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He grunts. “Caleb and I are already trying to rally for it.”
After more potholes, large cracks, and so many curves I lose count of them, we pull up at a large yellow house. We step out of the truck, and I smile as Aubrey tells me about how Lauren found this place. One of her bigger projects was painting the place this canary color, and I have to agree that it suits it. It’s lovely with the setting sun. In the fall, it probably blends in a bit with the leaves changing colors, and then in the winter and spring, it must be a peppy, bright hue to herald the coming return of summer against the drab gray of coldness.
Lauren is no less charming this time as she welcomes me into the big house.
Caleb hugs me and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Welcome to the Goldfinch,” he says warmly.
“What is that smell?” I inhale deeply, about to drool at the scents of freshly baked something. I just spent years in the heart of Paris. There was no shortage of bakeries around my apartment I shared with Owen, but nothing there smelled as lovely as the goods being prepared in here somewhere.
“Marian’s magic,” Aubrey says with just as deep of an inhale as I did. “Oooh. I love this casserole. She makes these little apple biscuits to go with it, and it is divine.”
An older woman with long, graying hair comes through the hall, beaming at us all. “Oh, you boys are right. She does look like a model!”
Lauren and Aubrey giggle, and I give in to the urge to smile. “I do not,” I protest.
“So glamorous.” She steps closer, taking my hand to squeeze. It’s not a shake, but still, kind of comes across as one. Having her hand on mine doesn’t make butterflies take off in my stomach like when Sawyer gripped my finger earlier. A slight blush threatens to warm my cheeks as I think back to it. Why didn’t I let go? Why did I let him hold on to me like that for so long? I hated how stuck I got on the feel of his rough hand on me, like a taboo threat that was too exciting to stop.
“I’m Marian,” she introduces herself, “and I’m so happy to have you here. The boys have talked about you so often, I feel like you were destined to show up.”
“Why?” Caleb asks as he leads us into the dining room. “Because her life is kind of rocky?”
I cut him a stern look. I don’t need a reminder of why I’m practically hiding here. Lauren jabs her elbow in his side.
“Where are your manners?” she scolds.
“He’s not wrong,” Dalton says. “We all ended up here when we needed a change of scenery.” He gives me a sympathetic look as he holds a chair out for Aubrey.
“Marian,” an older man says as he pops his head around the doorway, “that backsplash is done for today.” He grins and winks. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I do a double-take, almost missing my chair as I sit. I’m new here, but he looks so familiar that I need to glance at him again.
“Thank you, Jason,” Marian says as she waves at him.
After he leaves, I glance around the table, wondering why everyone’s giving Marian such sly looks. She doesn’t pay them any attention, and I feel too much like a stranger to be so rude as to ask what’s going on.
“He totally has a crush on you!” Lauren finally blurts out as we pass dishes around.
Still, Marian doesn’t react, not looking up at her and acknowledging her comment. “More chicken, Aubrey?”
“Marian and Jason,” Aubrey sings, “sitting in a tree. K-I-S—”
The B&B owner smirks at her. “The only tree Jason and I would fit in was the one that fell down near the house last summer. Stop that nonsense.” She’s not scolding. It looks like she’s fighting a losing battle not to smile.
“It is interesting, though,” Caleb says, “that Jason is hanging around fixing so many things so soon after we had the place remodeled last year.”
“He’s finding something wrong everywhere he looks,” Dalton teases. “Almost like he wants an excuse to be here.”
Marian still doesn’t react. She’s either the coolest cucumber ever, or there’s nothing to what they’re hinting at.
“Maybe the person who did the remodeling did a lousy job,” I say, eager to back up this sweet older woman.
She cackles, laughing.
“You won’t hear an argument from me,” Dalton grumbles. “Hayes was an ass.”
Caleb chuckles as Marian beams at me. “No. Jason is looking for excuses to hang around.” She winks. “I’m just playing hard to get. But thank you for being on my side.”
Lauren and Aubrey give her a hard time about being coy with Jason, and even I struggle to keep a straight face. “Why does he look so familiar?” I ask when the chatter calms down.
