Page 28 of Here & Now

“Great, so you’ll come?”

She eyed him closely, like she was still thinking. Finally, she said, “I’ll come on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“You let me interview you.”

A slow grin spread across his face. “Smart woman.”

She smiled back.

“It’s a deal.”

Seven

Bree kept to herself for the next few days. She’d had a good time with Zane Saturday night, but she didn’t want to make a habit of it. She’d helped him clean up after dinner (he’d argued, but she’d insisted) and left shortly afterward. He’d walked her to the door, and there’d been an awkward moment when she hadn’t been sure what to do.

If it had been a date, they might have kissed goodbye, but it definitely wasn’t a date. If he’d been a friend, they might have hugged, but he wasn’t that, either. How did one say goodbye to their hot, single neighbor?

She’d been so caught up in her head that when he leaned in, she panicked and stuck out her hand. He chuckled and then shook it. What else could he do? She hadn’t left him much choice.

Her cheeks were aflame as she quickly sailed out the door, calling goodbye over her shoulder.

“See you Wednesday at seven o’clock,” he said.

She flapped her hand in acknowledgment without turning around. When she was safely back inside her house, she flopped down on the couch and sighed.

Why did life have to be so complicated? She’d come here with a single focus: cleaning out her grandparents’ house and listing it for sale. Instead, she was eating dinner and agreeing to a dolphin cruise with her sexy neighbor, who also happened to be good at fixing bikes and grilling steaks. If only she’d met him at home in Michigan.

She glanced down at the wine stains on her new outfit and frowned. Naturally, she’d spilled something while having dinner with him.

It was now Wednesday, and she was still embarrassed about it.

Memories. She was sitting in the middle of her grandparents’ bed, surrounded by them. She remembered crawling in between them at night and her grandmother reading her a story. Her grandpa would listen too, but by the end of the book, he was usually snoring.

“How do you sleep with all that noise?” Bree had asked.

Her grandma had laughed. “Oh, you get used to things.”

She’d learned that her grandma’s words didn’t apply to everything. How could she get used to never seeing her grandma again? Her grandpa had died a few years ago, and she hadn’t gotten used to that, either.

She’d just emptied the drawers in her grandma’s nightstand and was flooded with memories. An old pair of reading glasses had been shoved to the back, and she recalled her grandma always complaining about losing them. There must have been at least ten pairs floating around the house.

She’d also found a dozen Harlequin romance novels, some of which she’d read as a teenager. She credited her grandma for instilling in her a love of reading at a young age. She’d always kept “the kids’ room” stocked with books, and each time they visited, Bree and Ivy had raced to the bedroom to find the latest titles their grandma had added. The memory made her smile.

In the bottom drawer of the nightstand, she’d found some old letters she and Ivy had written her grandma from Michigan. Instead of bundling them up or throwing them away, she opened and reread each of them. By the time she’d read the last letter, she was bawling.

Of course, at that moment, the phone rang. Swiping away her tears, she glanced at the screen and saw it was her boss/friend, Shannon. She took a deep breath and then answered.

“Hey, Shannon.”

“Hey. How’s it going in the Sunshine State?”

Bree looked out the bedroom window, where the sun shone in through the sheer curtain. “Sunny as usual.” Too bad her mood didn’t match.

“I would be jealous, but I know this isn’t a pleasure trip for you.”

She glanced at the opened letters. “No, it isn’t.”