Page 102 of Designs on You

Ditto, he texted back to Linc.And Warren and Joe are coming to visit next week.

It took a minute for Linc to text back, but he said,Yeah. Hazel and I are excited. We’ll have to get together to make plans. How about dinner tonight? See if Natalie wants to come.

I’ll do that and let you know.After putting his phone down, he went back to work, then realized he hadn’t asked Natalie about dinner. Instead of texting her, he called.

“Hey there,” she said when she picked up.

“Hi. How about dinner at Linc and Hazel’s tonight?”

“Hazel already texted me. I was going to call you, but you beat me to the punch. And, yes to dinner. I have the kids, so they’ll be coming along.”

“Perfect. I guess everyone’s coordinating, so we’ll talk later about time?”

“Sounds great. Have a good rest of your day.”

“Okay. Lo…looking forward to it.”

She laughed. “Me, too. Bye.”

He’d almost blurted out “Love you” as if it were the most natural thing in the world. But it wasn’t, and he didn’t. Did he?

No. No, he didn’t. Wait.

He dragged his fingers through his hair, letting what he’dalmost said sink in. Did he mean to say it or had it been just some kind of automatic response?

No. Absolutely not. And he wasn’t about to do a deep dive into his feelings for Natalie right now, because he had work to do. He’d deal with his almost verbal fuckup later.

Much, much later.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Natalie stood at the door keeping a close eye on the kids as they frolicked with all of Hazel’s dogs in the backyard, along with their dog, Grizelda.

“You do realize Linc and Eugene are out there, too,” Hazel said. “They’ve got the kids.”

“I know.” They had all disappeared beyond the trees anyway, their laughter still ringing loudly.

“Then come over here and have a drink and update me on all your adventures.”

She wandered into the kitchen and pulled up a seat at the kitchen island. She really wanted to talk to Hazel, to tell her about her feelings for Eugene. She was so confused lately and needed some guidance. Hazel handed her a glass of wine.

“Thanks. How are things going with you and with Linc?”

Hazel sighed and took a sip of her wine. “Honestly? Fabulous. I mean, even more wonderful than I ever could have imagined. I’m fostering, I love my part-time job at the restaurant, and now they want me to go full time.”

“Wow. That’s a lot. How do you feel about it?”

“I don’t know.” She took another swallow of wine. “I mean, cooking is awesome and I love it. But the animals need me. If I devote all of my time to the restaurant, then the foster will suffer and I can’t have that.”

Natalie leaned back. “I guess this is the point when you need to decide what’s most important to you.”

“The puppies are most important. They need me. Not only the ones who live here permanently, but also the ones I have to help find forever homes for. The more I’m here, the faster I can help them get settled.”

“Okay, then. I mean, and don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t have to have that job, Hazel.”

She waved her hand. “I know. Linc can support me, I get that. But you know how I feel about not having my own source of income, because of what happened with Andrew.”

“Of course. I totally understand Andrew taking all the money and you losing the house burned you badly. But you know Linc isn’t like that. He’s happy to take care of you financially so that you can take care of the animals.”

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