“Hi.” I smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“Audrey was the model for a life studies art class I went to last year. Of course, everyone knows everyone around here. It’s so nice that you’re visiting.”
I pause. “Grandma posed nude?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. She never mentioned that. How cool.”
“I wish I had half her confidence,” says Amy.
“You and me both.”
Her smile seems twitchy. Like she’s nervous about something. “Nash happened to stop by the knitting circle today, and wow. He’s just so much fun.”
“Yes, he is.”
“And we loved having him there. He had some of the older participants blushing so bright. The man is very good-looking.”
“I’m sure he will attend again sometime soon. He said he thoroughly enjoyed it.” I mean, he said he thoroughly enjoyed the baked goods, which is close enough.
Then Amy takes a breath and says, “The thing is…he and I really hit it off.”
And I don’t know what to say.
“I heard about your good news,” she continues. “When are you due?”
“Oh, that’s a while off still.”
She nods and just sort of stares at me. Her mouth opens and closes with no words coming out. This is so fucking weird.
“Was there something else?” I ask with a polite smile.
“Meeting new people in a small town is hard.”
“I can imagine.”
“What with all of the rumors around town, I was wondering about something.” She pauses again. “Are you two together just for the purposes of parenting or…you know. I don’t want to step on any toes. But some people in the bar last night seemed to think you were done with him while others thought you were giving him another chance.”
My eyes feel as wide as dinner plates. “Huh.”
“You guys are the tea.”
“So, it seems,” I say. “Nash really made an impact on you, huh?”
And her smile is so strained. As it should be. Because what the fuck even is this?
“I think Nash is probably the best person to answer these questions,” I say.
The woman stops and blinks.
“It was nice to meet you,” I say, which is such a lie. Standing in any other section of the grocery store would be a good thing.I don’t wait to hear anything further from her. She’s attracted to my fake boyfriend, and fair enough. He’s hot and funny and all the things. The woman has great taste.
“You didn’t get any meat?” he asks from behind a shopping cart. Guess he decided a basket was insufficient.
“We’re going vegetarian for the good of the climate.”
“Okay,” he says, inspecting the contents of the shopping basket in his hand. “There’s lettuce, cucumber, and tomato for the salad. And some mushrooms and corn and potatoes to go on the grill. Do you think there’s any chance Audrey would let me—”
