He brought himself out of his thoughts and could see Madeline waiting for more of an answer. What was he supposed to say? He’d dated a woman for way too long, but he wasn’t good enough for her. Too much the country bumpkin, dumped the very night he proposed.
It was his own fault for even bringing up the subject.
He’d just change the subject. “So, I’ll get you back to the Sweet Tea. About another ten minutes or so.”
“Okay.”
The word hung between them like an accusation. She’d revealed her personal life, he’d kept his a secret. They rode on in stony cold silence.
CHAPTER SIX
Bella Amaud sat down at her kitchen table with a cold glass of sweet tea. Condensation ran down the sides of the glass, cooling her hands. She needed just a bit of a rest before tackling the job of unloading the van of her purchases for the shop. Or maybe she’d put it off until tomorrow. It was already dark out.
She looked around the cheerful kitchen and smiled. She and the boys had only lived here a brief while, but already the place seemed like home to her. Her home. Her very own home.
She’d driven long hours to get home tonight instead of her planned return tomorrow. She missed the boys, missed her home, and couldn’t wait to get back to the shop. The boys were at her ex’s house tonight, but she’d see them tomorrow after school.
The crunch of tires on the drive and the faint rumble of a motor told Bella a car had pulled up to the carriage house. She stood up and went to look out the window. Owen.
She hurried to the door and flung it open wide. “Owen. How did you know I was home?”
Owen came bounding up the porch steps and wrapped his arms around her. “First things first.” He bent down and kissed her. Thoroughly. She could feel his heart beating against her as he held her close. Her own heart skipped in her chest and she sank deeper into the kiss and his embrace.
He finally lifted his head and pulled back. “I’ve missed you. Hope it isn’t too late to stop by.” His brown eyes shone with happiness.
“I missed you, too. No, it’s not too late.” She’d missed him. All those hours driving had given her lots of time to think about Owen. How she felt about him. Their relationship.
He lightly bumped his hand against her chin, and tilted her face up. “What’s going on in that head of yours? I can almost hear the wheels turning.”
“Nothing. It’s just been a long day. Hard to turn my mind off, I have so much to do.” It was too late, and she was too tired to start up a conversation about all her thoughts from the trip.
“Let me help you.”
“Well, I’ve decided to wait until tomorrow to unpack the van. I’m just too tired to deal with it now.”
“You do look exhausted.”
She was pretty sure that wasn’t a compliment. Her clothes were wrinkled from a day’s drive, and her hair was a tangle of red curls from having the window down the last hour of the trip in hopes of perking her up after hours on the road. “You never told me how you knew I was back early.”
“Jake saw your van when you drove down Main Street. I stopped by the restaurant to see if he or Sylvia needed anything and he told me.”
“Ah, that explains it.” No secrets in this small town. “Come on inside. I was just having some sweet tea.”
“That sounds good.”
Owen held open the door for her and they went inside. She poured him a glass of tea, and they went to sit on the overstuffed couch in the sunroom.
“So tell me all about your trip. Did you find a lot of things for your store?”
“I did. Very pleased with the items I’ve found. I need to refinish a few pieces. I’m going to use chalk paint and paint one of the armoires I found.”
“You’re very good at this, you know. You always seem to find just the right things to put together in your displays. Look at what you’ve already done with this carriage house, too.”
Bella squirmed a bit under the praise. She’d never been good at taking a compliment. “Thank you. Now tell me about Jake and Sylvia. Are they ready to open?” She’d change the subject away from her and her accomplishments.
“They are. They’d hoped to open last weekend, but there was just so much to do. It was better to delay the opening than open up before they were ready. Now they plan to open next weekend. I’m going to stay in town until after the grand opening, and probably for a while after that.”
It would be nice to have Owen around for a while. She hadn’t seen much of him this fall and winter. He’d been away at his office in Chicago and hopping around the country checking on different businesses his company had acquired.