Page 41 of Piece By Piece

“Dixie told you.”

“Dixie told me.”

She sighed.

“It was fine, I guess. He was nice, I mean. But he talked about his truck for forty-five minutes.”

Grant almost smiled, but he didn’t. It was just the faintest loosening of his jaw and a flicker in his eyes.

It almost looked like relief, which it wasn’t. Definitely wasn’t.

“Forty-five minutes,” he repeated.

“I now know more about diesel engines than any human being should.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah, it really was.”

He took another sip of his coffee.

“Well, better luck next time.”

“Oh, please don’t say next time. You know, Dixie has a list.”

“A list?”

“Three names. The firefighter was number one. Number two runs some kayak rental place, and Dixie says he has arms like a lumberjack.”

Grant’s expression went very still.

“Arms like a lumberjack.”

“Hey, her words, not mine.”

He nodded tightly and then turned around toward his shop door.

“Well, I hope he’s more conversational than the truck enthusiast.”

He went inside, and the door closed with a little more force than usual.

Liza stood there looking at the door and bit her lip to keep from smiling because she knew what that meant.

The tight nod. The clipped tone. The door that closed half a second too fast.

That was the closest thing she’d ever seen to jealousy from Grant Whitmore.

And she shouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as she did.

Dixie’s second attempt arrived on Thursday evening in the form of Kyle, the kayak rental operator.

He showed up at puzzle night with the confused energy of a man who had been told this was a date but wasn’t entirely sure what the event was.

To be fair, Dixie had created the whole thing.

She’d invited Kyle as Liza’s, quote, guest, end quote, and then positioned herself at the puzzle table directly across from them so that she could observe like some sort of nature documentary narrator.

Kyle was broad-shouldered and tanned with the easy smile of someone who spent his days on the water.