“Get moving, we haven’t got all day.”
“It’s early, aren’t we meant to be there for lunch?”
“I know it, but I’m lonely because Willow has been gone all day and won’t get to the party until later.”
Macy looked at her watch.
“It’s eleven, Buster. How long could she possibly have been gone?”
“Hours.”
They both turned as Billy came running down the stairs.
“Hey, Buster.”
“Billy boy, how you doing today. Your tummy ready for more cake?”
“Buster,” Macy warned her friend. Everyone tended to spoil her son if she didn’t watch them.
“It’s a celebration, Macy. Have mercy.”
As he followed those words with a wink, she simply rolled her eyes.
“Let’s go then, but we’re taking my car.”
“The hell you say!”
“I want to go in Buster’s car,” Billy said.
She gave up and minutes later Buster was pulling his old Jeep out of her drive. The music was up and he was singing off-key, with Billy accompanying him.
“Is this your apple bran muffin recipe?” Macy peeled a sticky note off the dash. “I want this.”
“Put that back.”
Buster’s car was a mobile storage unit for his café. Implements, notes, recipe books, and whatever else he had thrown in there and never taken out filled the space.
“Why are we stopping at Cubby’s?”
“I said I’d pick up Katie because Cub can’t get there till later. Something about some idiot flipping his boat. Everyone’s okay, but he needs to sort some paperwork.”
Cubby and Katie were still living in the front house of his mother’s property while their house was being built further around the lake.
“Katie, get your sweet butt out here!” Buster roared out the window.
Seconds later, the tall, long-legged woman came out. Her shorts were short, and Macy sighed. She’d never have legs like that, unless she had a growth spurt at twenty-seven.
“Oh goodie, I get to sit next to the most handsome boy in Howling.”
“Sure do, and he’s hungry so strap in,” Buster said.
The air was warm, and the day a continuation of yesterday, with plenty of tourists buzzing around and the lake filled with people skiing, kayaking, or swimming.
“It’s a horrible place to live, but someone’s got to, I guess.”
Macy laughed at Katie’s words. Why would she want more than this? Friends, her boy, and a life here in Howling. Brad Gelderman slipped into her head, and she pushed him away. He was probably long gone now, and she had to be pleased about that, didn’t she?
Chapter 7
