My shoulders tensed. “What do you mean?”
She started pressing circular cookie cutters into the biscuit dough. “I heard Craig moved out. I’ve wanted to go visit Helen, but I wasn’t sure if she’d be up for visitors quite yet.”
My muscles eased a bit. “I think she’d like that. Tuck told me she and her lawyer filed the paperwork yesterday.”
Grandma raised her glass. “Good for her. That man never deserved her.” Her eyes cut to me. “That’s the thing. Sometimes, you’ve got to weed through the bad eggs to find a good one. But once you do, you hold on tight.”
My cheeks heated, and I became incredibly focused on my salad making.
Taylor slapped her hands down on the counter. “Okay, I can’t take this anymore. What is going on between you two?!”
I froze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Taylor threw up her hands. “Oh, please. I’ve seen the chemistry between you two from day one, but lately, it’s different. Hotter.”
“Definitely hotter,” Grandma chimed in.
Taylor kept going. “I swear sparks fly off the two of you when you’re in the same room. I’m pretty sure the only person who hasn’t noticed is Walker. But that’s because he’s got his head in the sand about his baby sister.”
I reached across the counter and grabbed Taylor’s hand. “Please don’t say anything to him.”
Her eyes flared. “So, there’s something to say?”
“Promise.”
Taylor made a cross over her heart with her free hand. “I swear on my sisterhood membership card.”
Grandma took another sip of wine. “That’s legit.”
I eyed Grandma and Mom. Both stared at me intently.
My mom reached out and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. “What’s going on?”
I collapsed onto the stool at the end of the bar. “I don’t know. It started out casual. Just letting off some steam that I really needed an outlet for.”
Grandma raised her glass in my direction. “You go, girl.”
I sighed. “But almost immediately, it was more than that. I was an idiot to think that we could do the friends-with-benefits thing.”
Mom slapped her spatula against the counter. “Don’t you talk about my daughter that way. You are not an idiot.”
God, I loved my mom. “It’s just that he’s always been my best friend. I mean, I know he and Walker have basically been blood brothers from the womb, but he’s always been something to me, too. I can’t describe it. He’s just always been…more.”
Mom nodded. “You two have always had a special bond.” She smiled down at her biscuit dough. “When you were a baby and upset, Tuck could always get you to stop crying.”
I turned to her. “I didn’t know that.”
She nodded. “When you hit high school and looked so much like a young woman, your father and I started to worry a bit about all those drives you took together. We kept waiting for him to ask you out. But it never happened.”
I thought about how much I would’ve killed for a kiss or date during those high school years. When it never came, I’d just made peace with the idea that he didn’t have those kinds of feelings for me. “I don’t trust myself.”
Grandma leaned towards me. “What do you mean, sweetheart?”
Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes. “I’ve made such bad decisions when it comes to men. I’m scared that just me being in love with him is a sign I should run in the opposite direction.”
Mom wrapped an arm around me. “Those experiences mean you know better than most. You know how you deserve to be treated. If those red flags surface, you’re strong enough to cut the cord.”
Grandma gestured with her wine glass. “And strong enough to cut his balls.”
