Page 285 of Mountain Grump
Waited until the day after he got his money.
Ethan: Please give me time.
My fingers tremble.
He’s sending these texts now.
Ethan’s on the other end of this phone right now.
But I don’t know what to say to him.
So I don’t reply.
Chapter 164
Ethan
I’m puttingmy lunch in the refrigerator when Conners walks into the office.
“Hey, man.”
I nod as I close the fridge door.
He sets something on the counter. “My wife got these for our daughter’s class, but she wasn’t feeling well, so she didn’t go to school today. And the wife said I had to get them out of the house.”
I stare at him blankly.
He points at the counter. “Cupcakes.”
I couldn’t give a fuck about his kid not going to school but… cupcakes.
“Thanks,” I grumble as we switch places.
He puts his lunch away, and I take an eight-a.m. cupcake.
“Are you really doing that whole duck thing over on the eastern edge?”
“Yeah.” I hold the cupcake in one hand and grip the door handle in the other. “It’s all on schedule.”
Conners huffs out a laugh. “Surprised us all with this one, Grant.”
I grunt in reply as I leave.
Surprising my coworkers doesn’t matter to me.
Convincing Tilda that I love her does.
Outside, I put the cupcake on my palm, and I take a picture of it.
Then I text it to Tilda.
It shows up in the thread after the message I sent yesterday. The last in a line of daily texts from my first, a week ago.
They’re simple. No questions. I’m not asking her for anything, not yet. Just letting her know I’m thinking of her.
I put my phone in my pocket, then peel the paper off the dessert.
Chapter 165
