Page 24 of Too Delicious

He stands there and studies me for a beat. To say that I feel self-conscious is an understatement.

Cooper takes the folded paper under his arm and looks at it thoughtfully. “Speaking of this town growing on me, I have to do something.”

Yeah right. Do something.

He’s probably headed to my brother’s garden center—again—to buy fruit trees for my yard that I did not ask for.

Does he know that I know he’s been following me to school every day and home again?

Does he know I can see him sitting in his car, watching me go to and from school?

Not that I’m complaining.

With Summer around less, the house has been too much for me to keep up with. And I do like the idea of someone looking out for me.

I narrow my eyes at Cooper. “What are you up to?”

He gives me a mischievous grin.

“I’ll tell you when the deed is done,” he says. He touches the paper to his forehead in salute, and backs out the door.

Why do I feel as if I’m not going to like whatever this “deed” is?

chapter

eleven

Cooper

“What the hell are you doing here?”

I look up from trimming the overgrown hedge and wipe the sweat from my brow.

Owen, who’s started expanding the garden center at the feed store, has become a font of helpful knowledge lately. From him, I learned that the hedge growing in my new front yard is called arborvitae, a fast-growing cypress that provides good privacy. Not the best choice for a hedge to leave unchecked along the front of a house, though, as it quickly overwhelms the space.

Playing dumb, I reply, “Yard work.”

Harmony’s eyes scan the surroundings.

“Have you finally succumbed to heat stroke? You’re at the wrong house.”

With my pruning shears in hand, I turn to inspect the house number.

“Nope, that’s my address.”

Turning back to face Harmony, her eyes bug out. “Your address? Cooper, what the heck is going on?”

I lean on the fence post and tug off my gardening gloves.

“What’s going on? Well, the other morning I couldn’t help but notice that you wanted me to find another way to occupy my time. So I found one.”

She blinks, her golden, all-knowing eyes taking in her surroundings: me, the pruning shears, the street, the house.

“You bought this house?”

I turn and gaze proudly at the three-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow that matches Harmony’s abode across the street.

“Yep.”

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