“Wait,” he said. “Was that…”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I’m still doodling.” She turned the easel away from his line of sight even more. “I’m not going to lie—I’ve had more productive days. And the Christmas theme is…a lot. What are you doing with that basket?”
“Oh. The Posse has moved to the hot tub and asked for snacks.”
She looked at the basket. “You’re not seriously serving them, are you?”
He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. “I don’t mind. It was eitherfetch the snacks or succumb to peer pressure to get in the hot tub with them. That seemed fraught with danger.”
“I think that was a good call,” Amy said, smiling, too.
“And besides, Hillary squeezed in. She’s got them hanging on every word of her relationship with Tony Cho. Except that I don’t think it’s a relationship.”
“I take it Tony Cho is another golfer who may or may not be better than you.”
He grinned. “He is indeed another golfer who may or may not be better than me. And apparently, he and Hillary have hooked up a few times on tour. The Posse advises she think about what she’s doing.” He put the basket down. “I’ve noticed they advise on a lot of things. Often without being asked.”
“Don’t I know it,” Amy said and laughed. “Well, good. That will give them something to chew on for a while. They’ll masticate it down to nothing.”
“You know they can be entertaining. I like them.”
“You do not,” she said, scoffing. “No one does. And the worst of it is, they don’t care if anyone likes them or not. They’re in their seventies and Mom once told me they were like a pack of old dogs—they won’t follow commands anymore. They’re going to do what they do.”
“Senior rebels,” Harrison said. “Somehow knowing they don’t give a damn makes me like them even more.”
She smiled. He wasn’t wrong—the Posse could be quite entertaining. For her fiftieth birthday, they’d made a penis cake and howled at her shocked expression. But the next morning, they were manning voter registration booths at the town spring festival. They could bicker like siblings, but there was no doubt that if any of them ever needed a thing, the rest would be there in a heartbeat.
“But man, can they drink,” Harrison added with an amused shake of his head. “Hillary is certainly enjoying their company,” he added. “She’sgot a lot of Tony questions.” He leaned backward, stuck his head out the door, checking on them. “And Melissa had a few ideas for my swing.”
Amy laughed. “She didn’t! Anything else?”
“Well, your mom and Carol have some killer ideas for how I could get myself a girlfriend, which pretty much depends on me being in a bar somewhere. They are concerned—they think it’s unnatural to be my age and unmarried.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I get how it might seem a little strange. And believe me, it’s nothing I haven’t heard from my own mom. I better deliver the snacks. Don’t want to get on their bad side.”
Amy stood up from her stool. “No, you definitely don’t want to do that.”
Harrison didn’t move. His gaze drifted to her mouth. “So…I hope I didn’t keep you from an important artistic breakthrough.”
“I hope so, too, because I could really use one about now.”
“Maybe you need a little inspiration.”
Her heart skipped. She took a step closer. “What did you have in mind?”
Harrison’s slow smile turned devilish. “Well, there is a café on the other side of the lake that I was thinking of for dinner. I read in theLakeline Newsthat they have excellent burgers. True artistic inspiration needs fuel, doesn’t it? If you think you could get away, that is.”
“The greasier the burger, the better,” she said. “But on the other side of the lake? How would we get there? A car would take an hour.”
“Lake taxi. I took the liberty of booking it.”
She smiled, her gaze now on his mouth. “What about the Posse?”
“They won’t even know we’re gone,” he said with a wink. “And I don’t know for sure, but I heard rumblings about a taco casserole.”
“I love taco casserole,” Amy said softly. She had somehow gotten close enough to kiss him. The only thing in her way was Duchess, but she couldhandle the dog. She was struck with a moment of uncertainty as to whether she should lean into this affair she was having, or back off and not risk being hurt by it. Fortunately, Harrison made the decision for her. He slid his free arm around her waist and pulled her into him. “So do I. But I’d much rather spend time with you.” He lowered his head to kiss her.
