Page 32 of The Spotted Cottage By the Sea
“You’re not a big talker anyway,” Patty said, waving a hand. “Take my hat, too. It looks like rain.”
“Granny. I’m not doing this.”
“What else were you going to do today? Hm?”
“You know, I was thinking of…” Her voice trailed off, and she peered through the window again. “What’s he like?”
“He’s very nice,” she said simply. “I think he’s lonely.”
Eliza kept staring through the window, her eyes wide.
“You can’t just watch him like an animal at the zoo!” Patty said. She found her gardening gloves and shoved them into Eliza’s hands. “Don’t be afraid of him. It’s not like he’s Idris Elba. It’s just Russell.”
“JustRussell!” Eliza said with a laugh. “Right. You’re on a first-name basis with him.”
“You will be too if you’lljust go outside.” Patty gave another helpful push toward the door. “This is your life. Go and live it!”
Eliza groaned, but then miraculously said, “Fine. But only because it needs to be done.”
“There’s a shovel in the shed. Watch out for spider webs!” Patty called out before rushing back to the kitchen to get started on her newly hatched plan for brunch.
In under an hour, she had pulled it together. The timing was perfect, and Sheila arrived just as she set the water for tea.
“Perfect timing!” she yelled from the open kitchen window. “Everyone, come inside and wash up. It looks like the rain is holding off, so we can eat on the back patio.”
She was quite pleased with what she’d thrown together. It was simple, but pretty all laid out: a smashed potato frittata, deviled eggs, smoked salmon on toast, and sausage stuffed honey buns she’d made for Reggie two weeks ago and frozen the leftovers.
When she returned to the table with a teapot, she was happy to see Eliza’s stage fright had melted. She and Russell were laughing together.
“What’s so funny?” Patty asked.
“Just Russell making fun of me for talking to worms.”
“Not making fun,” he said, his face solemn. “Trying to learn the lingo.Hang tight, little dude, you’ll be in good dirt again soon.’”
They broke into laughter as Sheila walked onto the back porch.
She looked a bit worse for the wear, with bags under her eyes and her hair in a rough ponytail.
“Is everything okay?” Patty asked in a low voice.
She nodded. “I’ll tell you later.”
Everyone enjoyed the brunch, and Russell didn’t miss a beat in reminding Sheila what she’d promised him. “I was hoping that maybe sometime this or next week we can meet up to talk about my finances?”
She flashed a smile. “Of course. I’d be happy to.”
His phone rang and he frowned. “Speaking of, that’s my business partner. This was great. Thank you for the impromptu brunch. Will you ladies excuse me?”
Patty beamed up at him. “Of course. Thank you again for coming.”
He smiled, then answered the call as he walked off, crossing the invisible boundary between their properties.
Sheila let out a groan. “I thought he’d never leave.”
“Sheila!” Patty threw her napkin down. “Russell is a nice man! You can’t hold it against him that he’s rich and –”
Sheila cut her off. “I need to talk to you. Both of you.”
