Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Evening before surprise engagement party
She was truly surprised.
Abby didn’t think Brad would show up for the engagement party. She was certain he would find some excuse to get out of it. But at this moment, he was standing on a ladder as he put up blue streamers.
He’d arrived that morning and surprised her at the Steaming Brew. She’d quickly drawn him into her office. She had to remind him numerous times that he was supposed to fly under the radar.
He wasn’t happy about it. He said Reed would love the party whether it was a surprise or not. Eventually, she won the argument, but it meant keeping Brad with her all day.
“What do you think?” Brad stepped down off the ladder.
She glanced up at the streamers. She searched for something she could give him a hard time about, but she didn’t see anything amiss. He’d really done a decent job, and he hadn’t complained. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
Still, there had to be something to give him a hard time about. She pointed to a random streamer. “Is that hanging lower than the others?”
He glanced up in the general direction she’d pointed. “I don’t see anything.”
She squinted as she stared up at the non-existent flaw. “It’s right there.”
He approached her and turned, as though trying to see it through her eyes. “I’m still not seeing it.”
After having a bit of fun, she turned to him with a smile. “I’m just giving you a hard time.”
He continued to stare up at the streamers. “Are you sure? Because I can fix it.”
He got points for wanting to do a good job. Maybe the night of the tree lighting, they’d just gotten off to a bad start. Perhaps he was a good guy after all.
“I’m positive. Do you have plans for dinner?” The words were out of her mouth before she realized it was a silly question, considering he was supposed to be in hiding.
His brows scrunched together as he rubbed the back of his neck, as though he were trying to find a way to let her down gently. Now, why had she gone and asked him that?
“I, uh, just want to make sure that you don’t go somewhere Reed will see you.” She was pleased with her cover.
The lines between his brows smoothed. “I was just going to go back to the B&B.”
“They don’t serve dinner. Just breakfast.”
“Oh.” Frown lines bracketed his eyes and mouth.
Then, feeling obligated, she said, “I can make us something to eat at my place.”
His eyes widened as he stared directly at her. “Are you asking me to dinner?”
Her heart beat faster as heat gathered in her chest. Did he really think she was asking him on an official date? All of a sudden her cheeks felt like they were on fire.
“No.” The answer came out faster than she would have liked. “It’s just that I can’t have you starving to death on my watch. Reed and Sadie would never forgive me.”
Amusement danced in his blue eyes, which made her all the more uncomfortable with this conversation. “Are you sure that’s all?”
“Positive. Let’s clean up and get going.” She turned her back to him, all the while willing her heartbeat to slow down.
It didn’t take them long to pick up their supplies. Abby put them in her purple tote and slung it over her shoulder. Brad grabbed the black garbage bag and the now-empty cardboard box.
“There’s a dumpster out back,” she said. “We’ll go out that way.”
They headed out the back door. With it being winter, it was already dark out at five thirty. Brad tossed the empty box and bag of trash into the dumpster before joining her at the car.
After they both got into the car, she started the engine and then adjusted the heater settings. “It’ll take a moment for it to warm up.”
She put the car in gear and then drove around to the front of the building. She came to a stop to let people on the sidewalk pass in front of the car. Beneath the lamppost, she recognized two of those people. Sadie and Reed.
The breath caught in her lungs. What were they doing here? Sadie was supposed to keep him away from the community hall. Wait. Did this mean he knew about the party? Please say it isn’t so. They’d worked so hard to keep it a secret. For Reed to find out now just wasn’t right.
Her first instinct was to put the car in reverse, but it was too late. Reed was already looking in her direction. She froze.
“Duck,” she hissed.
“What?” Brad’s voice had a note of surprise.
“It’s Reed. You need to duck so he doesn’t see you.”
“I’m not ducking.” There was now a firmness to his voice.
“You’re going to ruin everything.”
As Reed and Sadie turned in their direction, she realized he was right. It was too late for him to hide. Sadie was a couple steps behind Reed. She was mouthing, “Sorry.”
Abby felt like this was a deer-in-headlights moment. She didn’t know how to fix this moment. Did he know about the party?
When Reed stepped up to the car, it jarred her into motion. She put down the window. “Hi, guys.”
Reed bent over and looked past her to Brad. “What are you doing here?”
She glanced over at Reed. The longer Brad remained silent, the worse this moment became. Her mind was frantically bouncing around, trying to find a logical reason for Brad to be in her car on a random January evening. She was coming up with nothing.
And then at last an excuse came to her. She uttered it before she could weigh the pros and cons. “He’s here to see me.”
“You?” Reed’s eyes widened. “I, uh, I had no idea.” And then a smile appeared on his face. “I didn’t know that you two had hit it off so well.”
Her heart was racing. Why had she gone and told him that? Now she had to think of how to legitimize her fictitious relationship with Brad.
“We’ve been messaging each other,” she said. It was the actual truth.
Reed looked pleased. “That’s great. It gives Brad yet another reason to visit Bayberry more often.”
Abby’s gaze moved past Reed. Sadie stood there with a disapproving frown on her face. Her friend momentarily closed her eyes before shaking her head.
“What are you guys doing over here?” Brad asked. “Wait. Are you planning to have dinner at Wright’s Eatery?”
“Wright’s Eatery?” She hadn’t even thought about it.
“Yes.” Sadie stepped forward. “Reed has had a craving for their pastrami panini all day.”
“Why don’t you join us?” Reed glanced over at Brad. “What do you say?”
Brad casually shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”
Reed nodded. “We’ll get a table while you find a parking spot.”
After the window was up and Abby drove down the street, Brad turned to her. “Why did you tell him that?”
Thankfully, it was dark in the car so he couldn’t see her heated cheeks. “It was all I could think of to keep him from guessing about the party.”
This was such a mess. How was she going to fix it? Because there was no way she was going to play kissy-face with Brad all evening.