We all stand and watch as Trent is shoved into the back of the patrol car, then Deputy Stone says, “Sorry for the disturbance, folks. You all have a good night.”
When he slides in behind the steering wheel and drives away, I turn to look at Maggie. “Thank you.”
She shrugs. “That boy deserved the punch you gave him. He’s never been anything but trouble.”
Nova looks a little shell-shocked as she says, “Thank you, Maggie. God, I was so worried.”
“Let’s go inside and have some lemonade.”
When we head into the house, I stop in the foyer and say, “Do you have a permanent marker, Maggie?”
“Yes.” She hurries to the desk and digs in a drawer. “Somewhere in here. Where’s that dang marker?” She packs everything out of the drawer before finally finding it. “Here it is.”
I take the marker from her and check that it hasn’t dried out before I walk in behind the desk and write on the wall.
Loved staying at Sugar River Inn. Easton Rowe.
I scribble my signature and add today’s date before asking, “Do you want to take a photo, then you can add it to the wall?”
“Oh yes! That would be great.”
She pulls out her phone, and letting go of my rule not to touch women, I place my arm around her shoulders and smile. She snaps a few photos, and I even press a kiss on her cheek before moving away from her.
“I’m framing them all,” she says, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Gosh, who would’ve thought I’d get to meet you today? I’ll never forget it.”
I’ll have Sylvia tell the press I stayed here so Maggie can get some publicity for her business.
Tyler comes walking into the foyer with bags in his arms. “Food’s here.”
“Come. You can sit in the dining room. I’ll bring the lemonade,” Maggie says, her face lit up with happiness.
It’s times like this, when I get to make someone genuinely happy, that I love what I do.
I wait for Nova to sit down before I take a seat beside her. Tyler unpacks all the burgers and fries, and soon, we’re all stuffing our faces.
Turns out that coming to Verona had a silver lining. I got to knock Trent on his ass. I would’ve loved to beat the shit out of him, but at least I got one very satisfying punch.
I place my hand on Nova’s leg and give her thigh a squeeze. “You okay?”
She nods but then scowls at me. “Never do something like that again. I was worried out of my mind.”
“Everything sorted itself out,” I say before popping a greasy fry into my mouth.
“Lucky for you,” she mutters, then she places her hand on top of mine, and a smile tugs at her mouth. “I don’t condone violence, but it felt good watching you punch him.”
When we’re done eating, we head up to our room, and while Nova closes the door, I fall back onto the bed and let out a sigh. “I’m tired.”
“Let’s get changed, then you can lie on your stomach, and I’ll give you a massage until you fall asleep.”
My head pops up. “Now that sounds like heaven.”
She slaps my boot. “Come on. Boots off the bed and get changed into your sweatpants.”
Chapter 32
Nova
I look at my reflection in the mirror and brush my palms over the silky fabric of the dress I’m wearing. It’s the blue one with flowers that I got with Lainey two weeks ago.
