Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Knowing Eleanor had improved Garrett’s life in a million ways, but even so, he could not discount that one of those things was the way she’d gotten him in the habit of stopping by the Honey Bee Bakery more than he had in the past. He had no regrets. Their caramel pecan sticky buns were to die for.
He was standing in the line enjoying the smell of baked goods, which he counted as a kind of appetizer, when he heard his name.
“Garrett, hey! It’s been too long.”
Garrett turned and grinned when he saw Shane… whom he had seen in Eleanor’s kitchen about fifteen minutes earlier.
Garrett had been the tiniest bit nervous when Shane had come to town.
He knew that Eleanor adored her brother, and Garrett had fretted, just a little, that he wouldn’t measure up to Shane’s opinion of the kind of man who deserved to be with his older sister.
Garrett was, after all, known around town to be a grump, and Eleanor was the brightest ray of sunshine that he had ever met.
If Shane disapproved, he had worried, would it negatively affect how Eleanor saw him too?
But Garrett found that he not only got along well enough with Shane, but that he actually liked the man. That was a pleasant surprise, as Garrett historically didn’t really like very many people, but maybe that was just another way that Eleanor was changing him for the better.
Or maybe there was magic in the Ridley family tree. Who knew?
“Hey, man,” he said, returning the greeting. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were headed this way. I could have given you a ride.”
Shane waved off the apology.
“You might not realize this, but this town is extremely walkable. Now, in San Francisco? That’s where I need rides.”
Garrett chuckled. “I do realize that, actually. I used to walk to the shop a lot, only then I realized that every time I did, someone needed me to have the truck. Every time. It was like they knew.” He paused, considering this.
“Although, maybe they did. Information moves awfully fast in this town.”
“I thought I would mind that more than I do,” Shane said speculatively as they shuffled up a little further in the line. “But weirdly, it feels kind of nice.”
Garrett gave a little nod. He was starting to come around to that way of thinking too.
“Hey,” Shane said, his tone suggesting that he was about to shift topics abruptly. “Do you know anything about how to fix up a cornhole board? You know the game with the—”
“With the boards and the holes and the…” He mimed an underhand throw.
“Bean bags, yeah,” Shane said. “I’m pretty hopeless at repairing that kind of stuff, but I’m trying to help out a friend.”
Garrett had never been one for subtlety.
“You’re trying to help Winnie Burnett,” he said.
Shane grinned a little sheepishly.
“And there’s that small town thing,” he said with a little laugh.
“Yeah, she’s trying to do this carnival fundraiser thing for the historical society, and she asked me for help with the boards and I…
did not provide that help. I’m going to do some assisting with the advertising, since computer stuff is way more in my wheelhouse, but I’d like to make good on that first promise. ”
Garrett tried not to smile. This was a novel experience for him, as he had much more practice trying to force a smile to his face than keep one off. He couldn’t help it though, not when he saw the way Shane looked when he talked about Winnie.
Dang, a little bit longer with Eleanor and he’d be as bad a matchmaker as Miriam was. Sheesh.
Even so, he couldn’t resist a little jab.
“So. Sounds like you and Winnie get along pretty well, then.”
Shane didn’t seem to mind. “Oh, nice try. People who are in love want to push everybody else into the same situation, huh? I know you do it from a place of kindness, but goodness.”
Garrett focused on not reacting to the word love. It was a word that had been bouncing around his head a lot recently, but one that hadn’t yet crossed his lips.
Shane didn’t seem to notice how carefully Garrett was orienting his face. He kept going, cheerful as ever.
“And it’s contagious around here! I thought Ellie’s friends Tyler and Cadence were newlyweds from how they act, but it turns out they just bounced back from a rough patch and believe that everybody else can be just as happy too, if they put their minds to it.
” He shook his head, laughing wryly. “I mean, after her divorce, Ellie was so sure she’d never want a long-term relationship again, but you’ve got her talking about the possibility of remarrying—”
Garrett lost his fight with his composure.
“She said that?” he blurted, a strange, warm feeling surging in his chest.
Shane’s face went bone white.
“Um,” he said. “I, uh, what?”
Garrett just stared at him.
Shane crumpled. “Okay, yes. She did. But I am very distinctly getting the impression that you didn’t talk about that and that I have just massively put my foot in it, so please forget that I ever said anything?”
“Yeah,” Garrett lied. “No problem. Totally forgotten.”
Shane didn’t look like he believed him. Garrett supposed that was fair enough.
Still, the two of them put forth a valiant effort in pretending that they hadn’t talked about any such thing as they kept shuffling to the front of the line.
They tried talking about sports, only to discover that neither of them followed football, which was the sport currently in season.
They chatted unenthusiastically about the different pastry options until finally, mercifully, Garrett was at the front of the line.
He ordered his sticky bun, overwhelmingly grateful when they delivered it quickly. He waved goodbye to Shane, who was also looking a bit abashed, then hurried out the door to his truck.
It was only when he got inside that he let himself smile. He didn’t stop thinking about Shane’s words for the whole rest of the day. Three of his customers commented that he was so cheerful that they were tempted to mistake him for someone else.