Lucas hid a smile and clasped his hands together behind his back.
My grandmother walked down the hallway and into the foyer in a bohemian-style green linen shirt and jeans, complete with bare feet. I must’ve inherited that trait.
She looked over at Lucas, then raised her brows at me in approval before extending her hand to him. “I’m Hattie, Taylor’s grandmother.”
He shook her hand. “Lucas.”
“My, you both are soaked through the skin!” She looked over at me. “Take him upstairs to the second guest bedroom. There should be something in the closet he can change into for now. We’ll dry his wet clothes.”
“You don’t have to go to all that trouble,” Lucas said.
My grandmother tied back her long silver hair into a ponytail. “Nonsense. No need to catch yourself a summer cold over being polite.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She looked over at me. “I’ll cook tonight, already promised Charlie my famous lemon chicken soup.”
Oh no.
I forced a smile. “Great.”
“And thanks to Charlie we have hot water again.”
Yes! Ireallyneeded a shower, especially since the rain had only intensified the smell of steak fajitas and fries on my clothes.
I led Lucas up the stairs and into the bedroom. I opened the closet to find a few house dresses, a large pink bathrobe that must’ve belonged to Lainey, and some sweats. My aunt was five foot eleven and taller than most of the men in this town.
I grabbed the light blue sweats. “Sorry, but unless you want to wear a dress or a frilly bathrobe, this is all we have.”
He took the clothing. “It’s fine.”
“I’ll let you change. If you want to shower, the guest bathroom is the next door over, on your right.”
“Thank you.”
“Sure.” I thumbed toward the hallway. “I’m going to get ready. I’ll knock when I’m done.”
“Okay.”
I closed the door, feeling weird that a man besides Charlie was in this house, in our guest bedroom… about to get naked at any minute now.
I shook the thought from my head and beelined it to my room.
* * *
After my shower, I slipped on my favorite light pink dress, the one Austin couldn’t tear his eyes from when he saw me in town for the Fourth of July festival. The skirt half of the dress was tight, coming about mid-thigh, and the torso was over-sized with a wide neckline that hung off one shoulder.
Austin liked it when I wore my hair down, so I was sure to tie it up in a twist.
Most people in this town thought my platinum blonde hair was a bottle job, but it had been this way since I was a baby. It always got a tad bit darker in the winter, but come summer my hair was almost white. I burned better than I tanned, so my brown eyes were a big contrast to my fair skin and hair. My grandma used to call me her little porcelain doll. I thought it made me look sick and wished my skin would tan like my Lainey’s. She could be out in the sun for ten minutes and get a golden tan like she’d been trying to perfect it for weeks.
I checked the time on the cuckoo clock that hung above Lainey’s “mosaic” piece of shattered glass. Another attempt at art that she had given up only a few weeks after she had started. It had no pattern or even a picture, just broken pieces of glass she’d found scattered around town. She called itPicking Up the Pieces. I kind of liked it.
Another hour and a half, and Austin would be here.
I thought of changing again, but I was determined to make sure he’d see what he was missing when I turned him down. The hair would stay up, just to keep him on his toes.
There was a knock on my door, and I opened it, expecting to see Lucas, but it was my aunt. She still had on a smock that was covered in bits of wood dust and hung over a maxi dress. I don’t think I’d ever seen my aunt in pants, even when she changed the oil in her truck or gave Blush a tune-up.
