Room For You (Cranberry Inn)(22)

“No, actually. There were quite a few people there.” I grinned.

Andy leaned forward and stared right into my eyes, raising a curious eyebrow. “Uh-oh, what’s her name?”

“What are you talking about?” I shot back at him, looking around the bar to avoid eye contact.

He shook his head, his face beaming with pride like he’d just figured out some big secret. “No way, Brody. I know you better than anyone on this planet, don’t bullshit me. I’ve seen that look before. What’s. Her. Name.”

I looked around to make sure no one was within earshot. I had no chance of getting this girl to talk to me again if her name was in some tabloid tomorrow morning. “Kacie. Kacie Jensen. Now can we drop it, please?”

Andy sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. “Please tell me you were careful. Am I going to have a paternity suit to deal with right after Christmas? It would really ruin my winter.”

“No, asshole. I didn’t sleep with her, I didn’t even kiss her. That’s not what it was about. It was-” I stopped talking when Jan walked up with our food. After she set all the plates down and groped my arm, I dug right into eating, avoiding Andy’s curious eye.

“So, are we done talking about this?” Andy proceeded carefully.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Andy. I met this girl and she’s the most intriguing woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I only spent two days with her, but it wasn’t nearly enough time.” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. “And so far, she hasn’t called me. I don’t know if she ever will. I may never see her again, but I want to.” I pushed my plate away and looked up at Andy who furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

“Oh, and … she has two kids. Be right back, gotta piss.”

Andy groaned and dropped his head in his hands as I pushed away from the table. That poor man, I didn’t pay him nearly enough.





It had been three days since Brody left and given the information I had learned about him, I was trying to ignore the embers burning in my belly and get my life back to normal. Mom had been grilling me non-stop about the situation and I needed a break from the house, so I was taking the girls and spending the day with them at the zoo.

In the car, we told knock-knock jokes and belted out Taylor Swift songs at the top of our lungs. Once we got there, we grabbed a map and started checking off as many animals as we could before taking a break on a bench with some Dippin’ Dots.

“Are you guys having fun?” I asked.

They both nodded excitedly with ice cream dripping down their chins.

HA! Who says I can’t be spontaneous and fun.

I felt vindicated, like I was winning an imaginary contest against my subconscious.

“What should we do next?”

“Dolphin show!” Lucy shouted out.

“Yeah, then the train ride!” Piper blurted right after her.

I looked at the time on my phone. “Well, if we’re gonna do all that, we better get moving.” We tossed our ice cream cups in the garbage and headed for the dolphin show.

By the time Chloe the dolphin jumped through the fourth ring, my cell phone had gone off twice. I had two texts, one from my mom and one from Alexa.



MOM: THERE ARE FLOWERS AT THE HOUSE FOR YOU…



ALEXA: RUNNING BEHIND ON ORDERS, BUT WE NEED TO CHAT. WANNA HANG WITH ME AT THE SHOP TONIGHT?



The black and white words of Alexa’s text blurred together as my mind ran circles around the text from my mom. Who would have sent me flowers? The one person that came to mind was as disappointing as it was exciting. I didn’t want to think about it, so I closed my phone and put it away, deciding to concentrate the rest of the afternoon on nothing but the sweet smiles on my girls’ faces. We filled the afternoon with balloon animals, train rides and so much cotton candy I thought we were gonna burst.

A couple hours later, we piled our exhausted bodies into my jeep and made our way home.

“Mom, did you see that huge pile of zebra poop on the ground?” Piper held her arms about two feet apart, as Lucy giggled next to her.

The girls continued their poop discussion and argued over which animal would make the best mommy until they exhausted themselves and fell asleep in the backseat. When we got home, Mom came out and helped me carry them in. With Piper in my arms, I tiptoed through the kitchen, thankful my mom was walking in front of me and couldn’t see my face when I passed the huge bouquet of beautiful pink and purple gladiolus on the island. I cringed when I saw that the card had the logo from The Twisted Petal on it. Alexa only had one employee, a teenage kid that made deliveries for her, so there was no question in my mind that she took this order and would be grilling me like a hamburger later.