Riley would have sworn she heard Anita sigh again.
Mimi was heading back to the table, and Anita stepped aside to let her in her spot across from Riley. “What a delightful man,”Mimi said, her words dripping with sarcasm. “All I did was tell him hello, and you would have thought I’d asked him to solveworld peace while standing on his head and juggling beach balls.”
Mimi took a sip of tea. “Perfect as always, Anita.”
“I do my best.”
Riley and Mimi gave her their orders—a grilled cheese for Riley and a patty melt for Mimi. As soon as Anita left, Riley whispered,“What’s going on between you and Jasper?”
Mimi’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about? I just went over there to say hello.”
“He was frowning at you.”
“I know. He finds me irritating, although I have no idea why.” She moved the tea glass over an inch. “Me and Jasper . . .Hoo boy. Oh well, never mind.” She looked at Riley, her expression sobering. “There was only one man for me, Riley. No onecan replace your Poppy.”
Riley nodded. She never knew her grandfather, since he passed away from cancer before Riley was born. But Mimi had made sureRiley knew about him. When she was little, they would pore over photo albums, and Riley would listen to endless stories aboutMaple Falls back in the fifties and sixties and how Mimi and Poppy had been friends since they were children. The night oftheir senior prom, Poppy asked her to marry him. Although Riley wasn’t big on romance, she had to admit her grandparents’relationship was a romantic one.
While waiting for their food, Riley and Mimi continued discussing the renovations of the house, and Riley mentioned she’dgiven a budget to Hayden already. “He reminded me that he would give us a discount on supplies if we bought them from Price’s,”Riley said.
“How nice. And unsurprising. The Prices are good people.”
Especially Hayden. The unbidden thought popped into her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about him for more than five minutes, apparently.
Anita soon returned with their lunch, then hurried back to the kitchen. Mimi took a bite of the patty melt and her eyes litup with delight.
“That Tanner is a good cook,” she said around a mouthful. After swallowing, she asked, “When do you want to start work onthe house?”
“As soon as possible. You’ll have to pick out paint colors—”
“You can do that.”
“Okay. Hayden said last night that you need to choose what kind of roof shingles you’d like too.”
“Last night?” Mimi’s eyebrows shot up faster than a lightning bolt.
Uh-oh. “We, um, kind of had dinner last night. So we could talk about the renovation. Just as friends. I mean, business friends.Business acquaintances.” The longer she talked the less convincing she sounded, and she steeled herself for Mimi’s inevitableonslaught of questions.
But all she said was, “I’ll go with whatever you two recommend.”
Riley was surprised, but she wasn’t about to ask why she wasn’t being nosy. Just be grateful.
They finished their lunch and Mimi ordered a slice of coconut cream pie for dessert, declaring, “Mabel makes a mean coconutcream pie.” Riley wasn’t sure who Mabel was, but she had to be one of the cooks. She ended up splitting the pie with Mimi.After last night’s dinner and today’s lunch, she definitely needed to go for a run tonight.
As they made their way back to Knots and Tangles, Riley pushing Mimi’s wheelchair, clouds filling the sky and giving everyonea slight respite from the heat, she saw Hayden putting a sandwich board in front of Price’s. When he finished, he waved intheir direction, then walked over.
“Good morning,” he said to Mimi first, then looked at Riley. “Or afternoon, I guess.”
“Close enough,” Mimi said. Then she grabbed her wheels and started to roll away.
“Mimi—”
“I’ll meet you at the shop.” She raised one hand and waved it at Riley and Hayden. “I need the exercise.” She continued rollingherself down the sidewalk.
“I better go after her,” Riley said.
“She’ll be okay for a few minutes.”
Riley turned to him, and when their gazes met, her toes tingled. Which was so corny but true.
“Are you free tonight?” he asked.
She hesitated. They just had supper together last night, and now he wanted to see her again tonight. He’d insisted that theywere just friends, but did friends spend this much time together? She realized she didn’t have any idea, and that saddenedher. She had missed out on more than she’d thought.
“I was going to go for a run tonight. Mimi and I had some of Mabel’s coconut cream pie. The calories were worth it, but Idon’t need my waistline getting any bigger than it is.”
His gaze traveled down to her toes, then back up. “Everything about you is perfect to me.”
She shivered, despite the balmy temperature. She’d never had a man gaze at her with so much appreciation before. Then sheremembered that he had the exact same expression last night when he picked her up at Knots and Tangles. Oh my . . .
He took a step back. “Mind if I run with you?”
That brought her back to reality. “I’m really slow.”
“I don’t mind. I just need to talk to you about something important, and it can’t wait. I’d tell you now, but it will takesome explaining.”
She was intrigued. “All right.”
“How about the old trail near the high school?”
“The one by the woods? I haven’t been on that trail in forever.”
“It’s not in great shape, but then again . . .” He shrugged. “We both know that’s par for the course in Maple Falls. I’llmeet you there around six, okay?”
“Sure.”
He grinned. “Thanks, Riley.” He turned and jogged across Main Street to the hardware store, then went inside.
Riley walked back to the shop, and it didn’t take her long to catch up with Mimi. Her grandmother was a few feet from thedoor and Riley opened it for her.
“Whew,” Mimi said, pushing herself inside. “That was a workout. But I’m glad I did it. Being in this wheelchair has made melazy.”
Riley nodded, still thinking about Hayden. Despite
