“Oh, you want me to text it to you?” I offer.
Walker barks. “Is that what you’ve been doing all day?”
“No. I only gave it to Eli.”
Penny coughs out a laugh as Walker’s phone buzzes again with anotherHi Walker. “And it seems he gave it out to everyone in town.”
Walker massages his forehead as I try to hide my giggle. “I guess the town really is in cahoots.”
Another vibration has Walker squeezing his eyes shut. “Jesus, some woman just sent me a picture of her cleavage.”
The smile on my face evaporates as an odd sensation twists in my gut. “Excuse me. Who the hell would—” I grab the phone, but when I see what’s on the screen, that weird, uncomfortable emotion that I have no intention of identifying dissolves. “Oh, that’s Mrs. Simmons.”
My mom reaches across the table as I pass her the phone. She nods as she shows it to my sister. “Yup. Damn Ruby. I don’t think Mr. Simmons will be happy you asked her for nudes.”
Walker erupts. “I don’t even know who that is! I didn’t ask for this.”
“I expected better of you, Walker. She’s a Liberty Lady. She walks on our property every day. How is she going to feel, knowing that you looked at that?”
Walker pushes back his chair. “I didn’t ask for it, Gail. Jesus.” He shakes his head when Penny tries to hand him back his phone. “How do you even know it’s her?”
I pluck it from my sister’s hand and smile. “She always had that weird mole in the shape of South Dakota right here.” I point at my own chest. “And since that’s where my head reaches on her body because she’s so dang tall, it’s hard to miss.”
Walker is looking at us like we’re out of our minds. Poor guy. We’re torturing him.
“Yeah, we told her to get it checked out,” Penny tells him. “It’s just a birthmark, though, not cancerous.”
My mother nods. “We all went and got our moles checked out after that. Made it an annual thing. We even go to the spa the day before so we can study each other’s bodies to make sure we know exactly what to show the doctor. Ruby’s South Dakota has nothing on Babs’s Texas on the underside of her breast.”
“Don’t forget Rayna’s Mexico on her ass,” Penny teases. “That one has hair.”
Poor Walker shivers at the image.
“She’s harmless.” I tell him. “You should tell her she looks great, don’t want her to get a complex.”
Walker glares at me. “Do not text that woman back. I promise it’s not harmless.”
Smiling, I stand and reach over Walker’s shoulder to grab his plate, whispering in his ear so only he can hear, “Well, at least you won’t be thinking about my boobs then, right?” When I walk out of the room, I can feel Walker’s intense gaze on my ass again. I pause in the doorway, catching him with a wink. “Anyone want pie?”
CHAPTER 20
Walker
UNKNOWN NUMBER:Did you hear that Walker asked Mrs. Simmons to send him pictures?
UNKNOWN NUMBER:That doesn’t sound like Walker.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:I don’t know. He’s a good looking man and he’s all alone in that big house.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:That’s not true, Tallulah Darling is back. Remember? Bet you by the end of the Daffodil Festival they’re a couple!
* * *
My head is pounding from the lashing I just took at dinner. The chicken Parmesan was good, and the pie was incredible, but I don’t think anything is worth what I just went through. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. I’d probably sit through another round just for the crust on that pie. Tally is fucking incredible in the kitchen.
Still, this day has been a lot and I am in need of some fresh air so I can stop sniffing every corner of this house in my search of her and her intoxicating scent. I’m just headingfor the front door when Tally appears at the top of the second-floor steps.
“Hey!” she calls to me before I make it.
