Page 38 of Secondhand Secrets

“Ally.” He took a few hurried steps and followed her hand pressed to his front door, set for her escape. “I can tell them to steer clear of any shop talk.”

She gestured down at her outfit, which wasn’t even her outfit. “Still a hard pass. Look at me. The patrons at Maynard’s might not notice these are Sarah’s, but she sure as heck will. And then she’ll take one look at me with you and know exactly why I’m wearing her clothes.”

His cheeks sank, suggesting he finally accepted her many reasons for leaving, even though he really didn’t want to. “Greg’s car is blocking yours, just let me get his keys, okay?”

Even though she nodded her understanding, he didn’t move right away, his attention sticking like he sought to hold on to her just one moment more.

Perhaps he sensed it too. That she wasn’t ditching him, but that an indisputable time limit still hung over this relationship.

So, she sought to help him out, already catching the double-meaning in her words before they even left her mouth. “Thanks for helping me leave.”

Seventeen

Displays of potted flowers surrounded Ally at Aggie’s nursery. Those full blooms mingling with the giggle of children. Ally’s heart soared at the scene, a perfect mix of beauty, mess, and noise, where multiple small tables spread across the open space designated for her art class.

With the children here extra receptive to her bouts of goofiness and creativity, she felt at home. At least, so much more than yesterday when she’d tried and failed to fit in with Chip’s friends.

Though her heart still sank at that memory, she forced her mind to the midmorning’s brilliant weather, the gentle sun enhancing the earthy sweetness emanating from the nearby plants, then the chalky smell of paint from her table where children decorated mini plant pots.

Aggie McKey stood in a far-off corner, entertaining parents and offering refreshments, the older woman’s joy at having so many people at her nursery evident in her beaming smile. Meanwhile, Emilia sat at Ally’s table too, having volunteered to paint faces, her deep brown gaze snagging on Ally. “So, how did things go with Chip? Am I allowed to send him an invite to the wedding yet?”

“It’s your wedding, you can do whatever you want.” Heat rose in Ally’s cheeks, and she kept busy passing a plant pot to a small boy to her right.

A beat passed, only for Emilia to speak again. “Sure I can, but we both know you were headed to see him after I spoke with you yesterday, and your evasive reply makes me think things didn’t go so well.”

“Wrong.” Ally let out a tight chuckle and reached for the paint palette the turning child beside her elbowed off the table, thankful to catch the thing long before it hit the ground. “I can tell you from recent experience that things can get better and worse all at once.”

“Oh no.” Emilia lowered her voice, her expression suddenly pinched. “What happened?”

Ally let out a sigh. “Let’s just say, things got more serious than either of us planned, and then Chip’s friends staged a surprise visit, which is when I learned his life away from Harlow is far more prestigious than he let on.”

“Hang on a minute.” Emilia sent forth a sideward stare. “Serious, as in…”

That stare, along with her trailing voice, hinted she asked whether things had gotten physical between Ally and Chip. Given all the inquisitive minds around, the conversation needed to stay restrained, so Ally gave a slow and confirming nod.

Emilia’s jaw dropped open, and she mouthed the word, “What?” before turning to gesture to the little girl she’d finished painting that she could go.

“You have to tell me how that all came about. I mean, not now because of kids, but…” She smiled at a little boy stepping up for his turn to have his face painted. “Eventually.”

Ally chuckled, although the sound held a tight edge of bitterness. “Well, all you need to know is, he has a huge opportunity knocking at his door. Any day now, he’ll be too busy being a super-star tech guru in Boston to show his face round these parts ever again.”

“Well, there goes my chance of having him at the wedding.” Emilia kept her tone flat, and her attention fixed on transforming her latest face-painting subject into Spiderman. “But ouch. That explains your vague answer. Let me guess, you like him too much already, and you’re worried he’ll be too busy for you?”

“You know me so well, it’s scary.” Ally scrunched the corner of her lip, not completely ready to admit her fears out loud. “But him being busy is the best-case scenario from what his friends had to say. I figure it’s more likely his new life will take him places that will have him completely forgetting I even exist. Not that I blame him.”

She checked the time on her phone. With just another twenty minutes left of today’s program, the children needed to switch workstations one last time. So she clapped her hands to get their attention. “Okay, everyone, it’s that time again. Stop what you’re all doing and move to the next table.”

The children’s voices grew louder, the relative peace abandoned for pushing chairs aside and racing to new tables. A hard tug came at the waist of her lavender summer dress, and Whitney stared up at her. “Aunt Ally, can I stay at your table? I don’t want to move.”

Ally bobbed to meet her four-year-old niece at eye-level, her gaze skipping to the potting table Whitney was due to visit next. “You don’t want to plant your own flower to take home to show your mom? I’m sure Jenna will help you if you don’t know what to do. She’s got a special way with gardens, yah know?”

She lifted her gaze and waved at Jenna, a waitress at Maynard’s, who also dabbled as a landscaper through the nursery, her presence today an early attempt at returning to work following a recent accident. The woman paused shifting potted plants onto a cart and waved back.

“It’s not that, Aunt Ally.” Whitney’s tiny voice had Ally peering down again. “I’m scared.”

“Really, now?” She gave a trouble-free smile and offered Whitney comfort in the form of a pat on the back. “Want to tell me what scares you?”

“Spiders.” Whitney scrunched her face, and her eyes turned watery. “Last time I played in Nan and Popo’s garden, a big black spider jumped out of the soil. It tried to eat me.”

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