20
BRADY
Lila and Penny were the only ones who joined me at breakfast the next morning. Cole had to attend a meeting in town, and Gideon was working. My next shift at the diner wasn’t until this evening—ifthey needed me. As I’d half expected, the management there was punishing me for requesting fewer shifts this week so I could spend time with our guests. They were giving me fewer shifts all right, but they wouldn’t let me know ahead of time so that I had to basically be on call the whole damn week.
There were much better uses of my time, in my opinion.
One of them gave me a smile when I brought out a platter of pancakes. Lila looked normal enough, but her assistant seemed tired and a little out of it. Penny was scrolling on her phone, so I focused my attention on Ms. James.
“How’d you sleep?” Though she looked well-rested, I half wanted her to say that she’d slept horribly and therefore desired my special turndown service again. Not that I wanted her to have nightmares.
“I slept great,” Lila said with a quick glance at Penny. But her assistant didn’t seem to be paying us any attention, so Lila added, “Thanks to Cole.”
For a moment, I thought she meant that Cole had offered her the same intimate service I had. Then, as my brain kicked in, I realized she was referring to him returning one of her toys.
“Glad to hear it.” My voice was normal enough not to alert Penny of what we were talking about—and to not let Lila know the incorrect assumption I’d made. Since when had conversations around here turned into such a minefield?
“All right, what do you need more of? Eggs? Coffee?” I asked in a louder voice, scanning the table.
“Nothing,” Lila said. “Can’t you sit down and eat with us?”
She had a point. I did so much cooking here that sometimes I forgot this was my home, too. Then again, it was different when we had paying guests—not that we got a ton of those.
Penny put down her phone when I sat at the head of the table where Cole usually sat. However, her mind still seemed to be miles away. Luckily, Lila was in a chatting mood.
We talked about nothing in particular, but it was nice. We also made plans to hike later. Normally, I went for a run through the woods, but I liked walking with Lila. When she stopped and smelled the roses, so to speak, it made me do the same. With her, I noticed things I hadn’t in years.
By the end of the meal, we’d even coaxed Penny into the conversation.
Once we were done, Lila and Penny volunteered to do the dishes. That was the deal—either you cooked or you cleaned up. Still, it didn’t sit right with me. I was already starting to think of Lila differently than I had at the start of the week. She’d gone from enemy to reluctant guest to… something else.
I just hadn’t figured out what that was yet.
“Seriously, we’ll do them,” Lila said. “But I’d like to finish my coffee first.”
“And maybe we could talk a little business,” Penny added.
“There’s definitely no hurry. Let me know if you can’t figure out where something goes.” Of course, since Gideon had managed to hide illicit—and disgusting—marshmallows in my cabinets, it could be that I didn’t know the kitchen as well as I thought I did.
I left, feeling unexpectedly adrift. I should probably go out and work on the cottage out back. Renovating it was a slow process. I didn’t mind working out there, but Cole and Gideon had a better handle on the construction side of things.
I went out to the back deck and breathed in the fresh morning air. Maybe I should take a run. But it would be more fun to hike later with Lila.
Suddenly, I realized there was one thing I could do. I could put some of the pans I’d used in the sink to soak. Not the cast iron, of course. But the others would be easier for Lila and Penny to clean if I let them soak.
I used the side door to the kitchen so that I wouldn’t disturb them. Moving quietly, I gathered up the dirty pans—at least until I heard my name.
Freezing in place, I listened intently. Had one of them just called me a cutie? That’s what it had sounded like, but which one was it?
I set the pan I was holding on the nearest counter and crept to the door to the lounge. It wasn’t eavesdropping if it was about you, right?
Once there, I could hear Lila and Penny much more clearly, but they were no longer talking about me—if they even had been. Maybe it had been some kind of male ego auditory hallucination.
Was that even a thing?
“It’s not good,” I heard Penny say, and I couldn’t help but want to know what she was talking about. Especially if it involved Lila.
“What about all the videos we’ve posted this week?” Lila asked.