Page 43 of Wishing for a Picture Perfect Love

Maybe blown up was a strong word, but their relationship wasn’t as comfortable as it had been before their talk. She was forcing herself to smile, and he was right there with her. He’d catch her frowning, her shoulders hunched forward, and her eyebrows scrunched together like the world was sitting on her shoulders.

Anytime he asked if she was okay, she’d shake the funk off and tell him she was fine. He’d eventually given up. Perhaps if he gave her space, she’d figure it out and come talk to him.

Jack fished in his shirt pocket and pulled out the shiny new penny he’d received in change at the grocery store and looked from it to the well, trying to decide if he needed to apologize for throwing the wrong tender in two weeks ago before making another wish.

“Don’t waste your money.”

The voice was vaguely familiar. Jack turned and worked to keep a snarl from showing on his face. “Hey, Craig.”

The guy had exchanged the expensive suit and overpriced loafers for a T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Jack suspected it was to appear as though he was trying to blend in. While Craig was from Wishing Well, it was clear the small town was no longer in him.

“Hey,” he came to a stop a couple of feet from Jack. “I wanted to apologize for the other day. I was a jerk.”

It didn’t feel sincere, but Jack didn’t really know the guy either. Plus, his dad always taught him that when someone apologized, he should accept it. Sincere or not, it wasn’t for him to decide. “Accepted.”

“Thanks.”

Jack had expected him to mosey on, but he continued to stand there awkwardly, like he had more to say— which he did. “Seriously, I wouldn’t waste my money.”

Small talk? Whatever. “It worked for my brother.”

Craig shoved his left hand into his left pocket. “That’s one out of… how many?”

With a shrug, he replied, “It’s a penny. Not like that’ll break the bank.”

The guy strolled over to the well and looked over the edge of it. “I remember when I was a kid, people would talk about this well. All the stories of wishes it’d granted and how people had found their one true love because of it. Such bunk.”

Jack’s eyebrows rose. “A little cynical, aren’t you?”

Craig looked at him. “I’m still single.”

By his own actions, but Jack wouldn’t divulge that Jo told him about the circumstances of their breakup. “Maybe it’s a maturity thing. We need to be ready for a relationship before the wish is granted.”

“A reasonable argument. I maintain it’s a waste of money, though.” He chuckled. “It’ll be a good draw for the town when it gets out that Serenity found love and had her wedding here. Well, I should say: Jo’s article about the wedding. Single women will flock here, and socialites will trip over themselves to have their destination wedding in Wishing Well.”

“It’ll be good for the town, for sure.”

“Too bad they’ll have nowhere to stay. At least not in town. It’s an hour to the nearest hotel, and I wouldn’t put my worst enemy in one of those rooms.”

He had a point. He was totally up to something, too. Maybe Jack needed to figure out his angle. “Yeah, that’s true.”

Craig faced Jack. “Man to man, in all honesty, do you think Jo and her grandmother should be sinking their money into that house.”

And there it was. Jack knew Craig would throw out a line trying to fish for information.

The problem was that Jack felt the same way. Jo had pledged her savings, and Charlie was already paying him as much as she could. Craig was right. The house was a huge undertaking and even if Jack got it remodeled, there was the matter of who would maintain it.

Just the other day, he’d gone in for a permit, and he’d overhead the secretaries talking about the house and council members raising concerns about the safety of it. There was a chance the city might try to push Charlie out.

He’d wanted to go straight to Jo and tell her, but he didn’t know how. He knew what she’d say, and he wasn’t sure throwing money at it was the answer.

“I know they don’t want to sell, and I’m just the contractor. I can tell you it was well built, and it’s in better shape now than it was.”

Craig seemed to digest the information. He stepped forward, thrusting out a business card. “I just want a meeting with Charlie. I just want her to hear what my client is offering. If she doesn’t like the offer, she can send me packing. I promise there will be no pressure.”

Jack hesitated and then took the card. “What makes you think I’ll talk to her about it?”

“I’ve asked around about you. You’re still every bit the town hero. You know as well as I do, that something has to change. Jo’s article will put this town on the map. That property has a ton of potential, and the city isn’t stupid. There is a lot of money to be made. At least my way, Charlie and Jo are set for life.”

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