“Hey, Theo,” Mollie said the second I got to her. “Want some eggs—wait, is that Piper?”
“Hi,” Piper said with a small wave. “I’m finally out of my cave.”
“Oh my God, I’m so happy to meet you in person. I’m sorry about Jasmine nearly taking you out. Are you okay?”
“I’m ... Yeah, I’m good. I overreacted about that.”
“It’s easy to be scared off by that child running full speed toward anything.”
“Usually she runs full speed toward the road,” Cain muttered. “Nice to meet you, Piper. I’ve heard good things.”
“You too.” She eyed him. “You’re not in the Facebook group, are you?”
“I am. I just never have anything to say.”
“You and Theo are alike.”
“We are.”
Cain looked at me and gave a nod. That was usually the extent of our greetings, and I liked it that way.
“So, you two are friends?” he asked.
“We are,” I replied.
“Yeah,” Piper said quietly, gaze on me. “We are.”
Mollie’s eyes cut between us, and I thought she would mention how close we stood, but then she focused on Piper.
“How are you liking it here so far?” she asked. “I worry weall gave you a terrible impression since we haven’t seen much of you.”
“No, that’s just me. I was lucky to get out of the house today.” She laughed, and looked around the square. “But I’m glad I came out.”
Piper chatted with Mollie while Cain and I stood off to the side in companionable silence. We both wound up with eggs and plenty of jam before we were sent on our way.
“Are you tired of me yet?” Piper asked. “I might need help getting all of this upstairs.”
Both of us were loaded up, but she’d gotten far more than I had.
“Not tired of you yet,” I said. “I’ll help you with it.”
I didn’t think it was possible for her smile to get brighter, but it did. We walked up the metal steps.
There had been many times I wondered about the floor above me, but I’d only seen it in the listing pictures when it was for rent. Seeing it in person made me realize how much bigger it was than in the photos.
“Wow,” I said.
“It’s a little bare,” she rushed to say.
“You just moved in. And the decor is nice.” She had pictures on a few of the walls and a couch and chair in the living room. “It was a big project of Wren’s.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s so nice. With the price, I was honestly shocked it was available.”
“Not a lot of people move here. They visit now, but they don’t stay.” I shrugged. “Which is what I like about things here.”
“And then I broke that.”
“I can live with it.”
