Page 41 of Love Like Lightning

“Mack, hey, what’s up?” Her presence isn’t a total surprise, given that we live just down the street from each other. But usually, she texts before just coming over.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in for tea?” She gives me the fakest puppy-dog eyes I’ve ever seen. Trust me, I should know since I invented that look.

Sighing, I open the door wider. “Would you like to come in for some tea and watch cooking shows with me?”

“I’d love to.” She bows mockingly, walks in, and heads straight for the kitchen.

“Let me guess, Linc is still out of town?” I close the door and follow her.

Linc’s been her best friend pretty much since birth, but now that he’s working for a travel company, he’s spending less and less time in Ever Lake. Which means Mack basically only has work to distract her, hence her being here now.

“He’s in California,” she says as she rifles through my cabinets, sounding annoyed.

“Top left next to the sink.” I cross my arms and watch as she finds a small mug and pours some tea from the teapot I have sitting on the counter. “He was just in the UK, wasn’t he?”

Turning to me, she blows on her tea for a second before taking a sip. “This is really sweet.” She gives me a pointed look and completely avoids my question.

It reads as “Should you be drinking this? You know, diabetes and all?” And the implication that I don’t know how to take care of myself makes my back tense and my jaw clench.

“It's apple tea, it’s naturally sweet. I was just about to start an episode of Best Chef.” I angle my head toward the living room and head back to the couch without responding to her comment.

“Mmm. Okay. Sounds good.”

“How’s work been going?” I haven’t seen her in a few days, and I kind of skipped out on family dinner this week, so I’m out of the loop with what’s going on at the lodge.

I know Mack has taken over a lot of the wedding planning and execution work that Art was handling so he and Natalie could travel for a while. On top of her other responsibilities. That, coupled with the recent attempt by a local family, the Bakers, to buy our family's business, has me a little worried. Luckily our parents said no, but I haven’t been around as much as I’d like, so I want to make sure things are good.

“Good. Fine. I feel like Art left and suddenly there’s nothing for me to do. It’s like we’re in some kind of slump or something. We should be busier right now.” She curls up at the end of my couch, tucking her feet beneath her.

“Yeah, but spring and summer will be busy. They always seem to be, at least. You just have to coast through, right?”

She just hums in response, keeping her eyes glued to the TV. I take that as my cue to start the show and drop it. I sip my tea and watch without actually registering what’s going on. I wonder if I’d get more information if I was actually working at the lodge.

Honestly, I’m not sure.

It’s been two days, and for the most part, I’ve been keeping busy. I was in another town for most of the day yesterday, and by the time I got home, I was so tired that I just showered, ate, and went to bed.

Too bad my dreams didn't get the memo that Gia and I were not a thing.

I woke up so hard that I could barely think this morning, and I was able to remedy the situation embarrassingly quickly. It took a herculean effort not to think about Gia while I stroked one out, and even though I managed it, she was at the forefront of my mind immediately after.

Now I’m sitting in my truck eating a quick lunch before I finish up my day. And I’m still feeling sexually frustrated. But at least I have a full afternoon to get my mind off of things.

Scarfing half a sandwich down, I pull up my phone to check what my next stop is.

Thumbing through my calendar app, I see that Mr. Jenkins has a fence that needs mending. It looks like a pretty simple project that he’s been putting off long enough that he’s no longer really able to do it himself.

As I’m going to put the phone down, it rings. I don’t recognize the incoming number, so I answer with my business name just in case it’s a client.

“Hammer Handyman, how can I help?”

“Hey, Hammer, it’s Roxy over at the bed and breakfast.”

“Oh hey, Rox, what’s up?” Roxy was in my sister’s grade in school and took over running the bed and breakfast after her grandparents retired out to Arizona.

“We’ve got a bit of an issue in one of our suites. Sinks leaking, and Dan’s out on vacation.”

Dan Landry is her older brother. He usually takes care of their maintenance issues. Roxy called me a couple of weeks ago to let me know she might need my help if something came up while he was away.

---