“So you give it to everyone else who comes in here and try to figure it out by their reactions? Heck no. I’ve experienced the wrath of a pregnant woman. And that was over the one time I accidentally threw away heryogurt. Can youimaginewhat she’d do to you—tome—if she found out we knew the sex of herbaby?”
Luke, who was looking more like the retired version of Mr. Incredible by the moment, put his fist on the counter and dropped his head. But a moment later, he was popping back up, smile back in place. “Theo. I know I can count on you.”
Theo put up both hands. “You know I’d love to—”
“You won’t even have tosayit out loud,” Luke pressed. “Just read it to yourself.”
The corner of Theo’s mouth tugged upward until it formed a wry smile. “Why? To see if you can guess by my expression?”
Luke pointed to Theo. “Exactly.” He looked down at the scribbled back of a receipt. “So far I have three eyebrow raises and two winks.”
“Which leads you to believe...?” Theo said.
“It’s a girl. Naturally.”
Theo shook his head. “Well, a fifth girl would be eyebrow raising for sure. I look forward to hearing the official word in due time. But in the meantime, I believe we are here for a reason.” Theo glanced toward Skye. “Right, Skye?”
What was going on? Who were these people? In what parallel universe had she landed?
She shook herself back to the matter at hand. “Right. We’re here to pick up the tractor.”
Luke reached beneath the register and tossed her the key.
“Thanks, Luke,” Skye said, closing her fingers around it. “It’ll be back by dinnertime.”
“Take your time,” Luke said, already back to staring at the tally marks on the back of the receipt.
They had just reached the door and opened it when Luke called out, “And Skye?”
Skye turned at the sound of her name. “Yes?”
Luke grinned. “Good to see the Evergreen Twins back together again.”
Chapter 9
Theo
Theo couldn’t help smiling as he reached out to catch Skye stumbling off the curb. They walked toward the tractor parked beside two dumpsters.
For Luke to have called them by the name they’d been tagged with two decades before was the perfect finale to the perfect conversation.
“I don’t... how does he—know you?” Skye said, shuffling her words as poorly as her feet.
Theo shrugged. “It’s Luke. It’s also the only gas station in town. I’m up here a lot.”
“And... you just became friends.”
“Well, he hasn’t invited me over to grill out in his backyard...”
Skye nodded as though this was obvious.
“Since last year,” Theo continued, “but sure, I’d say we’refriends.” He tipped his head thoughtfully. “He is, after all, one of the only people to appreciate my lasagna.”
“You make him lasagna,” Skye mumbled, more to herself it seemed than to him. She stepped up to the tractor. “Sure you do. Sure you do.”
Theo tried to slip his hands into his pockets, but the insides of both felt like the outside—sandpaper. “So.” He looked up to the tractor behind her. “What’s next?”
Skye popped open the glass door and took a step up. “You take the Prius. I take the tractor.”
