Damn this little town and their gossipy Nosey Nellie’s.
“Hi, kids.” Isabella bent and smiled, tugging on Charlotte’s foot.
June and Zach bombarded Izzy and Leo with hugs but Charlotte eyed Izzy skeptically.
“How about Auntie Izzy buys you tickets so you can ride the Ferris Wheel with Uncle Leo?”
“Yay!” June squealed.
“Okay, but I wanna sit on the end,” Zach stated.
“Works for me.” Leo nodded at Kelsey, and it felt like there was a wordless exchange between them that she wasn’t privy to. He kissed Isabella on the cheek and took each of the kid’s hands.
“Bye, Mama.” June waved over her shoulder.
“You two do not leave Uncle Leo’s side, you hear me?” Kelsey shouted.
“I got ‘em,” Leo assured her.
As soon as the kids were out of earshot, Isabella crossed her arms and spun to face Kelsey, brows up. “Okay, spill the tea. Now.”
Kelsey pulled the brim of her hat down lower, checking over her shoulder as she navigated the stroller out of the Ferris Wheel line. Isabella followed but didn’t look happy about it. It felt like ears were everywhere.
“What happened with you last night?” Isabella hissed.
“First of all, what makes you think something happened?”
“Seriously? Um, maybe because rumors are circulating all over town. Rumors about my best friend and a certainRenovation Dudesstar. Hooking up.”
“Shh,” Kelsey warned.
“Well, you better start talking then.”
Hesitating to spill the details of the intimate moment shared between she and Davis from the night before, Kelsey lowered her chin.
Izzy gasped. “It’s true!”
“It might be.” Kelsey bit her lip.
“You and Garrett? But how? And maybe the biggest question—why?”
She lifted her chin, and her eyes flew up to meet Isabella’s. Even her own friend had the situation all wrong. Even if she didn’t come clean with the entire town just yet, she at least owed it to her to tell the truth.
But in her peripheral, she spotted Maddie coming toward her, her eyes cold and her expression tight.
Apparently Maddie had heard the rumors. And worse? She looked like she believed them.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
DAVIS
Woodworking wasthe only thing that eased Davis’s mind. The only thing to distract him. But so far, it wasn’t doing the trick today. He’d been in his garage for the last few hours, sanding the same section of the same board for fifteen minutes. Cooper was keeping his distance, currently sprawled out on the balmy driveway sunning himself.
Going into The Daily Grind to grab a cup of coffee this morning after leaving O’Henry’s had been his biggest mistake. Okay, maybe his second biggest mistake. His first, allowing the barista to assume he was Garrett. Now he had no one else to blame about the rumors circling around town.
Only three people knew the truth about what went down the night before. And so far not one of those three was talking. But deep down, he worried only two people knew the truth. That had been the reason why he abandoned Kelsey this morning. He’d awoken early, taken in the sight of her beautiful sleeping figure squished in next to him. Her hair wild and her cheek pressed to his chest, rising and falling along with his breathing.
But as he gazed at her, completely held captive, his mind spiraled, replaying each moment from the night before. Their first encounter in the office, their minimal exchange of words, their frenzied demeanor to get right to the point. As if the end goal was the only driving force. He was to blame for this too, his longing for her had been building for weeks and the minutes between finally kissing her and stripping off her clothing felt like the worst kind of torture.
