Page 21 of Grady

“Maybe I’ll return the favor,” she said with a grin.

“I look forward to that. Did you have a good time out with the girls?”

“I did. They are all amazing women. I made some new friends.”

“That’s good. Well, I hope to see you again, Vanna.”

“Everyone in town calls me Vanna, but my real name is Savannah.”

Grady shook his head. “I like that. Have a good day, Savannah.” He touched the brim of his hat, picked up the box, then walked out of the store.

****

Savannah sighed as she watched him disappear. If she wasn’t so hellbent on not getting involved with another man, she’d let Grady know she was interested, but after being married, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go down that road again.

Of course, she’d heard Grady wasn’t interested in settling down either. Maybe they could spend some time together and not let it get serious.

“Sex. You’re talking sex,” she murmured. She jumped when Bentley barked. “You liked him, didn’t you? They say if your dog doesn’t like someone, you shouldn’t either, so does that mean I should like him since you do?” She laughed as Bentley rolled onto his back.

“I don’t know how I would even go about letting him know I’m interested. I’ve been with two men my entire life. The first one was Ron, in college, then Kirk. I don’t have a lot of experience. What should I do, Bentley?” She grinned when he rolled onto his belly and sighed. “A lot of help you are. He’s just so handsome. That handsome face, dark hair and green eyes have probably talked a lot of women out of their panties.”

She sat on the stool behind the counter and scanned antiques for sale. She was hoping to make it to an estate sale this weekend. It was something she truly enjoyed doing. She often ended up buying way more than she should have and not everything was an antique.

When May finally arrived, Savannah knew she had to hire someone. Already people were flocking to the towns, and she was busy. She’d fooled around and forgot to do it and now she was paying the price.

She closed her shop for her lunch hour and made a trip to the hardware store and bought a ‘Help Wanted’ sign, then headed to the diner to pick up a salad.

As she entered the diner, she stopped in her tracks. It was packed and there was nowhere to sit.

“Vanna? Are you eating here or getting something to go?” Rissa asked her.

“I’ll take a southern fried chicken salad to go, please.”

“I’ll get that for you.”

“Thanks, Rissa.” She leaned against the wall and smiled as she looked at all the people. Most of them were tourists.

A few minutes later, Rissa set her bag on the table.

“Here you go, Vanna.”

Savannah paid her, waved away the change, then walked out into the bright sunshine and quickly made her way to her shop. She unlocked the door, stepped inside, and locked the door behind her, then sat behind the counter. She started leaving Bentley home once tourist season started because it got too busy, and he took up too much room. He had grown so fast, and he was one big dog. Thing was, he wasn’t done growing yet. She didn’t know whether to be anxious to see how big he did get or panic because he would.

As she sat there, she opened the bag, removed her salad and ate. She tried not to eat too fast, but she didn’t want to stay closed too long. The sidewalks were packed with people going in and out of stores and she needed to let them in hers.

After she finished eating, she tossed the bag into the trashcan, then unlocked the door. She put the help wanted sign in the window and then put an ad on the local website. She prayed she received some replies because she rarely got a day off other than Sunday and sometimes that just wasn’t enough.

When the door opened, she greeted customers with a smile and told them to let her know if they had any questions.

Each time the bell chimed, she sighed but helped everyone she could. It was hard when the shop was packed, and she couldn’t keep an eye on everyone.

As she sat behind the counter, the door opened, and she saw Grady holding the door open for an older woman and Savannah knew it had to be his mother because she had the same eyes.

“Hi, Grady,” Savannah said and smiled at the woman.

“Savannah, this is my mother, Lena Henderson, Mom, this is Savannah Collins,” he introduced them.

“Mrs. Henderson, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Savannah shook her hand.

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