He arched a brow.“You’re going to blame it on me again?”
“No.”
“No?”There was a note of surprise in his voice.
“There was someone else.They bumped into me.And I bumped into you.I’m sorry.”
He wiped his hand off on his dark jeans.“Hopefully, this will be the last time webumpinto each other.”He pointed in front of himself.“I’m going this direction, whatever you do, go another way.”
Without another word, he turned and walked away.She watched him go.He had long legs and was physically fit.Any other time she would have admired his good looks, but under the circumstances, she could only think that he should come with a warning sign:Grump.
She smiled at the thought.Maybe beneath it should read:Best left alone.
He didn’t have to worry.She wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.She turned away from him and headed toward her friends.
Chapter Three
Itwasanunderstatementto say he didn’t like small towns.
Brad Pearson stared down at his ruined shirt.There was so much to dislike that he wasn’t sure where to start.Maybe it was the fact that he grew up in one.He clearly remembered how anxious he’d been to move away from Barch, Illinois.
He didn’t make it too far.He’d ended up settling in Chicago.
And try as he might to stay away from Barch, he still went back.Regularly.
His mother still lived there.Some might call him a mama’s boy; he just called it being a good son.He’d repeatedly tried to get her to move, but she refused.She said she was born in that town, and she would die in that town.
And so every Mother’s Day, birthday, and most of the holidays, both big and small, he returned to Barch, where a number of the residents still labeled him as “Hey, boy,” “Trouble” and “Wrong-side-of-the-tracks.”They had mighty long memories.But he wouldn’t let those people keep him away from his mother—who had always believed in him.
So, he was not impressed with Mayberry.Wait.No, that isn’t right.Wayberry?No.Bayberry.Yeah.That was what Reed had called this place.He remembered now, because it was named after a candle, which he found odd.
Why was Reed moving here?Brad didn’t understand his best friend’s motivation for giving up a good life in Chicago to move to this small town, where you couldn’t even get a latte after six o’clock.Seriously?
And that was why he was here—to talk some sense into Reed.There was no way his best friend would be happy in Bayberry long term.
However, now that Reed was engaged, it was going to complicate things.Maybe if he offered Sadie a position at the main office of Rumor Quill Media, it would help all of them.It was a move worth consideration.
Buzz-buzz.
Reed was in sight, but Brad stopped to check his phone.It could be something important with regards to the office.He didn’t like to be out of town.It was a time when things went wrong—at least that was how it felt to him.
But the phone call wasn’t business related; instead, it was his mother.He wondered what she wanted.At that moment, he noticed Reed signaling for him to join him.Brad knew he couldn’t ignore his mother’s phone call, though.
Brad signaled Reed that he’d be a moment, before he pressed the phone to his ear.“Hey, Mom, is everything all right?”
“Of course.That’s not a very nice way to answer your phone.”
“Sorry.I just wasn’t expecting to hear from you so early.”They usually spoke briefly each evening at nine.“What do you need?”
“I just wanted to know what time you’ll be here.”
What?He hadn’t planned to go see his mother that weekend.“I’m sorry.I can’t see you this weekend.I’m in Vermont visiting Brad.”
“Oh.That’s right.It totally slipped my mind.”
This wasn’t the first time his mother called on a weekend when she knew he wasn’t going to visit.Each time it had been because she needed him to do something for her.“If you need help with a burnt-out lightbulb or a dead battery in the fire alarm, I can stop by as soon as I get back.”
“It’s nothing like that.”There was a note of disappointment in her voice.
