putting the clothes on the counter. “Lauren said to tell you these are for the shelter.”
“Oh! Perfect. No charge.” She extended a hand over the counter. “I’m Camille Harding. I co-own this store and manage the shelter. Lauren is absolutely amazing. I don’t know what I would do without her.”
“You and half the town. I’m Zach.”
Camille rolled her eyes, but her smile stayed in place. “I know who you are.”
“You do?” Uh-oh. If she was friends with Lauren, then she knew about what he’d done to her. That wasn’t ever a good first impression.
“Of course. I’ve been friends with Lauren since long before you came into the picture. Plus, I’m an attorney. We’ve met in the courtroom before.”
Yikes. Double bad first impression. “Now I don’t have to tell you my life story. You already know everything about me.”
Camille shrugged. “Pretty much. I’m especially interested in this new dynamic between you and Lauren. She’s pretty sure about you.”
“She doesn’t know anything. I’m just a bad influence waiting to happen.”
“Ha! You couldn’t be a bad influence on Lauren Vincent if you tried. That woman knows who she is, and she’s rooted in her faith. Good luck shaking that tree. She’ll be influencing you if you’re not careful.”
Zach would fall in a pit of vipers before he’d admit this stranger was right, but Lauren was definitely smoothing out some of his rough edges. He’d never met anyone as sure about her faith as Lauren, and as far as he’d seen, she couldn’t be bought. She didn’t lie or treat people unfairly. There was a reason he called her angel. Lauren Vincent was straight from heaven—perfect and radiating light.
Lauren walked up and jumped right into a conversation with Camille. When the clothes were bagged up, he loaded the bed of the truck and made three more trips before Lauren was satisfied with their haul.
At the shelter, he carried the bags of clothes inside, lining them against a wall in the room Lauren indicated while she met with the family. With four beds, four dressers, and a small TV in one corner, the place looked move-in ready. When he’d finished the job, he found a seat in the lobby and waited for Lauren.
Had his mom run to a shelter like this? Or had she gone to the grocery store and just decided to keep on driving? If she’d taken Zach and his brothers with her, would someone like Lauren have helped them get on their feet?
It didn’t matter. If the woman who’d given birth tohim was selfish enough to leave without him, she wouldn’t have been a good mother whether she had help or not.
