Page 16 of Lucky in Love
“Apparently,” Tess picked up the story. “His murderous rage was set off because his girlfriend brought home the wrong brand of cereal.”
“So, what?” Alex asked. “Because he didn’t like the groceries, they call him The Grocer?”
“I don’t know how they come up with prison names,” Faith said defensively. “I’m just telling you what I heard.”
“It would play better if he were a serial killer,” Alex said. “Get it? A serial cereal killer?”
Faith rolled her eyes. Tess laughed. Juliet nodded. Nick and Brody stared as if she’d lost her mind. She ignored them all and dug into her French dip.
Faith turned to Brody. “How long are you in town?”
“Until next Tuesday,” he said. “I meant to tell you, Alex, that I’ll be leaving for an overnight trip on Thursday. I’ll still pay for the night, just thought you should know.”
“He’s going to propose to his girlfriend,” Nick interjected. “It’s their anniversary.”
“Oh, how romantic,” Juliet said.
Alex offered congratulations along with everyone else, but felt a pang of something weird upon finding out he was basically engaged.
Why would a random guest’s marital status matter to her? She was perfectly happy with Drake. Again, with the feelings-gone-rogue thing. She needed to get a handle on that.
It was actually perfect timing for him to leave. Furniture and appliances for the rec cabin were scheduled to arrive this week. This way, the delivery trucks wouldn’t bother Brody.
After dinner, Juliet grabbed Alex’s check. “This one’s on me. I owe you.”
“What? Why?” Alex said.
“You covered for me at the kennel the other day. I said I’d buy you dinner.”
“That’s just what friends do. You don’t owe me anything.” Alex reached for the check, but Juliet raised her arm, putting it out of Alex’s reach.
“Make her jump for it,” Tess said, clapping. “That’s always funny.”
“Ha. Ha,” Alex said. “It wasn’t funny when we were kids, and it’s not funny now.” She jumped for the bill, hoping to catch Juliet off guard, but was inches short of reaching it.
A deep rumble of laughter from behind made her stop. “I don’t know,” Brody said. “Seems pretty funny to me.”
“Well, no one asked you,” Alex grumbled. Was she going to embarrass herselfeverytime she saw him? If so, she was batting a thousand.
CHAPTER SIX
The next morning, Brody sat on his porch sipping coffee, listening to the birds, enjoying the lake view, and thinking about last night.
During his years of traveling, he’d met tons of people. In every new town, he made an effort to connect with the locals. He considered dinner with Alex and her posse to be part of the job.
Lifelong friends were a tough group to infiltrate, so he hadn’t tried. He stayed mostly quiet, studying them, looking for an angle for his story.
Nick had undersold the closeness of Alex’s team. The ease of conversation, the constant teasing, and the obvious love and affection they had for each other made him feel as if he’d been dropped into an episode of Friends.
Brody hadn’t expected to like them so much or to have such a good time. The women were smart, funny, and ambitious, and defied most small-town stereotypes. Nick was easygoing and interesting to talk to.
His quiet reflection was abruptly and rudely interrupted by the sounds of sawing and hammering. So much for his peaceful time in the woods. And too bad he’d have to factor it into his assessment.
Inside, he dumped the last few sips of coffee down the sink and put on his shoes. Might as well check out the camp.
He had a general idea of the camp’s layout. It was like half of an octopus butted up against the lake.
Multiple roads fanned off from the main parking lot, with signs indicating there were three cabins per road. The boathouse, lake access, and a long dock were a short walk from the lot. And walking trails on the opposite side led to the office and, apparently, a new recreation center. He’d overheard Alex talking about it at dinner last night.
