“Ms. Patricia bein’ a pill?”
More like a snake. “That’s one way to put it.”
The surrey dips to one side as Simon climbs aboard.
“Nice boots.”
“Thank you. They match my eyes,” I joke.
He sits next to me and lays one arm across the back of the seat. “Your hair looks good.” He tugs a curl. “I like it.”
“That’s nice.”
“It’s kind of…”
I look across my shoulder at him. “Kind of what?”
“Well, that braid you wore made you look buttoned up.”
“Now I look unbuttoned?”
He smiles. “Yeah.”
“That’s me. Unbuttoned and falling apart.”
His smile wavers. “How long’s it been since you had a break?”
I laugh without humor. “What’s that?”
“When was the last time you got away by yourself?”
That’s easy. “The night I ran into you buying groceries. It was like a mini vacation.”
“Gator’s Grocery isn’t a vacation. It’s a last resort when the Piggly Wiggly is closed for the night. It’s not my idea of a good time.”
“It seemed like you knew everyone.”
“Not everyone, but I was born and raised around here. Only left long enough to get my degree at Georgia Southern. I figured out real quick this is where I belong.”
I guess that’s the difference between living in one place and moving every few years. “What’s your degree?”
“Civil engineering and construction, but we’re not talkin’ about me.”
; Simon isn’t touching me, but I can feel his testosterone invading my personal space. On a normal day, I might feel intimidated by the bombardment. Today it’s oddly comforting, and I lean back until I feel the length of his warm arm across my tense shoulders.
“You need a break. I took care of Jasper when he got real bad. There was nobody else and I about lost my mind.”
“That’s nice.” My brain is filtering through the past, trying to recall the last time sitting next to a man just felt easy.
“What?”
I finally look over at him. “What?”
“He didn’t have anyone else to take care of him.”
Oh yeah. Jasper.