Page 21 of Grumpy on the Mountain
I'm not going to be thinking about dark, stormy eyes and capable hands. And what it might feel like to be completely overwhelmed by someone in the very best way.
I step out of the shower feeling cleaner and more clearheaded. Ready to face the day like a rational adult.
The syrup is gone from my hair and my body is relaxed and satisfied.
I have a plan.
See? Problem solved.
I wrap myself in one of Sienna's impossibly fluffy towels and pad back to the guest room to get dressed, feeling quite pleased with my newfound sense of control and maturity.
"Oh, good!" Sienna calls as I emerge from the bathroom, hair still damp but significantly less sticky. "Perfect timing. Johnson's Auto just called."
I freeze in the doorway. "They did?"
"Mmm-hmm. They can look at your car today, but they need the keys if they're going to do anything with it."
Keys.
Car keys.
My car keys, which are...
"Oh no," I whisper.
"What?"
"Oh no, oh no, oh no."
I sink onto the couch next to Maisie, my hair wrapped in the towel. Maisie looks up from her increasingly elaborate treehouse blueprints, this time with a cute drawing of a man with a scribbly beard. He's towering over a shorter woman and a even smaller kid.
It's Beau and Maisie.
And…me.
"What's wrong, Aunt Molly? You look sick again."
"I don't have my keys," I say faintly.
Sienna blinks. "What do you mean you don't have your keys?"
"I mean I don't have them. They're not in my purse. They're not in my coat. They're..." I close my eyes, remembering everything with sudden, crystal clarity. "They're in Beau's truck."
Sienna starts to smile.
It's not a nice smile. It's the kind of smile that means she's about to meddle in my life in ways that will probably result in more mortification and definitely more time spent in the vicinity of Beau Callahan.
"Well," she says cheerfully, "I guess you'll have to call him."
No.
Absolutely not.
Not after what I just did in that shower. Not when my body is still humming with satisfaction and my brain is still replaying every vivid detail of my very inappropriate fantasy.
"Can't you call him?" I ask desperately.
"Me?!" Sienna gasps dramatically. "Why would I call him? They're your keys."
