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“I’m sorry,” I said, though it really wasn’t my fault.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m driving?”
“I can drive,” he offered. “We just have to take your car.”
“Okay.” I dug through my purse and handed the keys over. “And you’re paying?”
He cracked a smile. “Are you going to take advantage of me?”
I scowled. That one hit too close to home. Maybe this dinner was a bad idea.
He recovered quickly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up. We can go anywhere you want.”
“We can just go for tacos,” I said, holding my hand out with the keys.
“I know a great taco place in Nashville,” he said, playing keep away.
“Linc,” I sighed.
“Please, Aly.” He turned his puppy dog eyes on me. “If this is my last chance to make it up to you, let me do it right.”
I considered that. I was too tired to drive to Nashville, but if Linc was driving, I could go along for the ride. If he was paying too, I could order whatever I wanted and not worry about the bill. It would be fun to get out of Singer’s Ridge for an evening, even if it was just for tacos. And I didn’t want to admit that this might not be the last chance at reconciliation. The way things were going, I was sure he was going to talk his way back into my bed.
“Okay,” I relented.
“Great.” He skipped around me and held the door open. I walked through, feeling like a princess.
While Linc drove, we began to talk. He told me about Mrs. Washington’s attempt to get us back together. “She made the best butter cookies, and she made me tea and sat me down to tell me I had to make things right.”
“She sounds sweet.” I refused to comment on the substance of her message.
“She’s like a mom. I really feel like this whole town has come together to support me.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Of course, I was pleased that the town was behind Linc. He had seen so much in his short life that he deserved a welcoming home. At the same time, I felt left out. Where were my cookies and tea? Who was checking in to see if I was doing alright? Did they just assume that because I had never left Singer’s Ridge, that I never would? Didn’t they think I needed comforting too?
I put on my brave face and smiled for him, but Linc saw right through it. “What’s wrong?”
“No one sat me down and gave me cookies,” I mumbled.
“I’m sure that’s because you’re a powerful, intelligent woman, whereas I am a train wreck.”
“Thanks,” I said. It did make me feel better.
“And I really was a train wreck,” he continued. “I didn’t sleep at all. I went walking around the neighborhoods drunk. I took a shower in my clothes.”
“You did what?” I gasped.
“I took a shower in my clothes,” he repeated.
“Why would you do that?”
“I don’t know. Probably because I was drunk.” He shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
I frowned, puzzling that one out. I had never heard of anyone taking a shower fully clothed before. What would be the point? I felt like there was more to the story that I was missing.
“But how could you get clean if you had all your clothes on?”
