Page 15 of The Friendly Fall

Or him for that matter.

I turn my attention to the side door, and for a second, I actually consider making an escape to the backyard, sneaking my way through the back door, and locking myself in my room. There’s just one problem with that: the back door isalwayslocked.

For a town where most swear you can leave your doors unlocked, Granny keeps it shut down.

“Eliza Kate.” Granny wraps her knuckles against the door. “I made some lemonade. Why don’t you take a glass out to Nick?”

Why does he need lemonade? That’s not evenhydrating.

I roll my eyes, but I’m not about to cause problems with Granny. She was kind enough to let me stay here.

I open the door with a slightly annoyed smile on my face.

“It’s just the nice thing to do around here,” she says with a shrug. “I know you’re probably used to that uptown cold shoulder way of life, but here, we love on each other.”

I nod, taking the glass from her hand. “Maybe next time we should give him Gatorade or something.” The tone of my voice comes out much more sarcastic than I meant it to. “I don’t think this lemonade is going to do anything but spike his sugar levels.”

“You can be so persnickety sometimes,” Granny teases, bopping me on the nose before sauntering away, humming to herself.

I smile with amusement, glancing down at the glass as I make my way to the front door. This small-town living is quite an adjustment. I feel like I’m living in a completely different world, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Different doesn’t mean bad.

That’s what I keep telling myself as I step out onto the front porch. It’s already dark outside, but the porch light is on, and Nick has a few work lights set up. He’s bent over the mid-landing, stripping the rotten boards from where they were nailed in. I stare at him for a few seconds, trying to decide if I’m sweating because of the heat in the laundry room or if I’m just overdressed for the weather.

“Hey,” he says to me.

“Oh, hey,” I mutter, feeling dumb for zoning out on him like an idiot. “I brought you some, uh, lemonade. Well, actually, to be honest, Granny made it. I’m just the mule.”

He breaks into a smile. “Just the mule, huh? Never heard that term before.”

“Yeah, you know, like a drug mule or something,” I say with a shrug. “I watch a lot of documentaries.”

He chuckles, two deep dimples showing on his cheeks. “You like documentaries about drug mules?” He tosses some of the rotten boards onto a small trailer backed up to the ramp.

“Something like that…” My voice trails off as I awkwardly hold out the glass. “But I have, um, stuff to do, so … here.”

Nick strips off his work gloves and takes the glass. “Thanks for the lemonade, and the cookie. I think I’ll be good from here on out, though. If I have any more sugar, I might not be able to sleep tonight.”

I can’t hold back my laughter, shaking my head. “So, I’m not the only one who thinks loading you up with sugar isn’t the best way to go. I tried telling Granny, but she insisted I bring you this.”

“Ah, well.” He shrugs. “Don’t get me wrong, I love sugar just as much as the next guy, but maybe next time, just bring me water if you have to.”

I feel the heat in my cheeks as I nod. “Yeah, okay.”

“Thanks, Eliza.” He shoots me a grin just as I turn to leave. “Appreciate it.”

“Uh-huh,” I choke out, slipping back inside.

There’s no way in heck I’m ever going back out there.

Chapter Six

Nick

This ramp is toast.

I stare at the rotten frame and run my fingers through my hair. I wouldn’t trust the structure to hold a feather, let alone Eliza and Marilyn. Sighing, I sit down on the edge of my trailer. There’s no way that I can just patch it up and live with myself. Sure, the boards would be new, but the frame is beyond repair.

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