“No.”Were those sparks of jealousy flashing in her eyes?
“Then who is Linda?And don’t lie to me.”
“He didn’t tell you?”At the sound of Reed’s voice, they both turned.Reed opened the fridge and looked inside.Without taking anything out, he closed the door and turned back to them.“Brad, why didn’t you tell her about your mother?”
“Mother?”The surprise was evident in Abby’s voice.
A smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he nodded.“It’s true.Linda is my mother.”
Abby’s gaze narrowed in on him, as though she weren’t sure she believed either of them.“But why do you have her name on your phone instead of it saying Mom?”
Reed stepped forward.“I can answer this one.It was back in college, and his mother used to check in on him daily.Some of the guys started razzing him, so he changed her name on his phone, and no one was the wiser—well, except for me.”Reed’s gaze moved to the plates and the bags of food.“Want me to take that out for you?”
“Sure,” Brad said.
When they were once more alone, he asked, “Are we good again?”
She shrugged.“I suppose.Let’s go join them.”
He wanted to spend some more time alone with her, especially now that she was no longer glaring at him.“Are you that hungry?”
“Not really, but Reed forgot to take any utensils.”
Brad nodded in understanding and grabbed what they needed from the drawer.He followed her back to the living room where food was set up on the over-sized coffee table.
As the conversation picked up while the halftime show played in the background, he was relieved to find Abby smiling and talking to him again.In fact, he found that he liked it a little too much.But he assured himself it was only momentary.Soon she would be back in Bayberry.A safe distance from him.
She’d made a fool of herself.
Late the following afternoon, Abby made her way to the Steaming Brew.She had never been away from her beloved business for an entire weekend.
But to her relief, everything had gone smoothly.Now that she had the new espresso machine, her stress had gone down considerably.She’d already made two payments to Brad.It was going to take her longer than she would like to pay him back.But with every payment, she felt a little better.
Now settled in the office, she started to sort through her email.
Knock-knock.
Abby glanced up to find Mia standing in her doorway.“Thanks for taking care of the place this weekend.I really appreciate it.”
“It was no big deal.”
“What do you need?”
Mia shook her head.“Nothing.I was just wondering how your trip went.Did you see Brad?”
Abby rolled her eyes.“You know I did.He’s the reason we flew to Chicago.”
Mia stepped farther into the office.“And how was he?”
Heat rushed to her cheeks.“Mia, please stop.There’s nothing going on between Brad and myself.”
Mia looked at her with disbelief showing in her eyes.“You might tell yourself that, but a man doesn’t buy an espresso machine for someone he’s not interested in.”
She’d had the same thought, and now that she knew who Linda was, she reconsidered the possibility of him and her—of them.“It would never work.He lives in Chicago.”
“There are ways around that.”
Abby shook her head.“He loves the city, and I love Bayberry.There’s no in-between.”
