Page 71 of Truly, Madly, Deeply

And she just... hadn’t responded.

Only a day had passed, but a pang of guilt still struck each time she opened her messages and saw that time stamp. Considering how prompt she usually was with her responses, Colin had to know she was avoiding him.

“I’m in Chelan, remember?” she said, sidestepping the question. “I’ve got Dad arriving tomorrow and Mom the day after that and—I’ve got my hands full. I spent all of yesterday airing the place out and changing linens and making sure everything’s perfect. I need this to work, Lu.”

Lulu snorted. “I knew you were gonna spritz the joint down with pheromones, you freak.”

Hardly, but she did eye the strawberries and chocolate melts in her cart. Too much? “I’m buying groceries. There’s nothing sexy about bran cereal.”

“Hey, I personally find a partner who values regularity to be the pinnacle of sexiness.”

“And you call me a freak?” She eyed the paper shopping list crumbled in her fist. She still needed to hit up the meat and seafood sections, praying they had everything she needed to re-create the Sardinian-style paella her parents had eaten on their honeymoon and still raved about. “Hey, you think my parents would notice if I subbed razor clams for cockles?”

“I don’t know what the hell a cockle is, but it sounds dirty.”

Truly rolled her eyes. “Could you get your mind out of the gutter for a minute and—”

Another cart collided with the nose of hers as she turned the corner, the clang of metal on metal more jarring than the impact itself. She jumped, shopping list fluttering to the floor, nearly dropping her phone, too. Truly scowled and bent down to pick up her list.

“I am so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was—Truly?”

No goddamn way.

She stood so fast her head spun. Or maybe it was because Colin McCrory was standing in the middle of her favorite mom-and-pop grocery, five hours outside of the city, wearing a pair of pink gingham shorts that showed off an indecent amount of thigh and knees that bore faint bruises that would’ve sparked her curiosity had she not known firsthand that he’d spent Saturday night kneeling on concrete, head buried between her thighs.

“Truly? Are you still there?”

Shit, Lulu was still on the line. “I’ll call you back.”

“What? No, you can’t just—”

She ended the call and slipped her phone in the back pocket of her capris. “Hi.”

Hi? Hi? That was what she chose to open with? Hi?

He scratched the side of his jaw, looking adorably out of his element, but pleased to see her. “Small world? Um, what are you doing here?”

She made a pointed show of looking down at where their carts still kissed. “Grocery shopping?”

“No wonder you let your fridge get lean if you do your shopping in Chelan.” Colin smiled. “Seriously, what are you doing all the way out—”

“Colin? Did you grab the Marcona almonds I asked—oh, hello.”

The woman who rounded the corner was pretty, hair bleached a crisp champagne blond, gray roots peeking through her perfectly teased coiffure. Her coloring was paler than Colin’s, but the way her eyes crinkled was almost identical, as were the moles splattering her skin and the upturn of her delicate nose. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She turned to Colin, brows rising expectantly. “Colin? Are you going to introduce us?”

“Sorry. Where are my manners. Mom, this is Truly. Truly, this is my mother. Truly’s...” He looked at her, lips quirking in something too forlorn to be a smile. “A friend.”

Truly averted her eyes, stomach sinking.

She offered his mother her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. McCrory.”

“Call me Muffy.” Her grip was surprisingly firm. “You wouldn’t happen to be Truly St. James, would you?”

Muffy. Thank God Lulu wasn’t here; Truly could only imagine the jokes she’d make.

“That’s me.”

“Caitlin’s told me so much about you.” Muffy beamed. “She’s so thrilled to have you on her little show.”

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