“I will, Colleen. See you soon.” He rose from his chair and answered the call on his way out front.
Grandma turned her gaze on me. “That boy is in love with you.”
“What?” Nervously, I fiddled with my glasses and tucked my hair behind my ear. “No, he’s not. We’re just friends.”
She shook her head. “Mm-hmm. Either he’s head over heels for you, or I’m going batty in my old age. And I assure you, I’m sharp as a tack.”
“Of course you are. But Theo isn’t in love with me. That’s not possible.”
“That’s a silly thing to say. Why isn’t it possible?”
“Because that’s not what he wants. He doesn’t want a relationship. He has a plan. He’s moving to South Carolina to be a college football coach and he’s going to stay single.”
A small smile crossed her lips. “Love ruins the best-laid plans.”
I glanced away. “That isn’t what’s going on. And it’s fine. I just got out of a relationship anyway.”
She batted her hand. “Oh, that was hardly a relationship. Maybe at first, but it hadn’t been for a while. Don’t let that hold you back.”
“Still, I told you Theo doesn’t want a relationship. And whatever is going on between us, it’s good.”
“All I’m saying is, I just spent the last couple of hours watching him watch you. And that’s a man with stars in his eyes.” She reached over and patted my hand. “Even if he doesn’t realize it yet. Sometimes it takes them a while to see what’s right in front of them.”
I sighed. I appreciated what she was trying to do, but she was wrong. Theo wasn’t in love with me. She was seeing something that simply wasn’t there.
“I really don’t think so, but I’m not going to argue with you,” I said.
“You’ll see. You both will, eventually. Hopefully before it’s too late.” She wheeled herself back from the table. “In any case, I’m ready for a rest. I’ll see you later.”
I stood and leaned down to hug her. “Have a good week. Love you.”
“Love you too, Penny.”
I watched her wheel toward the elevator, then went in search of Theo. He was on his way back, meeting me just inside the automatic doors. We stepped outside into the cold air to head back to his truck.
“Did Garrett have news?” I asked.
“Are you ready for this?” He paused. “There’s a body.”
My eyes went wide. “At the creek? How did he find it?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t give me the details. Just that they uncovered human remains off the trail, not far from the creek.”
I put a hand on my chest. “This means we might be right. Morris painted the locations of the bodies.”
“Garrett was quick to add that this doesn’t mean it was Morris. They need more before they can call him a suspect.”
“Like a link between him and the victims.”
“Exactly.”
I let out a long breath. “Well, at least the authorities are looking into it now. That’s good.”
His mouth turned up in a grin, his dimples showing up in full force. “That’s because of you, Penlock Holmes. Nice work.”
I smiled, his praise enveloping me like a warm hug.
We got into his truck, and I settled in to consider everything. Surprise at Garrett’s news mingled with curiosity about what Grandma had said. Theo in love with me? No. Like I’d told her, it wasn’t possible. She was just seeing the afterglow of the previous night.
