“Okay.”
I watch as she climbs into her car and drives away. When she’s no longer in sight, I let out a long, slow breath.
“Jesus,” I whisper.
“Are you okay?”
I look at Noah, who’s standing behind me, his hands in his pockets. “Honestly? I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting that.”
I tell him how she found me on social media, and feel my frustration grow.
“She may have lost my number, but she could have sent me a message on Instagram. Anything to give me a heads-up.”
“Why do you think she’s here?”
“She says she just wanted to see me. That’s probably true. Like I told you, she usually grows a conscience about every five to six years and looks in on me. I guess this is that. She didn’t ask me for money.”
“Has she done that in the past?” he asks with a scowl.
“No, but she used to ask Grandma for it,” I reply and sit on the couch. Noah sits next to me and pulls my feet up onto his lap. He slips off my shoes and rubs my arches. “You’re good with your hands.”
“Did she get money from your grandmother?”
“I don’t really know,” I admit. “I remember them arguing because Lacey would ask for it, but Grandma couldn’t afford much. So, probably not. I think she was angry that Grandma left her things to me, but Lacey didn’t even find out Grandma had died until a good week after it happened. We had to wait to have the funeral until we could find her. She wasn’t daughter of the year.
“I inherited a small savings account, Grandma’s apartment, and her personal belongings. And let me tell you, even when I sold the apartment, it wasn’t a ton of money. But it was mine, and I know Grandma would want me to have it.”
“Then what she wanted is what happened,” Noah says. “Seems pretty simple to me.”
“Me, too.” I watch as he digs his thumb into my instep, and I sigh. “Should I feel guilty for not wanting her here? I know she wanted to stay here, and I immediately called Jenna. I know if it was your parents, you’d take them in in a heartbeat.”
“My relationship with my parents is very different from yours,” he reminds me. “She’s basically a stranger to you, and if you can’t say you trust her implicitly, then no, she shouldn’t stay in your home.”
“It’s really your home.”
He narrows his eyes on me. “Were you not part of the conversation the other night when we established that you live here, too?”
“I was,” I say with a smile. “Point taken. And while I don’t have a reason to not trust her, I don’t know her well enough to say that I do.”
“Then you did the right thing,” he replies.
“She wanted to spend the next few days with me, and I told her no.”
He raises a brow and looks me in the eyes. “You’re not going to see her at all?”
“I probably should, huh?”
“Yeah.” He smiles softly. “I know it’s not easy, but you should at least go to lunch with her. Have a real conversation. You might learn something.”
“You’re smart,” I say with a sigh. “I’ll go to lunch.”
“With Lacey.”
“Yes, smartass, with Lacey.”
“Good. Now, come here and kiss me.”
“You’re bossy.” I crawl over to him and climb onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him softly. “I kind of like it.”
He plants his hands on my ass and squeezes. “I have more bossy demands for you.”
“Yeah?” I smile in anticipation. “Like what?”
“We should go to the bedroom for the rest.” He stands, carrying me with him and making me laugh. “The first one is to get these clothes off you.”
“And the second?”
“You’ll see.”
* * * *
“You were right,” Lacey says two days later as we sit in Ed’s Diner for lunch. We’re both munching on salads. “There is a lot to do here. Cunningham Falls is an adorable little town.”
I glance up at her, holding my breath.
Do not say you’re moving here.
“Oh, don’t panic,” she says with a laugh. “I’m leaving this afternoon.”
“I thought you were staying until tomorrow.”
“Well, while it’s a pretty town, I think I’ve seen all there is to see,” she replies and sips her iced tea. “I understand why you like it here.”
“Where are you headed next?”
“Oregon.” Her eyes light up in excitement. “I haven’t been to Portland in about ten years, and I have friends there. It’s such a fun city. Have you been?”
“No.”
In fact, I thought that a little town on the Oregon coast might be my next stop before I decided to stay here in Cunningham Falls for the foreseeable future.
“Oh, you should go there,” Lacey continues. “The city is just lovely, and the people are great, too. You’d like it.”
“You know, I think I’m done moving.”
She looks up in surprise. “Wow. Good for you.”