tickets she’d won on the seat, and raced off again.
Craig squinted at me, dimples sinking into his blond scruff.
“What?”
“What what?”
“Why are you grinning at me? Do I have something on my face?” I patted my fingertips around the corner of my mouth.
“Just a nose.”
“Then stop looking at me like that. You’re making me nervous.”
Dropping his gaze to his hands, Craig ran a thumb over his knuckles. “You know I never got what you saw in Preston. He was such a geek.”
My first thought was that Craig had been a bigger geek than David—overweight, acne-prone, and shy—but I decided it wouldn’t be particularly kind to say so. “I guess I clung to the first guy who showed me attention. I was really starving for it back then.”
“You, starving for attention? That’s hard to believe. You were the prettiest girl in school.”
Looking into his eyes, I saw my reflection. In it I looked lovelier than I felt. Mama Peg had told me long ago that I would know a man loved me when I could see myself in his eyes. It was nonsense, I knew that, but my stomach still fluttered nonetheless. Pulling my gaze away, I took a sip of soda. I felt the coldness of the liquid slide down my throat all the way to my empty stomach. “So how in the world did you end up living at my dad’s house?”
“I’m sure you remember my mom left us when I was little?”
I didn’t but nodded just the same.
“So it was just me and Dad. He did nothing but work, drink, and have an occasional pajama party with a bleach blonde. I pretty much raised myself. When I dropped out of college, he started charging me rent, so I left.”
An infant cried behind us. I snuck a glance over my shoulder at the father scooping her from the mother’s arms. I turned back around. “What’s the difference if you pay rent to your father or mine?”
“My dad was trying to charge me more than he was paying for the mortgage.”
“Nice,” I said, thinking it was not nice at all.
“It was his way of trying to force me to go back to college, I think, but I didn’t want to. He thought if I didn’t get a degree, I’d end up just like him. I guess that was the last thing either of us wanted. Anyway, I got to thinking about you one day. Wondering what you were up to. I drove to your house, hoping maybe you had broken up with Preston and . . .” His cheeks flushed crimson. “As Providence would have it, there was a For Rent sign on the saddle barn.
“So I didn’t get to see my friend Jenny, but I did get a decent place to live that cost about a third the price my old man was charging. Your dad’s the one who talked me into starting the landscaping business. That’s how I lost the weight, by the way. Who needs a gym when you’re shoveling dirt and hauling tree limbs all day? I love your dad and Mama Peg. They’ve become the family I wish I had. I know someday I’ll have to move on, but I just can’t imagine leaving them.”
I cleared my throat, feeling defensive. “Yeah, well, someone might feel the same way about your father, not knowing the whole story.”
When his callused finger brushed mine, I found myself liking his touch more than I should. “Easy. I’m not judging you, Jenny. I know there’s a lot that’s happened that I don’t know about.”
The waitress picked up the number from our table and replaced it with a pepperoni pizza and a stack of paper plates.
As she walked away, Craig lifted a steaming triangle from the pie and placed it on a plate in front of me, then took one for himself.
I scanned the perimeter for Isabella and found her at a toddler’s version of a video game. She clapped her hands, then ripped off a row of tickets sticking out of the machine like a paper tongue.
“So whatever happened between you and David?”
Trying to keep my pain from showing, I leaned back in my seat. “Well, basically, he told me he didn’t love me.”
Craig shook his head. “Wow.”
Wow was right.
“Was that before
Craig squinted at me, dimples sinking into his blond scruff.
“What?”
“What what?”
“Why are you grinning at me? Do I have something on my face?” I patted my fingertips around the corner of my mouth.
“Just a nose.”
“Then stop looking at me like that. You’re making me nervous.”
Dropping his gaze to his hands, Craig ran a thumb over his knuckles. “You know I never got what you saw in Preston. He was such a geek.”
My first thought was that Craig had been a bigger geek than David—overweight, acne-prone, and shy—but I decided it wouldn’t be particularly kind to say so. “I guess I clung to the first guy who showed me attention. I was really starving for it back then.”
“You, starving for attention? That’s hard to believe. You were the prettiest girl in school.”
Looking into his eyes, I saw my reflection. In it I looked lovelier than I felt. Mama Peg had told me long ago that I would know a man loved me when I could see myself in his eyes. It was nonsense, I knew that, but my stomach still fluttered nonetheless. Pulling my gaze away, I took a sip of soda. I felt the coldness of the liquid slide down my throat all the way to my empty stomach. “So how in the world did you end up living at my dad’s house?”
“I’m sure you remember my mom left us when I was little?”
I didn’t but nodded just the same.
“So it was just me and Dad. He did nothing but work, drink, and have an occasional pajama party with a bleach blonde. I pretty much raised myself. When I dropped out of college, he started charging me rent, so I left.”
An infant cried behind us. I snuck a glance over my shoulder at the father scooping her from the mother’s arms. I turned back around. “What’s the difference if you pay rent to your father or mine?”
“My dad was trying to charge me more than he was paying for the mortgage.”
“Nice,” I said, thinking it was not nice at all.
“It was his way of trying to force me to go back to college, I think, but I didn’t want to. He thought if I didn’t get a degree, I’d end up just like him. I guess that was the last thing either of us wanted. Anyway, I got to thinking about you one day. Wondering what you were up to. I drove to your house, hoping maybe you had broken up with Preston and . . .” His cheeks flushed crimson. “As Providence would have it, there was a For Rent sign on the saddle barn.
“So I didn’t get to see my friend Jenny, but I did get a decent place to live that cost about a third the price my old man was charging. Your dad’s the one who talked me into starting the landscaping business. That’s how I lost the weight, by the way. Who needs a gym when you’re shoveling dirt and hauling tree limbs all day? I love your dad and Mama Peg. They’ve become the family I wish I had. I know someday I’ll have to move on, but I just can’t imagine leaving them.”
I cleared my throat, feeling defensive. “Yeah, well, someone might feel the same way about your father, not knowing the whole story.”
When his callused finger brushed mine, I found myself liking his touch more than I should. “Easy. I’m not judging you, Jenny. I know there’s a lot that’s happened that I don’t know about.”
The waitress picked up the number from our table and replaced it with a pepperoni pizza and a stack of paper plates.
As she walked away, Craig lifted a steaming triangle from the pie and placed it on a plate in front of me, then took one for himself.
I scanned the perimeter for Isabella and found her at a toddler’s version of a video game. She clapped her hands, then ripped off a row of tickets sticking out of the machine like a paper tongue.
“So whatever happened between you and David?”
Trying to keep my pain from showing, I leaned back in my seat. “Well, basically, he told me he didn’t love me.”
Craig shook his head. “Wow.”
Wow was right.
“Was that before
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