“Well, can you meet them now?”she begged.“Summer and I want to take our new books and have a reading party.Her parents let her take over the attic and she made it into this like, cozy reading nook.Please?”
Archer glanced at me with a raised brow.
I laughed and then looked at Lenni.“Lead the way.”
“Bill Harding,” Summer’s father greeted as he held out his hand to Archer.“My wife, Tanya.”
“Tanya Harding?”I asked with a raise of my brows.
She rolled her eyes and grinned.“I know, right?”
Summer’s family owned one of the local dairies in the area.And it only took a few minutes for Archer and Bill to begin laughing and joking around.
Tanya slipped around her husband to come to me, her smile wide.“I love your shoulder bag!What a cute print!”
“Thanks,” I said.“I made it, actually.”
“You didn’t.”
“I did,” I said, pride shooting through me.“I’m learning my way around a sewing machine.I found an old quilt at a thrift store.It was frayed at the edges, but there was enough material to work with.”
“May I ...”
I slid it off my shoulder and handed it to her.
“This isfantastic,” she said.“I’m not just saying that.I’d totally buy one of these.”
“Really?”I asked in surprise.
“Oh, yeah.Upcycling is a huge thing right now.I love that you used an old quilt.”
“Thank you,” I said, my cheeks rosy from her praise.
She returned my bag to me and looked at Bill and Archer.“I think our husbands are becoming fast friends.”
I blinked.“Oh, Archer and I aren’t married.”
“You’re not?”She frowned, her gaze bouncing from me to Archer to Lenni who’d gone with Summer to one of the couches.The two of them were curled toward each other, like a pair of shrimps.
“Oh,” Tanya said.“I just assumed—the way Lenni talked about you ...She mentioned her mother was ...I thought you were the stepmom.”
A warm ball of happiness settled in my ribcage.
“Nanny,” I corrected.
For the next week anyway.
“I see.Well, sorry for putting my foot in my mouth.”She shook her head.“I kind of say whatever’s on my mind.Speak first, think later.”
“That works for me,” I said with a wry grin.
“You all should come over for dinner one night soon,” she invited.“We just got a new grill and Bill’s been dying to use it when we have guests over.”
Before I could respond, she pulled out her cell phone from her back pocket.She unlocked it and handed it to me.“Put in your number.Once a month, I try and get some of the other moms in Summer’s class together for a little wine, cheese and recipe exchange night.You should come to the next one.Get to know some other people.Fair warning, none of us can hold our liquor.”
“Sounds fun.”
And it did.But they weren’t going to be my group of people.I didn’t tell Tanya that though.
