His Saint (Forever Wilde 5)

“Augie,” he breathed.

“Augie!” someone else called from across the square. We both snapped our heads around and jumped apart like guilty teens dancing too closely at a school social.

It was a regular customer of mine who was most likely itching to pick up the Rococo chaise lounge I’d arranged for him to have reupholstered.

“Is it ready?” Mr. Webster asked as he shuffled closer down the paved walkway. “I couldn’t wait any longer to see how it turned out. I was just heading to the shop to check on it when I saw you there.”

Saint stood from the bench and reached out a hand. “Mr. Webster, it’s good to see you again. How is Gunnar?”

I gawped at the big muscly man asking the frail retired school teacher about his beloved Yorkie.

“Oh, Saint. I didn’t realize that was you. Yes, Gunnar is fine. In fact, I’ve just left him at the groomers and ran into your grandfathers there. They were dropping off one of the little dogs. I’m not sure which one. Can never tell them apart. Salty, I think. Anyway, Augie? The chaise?”

I glanced at Saint with an apology. “Yes, sir. It’s ready. Let’s go see how it looks.”

When I got to the far end of the square, I turned back for one last glance at Saint. He’d sat back down on the bench with one leg crossed over the other and had a bakery treat in his hands and a big smile on his face.

That was when I saw my sister and Kat, all grins, sitting down next to him on the bench.

He must have felt my eyes on him because he looked up suddenly and met my gaze. Then that sexy man smiled at me as if the entire sun had just broken over the horizon.

And damned if I hadn’t been in the dark for a very long time.

Chapter 16

Saint

Of course I spent the rest of Saturday forcibly restraining myself from dropping in to Augie’s Antiques with some pathetic, manufactured excuse to check on the man. Instead, I met up with MJ and forced her to spill all the details from her night with Neckie.

My sister was riding high, and I could tell from the minute I saw her that the two of them had managed to come together in some way.

“Tell me everything,” I said the minute she snuck into the bunkhouse after noon still wearing the same clothes she’d had on the night before. “Look at your walk of shame. Holy shit.”

“There is nothing you can say to dampen my mood. I kissed her, Saint. Kissed her mouth like I’ve dreamed about doing for at least fifteen years.”

“How did we not know she was into women?”

“She dated whatshisname in high school. Remember?”

I thought back to those years and pictured a flakey skinny dude with a buzz cut who was always dressed in camo. “Wait. Dinko? Dirk Dinko? Wasn’t that his name?”

MJ snorted. “Yeah, him. Super quiet dude. But she had a soft spot for him. She told me it started out with her defending him from some bullies at a school soccer game. I guess they were ribbing him for not being able to get a girl, so Neckie sidled up to him and kissed him right on the lips, asking if he was ready to take her home. He followed her in shocked silence until finally finding his tongue in the parking lot. As soon as he found it, he vomited. She felt so sorry for him, she took him to the diner for a milkshake. They talked all afternoon and made a connection. She said it wasn’t some great love, but he was good to her. I remember that, Saint. He was good to her.”

“Whatever happened to him, I wonder?”

I moved a stack of sofa pillows over so she could sink into the cushions next to me. She kicked her shoes off and pulled her feet under her.

“He married the girl he dated in college. They were in the same teacher’s program at UNT in Denton. Neckie said they’re really happy now. They both teach high school in Austin.”

“You seem pretty chill about it,” I said.

She shrugged. “I was so jealous of him at the time, but I also knew that if they were together, he had to be a pretty good guy. I mean… I knew him and he was nice enough. But he was super shy. I never got to know him all that well. And when she and I did stuff together, she didn’t include him, thank god. I would have been a hormonal basket case even more than I already was.”

“Enough about Dinko. Tell me about Neckie.”

MJ got a dreamy look on her face. “She said she’s had a crush on me since eighth grade. She remembered the time Dad and I helped her mom with a flat tire. She even remembers my hair was braided on the side that day.”