Garrett scowled harder… or at least he tried to. He was in too good a mood, and his facial muscles insisted on rearranging themselves into a grin.
“Yeah, maybe,” he agreed. “But isn’t that what most men do when they fall in love?”
This time, when the playful expression fell off Shane’s face, it didn’t immediately return. Instead, he looked thoughtful.
“Yeah,” he said, his tone almost absent. “You know, I do think you’re right about that.”
Garrett might have inquired further, but he was on a ladder, and that didn’t really seem like the ideal time for a heart-to-heart. Also, there was something about Shane’s demeanor that made Garrett suspect that the other man wasn’t ready to discuss it, although Garrett would be the very first to admit that he wasn’t always spot on when it came to estimating someone else’s moods.
“So, can I?” He gestured awkwardly up his ladder.
“Oh!” Shane blinked rapidly. “Yeah, yeah, go ahead, Romeo. Something, something that yonder window, or whatever.”
“Dang, and people say that Eleanor got all the literary know-how in the family,” Garrett deadpanned.
Shane laughed, closing the window and leaving Garrett to his quest of romance.
At the top of the ladder, he put his hands flat against the windowpane, using the tension to scooch the frame up just enough that he could slip his poem and flower through the gap. He made a mental note to get the frame tightened up. This might be on the second floor, which meant that there wassomeelement of safety, but he didn’t like that anybody could just come shimmy Eleanor’s window open…
Even if it did make it easier to leave her fun little romantic treats.
Quietly, he slid the windowpane back down, descended the ladder, and loaded it back up in his truck. He felt as though his mood was good enough to whistle as he started his day.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Winnie didn’t let herself dress up like this was a date. If she let herself think about this as a date, even for one second, she was going to start crying.
She’d already shed a few tears over Shane’s departure, but she’d managed to do all her crying in private. She wanted tonight to be a good night, given that it was the last one they’d get to enjoy together.
So she chose an outfit that landed somewhere between ‘work formal’ and ‘date formal’ by combining a flowy blouse with the slim-fitted slate slacks that always made her feel powerful, beautiful, and in control of her life. The blouse itself was slightly sheer, which made it generally a little too risqué for work unless she wore a blazer on top. Tonight, in deference to the social aspect, she ignored the blazer, although she did put a close-fitted cream-colored shell on underneath the sheer top.
When it was done, she almost felt too pretty for tonight’s sad schedule, but in the end, she let her vanity win out.
If she wasn’t going to get to see Shane again, at least she could leave him with the memory of her looking her best, right?
She doubted this decision about twenty times as she navigated the short drive to Captain’s Crest. In some ways, itwas a relief to have a break from all her other doubts about this evening.
Winnie was not at all certain that this dinner was a good idea.
She wassad. She didn’t want to dwell on her sadness. But she also could not bear to give up any time with Shane, even if it made the sadness worse.
Still, she debated all the way up until she entered the restaurant, whereupon she caught a glimpse of him and promptly decided that nope, she could not do this, big mistake.
This was, of course, the moment that Shane looked up and saw her, which meant that it was theexactmoment that Winnie could not back out any longer.
Fiddlesticks.
“Hey, Winnie,” Shane said, standing to greet her.
And Winnie, to her horror, felt her eyes begin to brim with tears.
Shane’s expression creased in sympathy as he put an arm around her shoulder, guiding her into a seat beside him. When she was seated, she tried to bury her face in her hands, but he held her hands in his instead.
“Oh, honey,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I promise I’m not going to actually cry,” she said, willing the tears to keep from spilling.
“You can cry if you need to,” he said. “I’m a grown up. I’m not going to be scared off by a few tears.”
