"Why, the cutest one, of course—Henry!"
Mace relaxed, laughing. "Cock-blocked by my own brother."
There was a knock on the door. Henry was standing there with Garrett.
"He said you were supposed to meet him at twelve thirty," Garrett said.
"Did you have fun with Garrett?" I asked Henry. "I saw you doing serious business in there."
Henry nodded solemnly. "He taught me about the Great Emu War."
"It was a stain on Australia's history," Garrett added.
"Coming?" I asked Mace.
He shook his head. His eyes flicked from my chest to my mouth and up to my eyes. "I have to prep for a meeting this afternoon."
"It's just you and me, Henry," I said.
The first stop was Ida's General Store. I needed to pick up lunch.
"How's my favorite tiny house lass?" Ida asked, coming up to hug me in front of the premade sandwich display. I hugged her back.
"Is that a Svensson boy?" she asked, looking down at Henry.
"Of course."
"Those Svenssons are tearing up the land," she complained. "They're building a new facility that Bert said is going to ruin the songbird habitat. He's been distracted by it lately and won't even acknowledge my most obvious request to make fondue. Birdwatchers are very detail oriented, if you know what I mean. Those Svenssons and their nonsense are ruining my sex life."
I looked around wildly. Fortunately Henry was picking out his snack and didn't seem like he was listening to Ida.
"We're having a protest," Ida declared. Mace wasn't going to like that, and it would be bad publicity for PharmaTech.
"Before you go to the trouble of making signs," I said. "Let me talk to Mace about it and see if we can't find another solution."
"Talk.Right." Ida smiled at me knowingly. "Ah, the power of pussy. It can bring men to their knees—willingly!" The elderly woman winked at me as we walked back to the register.
"Sign up for the farming co-op?" she asked as she rang me up. "Ernest runs it. Nothing like fresh produce!"
"Why not?" I said, taking the tablet Ida handed me. "If you live in a small town, you might as well enjoy the bounty."
Mace was doing a lot for me. This would be a nice thing to do in return, I thought as I paid the modest fee.
"You wouldn't believe how good that man's eggplant tastes!" Ida crowed.
* * *
After a picnic of turkey,avocado, Swiss cheese, and arugula sandwiches on really good ciabatta at one of the tables in the park, I ate my salt-and-vinegar chips while Henry played with a few of the other kids. I promised Henry he could come back tomorrow as I buckled him in the car seat.
A light on the dashboard blinked when I turned on the car.
"I think we're out of gas, so I'm going to fill up before we head back," I told Henry.
And I'm going to use the money that Anke finally sent me!
I practically floated out of the car when I pulled up at the gas pump. Today was going great. Mace kissed me, and I didn't scratch up his car. It did take me a while to find the gas tank. It took some muscle to pry the cap off, but I did it. It was also one of those weird kinds that didn't have a screw-on lid.
"Taking care of business!" I sang as I swiped my credit card. I only put a few gallons in. I still had debts after all. But it felt good that I wasn't a total mooch. I didn't want to be like my mother, using men only for their money, but now I was contributing. I was helping save Mace's gene therapy launch. I made dinner. I put gas in the car.
