Mo groaned. “I know it. Meredith, Landry, and Bronwyn are singlehandedly responsible for Lionel carrying it at the grocery store now. Never seen anything like it.”
“Is it good? Because it sounds a little sketchy.” Katrina wrinkled her nose. “Cornflakes?”
“You owe it to yourself to try it. I hate to admit it, but it is quite possibly the best thing you’ll ever eat.” He looked at Bronwyn. “I guess we’ll swing by the store and grab some on the way to the house.”
“I might follow you,” Katrina said. “You’ve intrigued me.”
“Good. We’ll see you there.”
Mo watched as Bronwyn hugged Katrina and whispered something that made her laugh.
If you could be drunk on relaxation, Bronwyn was.
“Are you sure she’s safe to drive?” Mo asked Katrina.
“She’ll be fine. She’s just trying to hold on to the feeling as long as possible.”
“Fair enough. I’ll follow you both out.”
He was unsurprised when both women pulled into the Gossamer Grocers parking lot. Bronwyn appeared to be less spacey than she’d been earlier, but she also looked a little bit like she might have been crying in the car.
Mo followed them inside but hung back near the doors. The store was small, and it wasn’t hard for him to keep an eye on them as they went straight to the ice cream case. They didn’t dawdle. They were in line two minutes later. Mo stepped outside and waited for them by his Jeep.
The sun was still up, but it had dropped behind the mountains, and the air was cooling off ever so slightly. It was more ice cream weather than it was firepit weather, but he wouldn’t argue with Eliza, especially when she was doing such a good job of giving Bronwyn the excuse she needed to leave The Haven property.
Maybe if he could keep her on Quinn land for a few days, he could keep her safeandget some sleep. He rubbed his hand over his face.
The crunch of tires on the pavement behind him caught his attention and he turned to see who else was doing some evening shopping.
Lionel, the store owner, walked by as the cashier scanned Bronwyn’s ice cream. “You’d better be getting that for Landry.” He winked at her.
“It’s for me, but I’m planning to share.” Bronwyn took her receipt and the bag of frozen goodness. “But unless you have some in the back, you’d better order more. I convinced Katrina here to try it, and we took the last two pints.”
“Good to know,” Lionel said, scanning Katrina’s purchases. “I’ll get some more in. I still haven’t tried it.”
“Don’t.” She held up a hand and walked backward, toward the door. “This is dangerous stuff. One taste and you’ll be ordering it by the truckload.”
Lionel’s laughter followed her out the door.
She turned and froze.
Mo was pacing outside the store. His eyes weren’t on her. They were on the parking lot.
He looked so tired. His shoulders were slumped. His eyes, those bright blue Quinn eyes, were shadowed. And his face somehow looked older than she’d ever seen it.
Her heart hurt.
This probably wasn’t the time. It definitely wasn’t the place. But maybe she could say “Hi.” Or “Thank you.” Or “Mo, I really appreciate your help.” And then, like the cowardly lion, she couldhop in her car and drive away before he had a chance to reply. And she would have spoken to him and opened that door, and he could walk through it or not. But at least if she ran away, he wouldn’t have a chance to slam it in her face immediately.
But she couldn’t do that. Not now. She wasn’t going home. She was going to his home. Or, beside it. His property. Sort of. If she ran away, he would follow her. He had to follow her. And the level of awkward would be ... She cringed at the thought.
Ugh. She was such a coward. She waited near the door for Katrina to complete her purchase, then walked with her to the parking lot.
A truck pulled up behind Mo’s Jeep, and the passenger window slid down. She expected someone to call out to Mo. The occupants were probably Quinns.
But instead of a friendly face, the unmistakable end of a rifle appeared. And pointed straight at—
“Mo!” she screamed as she ran straight for him.
