“Oh, Jesus. Thank God for pharmaceutical birth control.”
“Watch her. She could get around that, too. Who better to give you a placebo than a pharmacist who works in your pharmacy.”
“She wouldn’t.”
“I don’t know…” Autumn drawled.
“Hush your mouth. Don’t even suggest that.”
“You and Liam would make pretty babies.”
For just a moment, Riley softened at the thought. A little boy with her dark hair and his big gray eyes and impish smile. “Of course we would, but not the point and all kinds of ahead of where we are. Whose side are you on?”
“Yours. Always yours, girl. So your mom seems super pumped.”
“We’re both pumped. It’s just a little studio apartment, but it’s within walking distance of everything downtown, so the fact that she doesn’t have a car right now won’t be a big deal. She’s looking forward to having a proper bed to sleep on instead of the fold out sofa in my living room.” And Riley was looking forward to the ability to have a cup of morning coffee in silence.
“Has she ever had a place all on her own?”
“Nope. She married Daddy before she graduated college, and after I left for school, I was still managing the finances. This will be her first ever truly solo mission.” And that worried Riley as much as it relieved her.
Sharilyn had been trying so hard since she got back to Wishful. Riley desperately wanted her to succeed, not only for her own self-confidence but so that Riley herself would finally be free of that life-long burden. But what were the odds of that actually happening? Riley couldn’t generate a proper level of enthusiasm because she was waiting for the other shoe to drop and wondering what she’d have to do to pick up the pieces.
“Stop waiting for her to fail, Riley.”
Riley sighed. “I can’t help it. Old habits die hard. But she’s doing really well. For once, she’s not doing this for some guy and there’s no guy doing it for her. That’s a huge step in the right direction.”
“Have some faith, hon. She might surprise you.”
“God, I hope so.”
Riley took care of business in the mini storage office, and they headed downtown to the apartment. The U-haul was already half-empty. She picked up the nearest box. Might as well contribute to the cause. As she turned toward the apartment, she almost plowed into someone.
With a yelp, she bobbled the box.
“Whoa there. I’ve got it.” Capable hands righted the load to reveal Matthew McSweeny, dressed for labor, sweat glistening at his silver-shot temples.
“Mr. McSweeney? I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Which she hadn’t, but what she really wanted to say was What are you doing here?
As if she’d asked the question anyway, he said, “No problem. I came to help. It’s a full house up there.”
“It’s a tiny place. That doesn’t take much.” Because her arms were starting to burn and because she didn’t have a clue what she thought about him being here, Riley went on into the apartment.
He hadn’t exaggerated. Between Liam and Judd moving furniture at her mother’s direction, Molly unpacking kitchen stuff, and Autumn stacking boxes near the bathroom, there wasn’t a lot of room to move, let alone stack more boxes. Riley hadn’t realized she was looking for someone else from the market until she didn’t see anybody. Which meant Matthew McSweeney was here on his own, not as part of some Help-A-Coworker-Move gesture.
“We have an extra set of hands.” Molly nodded as Matthew came in with more boxes.
“So I see.”
“Shari, where do you want these?” he asked.
Shari?
“What are they labeled?”
“The ever so informative ‘Miscellaneous.’”
Her mother waved a hand. “Oh, just find a corner. I can’t remember what’s in most of these boxes.”