His grandmother stared from Evie to Hayden and back again. And then she crowed, “Ha! Married couples don’t need bathrobes.” She chuckled, heading down the stairs.
Evie and Hayden stood in the hallway, immobile until Gran reached the bottom step.
Then Evie pressed her palms over her red cheeks. “She thinks—”
“Exactly what she’s supposed to think,” Hayden reassured Evie. “That we’re married. Happily.” The more he thought about it, the lighter it made him feel. He smiled broadly. “That’s the goal of our friendly, right?”
“Right. That’s the goal.” Evie stood taller, looking like she was annoyed with him. “Out of the way, Hay-Hay. I’ve got work this morning.” She inched past him, careful not to touch.
And Hayden? He was disappointed.
*
After dropping Katie at preschool, Eve went through her morning shift at Oak Hill, chastising herself.
We’re just friends? Happily married friends?
Hayden had held her tenderly when she’d fallen on the obstacle course. She’d thought their relationship was deepening. How wrong she’d been.
“What did you say, dear?” Collette Larkin had a new hip and excellent hearing. “Something about friends?”
Eve had been dry-washing Collette’s coarse gray hair. “Nothing. It… I… I have an earworm. You know, a song stuck in my head.”
Please don’t ask me to sing it.
“Ah, you’ve got the honeymoon fog.” Collette chuckled, adjusting the flap of her green velour robe over her legs. “It’s been fifty years, but I remember that feeling. My mind was racing all the time, fixated on Dale. On the way his laughter made my heart sing. Or how I hoped he hadn’t taken my teasing the wrong way. And when we were apart, I’d wonder if he was thinking of me.” She laughed again. “I heard you and Hayden Bennett got married.”
“That’s old news.” Eve worked faster on getting Collette’s hair clean.
“When you’re sleeping inside these four walls, any news is ‘new’ news,” Collette said cheerfully. “It gives us something to talk about. I didn’t understand it when my mother was in here, but now I do.”
“It’s a bit different when the subject matter is about you.” And when you realized in six months they’d be gossiping about you again. Eve’s heart clenched.
“You’ve got to have thicker skin, dear.” Collette was a retired beautician. She spiked up her bangs in front. “It’s all harmless, especially when we all wish you well.”
Eve finished with Collette and carried the soiled towels from her room, nearly bumping into Laurie in the hallway.
Oak Hill’s director recovered first. “I’ve been looking for you, Eve.”
That didn’t bode well.
“Well, I—”
“The staff got together to give you a wedding gift.” Laurie handed Eve a thick card, striding off as if her duty had been completed. “I hope everything works out.”
“Thank you?” Eve called after her before hurrying to complete her duties before her half day of work ended.
A few hours later, Eve and Katie were back at the ranch, ready for their shift with Irene. They’d barely gotten in the front door before Hayden darted past them.
“I’m off. See you at dinner.” He trotted down the stairs, climbed into his truck, and drove off, pulling his horse trailer behind him.
Much as Eve appreciated a view of the man’s backside, she didn’t appreciate him flying past without a chance to tell him about their generous cash gift from her Oak Hill family.
“That’s my grandson,” Irene said, frowning at them from the bottom stair. “You’re related to him somehow.”
Irene was making progress. Eve gave the elderly woman a bright smile and reintroduced herself and Katie. “Have you fed the chickens yet today?”
“’Course, I have. And…” Irene rubbed her forehead. “I have some recollection of there being dessert in the house.”