“Thanks for seeing me this afternoon. You’ve given me a lot to think about.” He nodded at me as he propped his cowboy hat on top of his silver mane. “I’ll be in touch.”
I watched him climb into the rusty hearse before I shut the door.
“What in the world was that?” Lacey’s voice came from behind me.
“What was what? Did you see how crushed he looked?” I turned. “Does Bodie know you’re entertaining old men on the porch?”
“No. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“At least sit down and put your feet up. Doctor’s orders.” I put my hands on Lacey’s shoulders and turned her back toward the porch.
“Tell me how the meeting with the contractor went this morning.” Lacey sat down and propped her feet up on the wicker coffee table.
“Fine. Alex seems to think he’ll be able to pull it together. He’s looking for a place to stay by the Phillips House though. Says he wants to be closer in case there’s a penguin emergency.”
“Of course. Tell him to take one of the bedrooms upstairs. I should have offered earlier.”
“You want him to move in?” I didn’t like the sound of that. Having to work on the wedding and share warehouse space with him was one thing, but if he were living at the Phillips House, I’d be exposed to his damn dimple all the time. And I was having a hard enough time resisting already.
“It’s fine. We have a few smaller events booked but no one’s renting out the bedrooms until after the Munyon wedding. Do you want to tell him or should I?”
“Why don’t you?” I might need to start limiting my interactions with the penguin handler. I couldn’t afford to get attached, not to someone who wasn’t going to be around for the long haul.
“Will do.” Lacey grabbed a thick binder from the table next to her. “Now, I need to go over the details for the wedding so you know what to expect.”
“Let me get a refill first.” I reached for my mug. If I was going to have to take over as wedding planner, I needed to be fully caffeinated.
“Oh, you might want to make a fresh pot. Bodie won’t let me drink anything but decaf.”
“You gave me decaf coffee?” I asked. No wonder I hadn’t felt that kick of caffeine. I moved into the kitchen to make an extra-strong pot. If I was going to have to take on the binder along with avoiding Alex and managing the dog rescue, I was going to have to have all of my wits about me . . . every last one.
CHAPTER 13
ALEX
I couldn’t keepfrom smiling as I drove the distance back to Char’s. I’d been worried about pulling the wedding off by myself. With Zina’s help it was sure to go off without a hitch. Her ability to get things done was obvious based on her level of success at the dog shelter. And now I even had a place to stay. I couldn’t wait to tell Char my good news about moving out.
I eased the truck to a stop as I pulled into the driveway. Lacey’s call couldn’t have come at a better time. Moving into the mansion would solve a lot of my problems. Everything was starting to smell like roses, or at least a lot less like a huge pile of crap.
“What’s for dinner, Uncle Alex?” Dolly chimed in from the back seat. She’d been quiet on the ride home.
“I thought maybe we’d order pizza to celebrate.”
“What are we celebrating?” Gramps growled. “You moving into a mansion to work on that penguin habitat?”
I shook my head. “It’s all going to work out, Gramps.”
Gramps didn’t seem impressed by my commitment. “If you ask me, you’re in over your head.”
“Well, good thing no one’s asking you.” I’d told Char I’d help with Gramps, and it was becoming clear that the old man neededsome sort of purpose. Once upon a time my grandfather had been full of smiles. He was always the first one to crack a joke or pull a prank. But since Nana had passed, he’d become bitter and quiet. The sooner we got him sorted out with something to do, the better. Maybe helping out with the penguins would lighten up his mood a bit.
Before we could get out of the truck, Char came through the front doorway and headed our direction.
“Hey, how was your day?” she asked as she pulled open the back door of the truck. “Did you find a place to live?”
“Yeah. Lacey Cherish offered to let me move into the Phillips House while I’m working out there.”
“What?” Char reached for Dolly and lifted her youngest out of the truck. “Why would she let you do that?”
