Page 21 of All Inn Thyme
“I’m surprised Allie and Beth haven’t played matchmaker for you yet,” Evan says. “When Allie, Beth, and Mellie get together, look out.”
“Exactly,” Logan says. “It might end up likeThe Bachelor,only Freedom Valley edition, and they’ll probably hold a singles auction for you.”
“I try to keep to myself. Been busy with work,” I tell them. Although, I wouldn’t mind if they smoothed things over with Mellie for me and made her stop hating me. I don’t say any of that out loud to them, though.
Evan then surprises me by just coming out with it directly. “What’s up with you and Mellie?” He must be able to read the surprise on my face because he then quickly adds, “You two seemed close at McGuiness the other night.”
Well, way to cut right to it, I guess. Whatisup with me and Mellie? I’d like to have the answer to that question myself.
“I like her. Not sure she feels the same, though. She’s not very happy with me right now.”
“About the bunkhouse?” Evan asks. “I didn’t realize you’d rented it when I told Mellie about it.”
“It’s okay. I talked to her, and she was cool about it.” Logan grunts as he dips under the weight of the bar.
“She’s doing alright in the garden shed,” Evan says defensively.
Interesting. Evan is protective over Mellie, and it makes me feel like he knows more about Mellie and her past. She works for him and lives on the property, so it makes sense she’s opened up to him. I decide to dig a little to see what he says, put him on the spot.
“Didn’t she move here about the same time I did?” I ask. “She’s fairly new here, too, I thought.”
Evan freezes a few seconds before going back to lifting. “Yep,” he says nonchalantly.
I don’t miss the way he tenses up when I ask. Anyone with eyes can tell Mellie has a past, I just didn’t realize how deep it must be until now.
“So what’s her story?” I ask, trying to sound casual.
Evan quickly changes the subject. “Hey, hand me that towel?”
“Sure,” I say, tossing it to him.
“Look,” he says, turning to me. “Mellie’s like a sister to us. I like you. You seem like a good guy and all.” He takes a deep breath. “But… just don’t go there unless you mean it, okay?”
We hear footsteps crunching gravel outside before I can respond.
“Hey, guys,” Logan says as Caleb and Kase race in. “Where are your moms?”
“Off giggling somewhere about you guys,” Caleb says as he climbs up on a mini trampoline set up in the corner.
“They went to look at the greenhouse and told us to come here,” Kase finishes as both boys begin to jump.
So she knows the greenhouse is done… I hope it makes her happy. I choose not to say anything about it, just keep doing my workout and listening, grateful for the interruption from Evan warning me about Mellie. The problem is I don’t know what I want with Mellie. I like her, but I don’t know how this could work between us when I’m not going to be here permanently.
“What are your moms giggling about?” Evan asks the kids.
“Mom says Ty is cute and Beth says he’s dreamy and Mellie says he’s humiliating,” Caleb replies with the raw unfiltered honesty that four-year-olds have.
Logan chuckles. “Oh, really,” he says, looking over at me. “Making moves on my wife?” he jokes.
I hold my hands up. “Absolutely not,” I reply with a chuckle.
Evan cuts his gaze to me. “Why does Mellie think you’re humiliating?” He doesn’t break his stare, and it’s intimidating as hell.
I clear my throat and say quietly, “We had a little… incident.”
Logan moves in closer to me so the boys don’t hear. “What kind of incident?”
I choose my words carefully before I speak. If she tells them later, I don’t want them to think I’m a creep or something.
