But the idea of promising anything to a small town sounded wrong.
“We’ll see,” I said. “Who knows where life will take us?”
“That’s a cop-out answer.” Mark shook his head. “But I’ll hold out hope.”
13
GRACE
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Tammy Jane: @Henrietta Brown, y’all have gotta get your website updated. I need to request a book.
Comments:
Henrietta Brown:Just request it here for now.
Tammy Jane:Well, I was trying not to offend sensitive ears here ... but here we go. It’s the romance book about the woman who gets lost on a spider planet.
Mollie Wilson:I—did I just read the last original sentence on the internet?
Wren Hackett:Wait, a romance book??? Who does the woman end up with??? Please say it’s another man who got lost too.
Jade Clark:Oh, I know that book! It’s so good. No, it’s not a human man.
Wren Hackett:But how does that even WORK?
Tammy Jane:It’s a popular genre, Wren. And after beingmarried to a human man for far too long, I need a little fantasy in my life.
Marjorie Brown:I TOLD you to stock a monster romance section, Henrietta! Now look at what you’ve done.
Henrietta Brown:I’m gonna hire someone to update the website.
When I walkeddown the steps,notfalling on my ass was the biggest shock of my life.
After safely making it to the ground, I saw that the loose wooden step had been screwed in, leaving it secure and stable.
My first thought was that Wren had to have done it, but she was with me most of the time. The only one who had disappeared was ... Dean.
But that didn’t make sense.
I knew Dean’s type. He was emotionally insecure. The only time he’d been nice since finding out I was pregnant was when he’d fixed my heat in exchange for dinner. But he was getting something from that.
Had he seen the step and simply ... fixed it?
If he did, then Ihadto do something in return. I couldn’t simply accept help and not return the favor.
I was early for the day, and I’d heard he was working on the apartment above Theo’s coffee shop, so I had time to get a hot drink and see if it had been his doing.
Coffee wasn’t enough, but it was a start.
Of course, when I got in line, I knew it was rude of me to get something for me and nothing for him. And I did really owe him.
“Morning,” I greeted Theo when I got to the front. “Good day today?”
“It’s been all right.”
Kelsey turned around. “Speak for yourself. My shirt’s been ruined and I think I permanently smell like peppermint.”