Page 13 of Driven Daddy

I swallowed. “Hi. Umm, you have really nice yarn up here.”

She laughed. “Thanks. We have a very active knitting group that meets up here every Sunday, if you’re interested.”

“Oh, um…maybe?” Yarn was definitely not my kind of thing. Unless it was me wearing a cozy sweater, then I was all in.

“Somehow I don’t think you’re a yarn girl.”

I winced as I stepped out from behind the display of fuzzy alpaca yarn. “That obvious?”

“Only because I’m good at this customer service deal.” She crossed the squeaky wood floors with a wince. “I really have to have Gideon come in here and fix these. It reminds me of my grandmother’s old farmhouse.”

“Gideon?” My perpetual interest in everything made me ask.

“Local handyman. I’ve heard we probably just need to replace some old nails with screws.”

“Only works for a little while,” I blurted out.

She frowned at me. “Is that right?”

“Sorry,” I tapped the side of my head. “It’s full of useless knowledge. I researched renovation for—” I cut myself off. Telling people I was an author led to a variety of responses. Some great, some annoying, but most of them included way more talking than I wanted to engage with.

The woman’s eyes got really big as she crept closer—in that way that made my hackles rise. “Holy shit, you’re Rita Savage.”

I blinked. Surprise and panic rolled through me like a wave. “What?”

“Sorry.” She rushed forward to take my hands. “You probably hear this all the time, but you have gotten me through so many sleepless nights. I would literally hand over a few of my own fingers to live in Sara Springs.”

The one series that I sold my soul—or half my earnings—to get back from Jenelle. My heart tripped in my chest and the panic ran into a wall of gratitude. The panic was still a roar in my head so I could barely hear what she was saying. When I managed to focus, she was still talking.

“The horse farm and the springs are my favorite part of the setting. Now if I could just find my own Jonah.” She sighed. “Sorry, sorry. Now, I’ll try to stop being weird.” She stepped back and released my hands. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

Finally, my nervous laughter escaped. “It’s okay, I’m just not used to being recognized.” I gave her a quizzical frown. “But you live in the most beautiful small town I’ve ever seen.” And that included the inspiration forSara Springs—the real-life Saratoga Springs in Upstate New York.

“Try living here. The only thing you end up doing is hanging by the water and guarding your uterus.”

My eyebrows shot up. “I’m sorry?”

She waved it away as if she hadn’t just said something crazy. “Never mind. Let’s just say that finding a man who is unencumbered, or isn’t getting ready to buy a car seat, is hard to find.”

“Sara Springs is full of singletons ready to get hitched.”

“Exactly!” She flipped her thick dark chocolate colored hair over her shoulder. “How long are you in town?”

Unsure how to take that, I twisted my fingers. “Why?”

“I can’t believe it,” she muttered to herself as if my question didn’t actually matter. Then her big tiger-colored eyes widened further. “I know this is a really crazy ask, but you wouldn’t be interested in a signing, would you?”

Again, my stomach plummeted to my feet. “I…uh. I don’t really know.”

“I know you don’t do them. You and your co-writer don’t usually do the tour thing.” Her brows knit together. “Actually, come to think of it, your co-writer has been all over lately.”

Previously, we hadn’t because of me. I was sure Jenelle would love to be the center of any and all attention if it was offered. Part of the reason she’d…

Nope.

Not going there right now.

I swallowed, but I stuffed down the nerves. “What would that entail?”

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