But I’ve been so off-kilter since she rolled into town yesterday in her truck. My head isn’t in the game and telling her that bottle is special never occurred to me.
“Is there anything I can do?” Her teeth dig deeper into her plump lip.
I want to brush over that tender flesh with my thumb and kiss the marks away. I reach my hand out, intent on doing just that…
“Ian?” she asks, sounding uncertain. “Are you okay?”
That jolts me out of the moment. She obviously isn’t sharing the vibe. I clear my throat and give her a nod. “I’m fine. And the only thing I need you to do is knock their socks off with your bourbon balls.”
They do have damn good bourbon in them.
Not that she has a chance with such a simple recipe against Miss Bettie but stranger things have happened.
Winnie laughs, looking relieved. “Phew. Good.” She starts loading the dessert balls into the storage container. “Hey, why was Buddy so hard on you at the diner this morning? I don’t think you deserved that.”
Grateful for the change of subject, I start loading the dishwasher with some of the bowls sitting on the counter. “Buddy doesn’t like me because I turned down his daughter when she invited me to dinner. He took it as a personal insult that I didn’t think—his words, not mine—that his daughter was good enough to date.”
“Ah, I see. She wasn’t your type?”
“She’s only nineteen, which is definitely not my type. Plus, she’s mean.”
That makes Winnie laugh. She pushes the lid onto the container. “Buddy’s daughter?No. I don’t believe it,” she jokes. “Geez, how did Lucy raise such a crank?”
“Lucy is his stepmother.”
“I knew there was no way she was old enough to be his mother!”
“Everyone in Wanted likes to claim closer relations than actually exist. It’s a thing they all seem to do. Unmarried couples call each other husband and wife. Everyone is a cousin or an aunt, but not in reality. It’s a gesture of affection if someone claims you that way. Lucy likes Buddy.” I shrug. “I like Buddy too, truthfully. I feel special that he throws me out of the diner on the regular for no reason whatsoever.”
It’s true. It makes me feel a part of Wanted.
I shut the dishwasher door and reach for a sponge to start cleaning the counter.
“Stop!” Winnie says. “I promised you I would do that. Now let’s go before I miss the deadline.”
I blow out a breath and reluctantly set down the sponge. I don’t want to refuse her gesture.
But at the same time…
“It’s killing you to leave it like this, isn’t it?” she asks.
I can’t even deny it. I just nod. “Absolutely.”
Winnie brushes past me, patting me on the chest. “You’ll live. I promise.”
“You can’t promise that.”
She laughs. “I leave messes all the time. I can guarantee you’ll survive.”
“At what cost though?” I mutter, though her general cheerfulness is awe-inspiring.
“What are your brothers like?” she asks.
“Not like me. They’re all loud, social, and spontaneous. Well, maybe not as much Malcolm, my oldest brother. But Mackay and Dylan are very social.”
“It sounds like a fun way to grow up.”
Or a way to constantly be mocked. I love my brothers though. They always have my back and vice versa.
