Page 119 of While You Were Trending

“I think he’d understand the significance of your feelings. He’s a good guy.”

He is.

He always was.

While I might not appreciate his methods when it came to me, I get it.

Mabel was right.

A guy doesn’t write something like that note he left me if he justlikedyou.

But did he love me?

Or did he love the me that he thought he saw?

And what about me now?

“Are you sure?” she asks.

“Very,” I reply.

Adelaide bites her lip again. “I’m less picky about my ribs, and Iamhungry.”

I smile. “If you don’t like them, there’s always ice cream.”

“But Foxy won’t be there?” she asks.

“He has free rein around here at the moment, but I hear he’s been working hard all week and might need a break. I honestly couldn’t tell you if he’ll show up or not. Unless you want me to tell him to stay away.”

She shakes her head so hard, so fast, that her auburn hair whips side to side too. “Oh, no, don’t scare him off. There’s places to hide in the barn if he shows up and I chicken out.”

“There are,” I agree.

Though I need to quit using hiding places.

It’s time to face the elephant and go see Declan myself.

23

WHAT THIS WOMAN WANTS

Ginny

Ten minutes later,Adelaide is back upstairs to take a shower in case she decides to join us for ribs, and I’m standing on the concrete deck beneath Heath’s porch, knocking at the glass sliding door of the basement apartment.

My mouth is dry and my fingers are tingling and my heart is trying to set a record for most beats per minute without causing a heart attack.

Cricket’s chickens are clucking happily in their little pen nearby. The distinct sound of a hockey announcer calling a game drifts through a cracked window.

Flow whines, and an overwhelming urge to hug her settles deep in my gut.

And then the door lock clicks and slides open, and there’s the man who’s haunted my every thought in the past two weeks, bending down to grip Flow’s collar as she tries to push past him.

He’s in loose black shorts and a faded University of Minnesota T-shirt, and he freezes as he looks up at me.

“Hi,” I blurt, holding out the bag. “The delivery people dropped this off at the house. It happens all the time. I mean, not all the time. Heath doesn’t order takeout very often, but anytime my brother stays here, he orders something and it always ends up at the main house. But that might be to annoy Mabel. He gets under her skin. Which isn’t a surprise once you know my brother. He’s good at getting under people’s skin. And he leans into what he’s good at, so he does it a lot.”

I pause and take a breath, finally listening to the voice in my head telling me to stop talking and just hand the man his food.