“Teagan Lowery,” I say without trying to come up with some answer to her convoluted statement.
Josie sets her coffee down. “Teagan came into the shop her first week, ordering flowers for an assembly. I liked her.” She takes a sip of her coffee. When she puts her mug down, I refill it. “You want her for Nick?”
“I don’t know if want is the right word.”
She shakes her head. “Nick already knows her. She’s technically his boss and he’s coaching her son. Plus, Nick fills inwhen the trainer is gone sometimes. They’re in and out of the same building every day.” She tips her head.
“Knowing her and seeing her aren’t the same thing.” I drink my coffee. “I wasn’t going to get involved because, hello frenemy. Except Nick came in last night and he gave me some updates on Mack, like my opinion matters. We got to talking and I feel bad for him. The shit Aubrey did—that could’ve really messed him up. He put the kids first, put his practice on hold, and went to South Africa to make sure Amelie was taken care of.”
“He’s a good dad,” she says. “Always has been.”
The last bit stings. I’m not going to say anything to her about it because I deserve it.
“Anyway, we talk while Amelie was at dance class.” I shrug. “And then Teagan came in, and we start talking.”
“You’re a real Dr. Phil.”
Her words give me an idea. “I wonder how I can get one of those honorary doctorates? Then everyone would have to call me Dr. Liam.”
Josie covers her face with her hand and mutters something unintelligible.
“Teagan’s a widow and I got the impression she’s looking for friends. Who better of a friend than the single doctor in town.”
Josie’s grinning at me over her mug now, and it’s the grin that means she’s already three moves ahead and enjoying the view.
“So what do you want from me,” she says, testing me. “They already share a parking lot. I can’t introduce two people who say good morning to each other.”
“They’re past that.” And here’s the part that’s been eating me since she left the bar yesterday. “I think they need to be in a room where they have to talk as Nick and Teagan. Not Mr. Ashford and Ms. Lowery, coach and boss, dad and principal.”
Josie tips her head, studying me, and something moves behind her eyes that I like a lot better than the teasing.
“Look at you,” she says. “Thinking past your own nose.”
“It happens when you give me a challenge. You knew I wouldn’t back down.”
“Rarely.” She sets the mug down beside her on the counter. “So you’re telling me you found Nick someone and have no idea how to get them together?”
I lift my shoulders and drink from my mug.
“Liam . . .”
I cross the kitchen and stand between her knees, my hands on the counter on either side of her hips. “You already know her. You already like her. She’s in and out of your shop all year for school flowers anyway. So, what I’m thinking is you get her to the house and I’ll take another one for the team and be with Nick. We’ll just happen to stop by but you’ve made this big meal so Nick has to stay for dinner.”
She’s quiet a second, working it. Then: “You want me to do the actual work, and you take the credit.”
“We work together. We take credit. Honestly, having a happy Nick benefits the both of us. When he’s here for the errant Sunday dinner, he won’t be so dramatic.” I kiss her forehead. I don’t tell her the part where, if he has someone, then I won’t always wonder if he’s pining for my wife. I’d never admit that to anyone other than Harrison and JD.
“Huh.” She loops her arms around my neck. “You’ve really thought about this.”
“I think about a lot of things. You only catch the dumb ones out loud.”
“I’ll meet with her,” Josie says. “Because I want to, not because you told me to. And you,” she taps a finger against my chest, “The second you get in over your head with Nick, you call me. Not the guys, not your own face at Sunday dinner. Me.”
“Why does everybody keep saying that about my face.”
“Because it’s a billboard, Liam Page. We can’t leave or come into town without seeing it.” She kisses me, quick, and slides down off the counter. “Now move. Your son and my grandbabies are going to be standing in my kitchen in a few hours and there is nothing in this house to feed them.”
There’s enough in this house to feed a battalion. There always is. But I let her chase me out of the kitchen, because chasing me out of the kitchen is one of her favorite things and I’m not a man who denies his wife the small stuff.
