Page 32 of Dear Henry, Love Edith
Hardly.Edith jerked her head in a nod.
Steve’s voice followed them to the door. “I guess I’ll be seeing you two around then.”
He would?
Hobbes kept Edith close as he glanced over his shoulder to Steve. “We’re not going anywhere.”
They weren’t?
Julie stood at the counter, mouth hanging open. Even Opal paused in berating the existence of Chester the cat long enough to watch Hobbes lead Edith out the door in silence.
They walked down the sidewalk without saying another word. Edith didn’t know where they were headed, so she just stayed tucked against Hobbes’s side and kept moving. He led her a few blocks over before pausing and looking around.
“Follow me.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her intoan alley behind a brick hardware store. They came to a stop on a graveled area between a dumpster and a row of shrubs.
Once they were secluded, he let go of her hand and stepped back. The confidence from the coffee shop had disappeared, replaced by a nervous smile. “Quite the morning, huh?”
Not trusting her voice to work, Edith wet her lips and did the first thing that came to mind. She kissed him back.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Henry had planned to tell her the truth. Lay it all out for her. Set the record straight. But it was sort of hard to do with her lips all over his mouth. Again.
Okay, so maybe the first time had been his idea. And what a good idea it was. Except now it was giving him a lot of other ideas. Ideas he shouldn’t be thinking.
“Whoa,” he said, breaking away from their kiss. He released his grip on Edith and stepped back. “Whoa,” he said again.
Edith touched her swollen lips with the tips of her fingers, then covered her mouth with her entire palm before pulling it away. “I am so sorry,” she said, looking horrified. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“You didn’t?” Henry asked.
“Well, I did. But not like that. As if I was... you know, mauling you.” She shoved her long bangs away from her forehead. “I was just trying to say thank you. That’s all.”
“Right. I know. And that was just me saying you’re welcome.’”
Edith smiled, still a bit flushed and breathless. He shoved his hands in his pockets and forced himself to take a few steps back before he was tempted to tell heryou’re welcomeall afternoon.
Cardboard boxes poked out of the top of the dumpster. “So,” Henry said, nudging a wooden pallet with one of his boots. “Who exactly is Steve? And why is he here?”
“My late husband’s brother. And he’s here because...” She shook her head and blew her bangs from her eyes. “I don’t know. He’s delusional?”
A finch landed in the shrubs. Edith stared at it, giving Henry the chance to study the face he’d been losing sleep over since the first moment they met. All this time that face had belonged to Edith.
Edith.
“Why did you do what you did back there? At the coffee shop? Why did you...? How did you...?” The finch flew away, and Edith met his gaze. “What’s going on?”
Henry cleared his throat and tugged at his shirt collar.Tell her.“Yeah, about that.”Tell her.“Funny story.”Tell her!“Henry called me.”Coward.“Yeah, um... Steve went to his house this morning, looking for you, and Henry called me afterward.”
“Oh no.” Edith groaned. “Poor Henry. I did not mean for this to happen. Is he okay? Steve didn’t, I don’t know, scare him or anything, did he?”
“Heck no. Henry’s a tough guy. Everybody knows hedoesn’t scare easy.” Except when faced with a beautiful woman he didn’t want to lose.
Edith started pacing the small space next to the shrubs, which sent two more birds fluttering away. “You know what? I’m going to go find Henry right now and explain everything. The last thing I want to do is drag that dear sweet old man into this mess.”
“He’s a good guy, isn’t he?”
“The best. He leaves me the sweetest notes. I’m half in love with him. He reminds me of this cute little old man who used to go to my church. Well, my parents’ church. After I got married, I sort of stopped going. My husband was never really into church. But recently I’ve started going again. Anyway, none of that matters.”
