“I love you,” Jess said, then watched her go inside before heading off to the inn to think about everything they’d discussed. Maybe Gram was right. Maybe all of her uncertainties and insecurities didn’t matter in the end. Maybe reaching out and losing would still be better than never having taken a chance on love at all.
Connie had been called over to the nursery on Sunday afternoon to help Jake load an order of plants for a job that had been postponed twice because of rain.
“I don’t see why you didn’t call one of the men in to help you,” she grumbled as she carried the plants from the greenhouse to the truck. The answer, of course, was that her brother knew he wouldn’t have to pay her, or at least the cynical side of her assumed that was the reason.
Jake gave her the kind of grin that had always won over any woman in the vicinity. It had certainly worked on Bree, but it had lost its power over Connie.
“Because I wanted to see for myself that you weren’t sitting at home moping because Jenny’s away at school,” he said, surprising her. “I don’t know why you refused to come to the O’Briens for dinner today. It made me worry about you.”
“I just wanted a day to myself,” she claimed, unwilling to admit that she’d been half-afraid that Thomas would show up, and she’d be unable to hide her growing feelings for him.
“Thomas was asking about you,” Jake said casually.
Connie’s pulse skipped a beat. “Really? He was there?”
Jake paused in front of her and leveled a look straight into her eyes. “I got the feeling he was disappointed that you weren’t coming. What’s that about?”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, praying that the heat she felt wasn’t turning her cheeks a blinding shade of red. “We’ve just seen a lot of each other because of my volunteer work for the foundation. He probably had some questions for me or something.”
Jake looked doubtful, but he didn’t press her, thank heaven.
Just then, her cell phone rang. “I need to grab this,” she told her brother. “It could be Jenny.”
But it wasn’t.
“Connie, it’s Thomas.”
To her surprise, he sounded charmingly nervous. “Hi,” she said softly, then moved away for some privacy. “I heard you came to town for Sunday dinner with your family.”
“Truthfully, I was hoping you’d be there,” he admitted.
“Was there something you needed? Did you want to go over the plans for the fundraiser on Saturday?”
He chuckled. “No, I’m confident that you and Shanna have that totally under control. Besides, Shanna was at lunch with Kevin, so if there had been any questions, I’m sure she could have answered them.”
“Oh, of course,” Connie said, flustered.
“What are you up to now?” he asked. “Are you busy? Do you feel like grabbing a cup of coffee or something before I head back to Annapolis?”
Connie looked at her filthy hands, the streaks of dirt on her clothes, the old sneakers she’d crammed her feet into when Jake had called. She’d barely combed her hair, and she didn’t have on so much as a dab of lipstick. If Thomas saw her now, she’d terrify him.
“Oh, Thomas, I’m a mess. I’ve been over here at the nursery helping Jake load some plants for a job.”
“How close are you to finishing?” he asked, clearly not intimidated by the image she’d painted of herself.
“Fifteen, twenty minutes at least,” she said.
“Then another pair of hands will make it go that much more quickly,” he said decisively. “See you shortly.”
He disconnected the call before she could protest. She wasn’t sure which was worse—having Thomas see her in such a sorry state or letting her brother get a glimpse of her swooning over the man.
She spent a full minute debating whether she could get into her office, clean up and change into the spare outfit she kept on hand for days when she wound up helping out in the nursery, rather than the office. Unfortunately, if she greeted Thomas wearing pristine clothes, he was bound to know she’d changed just for him. Never mind what Jake would have to say about it. She decided Thomas would just have to deal. This was who she was, at least some of the time.
“Who was that?” Jake called as he passed with two large plants.
She steadied her voice, then said in what she hoped was a casual tone, “Thomas. He’s on his way over.”
The five-gallon buckets landed in the truck with a thud. Jake walked back over, his gaze narrowed. “You want to tell me why he’s coming here?”
“To lend us a hand,” she said brightly.
“Really? We’re almost finished. Did you invite him to come?”
“No, I just told him what I was doing, and he offered to help. No big deal.”
Jake continued to look doubtful. When Thomas’s hybrid car turned into the parking lot, he frowned. “I’m missing something, aren’t I?”
“Not a thing,” she insisted. “Stop looking so suspicious and be grateful for the help. I’m sure he’d even pitch in on the job this afternoon, if you asked him to.”
“Will and Mack promised to meet me over there,” Jake said automatically. “You were awfully generous to be offering Thomas’s services, though. Is that because you’re nervous being around him?”
“Now you’re just being crazy,” she said, turning away so he wouldn’t see her cheeks burning. “Please hush, before you embarrass me.”
When Thomas emerged from his car, he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, a far more casual outfit than he’d likely had on for Sunday dinner. The T-shirt emphasized his broad shoulders and his muscular arms. His was the kind of tanned, rugged fitness that men who worked out solely in a gym could never attain.
Though he glanced at Connie with a smile, he wisely focused on her brother. “Jake, tell me what you still need to load.”
“I’ll show you,” Connie said, leading him to the remaining plants
