Chapter 5
THE DAY HAD BEEN WONDERFUL—fun and restful—and the only annoying thing was that Brandy had told all their friends Malcom Graves was making eyes at Lori the night before. Which wasn’t true at all. Lori had thought he was definitely solicitous and attentive—but she chalked that up to his personality more than anything. He ran a construction company, and he had to deal with employees and people all day long. So of course he knew how to listen and make the other person feel genuinely heard.
“I think I’m going to read for a little bit,” Lori told her friends. “Unless you still need my help.”
“We’re totally good,” Julie said.
They’d just finished prepping a couple of salads to go along with dinner, and Dave and Ian would be starting on the meat in about an hour.
“What are you reading?” Stephenie asked, leaning on the counter across from her. “Anything good?”
“I brought a few selections,” Lori said. “But I think I’m going to start the mystery I brought, The Thursday Murder Club . Heard only good things.”
“Oh, I’ve read that series,” Steph said. “Excellent fun.”
Julie’s frown appeared. “How is a murder mystery fun?”
“It’s a cozy mystery series—kind of amateur sleuth stuff,” Stephenie said. “Quirky characters who are endearing.”
“What’s endearing?” Cal asked, coming into the kitchen. He settled an arm across Stephenie’s shoulders.
“We’re just talking about books,” she said, leaning against him.
Cal pressed a kiss on her cheek.
Time for Lori to go. “Let me know if you need anything.” She headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Her bedroom overlooked the back of the house, and if she stood at the right angle, she could see the deck. She settled onto the bed and grabbed the mystery novel. Before she dove in, she texted Marci for an update. A reply came immediately.
Steady traffic, but not so busy that I can’t handle it. Mostly selling Halloween decor.
Great, Lori texted back. She was happy people were buying the Halloween stuff—it meant she’d made the right ordering decisions. She set her phone aside and opened the novel.
Somehow time flew by, and she was just figuring out who all the characters were when she heard male voices outside the cabin. Maybe the men were starting up the barbecue? She had to check . . . in case . . . Climbing off the bed, she crossed to the window and looked down at the deck.
Dave, Ian, and Cal were all on the deck. Yep, starting up the barbecue. As she watched, Austin came outside, and with him, another man wearing a ball cap.
Lori’s heart stuttered. It was Malcom. She knew it, even with the ball cap on.
He’d come after all.
She moved back a step in case someone looked up and spotted her. But she couldn’t stop spying on them—or him, more specifically. He wore a T-shirt and shorts, and he seemed to be intermixing with the other guys quite easily. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but there was definitely laughter.
Lori’s pulse continued to race, which it had no business doing. She and Malcom had an interesting conversation last night, that was all. She moved to the en suite bathroom and checked her appearance. She undid her ponytail and smoothed her hair, then put it up again. Black-and-silver spider earrings dangled from her earlobes. They were one of her favorite pairs. She’d actually worn them on one of her dates last year. He had said he hated spiders.
By the time she came out of the bathroom and looked out the window again, the women had joined the men. Well, that meant it was time for her to go downstairs. She didn’t want anyone coming to look for her. Drawing a deep breath and shaking away any nervous thoughts—which were ridiculous—she headed downstairs, then slipped out onto the deck.
She crossed to the rail and perched next to it, acting interested in the conversation going on around her. Brandy was in the midst of the men, and the other women were talking about Julie’s kids.
“Oh, here’s a funny one of Maren when she was trying to feed her baby brother goldfish crackers.” Julie held out her phone and the women passed it from one to the other.
“So you took the picture, then took way the goldfish?” Everly teased.
“Well, yeah.” Julie laughed and retrieved her phone. “Bad mom?”
“I’m not going to judge anyone’s parenting,” Everly said. “I mean, I’m still trying to figure out the ropes of being a stepmom.”
The conversation morphed into talking about seven-year-old Jessica, who was Austin’s daughter. He was widowed, so now Everly was mom and stepmom.
“Oh, there you are,” Brandy said, turning away from the guys and spotting Lori.
Lori smiled over at her friend. She really didn’t want to be singled out, and she could only pray that Brandy wouldn’t put her on the spot about something. But Brandy just sat in a nearby chair and added to the conversation about how adorable and smart Jessica was. “I swear she’s going to be a lawyer or politician someday,” she said with a laugh. “That girl’s got some negotiating skills.”
Lori laughed too—she’d definitely been witness to that. Just then, Malcom separated from the group of men. Maybe she’d been watching him, but it hadn’t been intentional.
“Hey,” he said. “How are you?”
Well, that quieted all of the women, so everyone heard her answer. “Great. Glad you decided to come.”
Lori hoped her voice sounded normal . . . Did it sound normal? She didn’t feel normal. Her pulse was jumping around again. Malcom’s hazel eyes were more green than brown in the light of the setting sun. His shirt looked like it had been painted on, although it wasn’t exactly tight. It just defined every bit of his shoulders and upper arms and torso. Lori wasn’t one to ogle a man’s body, but Malcom was hard to look away from. Which was, again, ridiculous. Lori had gone on plenty of dates with athletic men. She’d even dated a body builder—well, one time—whose neck was larger than her thigh.
“I got my brother to fill in on the maintenance calls today for this community,” Malcom said. “After all, it was his sister-in-law who put together the contract without giving me a heads-up.”
So . . . he was picking up from last night’s conversation, and her friends were all here for it, soaking in every word.
“That’s only fair, right?” Lori said, feeling self-conscious and probably blushing as well. “Do you guys split the company fifty-fifty?”
“On paper, yes.” Malcom finished crossing the distance and leaned on the railing a couple feet from her. There were plenty of chairs around, but it seemed he wasn’t going to take one.
“What does that mean?” She might as well continue talking to him. First, she was interested in his answers, and second, her friends were still basically staring at him.
“Bronson’s wife helps out on a part-time basis, but her opinion carries plenty of weight,” he said, folding his arms, which of course made them more defined.
Heavens.
“We put her on payroll a few months ago, even though she kept trying to tell us not to,” Malcom said. “She’s kind of stubborn.”
Lori smiled. “Sounds like it. But you’re a standup person to do that.”
“We’ll see after today,” he said. “She might resent their weekend plans being interrupted.”
“Oh wow, yeah,” Lori said. “Did they have big plans?”
“She said no, but she always has something planned.” His gaze stayed on her—as it had been from the moment he started talking to her. Did he not know they had an audience?
“Well, hopefully this barbecue will be delicious enough to justify a family dispute.”
Malcom laughed.
Heavens again. Had she not noticed his dimples before? Okay, so she’d noticed, but she was trying not to add to his list of qualities. Physical stuff was just icing on the cake anyway. It didn’t give longevity to relationships.
“I’ll let you know,” he said, his laugh still dancing in his eyes.
“Perfect,” she said with a smile. And somehow she knew he wasn’t teasing. He would let her know. Would he get her number and text her? Would he come over to the shop? Would she randomly see him outside? They were kind of neighbors . . .
“I like the spiders,” he said.
It took her a minute before she realized what he meant. “Oh, thanks.” She touched one of her earrings, feeling the small dangling legs.
“She wears all kinds of bugs on her ears,” Julie said. “My three-year-old is fascinated by them.”
“Not all kinds of bugs,” Lori said. “These spider ones, sure. I have ants too. Otherwise I have things like dragonflies and butterflies.”
“Ants? When do you wear those?” Malcom asked. “Oh wait, let me guess.” He pretended to think. “Hiking? To a picnic?”
Lori grinned. “Pretty much. You’d make a good detective.”
Brandy joined them at the rail, while the other women fell into their own conversation. “You should see her on Halloween night,” she said with a glint in her eye. “She dresses up like a witch, and no one recognizes her.”
Malcom’s brows raised. “What kind of witch?”
Lori was speechless for a moment. No one had ever asked her that. “I’m a nice witch, of course,” she said. “More of a fortune teller, really.”
“I’ll bet the kids love that.”
“She has lines out the door,” Brandy said.
His dimples were back. “Looking forward to seeing it.”
Lori’s pulse jumped another notch. Of course he’d still be around at the end of October. How long would the building project take? Several months at least.
“The first batch of hamburgers is ready,” Dave announced. “The steaks and chicken will take a little longer.”
“What are you having?” Malcom asked.
“Oh, um, I’ll wait for the chicken.” She made eye contact with Brandy, who had a big smile on her face. “But you help yourself if you want a hamburger,” she told him.
He moved off to get his burger, and Brandy didn’t wait even a half a minute before saying in a whisper, “He’s interested in you.”
“No, he’s not,” Lori said immediately, keeping her voice quiet too.
The women had fallen silent again. “What’s this?” Everly asked.
“Nothing,” Lori replied at the same time that Brandy said, “Malcom hasn’t paid attention to anyone except for Lori since the moment she came outside.”
“Ooo.” Stephenie quirked a smile. “I can see it. I can definitely see it. You two would make a good match.”
“None of us even know him,” Lori protested. “Not really. Just because he’s single, and I’m single, doesn’t mean we need to automatically start dating.”
“You forgot to mention that he’s hot,” Brandy said with a wink.
Lori hoped her face wasn’t turning red. “Which would prove my point even more. I’m not interested in players.” She knew he wasn’t a player—well, she didn’t think he was. He didn’t give off that vibe, and from their conversation last night, she’d ruled that out. “Besides, who else is he going to talk to when everyone else has a plus one except for me?”
Her friends were all staring at her, in various stages of speculation and amusement.
“We’re just teasing,” Brandy said, although she looked like she was about to laugh.
“Oh, he just glanced over here,” Julie said, her voice a low rumble. “Don’t look now, but he’s definitely checking out Lori.”
“I’ll bet he asks for your number before the barbecue is over,” Stephenie added.
All of the women grinned, anticipation in their eyes.
Lori was officially annoyed. They weren’t teenagers anymore, and they all knew about her bad dating experiences and her current hiatus. Actually, she was more than annoyed. She felt emotion burning in her chest, which was ridiculous. But she wasn’t going to survive this barbecue if all of her friends were watching and speculating. Someone would say something embarrassing, like Ian had last night, and she just wasn’t up for it.
“Hey, I need to grab something inside,” she said, and walked away before anyone could question her.
She had nothing to grab inside, unless it was her sanity, because her emotions were simmering. Why was she so upset? These were her best friends. They razzed each other all the time. What made this any different? She was being too sensitive, and she knew it, but that didn’t stop her eyes from burning as she walked through the cabin. She didn’t stop until she reached the front porch. Settling onto the hanging porch swing, she forced herself to take some calming breaths.
If she were completely honest with herself, the only reason she was reacting like this was because she had enjoyed her time with Malcom last night. And she had been flattered when he’d come over and chatted with her just now. He was a cool guy. She liked talking to him. He was interesting, attentive, and yes, he was good-looking. But there was a lot more to him than that. And it wasn’t like Lori was hoping to date him, though she would like to get to know him better.
But not on stage with everyone watching and putting in their two cents.
She texted Marci for any store updates. Marci wrote back that she was just getting ready to close, and everything had gone well that day. Plenty of sales. Lori typed back that she’d check inventory when she returned the next day to see about reordering the things that had been popular.
She pocketed her phone, feeling a little disappointed that she wasn’t needed. There wasn’t any emergency reason for her to return—like a broken pipe. Not that she’d be any good with fixing anything like that—Malcom probably would. But that was neither here nor there.
She closed her eyes and used her toes to push back on the swing, gently rocking it back and forth. It was peaceful out front, and she could hear the rise and fall of murmured conversation from around the house, but it wasn’t disruptive.
When the front door opened, Lori opened her eyes, realizing she’d dozed off.
Malcom walked out onto the porch with a plate of food in his hands. “There you are. Your friends thought maybe you’d be in your bedroom, but I thought I’d check here first.”